JEOPARDY! fans are wondering if the show is getting boring due to numerous mega-champs.
After Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach‘s “endless” winning streaks this season, some claimed the show needs a shakeup.
Jeopardy! fans have made their opinions known on Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings
But there’s a wild new debate about players and if the show is ‘boring’ when it’s dominated by so few
Mayim Bialik, 46, is currently hosting Jeopardy! after Ken Jennings’ earlier stretch and his announcement he’d be out for “months.”
Indeed, he wasn’t exaggerating as it’s the actress’ eighth straight week and he’s set to return on July 18th per TV listings.
The debate over who should host for good – especially since this currently airing season ends on July 31st, 2022 – is certainly no secret, with neither host announced yet.
But some fans are now having issues with another category of the state of things.
A Jeopardy! Reddit thread on Saturday was titled: “Does anyone else enjoy new champions on the regular?”
Die-hards reflected on the past couple of weeks, which has seen a regular turnover in champs.
Yungsheng Wang – a Los Angeles, California Public Defender – won just three games and many viewers with his bow ties and enthusiastic yet not-overstayed presence.
But before him, the season was so filled to the brim with champs returning for weeks or months at a time – that some fans, and alums, are feeling fatigued.
‘IT’S GETTING OLD’
The original poster wrote: “I think mega champs are great and all that… but I also enjoy seeing a daily or regular turnover of champions, just for different perspectives.
“I really enjoyed Yungsheng Wang’s short tenure as champ, he was so happy to win and enthusiastic. Made the whole game more enjoyable.”
One agreed: “I get bored with mega-champs after a while. Runaway after runaway gets boring.”
“Yes, absolutely. I get really tired of seeing the same player every day unless they make the game interesting beyond just winning by a small margin every time,” wrote another.
However, one commented: “Yes, but I also enjoy the dominant super champ runs.”
A commenter said: “James Holzhauer’s run stands out to me because of how he steamrolled through the boards, making each game super smooth.
“Felt like it only took 5 mins to get through each game lol,” while they called this year’s champs “conservative.”
KEEP IT SHORT?
Since Alex Trebek helmed the show from 1984 until 2020, the treasured host torch-passing has drowned the discourse.
But clearly, some fans are missing the old days in another sense – and so are some stars.
The 5-game limit, which saw champs bow out graciously and automatically enter the Tournament of Champions after five wins – was lifted in the early 2000s.
Others commented they’d like to see it return, perhaps at a 10-game cap.
WHAT IS: BIZARRE SEASON?
Last month, when Jeopardy! sung the praises of yet another streak-holder – Former champ James entered the chat.
“Jeopardy’s social media team should save time by alerting us when there’s NOT someone streaking,” he barbed on Twitter.
Fans were floored as one wrote: “Salty!”
The professional gambler holds the record for most money won in a single game ($131,127), as well as the next 11 highest totals all during his 2019 go.
But another alum Buzzy Cohen, who fans love, also replied to the Jeopardy! celebratory tweet, sharing a GIF that read, “Jaysus!”
What they seemed to be getting at was that while this year’s mega-champs have been extremely affable, there have just been so many.
The show’s leaderboard of record-holders is now half players from this season.
Since January of 2021, Matt Amodio won 38 games and now has the third-longest streak ever.
He was finally defeated by Jonathan Fisher, who went on to win 11 games of his own.
Then, Amy won her 40 games, visited the White House, and now has the second-longest run ever.
Canadian tutor Mattea made global news as a 23-year-old who won as many games and $560K in May.
Then, just days later rideshare driver Ryan Long rode in and won 16 games and $299K – fans loved his working-class single dad backstory.
Weatherman Eric Ahasic then stormed in after beating Ryan and won six games himself before he was bested by Megan Wachpress.
Jeopardy! James and Buzzy were replying to a post about the next champ, Megan, specifically.
She was considered “the luckiest super-champ ever” and won six games but was extremely low scoring with her strategic razor-thin victories – winning three of her six games by $2 and earning $60K total.
Her entire run was half of what James would get in a game.
HOST LIKELY?
Ken and Mayim began filling in for the legendary Alex after his tragic 2020 passing and a fleet of Season 37 celebrity guest hosts, including now-disgraced Mike Richards.
The show’s ratings nearly doubled to 9.7M viewers when Ken made his first appearance.
When Mayim took over her hosting duties the headcount dropped to 5.9 million viewers during a college championship and indeed, she hasn’t bested Ken’s ratings since during Season 38.
No permanent host has been announced yet but fans are leaning towards Ken between them.
One possibility that has been implied by execs is that the actress could simply host spinoffs soon, perhaps with Buzzy.
Fans loved watching Amy Schneider win 40 games this season under Ken Jennings – ratings were high
But since then there have been so many streaks that even some alums have shaded the show
Fans used last week’s champ Yungsheng Wang as a great example of someone who didn’t overstay their welcome
