Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

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bazodee
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Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

#1 Post by bazodee » Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:48 am

From USA Today:

James Holzhauer just won the “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions, but you haven’t seen the last of him.

Holzhauer and the long-running quiz show’s two other biggest winners, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, will face off in a prime-time Greatest of All Time tournament on ABC in January, marking the first network airing of the original “Jeopardy!” in 30 years. (“Jeopardy” is syndicated to local stations, but airs on ABC outlets in many top markets.)

“When James had his run last year, a lot of people were wondering, well how would he do against Ken Jennings? How would he do against Brad Rutter? (They’re) our two most successful players in Jeopardy history,” says host Alex Trebek in an exclusive interview. “These three players have won close to $10 million in ‘Jeopardy!’ prize money, and over 100 games among them, so it was logical.”

James Holzhauer, with host Alex Trebek, won the 2019 "Jeopardy!" Tournament of Champions, and added $250,000 to his winnings.
But the GOAT tournament will be anything but typical: It consists of a series of two back-to-back games, airing weeknights (8 EST/PST) beginning Jan. 7. The player with the most combined winnings from the two games wins the “match,” and the play continues on successive nights (except Monday) until one of them has won three matches and takes home a $1 million prize. (The other finishers get $250,000 apiece). That means the tournament can last anywhere from three to seven days.

ABC reality programming chief Rob Mills came up with the idea for his "favorite show" and calls it "my dream project" that's destined to succeed in an uncertain TV world. "I don't know how this doesn't become an event."

Rutter and Jennings had faced off against IBM's Watson computer in 2011 and in an All-Stars match in March. But it took Holzhauer's impressive streak to provide a third, captivating player and seal the deal. "The fact that it took somebody to play it like a riverboat gambler ... we had never seen anyone like this," he says. "We had to make this happen."

Holzhauer, 35, set the single-game winnings record on April 17, with more than $131,127, and amassed $2.46 million during his 32-game streak last spring. (He added another $250,000 from last week's tournament.) His quirky demeanor and aggressive betting style won fans and racked up winnings far more quickly than Jennings, 45, who won $2.52 million during 72 games in 2004. Rutter, 41, never cracked the top 10 in regular season play; he first appeared in 2000, when the show limited players to five consecutive games. But he's the biggest overall money winner on an American game show with $4.68 million, mostly from tournaments.

Big winners are ratings magnets: ‘Jeopardy!’ is averaging 8.8 million viewers this season (well ahead of many prime-time shows), but spiked to 14 million at the peak of Holzhauer's run.

Trebek, who’s bravely battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, won’t predict the outcome of the new tournament, scheduled to be taped early next month. But “you have to realize, I think, that Ken and Brad are going to be at a slight disadvantage,” he says. “They won the majority of their monies 10, 15 years ago, so they’ve aged a bit. And are their reflexes going to be as good as James Holzhauer’s? Who knows? But we’re going to find out in this tournament. It’s going to be a blast, we’re all excited about it.”

'Jeopardy!' champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter have faced off before, against IBM's Watson computer, but never against champ James Holzhauer.
One lasting change – and a key to Holzhauer’s success – is his penchant for picking the highest-value clues first, a tactic mimicked by many other players since. “Ken and Brad are familiar with James’ strategy of picking the bottom clues first and picking up some funds to capitalize on the Daily Double if he hits it. Knowing that’s his strategy, they might pre-empt it by doing it themselves,” Trebek says. But "you have to be confident in your knowledge."

The last time "Jeopardy!" aired on a major network in prime time? "Super Jeopardy!," a special edition of the show that featured four players, aired on Saturday nights in the summer of 1990.

