After a stellar first outing, the second season of Celebrity Jeopardy! arrived with a lot to live up to. Season 1's 13-episode run was an exciting battle of wits starring a diverse crop of celebrities, who competed to win $1 million for a charity of their choice. And its finale wrapped an exhilarating bow on the whole thing: Winner Ike Barinholtz trounced runner-up Patton Oswalt by just $1.
Thankfully, Season 2 was another thrilling package of delight and drama. With Jeopardy's GOAT Ken Jennings taking the reins this season from former co-host Mayim Bialik, Celebrity Jeopardy!'s sophomore effort came with an increased sense of gravitas. But when the season premiere ended with Schitt's Creek star Emily Hampshire entering Final Jeopardy! with a shockingly low tally of -$1,100, viewers knew they were still in for a unique brand of unpredictable game-show goodness. (One contestant, pro wrestler Becky Lynch, even set a Jeopardy! franchise record: She was the first player ever to not give a single correct response.)
As much fun as it was to watch celebs squirm and struggle, Celebrity Jeopardy! was hardly devoid of trivia mavens. The show was at its best when its personalities were not only wildly well-prepared—and competitive—but also intent on crafting a great episode of television. And Tuesday night's finale, much like last year's, boasted a top-notch final three whose competitors were closely matched in smarts and scores.
The tight race was made all the more exciting when the contestant who was trailing behind ended up taking home the whole thing. Lisa Ann Walter, best known for The Parent Trap and Abbott Elementary, entered Final Jeopardy! in third place, with $13,800 to journalist/podcast hosts Katie Nolan's $19,500 and Mo Rocca's $21,100.
"I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I sucked on the buzzer," Walter tells The Daily Beast's Obsessed about how she was feeling entering that last round. "I was like, 'These two are neck-and-neck. … I'm not going to win.'"
But when both Nolan and Rocca bet it all—and got the question wrong—Walter walked away with the only correct response and, thus, the win. (That winning question: "What is, 'The butler did it?'") As Jennings had reminded us at the episode's start, Walter hadn't failed a Final Jeopardy! round all season, and that streak remained unbroken.
"It took me a second to understand that both of them got it wrong, and I had won," she said. "And then my knees buckled."
We spoke to Walter the night after the finale aired about how she nailed that tough final round, how she kept her win secret from her family, and whether Celebrity Jeopardy! is as "easy" as some fans claim. (Plus, for good measure, she also names an Abbott Elementary co-star who would make a great contestant for Season 3.)
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Congratulations on winning the show! That was one of the most exciting game show finales I've seen in a while.
Thank you. As soon as I got done crying, I turned around to Michael Davies, the producer, and I said, "That's good TV."
It was great TV. Watching your win was so fun from my end—you were visibly shocked. Relive that moment for me.
It's kind of the name of the game going into Final Jeopardy! [that] you have to at least be able to bet and be competitive. So I was like, "No, these two are neck-and-neck. They're going to try to figure out competitive betting against each other, but I'm not going to win. … Where do I get to the point where I feel like I didn't embarrass myself?" [But I thought,] I'm in the finals. I'm going to at least make $100,000 for charity. That's going to be good. But it's still embarrassing—I still feel like I've let my family down.
[But] what they told me was that I was the only one who got all of the Final Jeopardy! answers right in the tournament. And I thought, let me just keep the streak going. And so when it came up, they said something about Mary Roberts Reinhardt—I didn't know that author, so I was a little panicky at the top. But as soon as they got to [the full prompt,] "What four-word literary cliche came from a book where the servant kills the mistress?" my brain went, "The butler did it." I knew it. I didn't doubt, and I didn't second guess.
It was immediate.
I remember Ken was like, "You got it right, and you doubled your score—$27,500." And my response was, "I'm going to lose with that amount." So when Katie got it wrong. I was surprised—because both these contestants are so, so smart in a wide range of subjects, like myself. And when she did, I just thought, maybe it's because she's young—it's kind of an old-fashioned saying. But Mo's totally gonna get it.
When he didn't get it [either,] it took me a second—because I can't see [what he wrote down.] I only got it by what Ken was saying. Ken said, "No, I'm sorry," and I was like, "Wait a minute. You didn't get it?" It took me a second to understand that both of them got it wrong, and I had won. And then my knees buckled. … I knew I was shaking. I didn't know how to control that one.
It was an emotional moment for us at home too. We could see how much they bet—I was surprised that both Mo and Katie bet it all. Were you taken aback that they not only got it wrong, but that they got it wrong with such big swings?
