Former Jeopardy! Champ Says Show Should Limit Consecutive Wins

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Former Jeopardy! Champ Says Show Should Limit Consecutive Wins: ‘Might as Well Move the Show to Vegas’

Is it time for Jeopardy! to change its format?

Former Jeopardy! champion Tom Nichols is the latest to say the trivia show needs to limit consecutive wins. In a conversation with Boston Public Radio, he shared how the game’s rules make it more difficult for new players to win, or make a name for themselves.

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“After about two or three wins, I think you’ve got such an advantage. You’ve been using the buzzer, — which is much more important than people realize; you’re a lot more comfortable in the studio; you understand the rhythm of the game,” Nichols explained.

“Newer people just walking in there don’t really have much of a chance, and that’s purely because the returning champions have mastered the mechanics of the game,” he claimed.

Amy Schneider Credit: courtesy jeopardy inc.

Nichols’ comments come as viewers have been watching Amy Schneider, the woman with the most consecutive game wins of all time, on a historic winning streak. So far, she’s won 38 games and $1,307,200, making her the 5th highest earner on Jeopardy! ever.

Nichols’ point outlined the old Jeopardy! rules, which made people “retire” from the game after five wins. “If you’ve done that for eight, nine, 10 games, there’s a reason they used to retire you,” he said. “But the ratings are up, and people want to treat it like a sport and professionalize it. You might as well move the show to Vegas.”

The former Jeopardy! contestant first appeared on the show in 1994. At the time, he won four games and lost his fifth, though he was invited back when the series confirmed he was actually right about an answer that Jeopardy! had determined to be wrong. Nichols went on to win the redo of his fifth game, according to the Jeopardy! archives.

Conversations on Twitter also echoed Nichols’ point. While many longtime viewers claim to find the current format tired, others questioned the timing of the complaints.

Does computer science make great ‘Jeopardy!’ champs?

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Succeeding as a contestant on “Jeopardy!” requires a breadth of knowledge that spans from ancient history to the latest pop culture. One might then think that the best contestants would be those who have studied a wide range of subjects, masters of none whose college years were defined by a grab bag of liberal arts courses.

There have undoubtedly been countless “Jeopardy!” champions with liberal arts degrees (Brad Rutter, Julia Collins and Matt Jackson come to mind), but it turns out that many of the show’s winningest champions, including current champ Amy Schneider of Oakland, weren’t collecting abstruse elective credits in college but rather studying a topic that rarely comes into play when standing on stage: computer science.

In addition to Schneider (who told SFGATE in November that she’d just switched back from a managerial position to writing code), the list of CS champions is long and distinguished.

Matt Amodio, who held the second-longest winning streak until Schneider surpassed him Monday night, is pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science from Yale University. Andrew He, a software engineer from San Francisco, won five straight games in November of 2021. Roger Craig, who held the highest single-day winnings for nearly 10 years, has a Ph.D. in comp sci from University of Delaware. The person who broke Craig’s record, James Holzhauer, didn’t study CS, but his mathematics degree is close enough to mention.

And of course, Ken Jennings, winner of 74 consecutive matches and current host of the show, worked as a software developer during his epic streak.

Though correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation, it’s something that fans of the show have often observed

“It’s definitely something that I’ve noticed,” says Andy Saunders, who runs the website The Jeopardy Fan. “There’s two advantages. From the computing and analytics side of things, if you consider clues and responses to be bits of data, [computer engineers] are already used to processing large amounts of data. That can carry over in terms of the best way of betting, and where’s the Daily Double likely to be, that in itself is kind of an advantage a computer person would have when it comes to ‘Jeopardy!’”

“It’s also how an engineer’s brain works,” he continues. “Often, engineers are very curious about how things work the way they do in the world. That natural curiosity about the world is well-suited to learning and appreciating information in general.”

The way an engineering-minded brain always looks to understand the root of a problem might also give them an edge, since they’re not just remembering a discrete fact but have made a series of connections that increase likelihood of recall (this is also a key to remembering internet passwords).

Another person with some theories as to why computer scientists make such natural champions is J. P. Allen, a University of San Francisco professor who holds a Ph.D. in computer science and appeared in the “Jeopardy! Professors Tournament” in the fall.

“I don’t think it’s the content of computer science,” says Allen. “There’s not that much computer science content on ‘Jeopardy!’ And you saw Matt Amodio miss a question about the Turing Award, which is sort of the Nobel Prize of computer science, so it’s not about that CS knowledge.”

