Jeopardy! Megathread

[brucejoel99]

Matt won his 32nd game today, tying James' winning streak. Tomorrow, he'll be vying for 2nd all-time in games won.

IMO Matt is a better player than James, although he's won less money.

In a way, they're honestly not even comparable: whereas James was a trailblazer who showed us how a super intelligent player could approach clue-selection, Matt's more conservative wagering - which he has said is an homage to Ken's non-GOAT tournament playing style - is definitely the better statistical approach for protecting a streak (as none other than Ken proved), in that because James only cared about winning as much money as possible per game, it's honestly crazy that not only did he even last as long as he did given his wagering, but that he didn't even lose because of his wagering style but rather because he came across another super intelligent player. If nothing else, that spoke to James' prowess on the board.

[brucejoel99]

Matt won his 33rd game today, so his winning streak now exceeds James' 32 & only trails Ken's 74. Although he's still a far way off from both James' & Ken's regular-season earnings, Matt is now officially #ChasingKen in any event, so now we go onward to next Thurs., where a win by Matt would get him half-way to Ken's record (now that really puts just how insane Ken's 74-game streak was into perspective) &, eventually, Nov. 30th, when Ken himself will be hosting & Matt would hypothetically - presuming that he just keeps on winning - exceed Ken's consecutive-game record after tying it the day before. Incidentally enough, Ken's return to the lectern for Matt's hypothetical 59th game on Nov. 8th will air on the 1st anniversary of Alex's passing (& man, it's absolutely crushing that Alex isn't with us to be hosting Matt; he'd be so proud), while Matt's hypothetical 75th game will be airing on the 17th anniversary of Ken's 75th, the one that he finally lost. The Jeopardy! Gods have really gone all-out to set-up some potentially amazing moments for this year, hopefully for Alex

[brucejoel99]

Matt broke James' hold on the top 15 daily-winnings records today, winning $83K (for a 34-day total of $1,350,801) to lay claim to the show's 13th highest single-game winnings record &, of course, now the highest single-game winnings record by a non-James contestant, beating Roger Craig's pre-James single-game winnings record of $77K from back in 2010.

[brucejoel99]

Absolutely devastated by today’s result.

If only Alex could've been there to say that "we'll be seeing him again, folks. Take care, so long."

[brucejoel99]

Matt's giant-killer, Jonathan, won his 4th game today (for a total of $94K), officially making him eligible for the next ToC. If he wins tomorrow's game, he'll be guaranteed a spot therein, presuming that he doesn't violate the show's morality clause.

Interestingly enough, Jonathan is the 2nd opponent of Matt's to still be in contention for the ToC: the other is Josh Saak, the 3-day champ whom Matt beat in his 1st game, all the way back in Jul. during Robin Roberts' week of shows. Depending on how early the show's producers decide that the cutoff for the next ToC should be (since the regular-season Teachers Tournament & College Championship are unlikely to occur this year, the producers may very well just decide to do another ToC this upcoming May, during S38, with a higher-than-average number of 3-day champs similar to how the 2006 TOC featured five 3-day champs, rather than call it early at a year-&-a-half after the previous ToC like they did earlier this year due to COVID or wait for the regular pre-COVID 2-year interval that'd developed in recent years) & how many 4+ day champs emerge before then (keep in mind that Jonathan is just the 6th contestant to win their 4th game since Alex's passing), we could see Matt & both the champ whom he beat & his own giant-killer in the next ToC, & since the producers avoid matching contestants who competed against each other during the regular season up in the quarterfinals (& semifinals, if possible), we could very well see a final round consisting of a mega Matt rematch with both his predecessor & successor. (And to top it all off, those aren't even the only rematches that the next ToC could feature, as Zach Newkirk - who will be the last ToC'er to have competed with Alex Trebek - & Brian Chang from last year will both be there too.)

