What is Thursday?: When does Worcester's Brendan Sargent return to 'Jeopardy!'

Worcester native Brendan Sargent had a nice run on the quiz show "Jeopardy!" in 2021 that saw him become a one-day champion over the course of two appearances on March 16 and 17, in which he won $9,600.

With that, Sargent thought he might never get to give the answer in the form of a question again.

When people asked him if he would ever make another appearance on "Jeopardy!" he said would reply, "in jest," only "if they ever do a tournament for disappointing one-day champions."

But "Jeopardy!" evidently thinks highly of its champions of one, two, and three games from its 37th (2020-21) and 38th (2021-22) seasons, and has launched a new tournament featuring them titled "Champions Wildcard" that got underway on Oct. 2.

On Thursday, Oct. 5, Sargent, who now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, will be one of the tournament competitors. "Jeopardy!" will be broadcast at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 5 on CBS-Channel 4 in the Worcester area.

"I was shocked," Sargent said about being invited to appear on the show again.

There will be four tournaments of "Champions Wildcard" running from Oct. 2 to Dec. 18 with each group consisting of 27 players who will play nine quarterfinals, three semifinals, and a two-game total-point final. The winner of each tournament will receive entry into Jeopardy's prestigious "Tournament of Champions" (usually reserved for five-day winners) in 2024.

“These are all impressive players, they all know what it’s like to be named champion here on 'Jeopardy!,' but they all had runs that didn’t quite last long enough to qualify them for the 'Tournament of Champions,'" said host Ken Jennings.

The tapings took place at the end of August. Sargent is not allowed to disclose how he fared.

Fans are already abuzz. The Jeopardy! Fan in appraising the contestants writes of Sargent that "the betting clues definitely didn’t go Brendan’s way in his initial appearance. He was very strong on the buzzer ... If the Daily Doubles turn around for him, he could make some noise in this competition."

Sargent said that in coming back to "Jeopardy!" one thing he wanted to work on was his buzzer skills.

"I think the first time I underestimated how difficult your opponents are. There were so many question I knew but I wasn't the first to buzz in on."

As part of his preparation for his return, he read a book "Secrets of the Buzzer" by "Jeopardy!" "Tournament of Champions" winner Fritz Holznagel.

"I did feel more comfortable with the buzzer," Sargent said.

Although he now lives in Los Angeles, Sargent has identified as being from Worcester in his "Jeopardy!" appearances, making him one of the only champions, if not the only, to do so.

Sargent grew up in Worcester and graduated from St. John's High in Shrewbury and Fairfield University. He was a teacher in Boston before moving to Los Angeles. In L.A. he was a community organizer for a nonprofit organization but was laid off earlier this year. He now runs a small business that puts on pub style trivia events. Meanwhile, in August he appeared on the Gameshow Network's "Master Minds" and won $20,000.

For his March 16 and 17 "Jeopardy!" appearances in 2021 Katie Couric was the guest host, one of several who stepped in after the death of the legendary host Alex Trebek.

On March 16, 2021, his stumbles were indeed on the Double Jeopardy questions and wagers, but all three contestants got the Final Jeopardy question wrong. Sargent had a commanding lead in the game with $8,800. He wagered $1,200 leaving him still the clear winner with $7,600.

The competition for March 17, 2021, was a much more close-run thing and getting Final Jeopardy wrong put Sargent in second place with a prize of $2,000.

Sargent got recognition back home. After saying in a story that wanted throw out the first pitch at a Worcester Red Rox game at Polar Park, the Worcester Red Sox arranged for him to do just that.

Sargent has been an avid fan of "Jeopardy!" since he was a child. "As long as I can remember." Watching with his family at home, things would get very competitive including using spreadsheets and wagering. "We took it very seriously."

He took the online test for "Jeopardy!" a number of times and got to the audition stages on a couple of occasions. In 2020 he tried again and his audition was via Zoom. He made it to the show.

Sargent said his attitude in 2021 when appearing on "Jeopardy!" was "I'm not intersted in making friends. I was out for blood the first time."

COVID regulations were still in force and there wasn't much scope for interaction with other competitors before the TV tapings..

But this time around Sargent has been able to appreciate just how nice everyone involved with "Jeopardy!" is, competitors certainly included.

"People were very friendly. I think because the pressure was off," he said.

He made friends in the Green Room with other contestants. "It was a cool little situation back there."

When the "Champions Wildcard" broadcasts began on Monday, the contestants were texting each other, Sargent said.

"The 'Jeopardy!' community is overwhelmingly positive, full of wonderful and smart people," he said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester's Brendan Sargent gets 'Champions Wildcard' on 'Jeopardy!'