'Jeopardy' GOAT is the greatest, but it'll be impossible to replicate

Enjoy it while it lasts.

WARNING: PREVIOUS GAME SPOILERS AHEAD! 

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Jeopardy! The Greatest of All-Time is peak Jeopardy! Sadly for its legion of fans, it may come to an end soon thanks to the dominance of Ken Jennings (although James Holzhauer still has more than a shot, and who knows? Maybe Brad Rutter has an epic comeback in him?).

By many accounts, besides the nightly social media buzz — #JeopardyGOAT has been tops on Twitter every night since Tuesday — the ratings are terrific, which means the game show might attempt to find a way to replicate the success with other players who are GOAT-like and put it in primetime.

And that’s where the bad news comes. This is once-in-a-lifetime stuff right here.

It’s a magical combination. There’s James Holzhauer, who ignited the internet last year with his run. There’s Ken Jennings, maybe the most famous game-show contestants of all time thanks to his 74-game winning streak. There’s Brad Rutter, who’s won the most money ever with some clutch performances in the big-cash tournaments.

The X-factor is they have chemistry together (and that includes with Alex Trebek). They’re imitating each other’s now-famous moves, making little inside jokes and taunting each other in a way that’s good-natured. I’ve seen Holzhauer and Rutter congratulate Jennings with a handshake, back-clap or high five after a big Daily Double win. They’re having the most fun, all while playing in a game with elevated stakes and a tougher slate of clues.

Heck, when did you ever see someone have so much joy at being able to say “OK, boomer” while the clock was ticking down on an answer?

That, right there, is television gold.

It’s going to take years before this sort of confluence of greatness and fun happens again. You need the GOATs to truly be GOATs and to be able to have fun that feels unforced on television. Maybe the solution is giving these three their own show, as someone in the Jeopardy subreddit suggested. But another primetime Jeopardy! playoff series like this one? Nope. Not for a loooong time and maybe never.

So enjoy this lightning in a bottle before it’s all over, when we can go back to our usual half hour of Trebek and the rotating cast of contestants, when we hope for some other potential GOATS — inspired by these three — to keep us riveted.