I was pretty sure that they were each trying to gauge in their betting, "How much do I have to bet to beat them if they bet it all?" But they weren't thinking about me. So I bet it all [too], because why not? I knew I was going to win for my charity [the Entertainment Community Fund]. I'm not thinking, I got to come back next week with a certain amount of money.
This was your last chance to play the game.
There was so much going through my head at that point. Like, "This is going to seem like a lot for a Jeopardy! moment—I'm shaking and crying. Like, it's Jeopardy!, calm down." But it was such a big deal to my mom—playing Jeopardy!, sitting in the house and answering the questions, knowing that she knew all this trivia and that she was right most of the time. Every single night at 7 p.m., we would watch Jeopardy! together.
So in that moment, when I won, the fact that [the response] came to me so fast— whether it was her actual spirit or who she was when she was alive, [my mom] was with me in that moment. And that's what made me emotional.
That's lovely. You had mentioned at the top of the show that you were playing for your family as much as your charity.
Yeah. I think once I won, I said, I'm good now. I don't have to win anything else. I mean, I'd still like an Emmy and an Oscar—but do I have to win anything else? No, I don't, because I'm a Jeopardy! champion. It's fakakta Celebrity Jeopardy!, but I'm still a champion.
Yes! Something else I noticed, especially in this final episode, was that Ken kept trying to dispute the notion that Celebrity Jeopardy! is easier than the main show. Do you think it's easier?
It's 100-percent easier. … Listen, if I want to have a boon to my mental health, I'll watch the [college championship,] because that one, I feel like I'm pretty good at. But when they go into the real esoteric stuff, I'm like, "Yeah, I don't know about that." Although I will say that I almost always get Final Jeopardy! Right, for some reason."
As part of winning Celebrity Jeopardy!, you're invited to compete in the Tournament of Champions, right? Is that in the cards for you?
I don't think it's a direct ascension. I know they invited Ike Barinholtz to play, and he said he would. [The producers] are very smart about this—they have you on their podcast, and then they ask you [if you want to come back], and then you're very moved and you say, "Of course I'll play." But I was smart enough to say, "I would be thrilled to come back and lose in the first round of your Tournament of Champions."
It's a different crowd on the Tournament of Champions. It's intimidating.
Extremely. I don't have that kind of time, I'm going to be honest with you. The stuff I know, I know. I remember Katie Nolan said [she] was practicing the capitals and geography. It doesn't matter if I practice—if I know it, I know it, and I don't know why I know it.
My brain is full. At this age, it is all the way filled up with old song lyrics from the '60s through the '90s. … I'm fine. I don't need to do any more game shows.
Where's your Celebrity Jeopardy! trophy now?
I'm gonna take a picture of it right now, because we're on the phone. … It's on my console where I've got some pictures of my family, my mother's collections of Virgin Mary [statues], and my SAG award. I have a bunch of awards, but they're all in the other room. The only ones that always sit in front me are the SAG Award and Celebrity Jeopardy!.
Courtesy of Lisa Ann Walter
Did you have to hide it until you could show it off?
What's wild is that, at the time, my son came with me [to the taping] with his friend and a couple of my friends [and] my hairdresser. My hairdresser is the most closed-mouthed person you could ever meet in your life, so I knew he was good. My son didn't say anything. But when I got home, my other twin was seeing the award everyday and never said anything. He didn't ask—he didn't care. "It's just something mom's doing."
When he finally did acknowledge it, he was like, "Oh, I thought they just gave everybody one of those." Finally, my ex-husband saw it and was like, "Oh my God, did you win?" I was not allowed to say, but he told my daughter. Those are the only people who knew until the day of airing.
Amazing.
[On Tuesday], Quinta Brunson said to me, as we were walking, "Oh, you're doing Jimmy Kimmel tonight. That's so great." And then she was like, "And they're showing Celebrity Jeopardy! tonight. … I know you can't say anything, but did you win?" I gave her a sideways look and a tiny smile, and she goes, "I knew it. I'm not gonna say anything, but I figured it out."
I was like, "Yeah, well, we're starting the new season [of Abbott Elementary], and it's not you who's on Kimmel [to promote the show], it's me." Of course she figured it out. I told her she was very smart, and she should be on Celebrity Jeopardy!.
They have to keep inviting the Abbott cast on the show. They should make it a tradition.
Almost every single one of [the cast] has told me, "Never in a million years." … But, I'll tell you, Janelle James would be awesome. She knows a lot about a lot of different things. I think she would be really good, and I don't see her getting flustered and nervous. I think she might take it.
Let's get Janelle on Season 3. We have a winner's endorsement!
She'll kill me.
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