. >> alex trebek!is year. as a young mormon kid living in korea, jennings said watching armed forces television was his favorite way to pass the time. and his favorite thing to watch? game shows, of course. >> i think it was actually the game play itself. it was a version of the world with well defined rules where you could watch a few of them and understand the format and as a kid dealing with a confusing world, game shows are different. questions get answered almost immediately. for a right answer, there is a ping. for a wrong answer, an immediate buzz. it's not like life, which is messy. game shows are neat and fun and easy. >> reporter: in college, instead of following his dreams of writing, he opted to become what he calls a bad computer programmer. figuring it was the safe choice. he married his sweetheart, mindy, started a family and thought that's how his life would go. >> i'm alex trebek and welcome to the "jeopardy!" contestant exam. >> reporter: on a whim, he took the "jeopardy!" contestant

stephen, brian, josh, welcome back to the alex trebek stage, and good luck.nto the jeopardy! round. here are your categories. we have some... followed by... then... we have... and finally... stephen, start us off. all right, uh, could we have place name etymologies for $1,000, please? this port city at the southeast tip of the korean peninsula comes from words for "cauldron" and "mountain." stephen. -what's, uh, inchon? -no, i'm sorry.

from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is... here are today's past champions-- an economics professor from lakewood, ohio... a contract compliance analyst from pittsburgh, pennsylvania... and an english professor from calumet, michigan... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings.

from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is the "jeopardy!"tational tournament. here are today's contestants. a writer from oakland, california... a bar owner and author from new york, new york... and an art strategist from philadelphia, pennsylvania... and now, here is the host of "jeopardy!"-- ken jennings. thank you, johnny, and welcome back to the "jeopardy!" invitational tournament. in friday's game, it was matt jackson with the impressive dominant runaway win, a real statement win. today, we welcome to the alex trebek stage two tournament of champions winners and a bartder. celeste, austin, and amy are back with us. good luck to all three of you. let's get into the jeopardy! round, where the categories will be these. first up, i'm... then, we have... hey, let's get a drink! followed by... a little game of... and finally... celeste, start the game for us. how 'bout so nice, we need the answer twice for $600?

from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is the "jeopardy!"g today's contestants. a software engineer from los angeles, california... a grad student in computer science and public policy, originally from washington, dc... and a software engineer from brooklyn, new york... and now, here is the host of "jeopardy!"-- ken jennings. thank you, johnny gilbert, and welcome, everyone, to the 9,000th episode of "jeopardy!" speaking as someone who first stepped onto this stage as a contestant way back in episode 4,493, and has been a fan of the show since the very first alex trebek episodes aired in 1984, i could not be more thrilled to be here as part of this milestone 40 years in the making. our 9,000th episode finds us three quarter-final games into the "jeopardy!" invitational tournament. and yesterday, it was larissa kelly, who despite not finding a single daily double in the double jeopardy! round, managed to finish the game with over $40,000 and is headed to the semi-finals. let's find out who will join her today of terry, matt, and alan. welcome

from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is "jeopardy!" champions wildcard.

. >> those trains are still on the track, dan ♪♪ from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios,s is "jeopardy!" champions wildcard. ♪♪ [applause] here are today's past champions. an accounting director from bayside, new york... a podcast host from portland, oregon... and a corporate communication specialist from simsbury, connecticut... [applause] and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings! [cheering and applause]

. >> they got 38 total mushers competing ♪♪ from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this"jeopardy!" second chance. [applause] for the deciding game, here are our three second chance finalists. a sophomore health policy and management major at the university of north carolina at chapel hill from hoover, alabama...

