TV Review: The James Holzhauer Episodes of "Jeopardy!"

James Holzhauer

On average, the era of a game show being a national phenomenon is long over. With most resorting to viral video techniques, those who don't passionately watch a TV series likely couldn't name a contestant or a moment on the show. It's why the achievement of James Holzhauer on Jeopardy! between April 4 and June 3, 2019 (with a two-week hiatus at one point) is one of the most exciting miracles that the quiz show could've achieved in its 35 seasons on the air. With 32 straight days of winning and a grand total of $2,464,216, he defied the odds to make the show competitive in ways that it had never achieved. On average, his daily wins outranked most of the smartest people to ever be on the series (he also holds the Top 10 highest wins, including several over $100,000). What he did was incredible, but even more, was that he helped to become a celebrity the likes of which Jeopardy! hasn't seen since Ken Jennings over a decade ago. He made the show vital, and in the process reminded the public why this show still mattered.

The story starts the way that every other Jeopardy! champ's story does. Holzhauer was just another contestant facing the previous day's champion. His story went that he was a professional gambler from Las Vegas, Nevada. There had been gamblers on the show before, but nobody could've expected the strategy that he would bring to the game. Not only was he whipsmart, capable of pulling a majority of answers in every category, but his Daily Double strategy was unfathomable. Not since Arthur Chu's notorious wins five years prior had the show seen moves that not only gave him an advantage but are arguably revolutionary for the show that feels like it had seen everything.

As a professional gambler, Holzhauer knows strategy better than most contestants. He doesn't buckle under pressure. However, his brilliance came in the Daily Double categories where he was allowed to wager whatever he wanted (within reason). He described his strategy often as paying tribute to important dates in his life. For instance, a birthday on January 20, 1973, would be wagered as $12,073. He was rarely uniform with his numbers, which is a screwy strategy most saved for Final Jeopardy. When he didn't put full confidence behind his moves by putting "all the chips" forward, this helped to give him commanding leads, especially if he landed all three Daily Doubles, which was often the case. What most didn't catch onto was the reality that this odd number strategy made it difficult for others to predict how he would wager in Final Jeopardy, even if odds are that he would still beat second place by over $20,000... if he lost.

It seemed tragic to introduce Holzhauer months after holding the All-Star Championships, which featured dozens of the show's biggest talents. During that special series' run, it brought together the brightest minds, of whom now seem sheepish in comparison to Holzhauer's accomplishments. There is the perennial icon Ken Jennings, whose run of 74 episodes and wins of $2,520,700 miraculously remain the benchmark for the series. Holzhauer looked to break most of Jennings' records, including the quickest runs to both a million and two million. Holzhauer, ironically, lost on the night when he was touted to beat Jennings' winnings. At only $60,000 less, both champions were compared constantly throughout the run with Jennings getting some of his most entertaining interviews in years. Still, Holzhauer was a new type of All-Star. He was someone whose strategy was unlike anything seen before. As a result, everyone enthusiastically talked about him like he was saving the show's ratings during sweeps.

Even in his brief absence the following night, Holzhauer's influence on the series has been permanently stamped. It's modern mythology for the show. Whereas figures like Matt Jackson and Austin Rogers are personalities, Holzhauer was a man who changed the game in ways that people will remember. What he lacked in personality (outside of his fun yet antagonistic Twitter page), he had in his ability to be the sexy new champion that everyone wanted to see. Could he constantly break $100,000? The first time is still one of those glorious achievements of Jeopardy! By the end of the first week, host Alex Trebek was playing into the celebrity, claiming that nobody could beat "Jeopardy James." Even in the game after he lost to Emma Boettcher, she was getting comments from Trebek about "playing like James" (which didn't go over well). Rogers and Jackson may be exciting, but Holzhauer is now a shadow likely to hang over the show for the next few months, maybe year.

It was odd then that this came almost parallel to news of Jeopardy!'s potential demise. In March, Trebek announced publicly that he had pancreatic cancer. For the first time in the show's history, it felt like the quiz show icon was in fact human. As much as he remains one of the most irreplaceable icons alongside Vanna White and Pat Sajak, there was a strong chance that he wouldn't make it to the end of the 35th season. While there's been news of remission to come in the wake, it's allowed the show to also feel like things were in the precious final moments. It needed something spectacular to remember Trebek's legacy by. As much as the All-Star Championships was likely designed like that, Holzhauer's presence gave the show an even bigger vitality and helped to prolong the series with one of its most competitive stretches of episodes in quite a few years.

Those who loved him could've seen him make it to Jennings' 74 episode wins, maybe earning up to $4 or $5 million. There's no denying that his expiration date was unpredictable. As much as that made it exciting to see when he would fail, it also felt like a wrinkle in time. Jeopardy! was in a stasis where Trebek came out, praised Holzhauer, and watched as 64 contestants failed to match him. At times it felt like bullying, even when Trebek meant it in good humor. Still, there was a sense that his presence was important to the show's vitality. He may have lacked the engagement of Rogers or Jackson, but he definitely had a charisma that mixed intellect with high risk. It was exciting to see numbers that may never be achieved again, or for many years. Then again, it also felt like favoritism at its most blatant. Even in his absence, Trebek can't help but mention him. The episode that Holzhauer lost on was even uploaded to Jeopardy!'s official YouTube account, which is a rarity for the series.

While Jennings holds the record still for the longest stretch of winning and most amount earned, there's plenty to still admire about Holzhauer. He proved that Jeopardy! still had something to offer casual viewers. It's still at its heart a show about trivia that draws on passionate fans who cater to intellect. For those who watched intently during this time, it's a rare event that may take another 15 years to achieve. Even then, what's to say that people won't start adopting Holzhauer's wacky numbers strategy in the Daily Doubles? It feels like there's a shift to come to the likes of which haven't been seen since Arthur Chu in 2014. It's still too early to find out, but everything is in the history books now. Holzhauer's legacy has been set and likely will only be built upon when he returns for Tournament of Champions and maybe even another match against Watson the computer. For now, he deserves a rest. Even then, he's likely to be back out there very soon pushing up chips somewhere. He's a gambler who loves to feel the rush, and for audiences, there was no bigger rush than seeing him find temptation in fate. His high wagers created a rush that few will likely even try to achieve, and that makes him all the more impressive.