An elite version of America’s Favorite Quiz Show has been greenlit by ABC.
“Jeopardy! Masters” will showcase the six highest-ranked, current “Jeopardy!” contestants, who will face off in a Champions League style event to win the coveted title of “Jeopardy! Masters” Champion. The contestants are Matt Amodio, Sam Buttrey, Andrew He, James Holzhauer, Mattea Roach and Amy Schneider.
Ken Jennings, a former “Jeopardy!” winner who was officially named as one of Alex Trebek’s replacement in 2022, will host the new series. Prior to taking over hosting duties, Jennings went on an unprecedented 74-game victory streak worth $2.52 million in 2004. He went on to appear in several special “Jeopardy!” tournaments, including the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005, Jeopardy!: The IBM Challenge in 2011, the Battle of the Decades in 2014 and Jeopardy! All-Star Games in 2019.
In 2020, he bested Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer in the ABC special event “Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time.” He is No. 1 on the all-time consecutive wins list and the highest winnings in the regular season; he is No. 2 on the all-time winnings list (including tournaments), having earned $4,370,700 over the course of his career as a player.
Schneider, who is No. 2 on the “Jeopardy!” all-time consecutive wins list, is one of four people to earn more than $1 million in their initial appearances on the show. Two of them are fellow Masters competitors Amodio and Holzhauer; Masters host Jennings is the third. Throughout all of season 38, Schneider had the most buzzer attempts in a single game, ran the most total categories (28), and tied for running the most categories in a single game (three) and highest “Jeopardy!” round score ($18,600). She also won the 2022 Tournament of Champions.
Amodio, whose 38-game winning streak spanned seasons 37 and 38, holds the No. 3 spots for both all-time consecutive games won and highest winnings in regular season play ($1,518,601). He had the most buzzes in a single game (43), most correct responses in a single game (42), the highest Double Jeopardy! round score ($48,400) and tied for the highest score in the “Jeopardy!” round ($18,600). Amodio also had the highest single-game winnings for that season: $83,000, the highest non-Holzhauer single-game score in “Jeopardy!” history.
Holzhauer, who lit up the competition over the course of a 32-game streak in season 35, is No. 4 on the all-time consecutive wins list and set the single-game winnings record with a $131,127 score. He also holds the next nine spots on the Top 10 list for single-game winnings. Holzhauer is one of only two contestants to earn more than $2 million in regular season play ($2,462,216). Only Jennings is ahead of him on that list, and Holzhauer nearly reached his total in less than half the number of games played.
“Jeopardy! Masters” will be produced by Sony Pictures Television and executive produced by Michael Davies.