. >> team salvo from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is the... ♪♪ today's contestantsoral scientist from atlanta, georgia... a lawyer from marino, italy... and an educator from minneapolis, minnesota... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings. [cheers and applause] thank you, folks. thank you, johnny gilbert. and welcome back to the "jeopardy" invitational tournament. in yesterday's sixth quarterfinal game, we had our first come-from-behind win of the tourney, as jennifer quail bet it all in final jeopardy! and was the only one to come up with the correct response, winning from third place. what kind of exciting game are we in for today as we welcome back sam, chuck, and monica? let's start finding out. good luck, you three. we head into the jeopardy! round with these categories. we have... then... some... followed by... and finally, the satirical work by ambrose bierce... sam, you'll make the first selection. free for all for $800, please.

from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios... this is the...ause] please welcome back our finalists-- a philosophy professor from green bay, wisconsin... a music executive from tampa, florida... and a social and personality psychologist from vancouver, washington... and now, here is the host of "jeopardy!"-- ken jennings! [cheers and applause] [applause] thank you, johnny gilbert. and welcome back to the finals in the tournament of champions. in yesterday's game two, all three of our finalists were cruising through the double jeopardy! round with solid scores, and then this happened. true daily double. okay. [cheers and applause] [applause] - what is petrified wood? - that is correct. you have, whoa, $43,600! [cheers and applause] [applause] that daily double wager was the third largest in "jeopardy!" history and the biggest ever made by anyone not named james holzhauer. [laughter] and it slingshotted troy to a runaway victory. both he and ben have now picked up one win apiece, but remember, this is a best-of-seven series where the first player

from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is... ♪♪ please welcome our finalists-- a philosophyonsin... a music executive from tampa, florida... and a social and personality psychologist from vancouver, washington... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings. [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny, and welcome to the finals of the tournament of champions. as debuted in last year's finals, this year's toc will once again culminate in a best-of-seven series in which the first player to accumulate three wins will be named our champi. out of a field of 27 champs, the largest we've ever had in one of these tournaments, only three now remain-- yogesh, troy, and ben. good luck, finalists. here we go with these categories in the jeopardy! round. we begin with... various newspapers, large and small. then... then... and finally...

. ♪♪ from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is the... ♪♪ please welcome back our threefrom green bay, wisconsin... a music executive from tampa, florida... and a social and personality psychologist from vancouver, washington... ♪♪ and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings! [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny gilbert, and welcome back to the "jeopardy!" tournament of champions. so far, we have seen some tremendous gameplay in these finals. ben has responded correctly to 73 clues, troy has come up with 103, and yogesh leads with 112 correct responses after notching 29 in yesterday's game alone. that's the highest we have seen in a single game in this tournament. can troy add one more win to his column today and force this to a game seven? let's start finding out. for possibly the last time in this tournament, here are your categories in the jeopardy! round. ♪♪

download our abc seven bay area from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is the... ♪contestants-- a business control specialist originally from florence, south carolina... a grad student from cambridge, massachusetts... and a writer and television personality from pittsburgh, pennsylvania... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings. [cheers and applause] thank you so much, johnny. welcome to "jeopardy!" yesterday we had our second straight come-from-behind win, as sam kavanaugh made a savvy wager in final to secure his spot in the semis with a $1 margin of victory. next up on our jit list, we're welcoming back victoria, dhruv, and ben. nice to see you three. good luck. let's get into the game. here are your categories in the first round of play. first up... then we have... followed by... and finally, some long ones... victoria, what'll you have? i'll have state flags for $800, please. - victoria. - what is new hampshire? - right. - state flags for $1,000.

♪ ♪ the little pill ♪ ♪♪ from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is the... ♪♪ here, illinois... [mouth words] a professor from merion station, pennsylvania... and a scenic artist from toronto, ontario, canada... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings! [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny gilbert. and welcome back, everyone, to the quarterfinals of our tournament of champions. at this point, only three spots remain in the semifinals, and today, to find out who will be our next champion to advance, we've invited back ray lalonde, melissa klapper, and what's this? tv's ike barinholtz? [laughter] that's right. for the first time ever, we have invited a "celebrity jeopardy!" champion to join us for the toc. we're delighted to see you all. good luck to everybody. let's see what categories await you in the jeopardy! round. ♪♪ first up, we have... then... followed by... note that "v." followed by... and... ray, where would you like to start? oh. "v"acation spots for $800, please.

