ForJeopardyfans, March Madness is starting a month early.
It was just a really, really awesome variety of everything that exists academically in this country."
The first six episodes will produce 12 winners, who will then face off in four semi-final games.
Mayim Bialik hosts the ‘Jeopardy’ National College Championship on ABC.ABC/Casey Durkin
Out of the four semi-final winners, the three with the highest totals will advance to the finals.
(The fourth-place winner will receive $35,000 for their trouble.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:What can you tease about the National College Championship?
Mayim Bialik.ABC/Casey Durkin
MAYIM BIALIK:I can’t reveal a ton, but the categories are… Was there anything else about taping the tournament that made it special or different compared to the regular show?
I think their energy, for lack of a better word, is just different.
It kind of felt like being at summer camp.
Mayim Bialik hosts the ‘Jeopardy’ National College Championship.ABC/Casey Durkin
I got to see them socializing the way my teenagers do.
I’ve learned more what I don’t know than what I do, I think.
[Laughs] But learning the language of Jeopard-ese, as they call it, has been really special.
Amy Schneider’s 40-game winning streak was the second-longest in ‘Jeopardy’ history.Casey Durkin/Jeopardy Productions, Inc.
I speak a couple languages and now I feel like I speak this language as well.
It’s a really fun challenge, and it never gets old.
I’m still nervous, so I’m hoping to continue to get more comfortable.
What about Final Jeopardy makes that especially difficult?
It’s so confusing!
Also, often I will leave the podium before I see what [the players] have finished writing.
So I’m trying to say all the right things.
I have to say, “What did you write down?
What was your response?
And the numbers, the math, the pronunciations it’s a mess.
I can be a real mess in Final Jeopardy.
Well, it was obviously a very hectic and interesting week.
Originally, I literally just said, “What can I do?
How can I be helpful?”
and kind of lived a week at a time at that time.
It’s an enormous responsibility.
So it’s a very busy life over here.
A lot of naps.
[Laughs]
What do you think made you particularly effective or made you stand out as aJeopardyhost?
Oh gosh, if I knew that, I’d be selling it at a booth.
I don’t know.
I don’t think we can deny that I am female, and that’s different.
And I’ve also been an actor.
I’m not great at improv.
I don’t really have any new insights.
I’ve been really happy to not have the public focus on that.
I don’t have any secrets.
So I’m kind of an open book in that sense.
Speaking of Amy Schneider, did you get to meet her at all during her run on the show?
No, I literally was a fan and an observer from home.
We film quite a bit in advance, and I keep the code ofJeopardysilence very dear.
It feels kind of nice to have that protective space forJeopardy.
So people started doing the math of, like, “Was she there?”
And it would be just a little bit more elaborate of a lie.
And what was it like for you as aJeopardyfan watching her streak play out?
I think even if you’re not aJeopardyfan, what she did is so historic, so significant.
But this is kind of a bridge generation, and representation does matter.
And it’s really a beautiful thing to see in so many ways.
TheJeopardyNational College Championship begins Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
(you’ve got the option to seethe tournament’s full schedule here.)
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