“The way they write the clues, it’s kind of a puzzle to solve. It’s not just fact recall necessarily. Because they give you a lot of little clues along the way. You can see it a lot more with Matt Amodio, but also with Amy, they buzz in and then they think they should get it, and you see them for a second or two solving the puzzle and figuring out the answer rather than just recalling it from their brain.”

Armando Fox, a CS professor at UC Berkeley who hasn’t yet been on “Jeopardy!” but who did compete on a similar trivia show in the 1990s called “Win Ben Stein’s Money,” agreed with Allen.

“CS tends to attract people who enjoy deep diving into a problem. They enjoy keeping a lot of different bits of information in their heads simultaneously as they navigate how to solve a hard problem,” Fox points out. “I think those same people also get sucked into things like reading. My colleagues in CS certainly have a reading range that’s incredibly wide, but it’s also deep. They find something they’re interested in and go at it with laser focus.”

Fox went on to describe the immense amount of reading required when researching computer science topics.

“You’re sort of building up this corpus of knowledge in your head, and at some point, you’re like, ‘Oh, those two pieces could go together in that way. Nobody thought of that.’ And that’s what I think computer science mostly is.”

Fox also astutely points out that the cataloging of information is one of the biggest practical applications of computer science (Google states that its company mission is to organize the world’s information). Additionally, Fox said he feels that computer scientists are always fighting against certain stereotypes of being single-minded or detached from popular culture, leading to an overcompensation.

“If you’re in a technical field, and you’re not culturally conversant with the highlights of history, of literature, of the fine arts, you’re seen as something of a Philistine. You’re one-dimensional, you’re great at computers or math, but you’re not well-versed.”

All three experts had fairly strong theories as to why computer science is such a valuable skill in a Jeopardy player’s toolbox, but it doesn’t mean that liberal arts don’t matter: The GOAT himself, Ken Jennings, holds both a computer science and English degree.

According to Allen, that’s part of what made Jennings, as well as Schneider (who has an extensive theater background), such dominant champs.

“Jeopardy is generalist trivia, not specialist trivia,” says Allen, “so the people who have mastered the two basic areas, on one hand, math and logic, the numbers, then on the other hand, something about the written language, since wordplay is such a big part of ‘Jeopardy!’ as well … I feel like it’s the killer combination.”

Ask Matt: Is Amy’s Winning Streak Good for ‘Jeopardy!’?

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Welcome to the Q&A with TV critic — also known to some TV fans as their “TV therapist” — Matt Roush, who’ll try to address whatever you love, loathe, are confused or frustrated or thrilled by in today’s vast TV landscape. (We know background music is too loud, but there’s always closed-captioning.)

One caution: This is a spoiler-free zone, so we won’t be addressing upcoming storylines here unless it’s already common knowledge. Please send your questions and comments to [email protected] (or use the form at the end of the column) and follow me on Twitter (@TVGMMattRoush). Look for Ask Matt columns on many Tuesdays and Fridays.

Does a Winning Streak Ruin the Fun of Jeopardy?

Question: I’ve been a big fan of Jeopardy! for many years. Do the producers have insurance coverage to pay for all these big winners they’ve been having? I think if this long string of big winners, such as the current Amy Schneider, continues, it will eventually destroy the program. I find myself starting to watch and when she pulls ahead, I just change channels or turn off the TV. What’s the point of watching if you know who the winner is going to be? It takes the enjoyment out of watching. I would think it would discourage people from becoming contestants on the program. I’m sure there must be a lot of other viewers who feel the same way. — Gordon L, Milford, CT

Matt Roush: Some of the same complaints were made during the long runs of Matt Amodio and James Holzhauer, although most of the comments I received were about peculiarities of their gameplay: Matt’s use of “What,” and James’ aggressive big-money strategy. So far my mailbag has been mostly quiet about Amy’s amazing streak, and while these are legitimate concerns, I respectfully disagree that the spectacle of watching a master of the game in action is anything but exciting. Current host Ken Jennings’ still unbeaten streak made him a pop-culture icon — which of course also tends to attract detractors as well as fans. Some of Amy’s games have been close enough to generate some suspense, but while others could argue, I find it thrilling when she goes on a run, the brainiac version of watching an athlete in their prime.

See Also ‘Jeopardy!’ Champion Amy Schneider Reveals Her Pre-Show Rituals She also opened up about becoming a future host of the show.

Most contestants, whether they win or lose, consider it an honor to be invited to play the game at all, and if going up against one of the legends may not be their first choice, at least they’re part of Jeopardy! history. I just know I can’t wait to see Amy go up against Matt, who she just surpassed as #2 in consecutive games, in this year’s Tournament of Champions.