from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is... ♪♪ today's fifth group of "jeopardy!"re... a psychiatrist from whitby, ontario, canada... a trail planner from silver spring, maryland... and an attorney from arlington, virginia... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings. [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny. and welcome back, everyone, to our tournament of champions. today is leap day, and it's also the midpoint of our first round. we have seen the return of 12 of our 27 champions. and today we welcome back three more-- luigi, kevin, and juveria. good luck to all three of you. here comes the jeopardy! round where we have these six categories for you. first up, we're going... then we have... some... followed by a little break to... then we have... and finally... luigi, start us off. around the world for $800, please. - juveria. - what is yangtze? - yes. - around the world for $1,000.

from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is... ♪♪ today's contestants are... and editor, california... an upper school mathematics faculty member from carrollton, texas... and a doctoral student from little rock, arkansas... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings. [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny. welcome back to the "jeopardy" invitational tournament. yesterday's first quarterfinal game was classic andrew he. andrew found two daily doubles back to back, wagered big on both, was correct on both, and that set him up for the win and brought him one step closer to a return trip to "jeopardy!" masters. today we welcome leonard, jason, and larissa to the j-i-t, jit. good luck to all three of you. let's find out what categories you'll be dealing with in the "jeopardy!" round. we have some... ...up first. then... i'm afraid... then we have... and... leonard, you're gonna select first. i'll take characters in book series for $600. - larissa. - who is curious george? - that's him. - cinema in 2023, $800, please.

download our abc seven bay area streaming from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios... this [applause] please welcome our finalists-- a philosophy professor from green bay, wisconsin... a music executive from tampa, florida... and a social and personality psychologist from vancouver, washington... and now, here is the host of "jeopardy!!"-- ken jennings! [cheers and applause] [applause] thank you, johnny gilbert. welcome to the fourth game in our tournament of champions finals. so far, this series is all knotted up at one win apiece for yogesh, troy and ben. and as this is a first-to-three-wins tournament, we know we're in for at least two more games before we determine our winner. it's been great so far. i can't wait to see what happens next. let's get right into the game. good luck, champs. here are your categories in the jeopardy! round. ♪♪ first up... then we have... we're going...

. ♪♪ from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is the... ♪♪ please welcome back our finalists from tampa, florida... and a social and personality psychologist from vancouver, washington... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings! [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny gilbert, and welcome, everyone, to the fifth game of this tournament of champions finals. in friday's game, it was ben chan who came up with a clutch correct response in final jeopardy! to pull off his second come-from-behind win of this series. another win for ben today would hand him the toc championship, but i have a feeling yogesh and troy will be doing everything in their power to ensure that this thing goes to a game six. good luck, finalists. let's get to work in the jeopardy! round. ♪♪ here are your categories. we begin in...

we'll see you again at from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is the... ♪♪ let's welcomes contestants-- a writer and tv personality originally from jamaica, new york... a wine-tasting consultant from dowagiac, michigan... and an online trivia league host from tulsa, oklahoma... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings. [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny. and welcome back to the quarterfinals of our first ever "jeopardy" invitational. the last three games of this tournament have all ended in a runaway victory. yesterday, david madden was our most recent player to punch his ticket to the semifinals that way. and today alex, jennifer, and brandon are here hoping to seal the same fate. good luck to all three of you. let's get to work in the jeopardy! round. here are your categories. first up, you're... then we have... a little bit of... then... and... alex, what'll you have? trending, $800.

♪ from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, ♪ the little pill ♪ this is... ♪♪ here is ourassen, minnesota... a social and personality psychologist from vancouver, washington... and an episcopal priest from walla walla, washington... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings. [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny gilbert. welcome, everyone, to the second of our three semifinal games in this "jeopardy!" tournament of champions. yesterday we kicked off the semis with an exciting game that ended in a tough final jeopardy! and very nearly a come-from-behind win for our celebrity champion, ike barinholtz. if only he had made a different wager. but in the end, it was ben chan who emerged as our winner, and he now waits to see which two champions will be joining him in the finals. today we welcome back david, yogesh, and emily. good luck. let's see what categories are in play for you as we begin the jeopardy! round. up first... then... after that, good news... followed by... david sibley, you make the first selection. literary awards, $600. - emily. - what are the ne

