JEOPARDY!’s 40th season has stirred up controversy by ditching its classic format for an onslaught of past-player tournaments.
A Reddit theory suggested the shift was aimed at taming the dominance of super-champions putting a dent in the game show’s budget.
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Jeopardy!’s current season – which began in September – has seen a massive change in programming.
In prior years, the only annual past-player tournament was the Tournament of Champions.
This season has instead consisted solely of Wildcard and Second Chance contests to populate February’s ToC, with new players not returning until April 2024.
While the start of the season was scrambled around given the WGA strike, the strike is over, and the past-player contests have continued.
There will only be four months of new contestants this season, with the season ending in July 2024.
This is a huge change from the norm when tournaments would only be three weeks of the year.
‘ANTITODE TO THE SUPER-CHAMPS?’
A Reddit user boldly argued the change was made not just because of the strike but to counter the recent boom of super-champions (or 10-plus day winners).
In just the past two years, there have been seven of the game show’s 16 super-champions in history, including Amy Schneider, Mattea Roach, and Cris Pannullo.
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The user began their thread: “Are the current wildcard tournaments an antidote to the super champs?
“I’ve loved this season of the Second Chance and Wildcard Tournements. The players are more confident and risk taking, the gameplay has been excellent.
“But I wonder if it’s a programming decision to kind of tamper down the super champs.
They concluded: “I am one who grew tired of the super champs mowing down rows and rows of contestants who didn’t have a chance to get their feet under them before they were beaten. So I’m happy but I wonder what’s next.”
A fan replied: “Normal Jeopardy will be next. We only got this because of the writer strike.”
However, a third fan pointed out this isn’t completely true.
“Not so. What we got from the start of the season until December 18 was only because of the WGA strike. We would have gotten Second Chance and Champions Wildcard with last season’s players regardless — absent the strike, it would’ve been at the beginning of the season.”
A fourth fan replied: “The idea that they’re trying to avoid super champ runs is bizarre. Do you know what a long run probably does for ratings?”
A fifth wrote: “I found it telling that on Inside Jeopardy last year, Michael Davies mentioned that the run of Cris Panullo had put the show over budget.
“His average winnings per game were good but not even close to Holzhauerian. I can’t help but suspect that is at least a factor.”
A fifth wrote: “That’s true. On the other hand, with these tournaments the show knows exactly how much it’s going to give away, which is very helpful in establishing a prize budget.
“It also reduces the expense of recruiting new contestants, and brings back people they know for sure can play the game at a competitive level.
“If the buzz from long-running champs was the primary goal of the show, one would think they wouldn’t be doing all these tourneys.”
A sixth wrote: “Funny, I don’t mind the tournaments but it’s for the opposite reason. I’m not a fan of non-superchamp times.
“I hate when the show is rough, lots of 1 and 2 day champs, $1000 daily double wagers, and people staring at the board running out of time.
“Have we had any leftover clues in months? Did they change how the show is edited or are the contestants on average better since they’ve all been there before?”
An additional fan argued they’re enjoying the new take: “I am new to Jeopardy and I have to say, this has been so fun to watch. I love rooting for several people at once and seeing them excel through the game.”
‘OUR PRIZE BUDGET’
On the podcast Inside Jeopardy! last year, Executive Producer Mike Davies did admit that the biggest winner of Season 39, 21-day champ Cris Pannullo, was costing the show too much money.
He stated: “We’ve started having these big internal debates about how on earth we’re gonna manage our prize budget, based on how much money Cris was winning.”
He continued: “Those debates continue to this day – it’s a big issue, you know, the prize budget is something we do have to manage.”
“There are finance people at Sony who we have to talk to and say ‘uhh… just gotta let you know about something going on with the game.’
“We have to estimate at the beginning of the season what we’re gonna give away.”
BIG CHANGES
Former champ Ken Jennings is now the sole host after Mayim Bialik was fired from the syndicated series in December.
The hosting drama isn’t the only change to Jeopardy!, as executive producer Michael Davies – who replaced the disgraced Mike Richards in 2021 – filled a job that, before them, hadn’t changed hands in decades either.
Davies has made it clear his MO is making Jeopardy! “more like sports” and he hasn’t been shy in tweaking tradition.
He also displayed where Daily Doubles were located to viewers during Jeopardy! Masters, created a new intro, a split-screen clue selection display for Celebrity Jeopardy! and a new Triple Jeopardy! round for the celebrity spinoff.
He also enacted the new rule where contestants have to say category names in full, which has infuriated fans.
And all of this in just his first two years on the job.
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