The newest season of “Celebrity Jeopardy!” debuted Friday, March 13, as ABC rolled out its most elaborate tournament to date. The All-Stars edition kicked off at 8/7c with sports media host Katie Nolan and “Saturday Night Live” alum Rachel Dratch exchanging the lead throughout the evening, while actor-writer Mark Duplass stayed within striking distance in a quarterfinal that delivered excitement from the first clue.
This fourth installment reunites 21 fan favorites from the show’s first three seasons in a bracket-style contest that matches returning winners against the celebrities who nearly unseated them. The tournament covers 10 episodes — six quarterfinals, three semifinals, and a winner-take-all finale — with $1 million awarded to the champion’s designated charity.
Host Ken Jennings is back to preside over the All-Stars competition on the iconic Alex Trebek Stage. In a season teaser, Jennings proclaimed, “Jeopardy! goes Hollywood. Our brightest stars are all back.”
The format grants a major edge to the show’s three reigning champions. Season 1 winner Ike Barinholtz, Season 2 champ Lisa Ann Walter, and Season 3 titleholder W. Kamau Bell are each seeded straight into the semifinals, skipping the six-game quarterfinal hurdle. The other 18 celebrities must fight through those preliminaries for a chance to challenge the seeded champions.
The challenger roster reads like a who’s who of TV and comedy: Macaulay Culkin, Ray Romano, Andy Richter, Margaret Cho, Patton Oswalt, Cynthia Nixon, and Mina Kimes are all vying to advance. Also competing are “Gilmore Girls” alum Sean Gunn, comedian Roy Wood Jr., Robin Thede, Mo Rocca, Mira Sorvino, Tim Simons, Jackie Tohn, and Steven Weber. Notably, all three finalists from Season 2 — Walter, Nolan, and Rocca — get another shot against one another in this All-Stars field.
The returning winners bring strong credentials. Barinholtz, 49, made history as the first celebrity champion to appear in the regular Tournament of Champions, winning his quarterfinal before losing in the semis. He most recently starred in the critically praised Apple TV+ series “The Studio.”
Walter, who claimed the Season 2 title and stars on “Abbott Elementary,” has often joked about how much the win means to her — even quipping she’d be buried with her “Jeopardy!” trophy, calling it “my urn” and saying it’s in her will.
Bell enters the All-Stars as the most recent champion, having secured the Season 3 crown when its finale aired April 23, 2025. The comedian-filmmaker won $1 million for DonorsChoose, a nonprofit supporting classroom projects, and used part of the prize to fully fund outstanding projects in Oakland’s schools and in Mobile, Alabama, where his father resides.
The All-Stars premiere was originally set for Feb. 27, but ABC delayed it two weeks to March 13. The network announced the season’s renewal in May 2025, sparking early excitement among fans eager to see former contestants return to trivia competition.
For those wondering if celebrities receive easier questions than regular contestants, Jennings addressed that topic directly. On a March 5 appearance on “Live with Kelly and Mark,” host Kelly Ripa asked whether questions are simplified for celebrities. “That’s a nice way to say that. You didn’t say ‘dumbed down,'” Jennings replied with a laugh, adding that “Celebrity Jeopardy! is for real Jeopardy! Our brand is ‘smart people knowing smart stuff,’ and that’s true even if it’s the celebrity version.”
Jennings also offered an explanation for why comedians tend to excel in the celebrity contests — Barinholtz, Walter, and Bell all have comedy backgrounds. He noted that live performance experience can make contestants quicker on the buzzer and less worried about embarrassment, traits that work well under game-show pressure.
The premiere showcased Quarterfinal #1, featuring Dratch, Duplass, and Nolan. In that opening match, Dratch and Nolan traded the lead while Duplass remained close. Future quarterfinals include Culkin against Steven Weber and Jackie Tohn on March 20, followed by Sean Gunn, Cynthia Nixon, and Roy Wood Jr. on March 27. The semifinals and finale are slated for May, with the season expected to conclude on May 14.
Celebrities eliminated in the quarterfinals still earn $30,000 for their chosen charities, semifinalists who don’t advance take home $50,000, and the two runners-up in the finale each receive $175,000 — a change from prior seasons when second and third place payouts differed.
Fans can catch the season premiere on ABC, with episodes available to stream on Hulu the next day. The bracket format promises weeks of competition as celebrities showcase their knowledge across varied categories while raising funds for charities they support.