from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is... ♪♪ here is our third group of semifinalistsst services agent from lafollette, tennessee... a music executive from tampa, florida... and an attorney from arlington, virginia... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings. [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny gilbert. and welcome, everyone, to the last of our semifinal games in this year's tournament of champions. so far we have added ben chan and yogesh raut to our finals roster, and today we'll add one more name. we know it will either be luigi de guzman, troy meyer, or brian henegar. good luck to all three of you. here are the categories you'll be facing in the jeopardy! round. we begin with... then we're headed... we have... followed by... and finally, some... possibly the scariest kind of anagram. luigi, you begin. all right. on wheels for $1,000, please. made without brakes, track bicycles are designed for this type of building, and here they are going around inside one. brian. what is a velodrome? right. dealing with tv reality for $600, please.

from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, this is... ♪♪ let's welcome back today's contestantsy-at-home dad from concord, california... a justice researcher originally from chicago, illinois... and a global health consultant from arlington, virginia... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!"--ken jennings. [cheers and applause] thank you. thank you, johnny gilbert. and welcome to our first ever "jeopardy!" invitational tournament. in this one-of-a-kind competition, we've invited back 27 players from the past all competing for a coveted spot in this year's "jeopardy!" masters. over the next few weeks, our contestants will play nine quarterfinal games with nine winners advancing to the semifinals. then the victors from that round will head to the finals, where the first player to notch two wins will be named our champion. i'm looking forward to inviting back all 27 of them. some of them are contestants i played against. others i played alongside. many of them are people i've admired as a "jeopardy!" fan and a player. it's all very exciting.

♪ from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios... ♪ the little pill ♪ this is the...uth boston, massachusetts... a restaurant server from san francisco, california... and a music executive from tampa, florida... and now, here is the host of "jeopardy!"-- and ken jennings!tive from tampa, florida... [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny. and welcome, everyone, to the last of our quarterfinal games in this year's tournament of champions. we have eight newly crowned semifinalists ready and waiting for that round to begin tomorrow. but today, we welcome back troy, deb, and sean. good luck to all three of you. let's get into the game. your categories in the jeopardy! round will be... first... then we have... followed by... x will be the exact middle letter in each response. and then... and... troy, start the game off for us. islands for $800, please. in 1863, the ancient statue seen here was discovered on this greek island.

from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios, on all 2024 silverado 1500 pickups. this is theplease welcome today's contestants. an academic competition director from ridgewood, new jersey... a writer originally from cleveland, ohio... and a teacher and phd student from tulsa, oklahoma... and now, here is the host of "jeopardy!"-- ken jennings. thank you, johnny. welcome back to the "jeopardy!" invitational tournament. yesterday's game was a very good one for amy schneider, our 2022 tournament of champions winner and a masters alum. she won in convincing fashion to advance out of the quarter-finals. today, mackenzie, arthur, and david are with us hoping to do the same. welcome back, and good luck. let's get to work in the jeopardy! round. your categories will be, first up... wow. big, if true. then, we have... then... and some... mackenzie, where do we want to start? let's do 4-word tv synopses for $600.

download our abc seven bay area streaming from the alex trebek stage at sony pictures studios... this is the... [applause] welcoming back today's finalists-- a philosophy professor from green bay, wisconsin... a music executive from tampa, florida... and a social and personality psychologist from vancouver, washington... and now, here is the host of "jeopardy!"-- ken jennings! [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny, and welcome back to the finals in this tournament of champions. in yesterday's game one, it was ben chan who pulled off the come-from-behind victory with a savvy wager and a correct response in final jeopardy! today, 61 new clues await our finalists as yogesh and tr are each hoping to lock in their first wins in this first-to-three competition. good luck. welcome back. let's get right into the game. here are your categories in the jeopardy! round. we have... followed by... then we're... note that b-i-t in quotation marks. followed by... but first, i need you to... [laughter] yogesh, where do you want to start?