Mayim Bialik doesn’t take over for Ken Jennings on smart people Jeopardy! until next year, but until then, she’s the host of Celebrity Jeopardy! (RIP Norm).
The new season kicked off on Sunday with Conan sidekick Andy Richter, SNL cast member (and Comedy Bang Bang legend) Ego Nwodim, and Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu. Richter was the favorite heading into Final Jeopardy with $21,100, ahead of Liu ($11,600) and Nwodim ($10,000). The category was “Landlocked Countries” and the clue read, “It’s the world’s smallest landlocked country in both area and population.” Liu correctly wrote down “Vatican City” with a $11,600 wager, giving him a total of $23,200. As for Richter, he guessed “Liechtenstein,” which not only dropped him down to $18,900 — but also gave the game to Liu.
His reaction:
Not me WINNING CELEBRITY JEOPARDY and realizing I could no longer make my dinner plans later that day because I had to compete in semis 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/65CtPd89xE
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) September 26, 2022
A shocked Liu advanced to the Semi-Finals, where he’ll compete against one of the following: Constance Wu, BJ Novak, Michael Cera, Candace Parker, Iliza Shlesinger, Ray Romano, Aisha Tyler, Patton Oswalt, Eddie Huang, Reggie Watts, Ike Barinholtz, or Jalen Rose. You can see the complete schedule and results here.
Celebrity Jeopardy! also features a tweak to the show’s format:
To stretch the game into an hourlong episode, [Celebrity Jeopardy!] has added Triple Jeopardy — a first for the American version of the show — in which clues start at $300 and go up to $1,500. The material will start off easier than in a typical game, which contestants take a test to qualify for. (It isn’t likely to sink to the level of SNL sketches, though, in which one clue read: “This is the thing that becomes toast.”)
Celebrity Jeopardy! airs on ABC on Sunday nights.
(Via the New York Times)
