Jeopardy! has been in full-on returning player mode since September 2023, partly due to last summer’s WGA strike, and there is still one more tournament to come following the currently airing Tournament of Champions.
As previously announced, the brand new Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament (JIT) will follow the TOC and is set to feature some of “the best players of all time,” including fan favorites and 2022 TOC finalists Amy Schneider, Andrew He, and Sam Buttrey.
On the latest episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss shared some more details on the JIT, revealing it will air from around March 29 to April 12.
“This is a field of 27; these are some of the best players from all time,” Foss said, noting that taping on the JIT has now begun. “I’m really excited to see some of these folks back on the Alex Trebek stage competing.”
Foss continued, “Some of them haven’t competed in over a decade… some in recent years.”
The long-time Jeopardy! producer did note they “made a specific cutoff for this JIT.”
“We decided anyone who competed in the 2022 Tournament of Champions, like that season, that we were gonna take qualifiers from before then,” Foss explained. “Because all of them were, in fact, able to qualify for Masters, those who played before 2022, Masters didn’t exist.”
The winner of the tournament will earn a spot in the next Jeopardy! Masters season, which is scheduled to air on ABC primetime this May. Legendary Jeopardy! super-champ James Holzhauer won last year’s Masters and will return this season to defend his crown.
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“Of course, we only have 27 spots [in the JIT], so there are more great champions we can invite this year. But we are intending that this will be an annual event, and we’ll get to continue to invite back some of the Jeopardy! greats,” Foss added.
The JIT will play out over six quarterfinal games, three semifinals, and then a first-to-two finals. After the conclusion of the JIT around April 12, regular Jeopardy! with new contestants will finally return.
So far, the only confirmed names for the JIT are He, Schneider, and Buttrey, who cemented their spots after placing fourth, fifth, and sixth in last year’s Jeopardy! Masters.
Fans are still waiting to hear who else will be returning to the Alex Trebek stage, but the show reaching out to names from the past has sent the rumor mill into overdrive.
One name many viewers are hoping to see is Brad Rutter, the iconic super-champ who competed in the Greatest of All Time tournament against Ken Jennings and Holzhauer.
(Credit: ABC/Eric McCandless)
Others want to see 2021 TOC winner Sam Kavanaugh, who was snubbed from the first Masters competition.
“Brad because he’s one of the GOATS (despite his performance at the actual GOAT tournament) and Sam because he probably should have been at the last masters,” wrote one fan on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum.
“I really am hoping to see Sam Kavanaugh. It still doesn’t sit well with me that the show bypassed him for Masters while holding its eligibility period open during the ToC he won,” said another.
“I’m so incredibly amped for JIT it’s silly. Hoping for Forrest, Spangenberg, Alex Jacob, Rachael Schwartz, Larissa Kelly, Robin Carroll, Leszek, and too many others to name!” wrote another commenter.
“The person I’m most interested in seeing is David Madden, while he didn’t do so well in his Tournament of Champions appearance, I recall he was a beast in Jeopardy All Stars. I really hope he gets invited,” said one fan.
Another added, “I’d say Julia Collins should be on the list above some of those folks. You really can’t tell the story of the modern super champ era without talking about one of the best streakers between Ken and the last few years.”
Are you excited for the JIT? Let us know who you’d like to see return for the competition in the comments below.
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This story originally appeared on TV Insider
