James Holzhauer returns to Alex Trebek. The quiz show champion returned for ABC’s “Jeopardy! Masters” competition, which began Monday (8 EDT/PDT).
“Jeopardy! James” faces Matt Amodio, Sam Buttrey, Andrew He, Mattea Roach, and Amy Schneider, who won $250,000 in last fall’s Tournament of Champions, in the three-week tournament hosted by Ken Jennings. “Masters” provides $500,000.
The two-game primetime tournament is explained here.
Final Jeopardy: James Holzhauer challenges Ken Jennings!
After In the first game, Holzhauer defeated Buttrey and Roach, Schneider finished second, and Amodio third. Holzhauer, described as “a self-described game show villain from Las Vegas, Nevada,” verbally sparred with the host, his main opponent in 2020’s “Great of All Time” competition and the tournament winner. Jennings mentioned the competition Monday, which Holzhauer had forgotten. “I don’t think this happened,” he stated of their fight. “I think you’re imagining it.”
“You’re blocking it out,” Jennings said. “That’s fine.”
Holzhauer scored three Daily Doubles and doubled his score. His 40,800-point advantage in Final Jeopardy! rendered him untouchable.
He was OK trolling Jennings with his Final Jeopardy! retort. “Opened in 1909 and less famous than an older neighbor, it connects Brooklyn & Chinatown.” Holzhauer wrote “Stop ducking a rematch, Ken” instead of the Manhattan Bridge.
“You know how much work I had to go to to get all the way over at this lectern and avoid having to play you again, James?” Jennings said.
‘Jeopardy! Masters’ airs when?
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday are tournament days. Starting May 15, the tournament airs Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The semifinals and finals air May 22–24.
On the “Inside Jeopardy!” podcast, executive producer Michael Davies revealed the event is points-based with no monetary prize. “Each player will appear in every episode, either in the front-half game or the second-half game,” Davies added. Every Master will play 10 games.
The game winner gets three points and the runner-up one. Cumulative totals decide the next round.
He leads the event because he had more accurate answers than Holzhauer, who won Monday. Schneider and Buttrey have one point. Roach and Amodio have zero.
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“Jeopardy! Masters” contestants?
All “Masters” save Holzhauer competed in the 2021-22 season, qualifying them for the 2022 Tournament of Champions. 2019 ended Holzhauer’s 32-game streak.
“This poster screams ‘We know you saw this tournament last year, but a new supervillain has joined the cast for the sequel!’ and I am here for it,” Holzhauer said of the tournament lineup on Twitter last month.
Contestants’ past
Matt Amodio: 38 in-season wins.Sam Buttrey: Won “Jeopardy!” Professors Tournament; third in Tournament of Champions (one game).James Holzhauer: 32 season wins.Andrew He: Won 5 in-season games, placed second in Tournament of Champions (two games).Mattea Roach: 23 in-season wins.Amy Schneider: 2022 Tournament of Champions champion; 40 in-season wins.
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In a first, viewers see Daily Double locations.
The Masters competition adds a novel twist: viewers, but not participants or the studio audience, are given the location of each Daily Double before a round. This is the first time the program contains concealed bonus clues, which allow contestants to double their scoring with a right response.
“Jeopardy! Masters” doesn’t disappoint.
Buzzy Cohen, who won the Tournament of Champions in 2017, attended “Masters” games. Cohen, who presents a new quiz show history podcast, said he saw competitors feel at ease.
“One thing you start to see is the more time that people have spent on the ‘Jeopardy!’ stage, the more relaxed and fun they are,” he explains. “I’m not white-knuckling it through this,” he said. I’ll win here. Six individuals have earned so much and had fun doing it.”
“Everybody kind of shines, and everybody is challenged,” Cohen says. That’s what you want from a particular competition. It delivers.”
