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| Left to right: James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter |
Love him or hate him, but James Holzhauer may have been the greatest twists in modern Jeopardy! history. While he clearly found a way to buck the system by using gambling logic to work the board, he was a figure that was magnetic to viewers, bringing people to the 35-year-old show in a time when uncertainty was starting to kick in. Alex Trebek had just announced he had pancreatic cancer, making his future on the show difficult to predict, and ways to pay tribute to the show all but felt behind him following Jeopardy! enjoyable All-Star Champions series that brought together dozens of champions from throughout the decades to compete on teams. If anyone was to look at it now, it felt like a tribute to Trebek's power, that he made these everyday people into icons of intellectual accomplishment.
Even then, the world was only a few months from Holzhauer's divisive ascension, once again raising questions as to what a Jeopardy! champion looked like. More importantly, he brought in the ratings and an insane amount of winnings. For the first time in over 15 years, there was someone out there who was good enough to break a million, and one that could take on the man most synonymous with Jeopardy! not named Trebek: Ken Jennings. That's the crux for the quiz show's biggest novelty gambit to date: Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time (shortened to Jeopardy!'s GOAT), pitting Holzhauer and Jennings against Brad Rutter: the man with the distinction of winning the most money on any game show ever. For the first time, Jennings could battle someone of higher intellect that wasn't an IBM Computer, and it could still be plausible. Holzhauer was what the show needed to pay tribute to one of TV's greatest game show hosts. The results, much like the ratings, were the perfect send-off and culmination of a life in pursuit of knowledge.
Despite being around for several decades, the past two weeks of January 2020 were the first time that Jeopardy! aired in primetime that had nothing to do with being pushed back by outside factors. It would also be the first time that it ran for an hour, though people asking how the show could sustain its energy for that long simply need to know that it's just two episodes stapled together. The person who acquires the most money off of two games wins that night with episodes running anywhere from three nights for a clean sweep, or seven if there was a three-way tie for that third win. The uncertainty is something that Jeopardy! always strived on, and having Holzhauer's intensity with Jennings' competitiveness meant that it would be like watching a death match with facts. Those tuning in the first night may get whiplash knowing that the Jeopardy Round ended without an interstitial commercial break. It was exhilarating to watch three masters of the game answering questions quicker than most of the home viewers could process. More than anything, it felt like the show wasn't lying.
There were certain factors working against Jeopardy!'s GOAT, most notably Rutter. While it has long been suggested that Jennings envies Rutter for beating him so many times, there was a sense that the third-greatest of all time didn't have the energy to keep up. One night he failed to make Final Jeopardy and on another, he ended with a bankrupt score. For as much charm as the man carried to longtime fans, he was clearly worn out and made the game a runaway for his competitors. He never won once and at one point admitted to his memory fading. It raises many conspiracies (which is all they are) that any contemporary champion would've done a better job in that third spot, such as recent favorite Austin Rogers. Still, it was a competition between three men who dominated Jeopardy! in different ways (Jennings for most wins, Holzhauer for most records, and Rutter for most money), and that was enough to make the concept fall into place, simultaneously becoming a thrill ride and a tragic reminder that older champions have slower reflexes due to aging.
Still, it was Jeopardy! as usual. The only difference was that it was in primetime and there was this underlying sense that it was a moment of expression from Trebek. The host hadn't necessarily been the most open man prior to his cancer diagnosis but had taken the past year as a chance to essentially enjoy his job in more apparent ways. It's in the All Star series, or his budding relationship with Holzhauer that felt like a weird odd couple sitcom within the show. Still, the fourth and final game came with some of his most emotional moments to date on the show. He has become more vulnerable to crying when a sweet sentiment has been made, and it felt like this was his chance to share his most personal note yet.
With the games winding down and the end becoming inevitable, Trebek reached out to his three champions and thanked them for participating. However, there was a sense of mortality to what he was really getting at. Jennings and Rutter had been used to returning for various championships throughout the series' run, but Trebek's comment felt like a period on a long sentence full of commas and ellipses. To him, this was the end for his three champions. Once it was decided who was the greatest, there was no point to keep playing. It was the end of their legacy on the show. At that moment, there was this haunting sense that the comment held some richer subtext, though Trebek hasn't announced any plans for retirement. Still, the knowledge that it is coming soon, the choice to create a metaphorical goodbye may be one of the most powerful moments that the show will ever produce. It put into clarity why Jeopardy! wasn't just a game show. It was a way to share a love of knowledge, and nobody did it better than Trebek.