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Re: Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

#2 Post by ToLiveIsToFly » Mon Nov 18, 2019 12:12 pm

bazodee wrote:Rutter and Jennings had faced off against IBM's Watson computer in 2011 and in an All-Stars match in March. But it took Holzhauer's impressive streak to provide a third, captivating player and seal the deal.
I dunno. Roger Craig was pretty captivating, and he had leads in Double Jeopardy in both games of their match, and likely would have won if he'd gotten the daily doubles right

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Re: Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

#3 Post by silverscreenselect » Mon Nov 18, 2019 1:45 pm

bazodee wrote:But the GOAT tournament will be anything but typical: It consists of a series of two back-to-back games, airing weeknights (8 EST/PST) beginning Jan. 7. The player with the most combined winnings from the two games wins the “match,” and the play continues on successive nights (except Monday) until one of them has won three matches and takes home a $1 million prize. (The other finishers get $250,000 apiece). That means the tournament can last anywhere from three to seven days.
So, what we're talking about is one hour on primetime for 3-7 nights. I'm curious why they would schedule something for Saturday night, since that is normally a deadzone for the networks as far as original programming is concerned.

Another factor is the NFL playoffs. The Divisional Playoff games will be played on January 11 and 12 (which would be days 5 and 6 of the tournament if it goes that far). NBC, CBS, and Fox will split the coverage of those games. Last year, the Saturday games were played at 4:30 and 8:15, while the Sunday games were played at 1:00 and 4:40. That means that Saturday's broadcast would definitely conflict with a game and Sunday's might conflict with the end of a lengthy game. January 13 (which is the Monday they refer to in the article) is the date of the College Football championship, so it makes sense ABC wouldn't want to schedule a possible Jeopardy finale against the biggest college game of the season on ESPN.
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Re: Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

#4 Post by Ritterskoop » Mon Nov 18, 2019 6:14 pm

It's a little goofy, because after they tape it, they'll know how many nights to schedule for it, which might give stuff away.
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Re: Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

#5 Post by mellytu74 » Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:24 pm

Ritterskoop wrote:It's a little goofy, because after they tape it, they'll know how many nights to schedule for it, which might give stuff away.


That was my first thought.

My second was sss's point about possible clashes with football,

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Re: Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

#6 Post by Bob78164 » Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:27 pm

Ritterskoop wrote:It's a little goofy, because after they tape it, they'll know how many nights to schedule for it, which might give stuff away.
How sure are we that they're taping it in advance rather than showing it live (or doing a same-day taping)? --Bob
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Re: Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

#7 Post by goongas » Mon Nov 18, 2019 9:18 pm

They are taping early December I think I read. The email I got from J! today mentioned all the nights, and asterisks to the days that might not be necessary (like World Series schedules). I imagine they will not want to give away what happens ahead of time, and my guess is this will be a closed set taping because of it (pipe in audience sound after the fact).

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Re: Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

#8 Post by Estonut » Tue Nov 19, 2019 3:33 am

They keep on talking about making this "an event." Do it live, then!

The schedule:

“Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time” will air as follows:
· TUESDAY, JANUARY 7 (8-9 p.m. EST)
· WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8 (8-9 p.m. EST)
· THURSDAY, JANUARY 9 (8-9 p.m. EST)
· *FRIDAY, JANUARY 10 (8-9 p.m. EST)
· *TUESDAY, JANUARY 14 (8-9 p.m. EST)
· *WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15 (8-9 p.m. EST)
· *THURSDAY, JANUARY 16 (8-9 p.m. EST)
*If necessary.

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Re: Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

#9 Post by SpacemanSpiff » Tue Nov 19, 2019 12:09 pm

Estonut wrote:They keep on talking about making this "an event." Do it live, then!
Not a wise idea given Mr. Trebek's health. Tape it now (what, about three weeks away?) before something goes south for him.

(PT BAM was originally "event programming" also, and was never live.)

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Re: Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

#10 Post by Estonut » Tue Nov 19, 2019 12:36 pm

SpacemanSpiff wrote:Not a wise idea given Mr. Trebek's health. Tape it now (what, about three weeks away?) before something goes south for him.
Do you really think they'd air it if his health goes south between taping and the air date?
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Re: Jeopardy Super Tournament on ABC

#11 Post by silverscreenselect » Tue Nov 19, 2019 12:58 pm

Estonut wrote:
SpacemanSpiff wrote:Not a wise idea given Mr. Trebek's health. Tape it now (what, about three weeks away?) before something goes south for him.
Do you really think they'd air it if his health goes south between taping and the air date?
Yes they would and would do so as an ultimate tribute to Trebek. And not in a tacky, exploitative way, but sincerely.
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