The 38th season of “Jeopardy!” debuts tonight with the man who is in third place on the game show’s all-time highest winnings list.
Matt Amadio of New Haven, Conn., returns tonight after winning 18 games and $574,801.
He will go up against Amdé Mengistu, a legal recruiter from Brooklyn, N.Y., and Gabbie Kim, a mother of two and birth doula from Pittsburgh, as he attempts to secure his 19th straight victory.
According to Sony Pictures Television, “Amodio starts the new season in third place on the ‘Jeopardy!’ all-time highest winnings list (regular games), behind only two players in the show’s history: James Holzhauer ($2,462,216) and Ken Jennings ($2,520,700). Amodio is currently in fifth place on the list of all-time consecutive games won.”
The new season begins after months of controversy have plagued the game show.
The season opens with former executive producer Mike Richards as host because filming had already begun when the controversy erupted. Richards taped a week of shows. Then, actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik will be seen hosting for several weeks because she was named to temporarily fill in at the podium.
Bialik and Richards had been named on Aug. 11 as co-hosts - Richards as the full-time host of the syndicated program and Bialik as the host of primetime and spinoff series including the upcoming all-new “Jeopardy! National College Championship” on ABC next year.
Richards then resigned after offensive comments he made on a podcast years ago resurfaced.
Richards was let go as executive producer of both “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” in late August.
According to reports, the action was revealed in a memo to staff members on Aug. 31.
In the memo, Suzanne Prete, executive vice president of business and strategy for “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!” said, “We had hoped that when Mike stepped down from the host position at Jeopardy! it would have minimized the disruption and internal difficulties we have all experienced these last few weeks. That clearly has not happened.”
In the interim, according to the memo, Michael Davies from Embassy Row will help with production.
According to the New York Times, Richards had faced lawsuits in his last job running “The Price is Right” “that included accusations of sexist behavior.”
Richards and Bialik were among guest hosts who served one or two week stints starting in late January and continuing through early August.
Richards emerged as the frontrunner to take over for longtime host Alex Trebek who died on Nov. 8, 2020, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
The first guest host was “Jeopardy!” Greatest of All Time, Ken Jennings followed by Richards, Feb. 22-March 5.
They were followed by Katie Couric, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Aaron Rodgers, Anderson Cooper, Bill Whitaker, Bialik, Savannah Guthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, LaVar Burton, David Faber and Joe Buck.
Buzzy Cohen hosted the “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions” May 17-28.
Fans have supported Burton getting the permanent job. Most recently, fans are encouraging Sony to hire Cohen as the host.
“Jeopardy!” airs on CBS at 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. ET in most areas.
- WATCH LIVE: Paramount+; fuboTV; Hulu Live TV
Bialik is best known for her work on “The Big Bang Theory” and “Blossom.” She is an actress and a neuroscientist. She currently appears in “Call Me Kat” on Fox.
Sony has said it is continuing its search for a permanent host and will use more guest hosts until one is hired.
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