DANGER! contestant Issac Hirsch may have run out of wardrobe-approved ’70s-style outfits, but he didn’t lose his breath.
On Friday’s episode, the champion from Burbank, Calif., pulled off his closest win yet with eight wins and the second-longest streak of the entire season.
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After a wild final episode, Isaac faced Ashley Weaver of Lakewood, Ohio, and Mike Ferguson of Edmond, Oklahoma.
After Danger! round, Isaac – his only miss was a $2,600 Daily Double – led with $6,600, chemistry teacher Mike had $5,800 and Ashley had -$1,000.
Isaac’s interview left Ken Jennings disheartened, recalling a “brutal” stand-up comedy show on a baseball field where his microphone didn’t work.
But the competition was no joke, as Ken noted, “Mike is giving the champion a run for his money!”
‘AVOID A BULLET!’
On Double Jeopardy!, Isaac won $2,500 in the second Daily Double.
Then Mike found the last Daily Double and doubled down with a bold bet of $6,000.
This made Final Jeopardy a challenge between Isaac, with $21,500, and Mike, who had $17,000.
Ashley was removed with an unfortunate -$2,600, and the category was “Names in Medicine.”
Ken, 50, reminded the players once again: “We have a close game.”
The clue was: “He received a special presidential citation in 1955, died in 1995, and was nicknamed “the man who saved the children.”
Tensions were palpable when Ken turned first to Mike; he got it right with “Salk” and got a $1 lead.
Stoic Isaac revealed he was also right, betting $12,501 to win $34,001, totaling $195,389 in eight days.
Isaac raised his fist and sighed heavily as Ken closed, “He dodged a bullet!”
‘IS HE GOING TO CATCH ADRIANA?’
Fans flooded social media, impressed by Isaac’s biggest payday yet and how he’s only coaching Adriana Harmeyer to wins this season.
“Isaac finished the week very strong,” wrote one Redditor. “It will be difficult to beat him in TOC, although he appears to be adopting a more conservative DD betting strategy.”
“Do you think he will match Adrianna’s record of 15 wins?” asked another.
“Mike has an excellent chance of making it to Second Chance after his performance today,” wrote a third.
“Isaac’s incorrect answer for average play rate could be his downfall at some point,” a fourth speculated.
Other fans have predicted that Isaac may now be the favorite for the upcoming Tournament of Champions given how well he is playing.
So far, the others qualifying for the next Contest of Champions are Survivor alumni Drew Basile (7 wins), Adriana (15 wins), Alison Betts (5 wins), and Dr. Amy Hummel (5 wins), and Celebrity Jeopardy! Lisa Ann Walter.
With four wins, Grant DeYoung and Amar Kakirde are also likely to participate.
Isaac will look for his ninth victory in Monday’s episode as he moves closer to setting the record for longest race of the year.
Learn all about Isaac and what he shared on and off camera below:
‘VERY LOW CONFIDENCE’
Isaac arrived in last Wednesday’s episode and has continued to win since then.
In a July 5 Instagram post, Isaac talked about his race and shared that he was a local alternate.
Being a substitute means you will only be able to play if a rostered player suddenly withdraws and is out for more than a day.
“I actually went into this with little confidence – as a local substitute, I watched seven games being filmed before recording and found myself doing really poorly in the green room and having buzzer issues in rehearsal,” he shared on Instagram.
“But at this point, I’ve kind of figured out the bell and they’re asking about things I’ve heard about, which is really nice of them.”
In his most recent Instagram post on July 10, Isaac celebrated the creation of ToC and got candid about the sudden difficulties of TV fame.
“I’m just trying to enjoy the whole experience while I can. I appreciate everyone’s kind words – just putting yourself out there to be noticed by the world can be a stressful thing, so I’m really glad people have been really nice for the most part.”
FINAL JOE-PARDY
Isaac’s seventh victory on Thursday marked his fourth runaway victory, although many spectators were unable to watch the whole thing.
The broadcast was interrupted before host Ken announced Final Jeopardy! category.
Following his triumph, Isaac posted a hilarious statement about the outage on X, formerly Twitter.
“Not to get too political, but I think it was very rude of President Biden to preempt Jeopardy for a press conference,” he posted.
He jokingly added that Biden said, “‘I should be impeached’ as a Jeopardy champion and that he would ‘shave off (my) mustache’ with his bare hands.”
GOOD WITH THE FASHION ‘HATERS’
Isaac also turned heads with his eye-catching wardrobe choices that offer ’70s menswear.
“That current champion looks like a 70s porn star,” one Facebook user recently scoffed.
“I think Isaac arrived at Studio 54 after recording that show,” scoffed another.
“The Internet is divided over my love of 70s menswear,” Isaac wrote in his July 5 post. “Good news for the haters: I’m almost out of wardrobe-approved vintage shirts, so if I keep winning, the adjustments are going to get a lot more subdued,” he joked.
One X user noticed that Isaac has really toned down his vintage clothing in his recent games.
“Isaac, you didn’t bring enough fun shirts and now they’re putting you in the show’s most subdued options?” they asked.
Isaac explained that he now has no more wardrobe-approved “fun” shirts.
“All of my other fun t-shirts didn’t pass the Jeopardy camera test, so now let’s move on to my ‘job interview’ t-shirts,” Isaac explained.
STORIES FROM THE KING OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Meanwhile, Isaac won over fans with his hilarious on-stage stories during his run – no surprise since he’s also a stand-up comedian.
During his fourth win, he recalled a recent fitness journey that left his figure “exactly the same” after “bulking up and gaining 30 pounds.”
During his third win, he shared that not himself, but his car had a cameo on the TV show Brooklyn 99.
During his second victory, he drew laughs when he recalled how “ironically” he was crowned high school homecoming king.
“Protect Isaac at all costs as he is so effortlessly funny,” praised another Instagram user recently.
“I don’t remember any contestant having so many funny and/or charming anecdotes.”
That being said, Isaac’s gameplay speaks for itself. He scored 226, 35 incorrect on general clues, 11/15 on Daily Doubles, and 6/8 on Final Jeopardy – all excellent statistics.
REVENGE YOUR FATHER
Isaac appeared during his first victory with a Q&A story revealing that his father appeared on Jeopardy! – and lost – 30 years ago.
“My dad was on Jeopardy! in the 80s and one of the first years Alex hosted, and he lost,” Isaac said.
“I used to tease him about it as a kid. Like ‘I Lost On Jeopardy!’ from Weird Al, being like, ‘It’s about you, dad!’”
Ken started laughing as Isaac concluded, “So today we’re going to find out how real karma is.”
Danger! shared a video of the story on Instagram, and Isaac’s father, Steven, chimed in in the comments section, demanding a second chance.
“If Ken Jennings keeps mentioning that I lost on Jeopardy, I want another chance! Bring me back for another chance to win!” Steve wrote.
YOUR GAME SHOW HISTORY
Isaac is also no stranger to the game show circuit, in addition to the stand-up comedy circuit.
In 2023, he won $140,000 on the ABC game show The Chase, defeating Chaser and nine-day Jeopardy! champion Buzzy Cohen.
In 2017, Isaac also appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, winning $5,000 after getting the $20,000 question wrong (what is his cover photo on X).
Danger! airs at 7pm ET – check your local listings.
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