[brucejoel99]

Jonathan won his 5th game today, for a 5-day total of $117,700: not only does this mean that he's formally clinched a ToC spot, but it also means that he managed to literally sweep an entire tape-day after having already managed in his very 1st game to defeat a GOAT, both of which are very impressive accomplishments in their own right, not to mention together!!

[brucejoel99]

Jonathan won his 5th game today, for a 5-day total of $117,700: not only does this mean that he's formally clinched a ToC spot, but it also means that he managed to literally sweep an entire tape-day after having already managed in his very 1st game to defeat a GOAT, both of which are very impressive accomplishments in their own right, not to mention together!!

We’ll see if he makes it ten today! Hoping we see our first back-to-back double-digit champions!

Aaaaand he did! Yes, Jonathan astonishingly won his 10th game today, for a 10-day total of $230,100; he's now the 1st-ever ultra-champ (i.e., a champ who's made it to double-digit wins) in the show's history to have first defeated in their regular-season debut another fellow ultra-champ, & only the 11th contestant to make it to double-digit wins & achieve ultra-champ status since the 5-day cap was eliminated 18 years ago, all the way back in 2003 (& to think that the 4 most-recent ultra-champs - James, Jason Zuffranieri, Matt, & now Jonathan - all won their ultra-streaks within just the last 2-&-a-1/2 years). Now here's hoping that he's able to make it to a 21st game so that he can compete with Ken as the host!

Also hitherto unnoted: Jonathan is only the 2nd-ever champ, after Emma Boettcher supplanted James, to even win just their 2nd game - let alone however many more (in Emma's case, 1; in Jonathan's, 8+) - after unseating an ultra-champ.

[brucejoel99]

Jonathan lost on Tues. after an 11-day reign & his dethroner lost on Wed., so the curse of the giant-killers has returned.

[brucejoel99]

With 5 total wins, this week brought us our newest ToC entrant: Tyler Rhode. As a result of his qualification, Katie Sekelsky, a 3-day champ from back in Jun. who overlapped between Mayim's initial guest-hosting stint & Savannah Guthrie's stint, is now the 1st (&, so far, the only) alternate instead of the 15th seed.

[brucejoel99]

1. Ken talks much faster than Mayim Bialik (too fast, really).  Hopefully he'll slow down a bit after his first episode.

I only noticed him being real fast before the 1st commercial break, & it looked like he slowed down thereafter. I personally liked the fast pace, but oh well

2. Johnny Gilbert introduced Ken as "hosting Jeopardy", while Mayim was "the host of Jeopardy".  An indicator that she'll be the permanent host?

Keep in mind that Mayim has already been announced as the official host of Jeopardy! primetime specials, whereas Ken hasn't yet been named as the official anything beyond consulting producer. Idk if anything means anything beyond that.

[brucejoel99]

Second-highest losing final score ever was set yesterday! Really great game all around.

Thanks for that!  I was wondering about it at the time.  What was the highest losing score?

That record belongs to Adam Levin's $53,999 against James Holzhauer's $54,017 in the latter's 18th game.

[brucejoel99]

In recent announcement news, the College Professors Tournament that J! was blasting out try-out advertisements for over the summer will air from Dec. 6th-17th & will be hosted by Mayim (Ken is expected to host the remainder of the regular syndicated episodes 'til then). This'll be the first non-ToC tournament since May 2020's K-12 Teachers Tournament, which had been taped in that short span of Mar. 2020 between J! getting rid of its audience & suspending production altogether (the College Championship that aired in Apr. 2020 had been taped with a full audience before COVID truly showed up on anybody's radar). Moreover, if past tournaments are anything to go by, then the winning professor can expect a guaranteed spot in the next ToC, meaning that the current 15th seed, 3-day champ Amanda Ganske, who overlapped between Bill Whitaker's stint & Mayim's initial guest-hosting stint back in May, can expect to be bumped out of the expected line-up thereof & into the 1st alternate spot - thereby displacing the aforementioned Katie Sekelsky out of that spot - pretty soon.

