Season 41 of Jeopardy! has come down to its last week. 12-day champion Scott Riccardi is starting off the last week of the game show as the super champion of the season, and fans think he “saved” it.
Scott Riccardi will go for win number 13 on Monday, July 21. He is the contestant to win the most games of Season 41. Riccardi currently has a 12-day total of $312, 501, putting him in the top 20 all-time winnings for regular season shows. Laura Faddah had an eight game winning streak that ended in March, making her the second highest of the season.
The beginning of the season delivered three, four, and five-day champions, but no runs like the current one. In the spring, the game show even had six-day winners, but their totals didn’t exceed $150,000. June saw back-to-back one-day champions.
Riccardi’s run has “saved” Jeopardy!, according to some fans, and many hope to see him continue into Season 42 and climb the leaderboard. “Scott’s Wide Range of Brilliance Really Saved this Season from Being Completely Dreadful. It seriously did,” a Facebook user in the group, Jeopardy Fan Group, wrote.
Many fans commented “I agree” on the post. “I actually stopped watching it for a bit because no one ever won more than one or two games,” one Facebook user said.
“I agree. [The season] was really sinking fast.
“Even though the one-day winners were making me a bit crazy, I still always love the game even with that ongoing frustration, but Scott’s broad and impressive breadth of knowledge has definitely got me fired up again in the best Jeopardy tradition (and I say that as someone who started watching in the Art Fleming days). He has now started accumulating some very serious money, so I think it shouldn’t be long before he starts climbing his way up the all-time leaderboard. I’ll definitely be watching when he does!” wrote another.
“I am amazed at how much Scott knows,” said a fan.
“I wouldn’t say the entire season has been dreadful, but the last month or two before Scott began his win streak were a bit rough,” commented another.
“I wouldn’t say it’s been dreadful, but it definitely needed someone like Scott to pick it up! It’s more exciting when there’s someone to cheer on to win more games. Some of the prior games were kind of dull to watch,” a fan said.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the whole season, but Scott is great,” one last fan commented.
What did you think of this season? Was it dreadful before Scott? Let us know in the comments.
Jeopardy!, weeknights, check local listings
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
