Matt Amodio’s ‘Jeopardy!’ Streak Ends After 38 Wins
On Monday, the reigning “Jeopardy!” contestant Matt Amodio lost his 39th game, leaving Jennings’s No. 1 hall-of-fame spot safe. Amodio, a Ph.D. student in computer science at Yale, had the second-longest streak in the game show’s history, earning him $1.5 million in prize money.
Since his debut on the show on July 21, viewers grew attached to following Amodio’s streak, turning him into the latest “Jeopardy!” darling. Amodio was less aggressive in his wagering compared with James Holzhauer, the professional sports bettor who dominated the show in 2019, but he lasted longer. Amodio, who ranks third in total regular-season winnings, had many more games to go to rival Jennings’s 74 wins.
The episode marked another behind-the-scenes transition for the show. It was the first episode following the departure of Mike Richards, the television executive whose short stint as the new “Jeopardy!” host imploded over offensive comments he had made on a podcast. Richards stepped down as host after taping five episodes, then left his role as executive producer less than two weeks later.
Monday’s pretaped episode was executive produced by Michael Davies, a game-show veteran who developed the original American version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” and agreed to step in temporarily after Richards’s exit.
