Canadian man gunning for third straight Jeopardy! win tonight. Who is Brendan Liaw?
Anyone looking for a Canadian pride bandwagon to jump on should probably watch Jeopardy! tonight.
Vancouver's own Brendan Liaw, a 25-year-old self-described 'stay-at-home son,' scored back-to-back victories on the game show this week and will look for a third straight win in an episode airing at 7:30 p.m. ET.
A win in tonight's pre-taped show will further pad his two-day total of US$38,798 ($53,787) and see him defend his title again on Friday.
It could also help get him out of his parents' house in Richmond, where he lives, having recently completed a master's degree in political science at the University of British Columbia.
According to CBC, he's applied to UBC's law school for this fall.
Last week, Liaw posted on social media that he would be a contestant, fulfilling 'a lifelong dream of questioning answers on national television.'
'Did I have fun? Well, yes!,' he wrote. 'Did I make awkward small talk with a personal hero of mine? Almost certainly!'
The hero is host Ken Jennings, whom he identifies as a fellow resident of Cascadia — a term referring to a Pacific Northwest bioregion encompassing parts of British Columbia and Washington, where Jennings has roots.
'Pretty good gig,' he agreed with Jennings regarding his living situation during their pre-game banter.
In an interview with CTV, Liaw called himself a 'professional loiterer.'
'I think they want to promote me to away-from-home son soon,' he said. 'But we'll see how the games turn out.'
How the games turned out so far
In his first appearance, Liaw actually got off to a somewhat shaky start in his bid to unseat Mitch Loflin, the reigning three-time champion from California, and hold off fellow newcomer Wendy Poush of Iowa.
By the end of the first round, Single Jeopardy!, Liaw found himself in third place with just $1,600 and Poush at $6,200, according to a recap from TV Insider.
Liaw rebounded and took the lead early in Double Jeopardy! After his opponents closed the gap on the strength of respective successful Daily Double wagers, he correctly responded to several high-dollar value clues to close out the round with $19,200, giving him a $6,800 lead over Loflin heading into the last round.
In Final Jeopardy!, none of the players got the NFL Geography category answer correct, leading to what fans of the show call a triple stumper.
'I don't watch a lot of American football as a Canadian. But I suspect, as an American, I would also not watch a lot of American football. So, hey — it would have been tough for me either way,' he remarked to CityTV.
Thanks to strategic wagering, Liaw finished ahead of Loflin to secure the win and $13,599.
He followed up his come-from-behind win with a mostly dominant performance on Wednesday.
Liaw correctly answered his first 15 questions and came away from Single Jeopardy! with a $6,600 lead over New Yorker Romy Negrin.
She and Colorado native Sam Macken tried to keep it close, but the Canadian had $25,200 by the end of Double Jeopardy!, more than double his competitors, thanks largely to a Daily Double that awarded him $8,800.
Final Jeopardy!'s 2024 World News question was another triple stumper, but Liaw bet only $1 and secured his win.
Third time was a charm for Liaw
Liaw has wanted to appear on Jeopardy since he realized around nine or 10 that he had an aptitude for the reverse quiz show.
But getting on is not easy.
According to the show's FAQ on becoming a contestant, it starts with a 50-question 'anytime test' that gives you 15 seconds to respond to each. You can only take a test once every 12 months.
Pass the test and you end up in an audition pool and hope to be randomly selected.
Liaw told Global he did his first audition in 2018 and another in 2021 before finding success in 2023.
The audition consists of another 50-query quiz and a mock game with other applicants, all online. Perform well and you'll earn a coveted spot in the contestant pool, but even that 'does not guarantee that you will be invited to appear on the show.'
That invite typically arrives a month before their taping date, which is about how long Liaw said he waited before getting the call.
Liaw joins a relatively short list of Canadians who have collected two or more Jeopardy! victories. Others include 13-game champion and 2024 Tournament of Champions quarterfinalist Ray Lalonde of Toronto, and Vancouverite Bob Blake, a five-game winner in 1983 who came back to collect $100,000 in the 1990 Tournament of Champions.
But the undisputed reigning all-time Canadian Jeopardy! is Mattea Roach, a tutor from Halifax, who won 23 consecutive games in 2022 to claim $560,983, good for sixth in the show's regular-season winnings. Factoring in tournament play, Roach has raked in over $800,000 from Jeopardy!
National Post has contacted Liaw for more information about his Jeopardy! experience thus far.
Ken Jennings crowned Jeopardy's Greatest of All Time
George Wendt, who played beloved barfly Norm on Cheers, dies at 76
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