It should be said despite these small emotional moments, the episodes qualify as some of the most competitive and exciting games of Jeopardy! produced in recent years. The gimmick of seeing Holzhauer play against Jennings was more than an excuse to air two episodes in primetime. It was a chance for Trebek to find the full potential of the show and celebrate it. Not only was it fun to see who got to the buzzer faster, but it was in the camaraderie, where Holzhauer bagged on his cohorts for stealing his "all the chips" approach to betting on Daily Doubles, or how Rutter stood no chance of winning. It was all in good fun, and that was what made it incredible.
In some ways, it was anticlimactic to name Jennings the greatest of all time. Even those who didn't watch the show knew his name. He was the biggest success story in the show's history, using his success to follow his dreams and became a celebrity of knowledge because of the show. He symbolized the power of Jeopardy! to change the world of its contestants for the better, and had done so for 15 years for one contestant who entered on a whim. While that doesn't diminish the success of Holzhauer or Rutter (or anyone who gained a small cult from the show), it only felt right that the man who all these years later still had that twinkle in his eye when looking at questions, buzzer in hand, feeling ready to take on any challenge. Jennings in that way is all of us and symbolizes what can be achieved. It was about more than finding out this fact. It was about understanding the gift that Trebek gave the world, and in that moment having one last enjoyable, tearful victory lap that left the show at its best.
Still, it was Jeopardy! as usual. The only difference was that it was in primetime and there was this underlying sense that it was a moment of expression from Trebek. The host hadn't necessarily been the most open man prior to his cancer diagnosis but had taken the past year as a chance to essentially enjoy his job in more apparent ways. It's in the All Star series, or his budding relationship with Holzhauer that felt like a weird odd couple sitcom within the show. Still, the fourth and final game came with some of his most emotional moments to date on the show. He has become more vulnerable to crying when a sweet sentiment has been made, and it felt like this was his chance to share his most personal note yet.
With the games winding down and the end becoming inevitable, Trebek reached out to his three champions and thanked them for participating. However, there was a sense of mortality to what he was really getting at. Jennings and Rutter had been used to returning for various championships throughout the series' run, but Trebek's comment felt like a period on a long sentence full of commas and ellipses. To him, this was the end for his three champions. Once it was decided who was the greatest, there was no point to keep playing. It was the end of their legacy on the show. At that moment, there was this haunting sense that the comment held some richer subtext, though Trebek hasn't announced any plans for retirement. Still, the knowledge that it is coming soon, the choice to create a metaphorical goodbye may be one of the most powerful moments that the show will ever produce. It put into clarity why Jeopardy! wasn't just a game show. It was a way to share a love of knowledge, and nobody did it better than Trebek.
It should be said despite these small emotional moments, the episodes qualify as some of the most competitive and exciting games of Jeopardy! produced in recent years. The gimmick of seeing Holzhauer play against Jennings was more than an excuse to air two episodes in primetime. It was a chance for Trebek to find the full potential of the show and celebrate it. Not only was it fun to see who got to the buzzer faster, but it was in the camaraderie, where Holzhauer bagged on his cohorts for stealing his "all the chips" approach to betting on Daily Doubles, or how Rutter stood no chance of winning. It was all in good fun, and that was what made it incredible.
In some ways, it was anticlimactic to name Jennings the greatest of all time. Even those who didn't watch the show knew his name. He was the biggest success story in the show's history, using his success to follow his dreams and became a celebrity of knowledge because of the show. He symbolized the power of Jeopardy! to change the world of its contestants for the better, and had done so for 15 years for one contestant who entered on a whim. While that doesn't diminish the success of Holzhauer or Rutter (or anyone who gained a small cult from the show), it only felt right that the man who all these years later still had that twinkle in his eye when looking at questions, buzzer in hand, feeling ready to take on any challenge. Jennings in that way is all of us and symbolizes what can be achieved. It was about more than finding out this fact. It was about understanding the gift that Trebek gave the world, and in that moment having one last enjoyable, tearful victory lap that left the show at its best.
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