'Jeopardy!' Shoots Back up in Rankings Amid Matt Amodio Winning Streak
Jeopardy! recently shot back up in TV rankings for the first time in several months, amid contestant Matt Amodio's big winning streak. The Wrap reports that, for the week ending on Oct. 3, Jeopardy! nabbed a 5.5 in the ratings, placing it in the top syndicated TV shows spot for the first time since April. The ratings win coincided with Amodio s winning streak, which surpassed one achieved by James Holzhauer. Amodio is a PH.D. student who ended his run with 38 consecutive victories.
This lands Amodio in the second-place position, behind Ken Jennings, who remains the all-time record holder with 74 straight wins. "I always wanted to be a Jeopardy! champion, and I accomplished that," Amodio said in a statement shared by The Wrap. "l know going into every bar trivia game that I play that I'm going to come in with a little intimidation factor. But also, I just like the badge that it represents. As somebody who prioritizes knowledge and knowing things, this is really a good one to have following me everywhere."
In addition to Amodio's big winning streak finale, the Jeopardy! ratings jump also came with former Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik's second week as the interim host. Earlier this year, Bialik was made the permanent host for all future Jeopardy! primetime specials, and more recently was tasked with being the show's temporary host. This came following a major controversy surrounding exited host and executive producer Mike Richards.
At the time Richards was fired, he had already filmed the first five episodes of Jeopardy! Season 38 which still aired in mid-September. While it was not necessarily explained, the reason for the episodes still airing was most likely due to gameplay rules. We can speculate that the current producers of the show would deem retaping all the episodes as unfair to the players. Richards' run of episodes only took place this debut week, with Bialik taking over for the following three weeks of episodes. After that, the show will move back to the rotating host schedule it utilized during Season 37, following the death of iconic Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek.
Bialik was one of many interim hosts who filled in the current season of Jeopardy!, and was recently named the main host for all forthcoming Jeopardy! primetime specials. During an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, ahead of her initial hosting stint airing on TV, Bialik spoke about the incredible opportunity and joked that the experience "was literally not believable. That's what the word unbelievable is for." She went on to praise late longtime host Alex Trebek and his legacy, calling him "a beloved personality" and "a beloved person on that stage."