Introducing the Host

Question: When Mayim Bialik hosts Jeopardy!, Johnny Gilbert announces her as “The host of Jeopardy!” Yet when Ken Jennings hosts, the announcement is, “Now, hosting Jeopardy!: Ken Jennings.” What is the significance of the different wording? — Judy

Matt Roush: I’ve had several viewers ask me about this, and when I reached out to the show, I received no response — and if the hosts have commented on this, I’ve missed it. The way I look at it is that the hosts have surely signed off on these introductions, and for Mayim Bialik, it reflects that her role is defined. She’s the host of tournaments and prime-time specials like the upcoming College Championship on ABC, and she fills in during the regular show when Ken Jennings isn’t available. Whereas with Ken, he’s serving as the daily host “for now,” and until or unless Jeopardy! names him the permanent host going forward beyond this season, that’s how it will stand.

See Also 10 Shows With Shocking (Non-Death) Exits in 2021 From Mark Harmon from ‘NCIS’ to Jesse Spencer from ‘Chicago Fire’ to Shaunette Renée Wilson from ‘The Resident,’ fans said goodbye to some fan-favorites.

Bad Feelings About These ‘Good’ Doctors

Comment: As if it wasn’t bad enough that a doctor on the autism spectrum was performing operations in a major hospital on ABC’s The Good Doctor, we now have father/daughter doctors feuding about their position as “Chief” on Good Sam. Neither of these situations could ever exist in real life, they are completely unrealistic and are very dangerous if people believe these things go on in hospitals. Interesting that both shows have the word “Good” in their titles. — Sue Y

Matt Roush: Let’s sidestep the neurodiversity issue for the moment to focus on the real issue: a show’s credibility. And while The Good Doctor does take its situation to extremes, it at least aims for an emotional realism in its depiction of an autistic savant trying to find his place in a profession he loves. Whereas I’m also off-put for the most part by Good Sam’s tiresomely sitcom-like squabbling between Drs. “Griff” and Sam Griffith, and I generally like both of those actors. But I get it. Knowing what we know about these characters, would we really choose to put our lives in any of their hands?

Are Non-Olympics Fans Out of Luck in February?

Question: Streaming has partially put an end to “sweeps weeks,” when networks traditionally offer their strongest shows. And for that reason, February has always been one of the biggest ratings periods of the year. But this year, the Olympics is set to take away eyeballs from other stations and I’m wondering: Are the two weeks of this year’s February sweeps going to be all reruns on the networks, who refuse to complete with the Games’ presumed ratings juggernaut? As someone who couldn’t care less about the Olympics, I get weary of having no new shows to watch on so-called “free TV” for two weeks. Is there any chance it won’t happen this year? — Aflem

Matt Roush: If you’re limited to the broadcast networks, your options will be limited but not altogether hopeless. It looks like Fox will continue airing some of its prime-time series (9-1-1: Lone Star and Thursday sitcoms), newer female-skewing shows like ABC’s Promised Land soap will stay on (following new episodes of The Bachelor) along with some of its sitcoms, and there will be alternative programming like ABC’s aforementioned Jeopardy! College Championship and a new season of Celebrity Big Brother on CBS. There may be other stunts and specials in the works, but generally, the networks aren’t going to schedule many if any expensive first-run episodes of their signature series against the Olympics, especially on big nights like figure skating.

See Also All the New Shows & Seasons You Can Stream During Winter Olympics There are plenty of viewing options if you’re looking for an alternative to events in Beijing.

Not Music to Our Ears

Question: After reading the article about how to hear television dialogue better, my questions are: Why can’t the television networks and producers record the background music at a lower level so that we, the watchers, don’t have to go through all sorts of machinations in order to hear what is actually being said? And if their point is to showcase the music, why even bother to have dialogue to begin with? Think of the money they could save by not having to pay writers! Any insight you can provide on this would be appreciated. — Anna C, Lititz, PA

Matt Roush: First off, I implore everyone for whom this is an issue — and they are legion — to read John Hogan’s valuable article. Loud or imbalanced background music is by far the #1 complaint about TV in my mailbag and rarely does a day or week go by without someone pointing to a new offender. (Anytime I address this issue going forward, I’m going to add a link to this piece.) So let’s just be honest. The producers aren’t going to stop milking the soundtrack in what they seem to believe is a way of enhancing the drama. As technology advances, they all see themselves as competing against ear-blasting video games, feature films coming to TV more quickly, and all those other streaming options. If you’ve been to a movie lately — or even before the pandemic — you know that big sound is a selling point.

