Matt Amodio says experiencing so many Jeopardy! guest-hosts hasn't been an advantage in his winning streak

The Ringer

Amodio tonight resumes his Jeopardy! winning streak with his sixth host, Mayim Bialik, after doing shows with Robin Roberts, LeVar Burton, David Faber, Joe Buck and Mike Richards. As The Ringer's Claire McNear points out, the rotating guest-hosts may have been responsible for Jeopardy! earlier this year having the longest drought of four-plus-game winners since the Alex Trebek era began in 1984. "A variety of theories have been put forward as causes of this disturbance in the force," says McNear. "Much was new at Jeopardy! as Season 37 got underway, including new COVID-19 protocols that enforced extra distance between contestants and staff and, as with other quarters of life, introduced some stiffness to a usually nimble process. There were also new faces behind the scenes, including Richards, who took over as executive producer ahead of the season’s start. Early months pulled disproportionately from contestants in Southern California; with an ample backlog of players from further afield, many of those who eventually turned up—as well as their opponents—had had much longer to prepare. Another possible explanation is the presence of the guest hosts. Sixteen stand-ins cycled through over seven months, each bringing varying cadences, styles, and preparation levels. With retaped pickups and inevitable new-job uncertainties, guest tapings frequently stretched hours past when typical Trebek tapings would wrap, tiring contestants, crew, and staff alike. For any Jeopardy! contestant, but in particular for one in the position of playing in all five of the day’s games, it can be grueling. For the first tape day of the season, contestants were asked to arrive early; most turned up around 7:30 a.m. The final game wrapped a full 12 hours later." As Amodio notes, "having to go for a full day, ride the energy all day with all that enthusiasm, and then knowing that you have to go to sleep early and then wake up early to be ready to do it all again—it’s tough. I think that’s one of the reasons why you have so few long-term champions right there, where even if the game weren’t also changing underneath you with new questions, that physical aspect is really tough.” But Amodio adds that having a person reading the clues hasn’t been a big part of the equation. “I actually think a lot of the game’s the same no matter who’s hosting," he says. "Obviously the questions are the same, the day as a contestant is the same—you have the same contestant coordinators. There’s a lot of stuff that’s constant—even whoever’s operating the buzzer. That (timing) appeared to be the same for me. The person standing behind the podium changes, but I was surprised by how steady the experience was.”