Alan Sawyer
Everyone associated with Jeopardy knew that the transition from legendary host Alex Trabek to whatever iteration the future held would be rocky. Few thought it would be as controversial as it was.
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Still fewer would have bet on three unlikely heroes to save the plight of the show.
The primetime trivia show has aired regularly since 1984 and changed its rules in 2003 to allow reigning champions to stay on until they lose. In that time the show has has many impressive victors that helped capture the attention of Americans. Prior to the change, winners were capped at five games. It kept their winnings down, as well as their celebrity.
That has changed, in a big way.
Mattea Roach, Amy Schneider and Matt Amodio have been verified stars during their time. Roach just saw her run of 24 games end on Friday. Schneider got to 40 and was just after Amodio went to 38.
Ken Jennings’ 74-game streak in 2004 may never be seriously been challenged by another contestant is joined in lore with James Holzhauer, who won 32 consecutive games in 2019.
The individual success has led to ratings increases.
“The Jeopardy! audience is up 400,000 this year in an era most shows are shrinking,” Michael Davies, the show’s executive producer, told the AP.
For reference, the show averaged 9.4 million viewers per night during the third week of April. It’s audience was more than any program that week on prime-time television, according to Nielsen.
“The people that win are the people who make the most attempts, the ones who are able to unscramble what it is that they’re asking faster than anybody else,” Davies continued with the AP.
“We’re trying to test people on how much they really know. We don’t want it to be for people who know trivia. We want it to be for people who spend a lifetime reading books, acquiring knowledge.”
David Bauder of the AP added in his report that “Jeopardy!” usually tapes a week’s worth of episodes in a single day which, in theory, can help a champion with positive momentum.
