‘Jeopardy!’: Mattea Roach Wins Special Super-Champs Game
In the battle of the Jeopardy! super-champs, it was Mattea Roach who walked away victorious over Amy Schneider and Matt Amodio after a fun and somewhat chaotic game.
The Law School Admission Test tutor from Toronto won the game with $17,600, compared to Schneider’s $904 and Amodio’s $3,600, though no money was actually on the line. The exhibition game was a Midterm Election-day special show during the current Tournament of Champions, which resumes with the first semi-finals game tonight, Wednesday, November 9.
Ken Jennings presided over the much-anticipated showdown, which had a relaxed atmosphere. At one point in the episode, Jennings accidentally gave away an answer, which caused him to curse! In the “Numbers Please” category, the host said, “I don’t know if you noticed, but the numbers in that category are 40, 23, 38, and 74, which is larger than all of them – of s**t!”
The show bleeped Jennings’ curse as he comically threw his clue sheet to the ground. He was trying to point out how the answers matched how many games each player on-stage had previously won, including himself, with the “larger than all of them” 74. However, he gave away the last clue, number 40 (Schneider’s win count), before it was read.
Not one to miss an opportunity, Schneider hilariously buzzed in with “Numbers for $200,” answering correctly and eliciting much laughter from the live audience.
This playful atmosphere was felt throughout the episode. At one point, Amodio stopped himself mid-clue to say, “Hi Ki, I just wanted to say hi,” which drew laughs from the crowd. Meanwhile, in a music category, Roach referred to a song by P!nk as “One of my favorite songs when I was, like, four.” Schneider later mimicked Roach’s response when she called Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”: “One of my favorite songs when I was, like, 27.”
“So hilarious! You can tell the players are enjoying themselves and are having fun (it is only a practice game, but still). Very funny blooper by Ken as well,” wrote one YouTube commenter.
“You can tell how much looser and relaxed they are when there’s no real stakes on the line. The three are just having fun,” added another fan, while one person wrote, “What a fun and hilarious match! I think Alex would have been tickled and pleased. ”
Speaking of Alex Trebek, the show paid tribute to the late host on the second anniversary of his death with a category called “Remembering Alex Trebek.” This included clues relating to Trebek’s hometown, his college major, his breakfast of choice, and his hardware collection, the latter of which stumped everyone.
Jeopardy!, Tournament of Champions, Weeknights, Check your local listings
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R
One of the most enjoyable and relaxed episodes in a while, with a lot of genuinely funny (and non-forced) moments, a format that really benefited by Ken's excellent rapport with the champions.
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G
Off point, but I must say that I'm so glad that Ken is hosting. If Mayim had been at the lectern, this would have been a far less enjoyable episode. And may I add that the categories were very obscure and weird.
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R
Very astute observation. All of the fun moments seemed spontaneous rather than borderline scripted, as they seem to be when Mayim hosts - sometimes as a product of her unnatural delivery and poor editing.
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R
I thought it was quite funny! Enjoyed seeing them all with their guard down! I think Ken is doing a great job too!
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G
This trio would fit right into an episode of The Big Bang Theory, but in a good way. Nerdy but entertaining. Fun!
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J
What was kind of fun was how comfortable the contestants were in this game. No surprise there... not only was it NOT a 'real' competitive game, but all three are comfortable on the stage and in front of the camera.
Hurray for Mattea, they played well. Kind of surprised how poorly one contestant did in this game. Answer: "What is Matt?"
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R
I was surprised too, but because it wasn't a real game, he just kept buzzing in right away and getting stuff wrong!
I enjoyed it very much. I really like all 3 of them a lot.
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R
Why are a lot of the questions about Canada. Of course Matteo’s a Super Champ with that help
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P
Uh, Alex was Canadian, the show airs in Canada, Canada is a sibling country to the USA, Ever notice that when Mayim hosts there a lot of questions about Israel and Judaism?
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P
Uh, no.
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G
Exactly. Others have pointed out the Israel boost when she hosts.
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