Attorney and theater producer Adam Remsen returned to the Alex Trebek Stage to play his second game of Jeopardy! after defeating his opponents with a total of $20,000. Remsen looked to keep his title of Jeopardy! champ as he fended off competitors, Sue Barndt, a professor from Claremont, California, and Benjy Malings, an attorney from Los Angeles, California. Warning: Spoilers for the June 15 episode of Jeopardy! ahead!
“Our new champion, Adam Remsen, ended last week with a runaway win, and when I asked him last week how he thought it went, he replied, ‘It felt good. What I remember from it.’ I remember that feeling, Adam,” recalled host Ken Jennings.
And as a special treat, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were the special guest stars this episode, promoting Toy Story 5 with the category “Toys Old & New.”
In the first clue of the June 15 game of Jeopardy!, Remsen began the game with the category “Begins Like a Month” for $800 and the clue read: “These percussion instruments are made of hollow gourds or synthetic shells filled with seeds, beads, or similar materials.” Malings buzzed in and answered, “What are maracas?” making him the first person on the board.
The Daily Double was discovered under “The 1930s” for $800 by Malings. Betting $1,400 on the clue “Marguerite Perey discovered this element in 1939 but had to wait a little while to name it for her homeland,” he incorrectly guessed, “What is germanium?” The answer was francium.
After correctly identifying the “TV: Who Said It?” clue 15 — “Lemon, the grown-up dating world is like your haircut: Sometimes, awkward triangles occur” (the answer was Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock) — Remsen pulled ahead with $4,000 by the first commercial break. Malings sat in second place with $1,200, while Barndt trailed with $600.
In the getting-to-know-you segment, Malings explained how his obsession with Jeopardy! even crept into his wedding with a trivia game, while Barndt talked about how her kids were about to compete in the World Scholars Cup and that it was a “high blood pressure week” in her household with all the competitions. Remsen chatted about his experience as a theater producer in a bare-bones theater, and “he loves it.”
Hanks closed out the round with the final question in the “Toys Old & New” category for $200: “Sure, he could be sarcastic and cynical in Toy Story films, but he’s a devoted family man, and when introduced in the 1950s, he was just a man of many parts. You had to provide your own spud.” Barndt chimed in with Mr. Potato Head, bringing her final total in the first round to $1,000, good for third place behind Malings with $1,600 and Remsen with $7,400.
In Double Jeopardy, Barndt immediately found the Daily Double of the round with the first clue under “8-Letter Cities.” She wagered $2,000 against her $1,000 on the clue, “Check out the nightclub Meca for dancehall music in this world capital.” She answered incorrectly with Riyadh, bringing her total to -$1,000. The answer was Kingston, Jamaica.
Malings shortly found the third Daily Double under “Moves by Character” for $1,600. Betting $2,500 against $2,800, he got the clue, “A musical from 2017: Jenny Lind, Chang & Eng.” Malings incorrectly answered La La Land, bringing his total to $300. The answer was The Greatest Showman.
Malings used the Double Jeopardy round to catch up to Remsen, eventually putting his early setback behind him as he steadily closed the gap and challenged for the lead. However, in the final stretch of the round, Remsen pulled away as Malings missed a few clues, setting up an exciting finish. By the end of Double Jeopardy, Barndt had fallen out of contention with -$1,000, while Malings sat at $7,900 and Remsen led with $14,600 heading into Final Jeopardy.
In the category “Unlikely Authors,” the Final Jeopardy clue was: “Set around Tikrit, Zabibah & the King is a historical romance novel from 2000 attributed to this man.” Malings wrote something incoherent, possibly running out of time. Even Jennings said, “I don’t know… starts with an S?” He lost all but $300.
Did Remsen get the right answer?
Remsen wrote in “Who was Hussein?” the correct answer, referring to Saddam Hussein’s hobby of writing romance novels. Adding $1,201, his new total was $15,801, giving him a two-day total of $35,801.
Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock.