The classic game show “Jeopardy!” started in 1964 and continues to be one of the most viewed game shows of all time for over 55 years. This competitive trivia game show has a unique aspect of not only giving away prize money to winners but giving them the chance to continue their winning streak in the next upcoming game. “Jeopardy!” celebrated its 20th anniversary by changing the rules of the game that formerly limited winners to only five consecutive wins adding an additional challenge in the game.
The “Jeopardy!” game model started a trend of challenging returning winners to ride on a winning streak to score a top ranking for most successful players. You may remember the name Ken Jennings who is the current host of the show following the passing of the longtime beloved host Alex Trebek but he first made his claim to fame being the No. 1 ranked player on “Jeopardy!”
Ken Jennings is the highest-earning American game show contestant winning money from five game shows but became a household name following the all-time record of 74 wins on “Jeopardy!” in 2004. The previous record for the “Jeopardy!” winning streak was eight wins by Tom Walsh who won $189,600 in January 2004 and Jenning’s won his first show in 2004 then going onto win 74 games with his final game on September 2004 for over $4,500,000.
A new contestant on the current “Jeopardy!” season Amy Schneider hasn’t beat Jenning’s record yet but made game show history with her 40-game winning streak that ranked her No.2 on the all-time consecutive winner ranking “Jeopardy!” and is the first women to surpass $1 million in prize money on the show. Schneider works as an engineering manager from Oakland and went onto win $1,400,000 from the game show.
Schneider has broken the record of the previous title holder from earlier this season, Matt Amodio, with 38 wins bumping him down to the No.3 spot. In the next edition of the spin-off game show “Tournament Of Champions,” Amodio and Schneider will face off for a champion title. Though she might have not surpassed Jennings’ 74-game record, she will have another shot of winning more prize money during her appearance on the upcoming “Tournament Of Champions.”
