Jeopardy! Champ Matt Amodio's Goal Is To Beat Ken Jennings By $1
The newest Jeopardy! champion, Matt Amodio, says his ultimate goal is to beat Ken Jennings’ record by one dollar. Jennings, who holds the record for the longest winning streak on Jeopardy!, won over $2.5 million in his original 74-game run in 2004. Last year, Jennings returned to the trivia game show to face off against James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter in the special event Jeopardy: The Greatest of All Time. Earlier this year, Jennings kicked off the roster of guest hosts after Alex Trebek’s final episodes aired.
Last month, Jeopardy! revealed that executive producer, Mike Richards, would be the permanent host, and Mayim Bialik would host occasional prime-time specials. Following the announcement that Sony Pictures Television named Richards, controversial comments made by Richards on a former podcast and former allegations of pregnancy discrimination resurfaced. Ultimately, Richards was fired from Jeopardy!, and Bialik and Jennings were tapped to serve as hosts for the remainder of the season. Recently, Bialik stated that she wants to eliminate Jeopardy! hosting drama, and reminded fans to focus on the contestants, namely Amodio.
In an article he wrote for Newsweek, Amodio revealed his ultimate Jeopardy! goal is to defeat Jenning’s record by one dollar. Amodio recently scored his 33rd straight Jeopardy! win, moving him into second place on the show’s all-time streak list, and surpassing Holzhauer’s victory. Stating that playing under six different hosts hasn’t been disruptive, Amodio revealed the Jeopardy! hosting drama hasn’t affected the contestants' gameplay. Read what Amoio said on his vision for defeating Jennings below:
"I won the annual rent for my apartment in my first game, and that was an optimistic best case scenario I had in mind going in: being able to pay a whole year in rent. Then I got to the point where I thought I could consider winning $100,000. Then $250,000 happened, then $500,000 and then $1,000,000. I guess the ultimate goal is to win one dollar more than Ken and to have the record for the show!"
Indeed, the Ph.D. student at Yale University still has a long way to go before catching up to Jennings. Of course, with Jennings slated to serve as the Jeopardy! guest host starting in November, Amodio could surpass Jennings’ record in front of him on the Jeopardy! stage. Furthermore, Amodio revealed that his least favorite questions are on lyrics of popular songs, and it remains to be seen what wrong answer will officially dethrone the current Jeopardy! champion.
For now, Amodio’s winning streak has breathed new excitement into the snow, and amid a rocky season after the passing of Trebek and the Jeopardy! host debacle, it's reminding viewers why they tune in in the first place. While Jeopardy! has yet to reveal who will be the permanent host, season 38 could solidify its place in television history if Amodio fulfills his goal and defeats Jennings’s record by one dollar in the upcoming episodes.
Source: Newsweek