[brucejoel99]

With just 3 wins but winnings already totaling $107,101, Andrew He vaulted into being the 8th seed for the next ToC today, already displacing the aforementioned Amanda Ganske into the 1st alternate slot before the College Professors Tournament could even begin. Presumably, said tournament would now displace the new 15th seed, Mike Nelson, a 3-day champ from back in April during Anderson Cooper's guest-hosting stint, into being the 1st alternate, & Amanda to being the 2nd, but I'd also forgotten that the primetime "National College Championship" that's supposed to be held early next year prior to the next ToC will also likely produce a winner that's guaranteed a spot therein, in which case, Patrick Hume, a 3-day champ who's also from back in April during both the Aaron Rodgers & Anderson stints (& whose reign, incidentally, was brought to an end by the aforementioned Mike), would be the 1st alternate & Mike the 2nd. Intriguingly, such a state of affairs also spells peril for the potential ToC final that'd consist of a Matt Amodio rematch-of-rematches featuring both Josh Saak & Jonathan Fisher, as Josh would now be the 15th seed & would very likely be displaced before the ToC could be held in May. So, for anybody out there who may wanna see such a rematch-of-rematches, I guess it's time for you to start hoping that no post-Andrew 3-day champs emerge between now & whenever the ToC cutoff ends up being (presumably early April?).

[brucejoel99]

Oh, f**k yes:

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/why-jeopardy-host-mayim-bialik-allegedly-isnt-fitting-in-while-working-on-the-game-show

With former champ Ken Jennings currently in the hot seat - or behind the hot lectern, as it were - Mayim Bialik's latest hosting stint seemingly didn't win over producers enough to offer her a permanent position beyond primetime tournaments. Not that it's clear if she could do that anyway, what with her other professional commitments such as Fox's Call Me Kat.

Granted, the article also tries to say that Ken is also somehow out of the running, but its only support for that claim is a link to an article that doesn't actually say anything about him being out of the running, so I see this as an absolute win.

[brucejoel99]

With just 3 wins & winnings already totaling $110,200, the contestant who dethroned Andrew He after his 5-day run, Amy Schneider, vaulted into the 10th seed's slot for the next ToC yesterday, meaning that this next ToC is brewing up to have lots of rematch potential: Brian Chang & Zach Newkirk (who'll be the last ToC contestant to have ever competed on the show with Alex as the host), Josh & Matt, Matt & Jonathan, & now Andrew & Amy. (Although Amy's wins now mean that Josh is now the 15th seed, so if the show's producers wanna strive for as much rematch potential as possible, then they're gonna need to call a cut-off date & cap the field for this next ToC - hopefully in May 2022 - following the completion of both Amy's run & the Professor's Tournament, & defer the new primetime National College Champ to the TOC after that, in 2023 or 2024.)

What's also worth noting: Amy is set to be the first ever post-transition trans ToC contestant! (Previously, Catherine Ramen was a 5-day champ & semifinalist at the 1998 ToC who won a UToC Round 1 game as "Fred Ramen" before her transition.)

[brucejoel99]

Amy has been kicking some serious butt & I'm absolutely loving it! In her 12th game yesterday, she won $61,800, her largest single-day total to date, & in combination with her 7th ($50K) & 9th ($47K) games, she now holds the top 3 records for highest single-day winnings by a female contestant, with the previous non-Amy record, $46,801, having been set by none other than Emma Boettcher on the fateful day that she ended the infamous James' reign. Amy's 12-day total of $483K also means that she's now surpassed David Madden to take 5th place in the all-time regular-season winnings rankings, behind only Jason, Matt, James, & Ken, who she's taping with & recently said she supports for permanent host.

[brucejoel99]

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1466933401496207363

Nichols was an undefeated 5-time champion under the old rule (so there might be an element of sour grapes in his post) but I think there's some truth in it.  Perhaps they should reinstate something like a 10-win limit.