From personal experience, I’ll second John’s point that adding a soundbar to whatever’s coming out of your TV can make a big difference — though we still often use captioning when streaming shows from the UK and Europe because of the pitch of accented dialogue. It may seem like conceding defeat, but I don’t see TV shows changing their stripes or sound anytime soon.

Sheldon’s Not-So-Happy Family

Comment: I have always enjoyed watching Young Sheldon, but for some reason this season has a foreboding undertone to it. I admit that some of my not-so-favorite scenes are the looks George Sr. and neighbor Brenda give each other. I am not sure where they are heading with this, but for me, it takes some of the enjoyment away from the show. — Laurie

Matt Roush: It’s called conflict, which any long-running series (comedy or drama) thrives on, and whether anything happens between these two, I don’t know and wouldn’t say if I did. Between George Sr.’s health issues and his inner turmoil over his encounters with Brenda, I agree the show is playing with some tricky material.

And Finally …

Question: Do you know if Nurses will be airing anymore in the U.S.? I know that it was renewed in Canada but have not heard anything about it coming back in this country at all. — Adam D

Matt Roush: NBC aired Nurses as part of a stopgap measure to fill prime-time slots left empty by pandemic production shutdowns. It’s no longer active on the network’s press website‑unlike another Canadian medical drama, Transplant, which NBC has picked up for a second season — a sure sign that NBC has moved on. With two other medical dramas on their regular schedule, New Amsterdam and Chicago Med, it’s not like NBC needs it anymore. If it shows up again on U.S. TV, it won’t be on NBC. (Maybe streaming?)

That’s all for now. We can’t do this without your participation, so please keep sending questions and comments about TV to [email protected] or shoot me a line on Twitter (@TVGMMattRoush), and you can also submit questions via the handy form below. (Please include a first name with your question.)

New Orleans teacher goes on ‘Jeopardy!’, gets crushed by champion, loves it anyway

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For Dimitri Apessos, a WWOZ disc jockey and eighth grade mathematics teacher in New Orleans, appearing on the “Jeopardy!” game show on Wednesday was a dream come true. Even if his wardrobe choices had been called into question. Even if it seemed to be all over in the blink of an eye. And even if he came in third among three contestants, and won the absolute minimum amount of money possible, a $1,000 consolation prize.

It was still the thrill of a lifetime. After all, Apessos had watched the television show “religiously” since he was a kid, and had regularly applied to be a contestant for, like, 12 years, filling out the 50-question form time and time again with no success.

Finally, last year, out of the blue, he got the “golden email” apprising him that he’d made the first cut. Then, he passed the second and third rounds, too. It was like something out of “Slumdog Millionaire,” he said: The answers popped into his mind like magic.

The next thing he knew, he was jetting to Los Angeles to record an episode, maybe two - however many he would manage to win.

For those readers who, like most of Apessos’ 13-year-old students, have never heard of “Jeopardy!”, it’s a nightly televised trivia contest that comes on in New Orleans at about dinnertime. Most viewers can’t keep pace with the brainiac contestants, who somehow know what lies west of Uzbekistan, and if an echidna lays eggs or delivers live offspring and who is referred to as the Goddess of Pop. Stuff like that, only sometimes harder.

One of the charming challenges of the game is that the answers must be stated as questions. Like, the host might say “This U.S. president, popularly known as LBJ, was in the White House in 1964, when Jeopardy! first aired.” And the smarty pants contestant correctly answers, “Who was Lyndon Baines Johnson?”

The winning contestant gets to return the next night, accumulating thousands of dollars of winnings as he or she progresses. Only the top dog gets to take home the winnings, however.

Apessos said the show records several episodes back to back, so contestants are supposed to bring lots of changes of clothes. Apessos, who lives in Faubourg Marigny, took “sweaterish” fall garments that he thought were seasonally fashionable. To his chagrin, the show’s wardrobe dude said his clothing made him look like an “unmade bed.”

Then there was the Vicks VapoRub. Apessos had blown out his voice trying to teach his students the Pythagorean theorem or some such incomprehensible math thing. He had a scratchy throat, so he applied some of the aromatic ointment, which left oil stains on his shirts.

In the end, he only had one TV-suitable outfit, a black shirt and black blazer that made him look sharp but a little dour, like Johnny Cash.

Sadly, it didn’t matter that he only had one outfit, because he wouldn’t need a second.

Apessos is 44 years old. He was born in Greece and made his way to New Orleans 22 years ago, with in-between stops in New York City and elsewhere. In addition to trying to impress tweens at Morris Jeff Community School with the importance of balancing equations, he hosts a Sunday music show on ‘OZ, where he curried familiarity by calling himself Your Cousin Dimitiri. He spins samples of splintery acoustic blues, croaking folk songs, country when it was really country and all sorts of retro Americana. He’s been doing it for more than a decade and has a following.

