by Laura Garber
Doctor Sunil Hebbar, an 11-year Redondo Beach resident and family physician at Torrance Memorial in Hermosa Beach will represent the South Bay on the popular quiz show Jeopardy!.
The episode airs Tuesday, May 19, at 7 p.m. on ABC 7 and streams next-day on Hulu and Peacock.
Hebbar grew up watching the show during the late and beloved game show host Alex Trebek’s 37 season tenure.
When a close friend of Hebbar’s did well on the show nearly a decade ago, Hebbar decided to give it a shot.
He began taking the official online Jeopardy! test nine years ago and took it every year until he was called to audition at the end of 2024. Over 100,000 people take the online test while 3,000 people audition every year, according to Hebbar. Those who audition are kept in a contestant pool for two years. Roughly 400 people are on the show each year.
In February 2026, Hebbar received a call from a Jeopardy! contestant coordinator while he was working with patients at Torrance Memorial.
“I always hoped it would happen,” Hebbar said. “It was a dream come true.”
One month later, on St. Patrick’s Day, Hebbar was filmed on the Alex Trebek stage at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City with his mother and two friends watching in the live audience.
The game show films five episodes in one day, backlogging the actual airing dates.
With only one month to prepare, Hebbar studied by returning to old episodes and researching topics ranging from 18th century English monarchs to current trends in pop-culture.
“My biggest weak point was Broadway musicals,” he said. “I never was good at that. I just made sure I knew every capital and every president.”
While some contestants deep-dive into topics that never make it into the show’s categories, Hebbar said his research paid off.
“I can say that at least one or two things I got right were because of studying.”
Hebbar’s time in the South Bay Brewery Trivia League also kept him sharp. One of Hebbar’s teammates in the league, Torrance Memorial burn surgeon Dr. Vimal Muthy, participated on Jeopardy! in 2013.
“He was a role model because he’s one of the few people I know who’ve been on the show,” Hebbar said.
Jeopardy! is now hosted by Ken Jennings, holder of a record 74-game winning streak on the show. Hebbar said Jennings is the same in real life as he is on TV. Jennings meets with the contestants in the greenroom before each episode is filmed.
“He’ll give a five minute talk about how he was in our shoes at one point and that we won just by being there,” Hebbar recalled.
Hebbar was surprised to learn contestants are put on rising platforms behind the podium to keep each player’s height consistent.
“You’re like a foot off the ground, in addition to feeling like you’re 20 feet off the ground anyway.”
Another little-known factor to the game is the complexities of the buzzer. Contestants must buzz after Jennings finishes the prompt. If contestants buzz too early, they are locked out for a quarter of a second, which, according to Hebbar, can make the difference.
“Oh, the buzzer is the worst. The buzzer is so bad,” Hebbar laughed. “I think it’s the hardest element of the game, apart from the questions themselves.”
Hebbar’s episode comes in the midst of a nine game winning streak from returning champion Tristan Williams, a data analyst from Lincoln, Nebraska. Hebbar will also compete against Rose Sloan, a computer science professor from Boston, Massachusetts.
“It was an exhilarating experience. I think there’ll be a little bit of drama,” Hebbar said. “Until the very end, I think people won’t know what the result’s gonna be.”
The show, in its 42 season, has become a household name with parody versions on Saturday Night Live. It’s used as a pedagogical learning format in classrooms and influenced creation of trivia leagues at local pubs.
“It’s a cultural institution in America, a lot of history there and there’s a lot of depth,” Hebbar said. “It was an honor to be involved and play a part on the show.
Hebbar has organized a watch party at The Craftsman in the Riviera Village, Redondo Beach on Tuesday with 30-40 of his friends.
“It’s something I am proud of,” Hebbar said of being on the show. “And I hope people in the area can be proud that someone here made it on the show.”
South Bay local trivia nights:
South Bay Brewing Trivia League at Project Barley Redondo – Mondays at 7 p.m.
Hennesy’s Manhattan Beach – Mondays at 8 p.m.
Hermosa Brewing Company – Wednesdays at 7 p.m.
American Junkie Hermosa – Wednesdays at 7 p.m.
Hermosa Saloon – Wednesdays at 7 p.m. ER