Not to unduly ascribe a pejorative motive to Mr. Nichols, but is it perhaps possible that he's just - for lack of a better word - butthurt about not having been able to compete after the cap removal? Because in the aftermath of the 5-day cap removal, the disadvantage that he suggests exists was first pointed out less than one season thereafter, 17 years ago, by none other than one Ken Jennings during his streak, & as a result, the producers of the show changed the rules during his off-season break so as to give incoming contestants a significant amount of on-set buzzer practice before they take the stage (as opposed to the zero amount of buzzer practice that existed prior to then, including during Mr. Nichols' time as a contestant). Nowadays, all of the contestants on that podium have a relatively equal "mastery" of the buzzer. Amy's challengers are comparative to her skill in terms of buzzer speed, just as Andrew's were, as Tyler's were, as Jonathan's were, as Matt's were, & as every champion since 2004's has been. In light of that, it truly is just mostly about the knowledge base at this point (though not all: somebody does still have to get to the buzzer first, after all), & I think it may just be possible that Mr. Nichols is upset that he didn't have more time than 5 days to show off his own knowledge base.

[brucejoel99]

Current arrangement (Ken hosting regular shows and Mayim Bialik hosting specials) is staying for the rest of this season: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jeopardy-mayim-bialik-ken-jennings-to-host-through-remainder-of-season-38-1235059265/

I could see them just going with that as the permanent arrangement. Ken is a pretty good host and I don't think most people care about some stupid old tweets.

Plus, Mayim just signed onto some other new sitcom for next year, which is either a sign that she's deemed getting the full-time day-to-day position from Sony unlikely, or a direct indication from her to Sony ahead-of-time that she's unwilling to abandon her full-time acting career in order to dedicate herself to J!'s full-time schedule.

I don't think they'll go with Ken as the sole host, and I think when they do get rid of Biyalik he'll do the prime time specials (and stuff like the Power Players Tournament and maybe annual tournaments), while someone else gets the full-time gig (I'm personally hoping for Meredith Vieria)

[brucejoel99]

ISTFG, SONY!!

https://twitter.com/Snoodit/status/1468645327947264004

[brucejoel99]

A Note From Jeopardy! EP Michael Davies

Wow, somebody who clearly loves the show & wants to see it & its contestants succeed!? Damn, he's already my favorite Jeopardy! EP whose first name is Michael & whose last name is a first name that ends with an S. (But seriously, he's such a stark contrast to Mike & a needed breath of fresh air, so I'm thankful this statement makes it seem like he's here to stay.)

Also, I don't wanna read too much into it, but Sony approving a statement that treats Ken & Mayim as equals is very nice.

[brucejoel99]

18 days in, with $706,800 now under her belt, Amy just became the 1st-ever contestant to have been the reigning J!-champ on both Thanksgiving & Christmas!! Will she soon add New Year's to the record? We shall see, as time will tell...

[brucejoel99]

Amy is now at 23 games & $855,600, well past Julia Collins's 20 games, meaning she's now only 4th behind James (32, $2.46M), Matt (38, $1.52M), & Ken (74, $2.52M)! All I can say is that I've never been more excited for a TOC in my life!!

[brucejoel99]

With her 28th win, Amy is now the 5th millionaire in Jeopardy! history (& the 4th in its regular gameplay history). It's crazy how we've now had 2 J! millionaires within a month of each other. The ToC is gonna be great with all of these superchamps.

[brucejoel99]

Per EP Michael Davies, the ToC will air in Nov., & not in May as had been previously predicted (so, say goodbye to any hopes for Josh/Matt/Jonathan match, unless it's just 2-day champs from here on out post-Amy), but for some even bigger news: starting with this year, it'll start being held on a consistently annual basis again for the first time since the '90s!!

[brucejoel99]

Amy continues to do well during the show but has missed the last two Final Jeopardy! questions and has lost sizable wages--resulting in merely mortal payouts.

She was close to losing the lead late in the second round yesterday when the other contestant hit the Daily Double and made a bet to pull ahead if correct.  But she missed the question and fell back, and Amy was never threatened after that.

3 now, she hasn't gotten one since she broke $1 million on Fri.