He’s a smart guy, a lifelong information magnet, charming and quick - a perfect “Jeopardy!” contestant.

Still, he was doomed. As he sat in the makeup chair before his appearance, a crew member announced he would be facing Amy Schneider, who had already won 35 consecutive episodes and banked more than a million bucks.

She was the Red Baron; he was Snoopy. She was Cassius Clay; he was Sonny Liston. She was the iceberg; he was the Titanic. By the time the “Final Jeopardy!” round arrived, the contest wasn’t even close. Apessos had accumulated $6,200, corporate lawyer Ashley Chow had $6,800 … and Schneider had $32,800.

As Apessos watched the episode in solitude Wednesday, his memory of the defeat mellowed. He might have gotten crushed, but he did answer all the questions in one category: “How Are We Even Related.” That’s something.

He fondly recalled that the members of the “Jeopardy!” crew were everything he’d hoped they would be: serious, conscientious and kind. Except maybe the wardrobe dude. Plus, his appearance had been an auspicious occasion: It was the anniversary of legendary “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek’s death, which everyone treated with due solemnity.

And, he thought, if you have to get steamrolled, why not get steamrolled by one of the winningest champions ever, right?

“It was really kind of wonderful,” Apessos said. And after the airing, he said, some of his students expressed admiration. “They said, ‘I saw you on television, I watched you with my grandma.’”

‘Jeopardy!’ champ Amy Schneider on trans representation, next Tournament of Champions

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Amy Schneider, the winningest woman in “Jeopardy!” history, opened up to “Good Morning America” Monday about her experience on the quiz show.Schneider, who is currently tied with Matt Amodio with the second-longest winning streak in “Jeopardy!” history, spoke to George Stephanopoulos, who was a guest host in July 2021, about the best advice she received from host and fellow champ Ken Jennings, her buzzer technique and if she is looking forward to the next Tournament of Champions.Scroll down for Schneider’s Q&A with “GMA”:: You are in the zone. What’s the secret?: I’m not really sure about a lot of it; I never expected to do this well, but I think the main secret is just being curious and spending my life learning a lot of stuff.: You say you never expected this, but when you were young you were voted “most likely to be on ‘Jeopardy!’” Tell us about that.: Yeah, I mean, I was good in school. I got good grades, I won the spelling bee. So yeah, I definitely – I did expect to be on “Jeopardy!” and to do all right, just never expected to do it quite this well.: If you get past the record today, only Ken Jennings is ahead of you. Has he given you any advice?: He’s limited in what he can tell me just because he’s the host. He has to stay neutral and whatever. The advice he gives all of us before every game is just to relax and have fun and enjoy the moment. That’s definitely something I’ve been trying to do.: Trying?: Oh, I’ve been enjoying it. Let me be clear, yes.: But it’s so intense. Tell us about your buzzer technique.: I practiced at home with a ball-point pen but you don’t really know until you get there. The sort-of strategy I had in mind, the way I was planning to time it, like that first game, it wasn’t quite working as well as it needed to. For whatever reason I decided to throw that out and stop thinking about it and purely try to go on instinct and feel. From then on I’ve just been really good at the buzzer. I didn’t know if that would be the case and I’m pretty excited it has been.: Were you prepared for being so famous?: No, not really. There’s a bit of a gap between the taping and the airing, so I did have some time to like get used to the idea. I didn’t really know what it would be or how famous is “Jeopardy!” famous. So it’s been a lot, but it’s mostly been just really fun.: What’s been the best part of the experience?: I think that the best part for me has been being on TV, you know, as my true self, expressing myself and representing the entire community of trans people and … just being, you know, a smart, confident woman and doing something super normal like being on “Jeopardy!”: You’re doing it so well. Regardless of today’s outcome, you’ll be playing in the next Tournament of Champions. Bet you’re looking forward to that.: Oh, I’m definitely looking forward to it. I’m also a little bit intimidated by it. When I first started I wasn’t sure if I might be going up against Matt Amodio and I was really hoping I wouldn’t. And now it turns out I’m going to have to anyway. It’s going to be really challenging; a lot of strong players there, but it should be a lot of fun.: Well you’ve made your mark. Do you know what’s next for you?: I’m not sure, but I’m thinking about it. I’m like, you know, considering do I want to write a book? What other opportunities might be out there? I’m exploring that.: Everything has changed for you, hasn’t it?: It has.