'Jeopardy!' EP Michael Davies Praises Amy Schneider: 'She Commands & Inspires Respect' 

The executive producer of “Jeopardy!”, Michael Davies, has become a beloved fixture on the decades-long game show!

Davies was there to watch former “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider crush record after record until she finally beat Matt Amodio and his previous second-place record of 38 games to set a new second-place record of 40 games in January 2022.

In a letter to fans, Davies couldn’t help but share his own thoughts on Amy Schneider’s impressive win streak!

Fans of “Jeopardy!” know that fans give anecdotes about themselves in the middle of the first round of gameplay. Since Amy was behind the podium for 41 games, it means she has had to share 41 short snippets into her life! It makes fans at home feel like they know her like an old friend, but Davies really got to know what Amy was like both on and off-screen!

“I could really write my own book about her brilliance and courage, what her run means and represents, and how important it is, but others have done that better than I ever could,” Davies explained. Amy Schneider is the first openly trans contestant to qualify for any Tournament of Champions in “Jeopardy!” history and has often said that the best part of her experience is having been able to share her “authentic” self with families tuning in around the world.

“I could give you some more behind-the-scenes details of what it was like to watch her up close, but she’ll write that better from her point of view, and has already,” he added. “And to be honest, most of the time in the control room and on stage, we were just stunned into submission at her extraordinary talent for the game.”

“Instead, I would like to focus on the two things I find most remarkable about Amy,” he wrote.

Does anyone else notice the face contestants make when they’re trying really hard to come up with an answer? Michael Davies definitely does! Although Amy answered over one thousand questions correctly during his impressive run, there were still a few that she got wrong… especially when it came down to those tough “Final Jeopardy!” questions!

“The first is what I observed from watching her on the show and it is small but I think significant,” he explained. ‘At my station in the control room, I have an isolated close-up of all of the contestants and I became obsessed with the look that occurs on Amy’s face on the very rare occasions that she didn’t know an answer.”

“It’s like she was filing it away, always interested and listening intently to learn something new,” he continued. “Knowing her, this was perhaps stimulating some further reading or exploration. I found this so inspiring and quite unlike any other contestant I have seen play the game… until I went back and watched tape of Matt Amodio doing his own version of the same thing. I guess this is evidence of a lifelong love of, and commitment to, learning.”

“The second is a larger observation that is inescapable when you listen to Amy or read her interviews or social posts,” he continued. “Amy, simply put, has grace.”

“She was gracious in victory, she was gracious in defeat and she is gracious and thoughtful and kind with everything that she says and writes,” he wrote. “That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have strong (and valuable) opinions. She most certainly does. But because of the manner in which she expresses herself, she commands and inspires respect and grace in return.”

“It is my sincere hope that we all take a page from Amy's book and learn to be kinder and more gracious to one another, particularly in the digital and social space,” he added. “We encourage lively commentary within the Jeopardy! community and do sincerely want to hear your opinions and get your feedback. We draw the line, however, at discriminatory comments aimed at our contestants and our hosts, or at each other, and ask that we all aim higher: Jeopardy! is about excellence, and shouldn't the discourse around the show reflect that same spirit?”

“Jeopardy!” – and Amy herself – has had to fight a lot of comments from fans who said that her records as the highest-earning woman and highest-scoring woman should not count because she was born a male.

“I don’t think it’s possible to work on Jeopardy! or love Jeopardy! without also loving books, so let’s turn the page and move forward together as a supportive and graceful community,” he added.