The full set of 36 players for Season 39 Second Chance have been unveiled, as per a press release from the show.
The games will be airing between December 19 and January 15 and is the first step towards the 31st Tournament of Champions. Each week’s winner will be advancing to Champions Wildcard.
A full preview will be posted here on The Jeopardy! Fan before each week’s games.
Notable names include:
- Mike Elliott, who put up $26,800 going into Final Jeopardy against Cris Pannullo back in October;
- Karen Morris, who went viral after missing a $10,000 Daily Double from a runaway position;
- Rotimi Kukoyi and Sophia Weng, two of the three players who were unable to take part in the High School Reunion Tournament last winter;
- Raquel Matta, who nearly beat Hannah Wilson in Hannah’s fifth game—if only she’d bet more in Final Jeopardy;
- Michael Cavaliere, who led Yogesh Raut going into Final Jeopardy in Yogesh’s third game;
- Roy Camara, who nearly defeated Stephen Webb (putting up $28,000 before Final Jeopardy);
- John Guszkowski, who put up over $20,000 going into Final Jeopardy over Troy Meyer;
- April Marquet, who locked in the wrong wager against Luigi de Guzman and lost because of it;
- Long Nguyen, who missed a late five-figure True Daily Double against Stephen Webb;
- Michael Vallely, the cancer survivor who had $26,400 going into Final Jeopardy against Suresh Krishnan but did not win.
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Here’s the full list of players:
Week 1 (December 19–25)
Jason Carpenter, a stand-up comic from Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.
Sam Claussen, a history professor from Santa Clarita, Calif.
Mike Elliott, a meat cutter originally from Derry, N.H.
Jake Garrett, a football coach and teacher from Trussville, Ala.
Iris Masucci, a pharmacist from Rockville, Md.
Karen Morris, a veterinary student from Christiansburg, Va.
Eva Thomas, an attorney from Brooklyn. N.Y.
Michael Vaz, a tutor from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Juveria Zaheer, a psychiatrist from Whitby, Ontario, Canada
Week 2 (December 26–January 1)
Xanni Brown, a postdoctoral researcher originally from Cincinnati, Ohio
Mitch Cutter, a salmon conservation associate from Boise, Idaho
Greg Czaja, a cardiologist from San Diego, Calif.
Tammy Groner, a legal assistant from Hamilton, N.J.
Ben Hebert, a shipping manager from Chicago, Ill.
Myles Karp, a journalist and consultant from Weston, Fla.
Emily Kawaler, a bioinformatician from New York, N.Y.
Raquel Matta, a copy editor from San Pablo, Calif.
Christopher Pennant, a sports journalist and podcaster from Chicago, Ill.
Week 3 (January 2–8)
Sharon Bishop, a high school Spanish teacher from Pawtucket, R.I.
Michael Cavaliere, a consultant from New York, N.Y.
Rachel Cohen, a consultant originally from Chevy Chase, Md.
Max Davison, a writer from Studio City, Calif.
Matt Harvey, a healthcare administrator from Providence, R.I.
Randall Rayford, a solar project developer from Houston, Texas
Kelly Shannon-Henderson, a classics professor from Cincinnati, Ohio
Sophia Weng, a senior at Harvard University from Chevy Chase, Md.
Andrew Whatley, an academic administrator from Chicago, Ill.
Week 4 (January 9–15)
Roy Camara, a grocery specialist from Crawfordville, Fla.
Denise Carlon, an attorney from Seaside Heights, N.J.
John Guszkowski, a planning consultant from Pomfret, Connecticut
Rotimi Kukoyi, a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill from Hoover, Ala.
April Marquet, a digital production artist from Oakland, Calif.
Long Nguyen, a retired engineer from Las Vegas, Nev.
Allison Strekal, a nonprofit development director from Missoula, Mont.
Michael Vallely, a program analyst from Cleveland, Ohio
Pam Warren, a high school science teacher from Petersburg, Ill.
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Scrambled thoughts (been a while since I’ve done this, huh?) –
The people I most wanted to see back for this was the quartet of Mikes/Michaels and Roy Camara, so I’m very happy that they’re all getting another shot!
Interesting to see how many contestants in this roster were locked out before Final in their original game. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing – inviting someone like Xanni back is a a no-brainer in my opinion – but it’s interesting and not what I would’ve expected.
I honestly thought Long’s $400 going into Final would have made him such a long shot (no pun intended) for this event that he wouldn’t have been considered at all, and I’m extremely happy to have been proven wrong!
I’m interested in seeing how Greg does; if I remember correctly, he singlehandedly held Ben Chan to his lowest, well, everything, of his entire run. (Except pre-Final score.)
With Rotimi and Sophia being placed in this competition, I’d assume Emma Arnold would be placed in Champions Wildcard (if she’s actually able to participate). I’m super excited to see her again.
I think that’s everything I had for thoughts; I can’t wait to see how this plays out!
Thank you for the full roster Andy. When I went to the taping on December 5th, it was for the shows that will be airing on January 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, but mum’s the word from me of course. 🙂 Going to be fun seeing so many Second Chancers getting a chance to move on to the Champions Wildcard.