‘Jeopardy!’ turns 60: Game show’s new hosts, outraged fans and ‘woke’ questions in spotlight

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“Jeopardy!” is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary.

The trivia recreation present debuted on March 30, 1964, and ran for over 10 years earlier than going off the air in January 1975. Following a quick break, throughout which a by-product known as “The All-New Jeopardy!” aired from 1978 to 1979, the model of the present audiences know and love at present returned in September 1984, that includes host Alex Trebek.

In the 40 years because the program got here again, not solely would ‘Jeopardy!’ go on to turn into one of many longest-running recreation reveals on TV, Trebek would additionally turn into the longest-running host on tv, presiding over greater than 8,000 episodes over nearly 37 seasons. Since Trebek’s dying in November 2020, nonetheless, the present has seen its fair proportion of its ups and downs.

Here’s a have a look at “Jeopardy!” over the previous few years.

Alex Trebek, Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik split

“Jeopardy!” has gone by way of many modifications since Alex Trebek, left, handed away in November 2020. Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik, proper, had been amongst these to function visitor hosts. (Getty Images)

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‘Part of the sport’

Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik split

Jennings and Bialik in the end took over internet hosting duties following the dying of Trebek. (Getty Images)

Following the dying of longtime host Alex Trebek, a collection of visitor hosts took over, with showrunners ultimately touchdown on Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik as everlasting co-hosts of the present.

Jennings was no stranger to the present, having beforehand been on as a contestant, and gaining reputation after successful 74 video games in a row and turning into the contestant with the longest successful streak, a report he nonetheless holds. Bialik was comparatively new to the present, having visitor hosted a couple of instances, however was simply as keen and excited to be one among its new hosts.

“It’s just a very intense adrenaline experience you kind of chase for the rest of your life,” Jennings mentioned on the “Inside Jeopardy!” podcast in August 2022 about internet hosting. “And when the games get really good out here, when the players are really cooking, and it’s intense, and it’s close, I kind of feel like I’m in there playing, you’re part of the game. You’re part of the show. There’s this transcendent thing that happens where the audience is locked in, and I just look for that.”

Jennings and Bialik took turns internet hosting the primary present, in addition to the numerous spin-off tournaments, with Bialik taking the reins as the only real host of “Celebrity Jeopardy!”

‘No longer’ internet hosting

Mayim Bialik in a red pantsuit hosting "Jeopardy!"

Bialik introduced she was let go from the present in December. (Tyler Golden/ABC by way of Getty Images)

Bialik initially selected to not return to season 40 of the long-lasting recreation present, in order to indicate her assist of the then-ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. However, in December 2023, she introduced she had been completely let go from the present.

“As the vacation break begins in Hollywood, I’ve some ‘Jeopardy!’ information. Sony has knowledgeable me that I’ll now not be internet hosting the syndicated model of ‘Jeopardy!'” Bialik announced on Instagram. “I am incredibly honored to have been nominated for a primetime Emmy for hosting this year and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the ‘Jeopardy!’ household.”

“Jeopardy!” government producer Michael Davies shed some gentle on the choice to let Bialik go, explaining he was “forced into” the two-host deal after Bialik landed the starring position on the sitcom “Call Me Kat.”

Davies went on to say that the choice got here right down to their need to have extra “consistency” on the present, including that all through the previous two and a half seasons the suggestions they had been getting was that individuals “wanted a single host.”

Mayim Bialik hosting "Celebrity Jeopardy!"

“Jeopardy!” government producer Michael Davies defined that they let Bialik go to get extra consistency on the present. (Tyler Golden/ABC by way of Getty Images)

“Mayim is a superb host,” he mentioned in the course of the “Unscripted Storytellers” panel on the 2024 Television Critics Association’s winter press tour in February. “We hope to keep working with her on primetime versions and other spinoffs. Those conversations are ongoing — but Ken really won the job.”  

Prior to asserting her exit, Bialik had obtained a good quantity of criticism from viewers who did not respect her internet hosting type. Some complaints from fans had been that she took too lengthy to transition after a contestant answered a query, she was inconsistent in her rulings and was overly harsh at instances.

‘JEOPARDY!’ HOST KEN JENNINGS CAUGHT ‘OFF GUARD’ WHEN MAYIM BIALIK ANNOUNCED DEPARTURE FROM GAME SHOW

When Jennings took over internet hosting “Celebrity Jeopardy!” in the course of the strikes, fans took to X, previously Twitter, to have fun, with one writing, “I might actually watch it now that [Bialik] isn’t hosting.”

“It took me off guard, because I loved working with my Mayim, and I’m gonna miss her,” Jennings advised The Hollywood Reporter in December. “I can’t speak to her decision-making process or her opinions about it.”

‘That’s Misleading’

Ken Jennings and three contestants posing for a photo after Final Jeopardy!

The present has upset fans just lately as a consequence of some complicated clues. (Christopher Willard/ABC by way of Getty Images)

The present has angered fans in current seasons for offering contestants with complicated clues, main them to get the query mistaken.

In one occasion, contestant Scott Plummer misplaced nearly all his earnings throughout Double Jeopardy! The class was titled: “That’s Misleading,” and requested contestants to determine compound phrases from the clue. After Plummer picked the ultimate $2,000 Daily Double of the evening, he was introduced with the clue, “Paintings seen along the sloping path for wheelchairs,” to which he answered “something ramp.” The appropriate reply was “rampart,” which angered fans.

“I’m usually on the side of the writers, but DD3 was bullsh–. Literally every other clue in the “That’s Misleading” category gave the two halves in the same order as the correct response compound word (banana split, fishbowl, etc.),” one consumer wrote. 

Others identified that “rampart” is not even a compund phrase and should not have been included in the class.

Fans additionally took subject with the Final Jeopardy clue in a February episode, which confused the wildcard champions. The clue learn, “The distance between its 2 legs at ground level is 630 feet, making it as wide as it is tall,” and was underneath the class “Landmarks.”

The Gateway Arch and Ken Jennings split

Fans did not assume a clue having to do with the Gateway Arch was truthful. (Getty Images)

Two contestants guessed the Eiffel Tower, whereas one other guessed the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, and all three had been mistaken, as the proper reply was revealed to be the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The incorrect guess price two of the contestants to lose every little thing, in addition to the competitors, and to in the end miss out on a spot in the Champions Wildcard semifinals.

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“Gateway Arch was my gut reaction as well, but then I became worried that it doesn’t really have ‘legs,'” one fan wrote on the show’s Reddit discussion board, with one other writing, “I’m guessing ‘legs’ is just a very unusual way to describe what they meant? It’s not the first word I’d use — ‘ends’ maybe?” 

‘Woke’ clues

Contestants competing on "Jeopardy! Masters"

The present cane underneath hearth just lately when a “woke” clue was given. (Christopher Willard/ABC by way of Getty Images)

Some of the show’s fans didn’t like a clue in one other February episode of the present, prompting them to accuse the present of going “woke.”

In the class “Speech! Parts of Speech!,” the $600 clue learn, “xem, xyrs, xemself,” to which a contestant answered, “what are pronouns?” The reply was appropriate, with Jennings explaining they’re thought of “neopronouns,” which implies new pronouns.

“So, in order to win at Jeopardy, you need to be able to keep up with whatever bull the wokes are coming up with?” one individual requested on X. Another chimed in, saying, “The woke crowd has claimed another. That’s OK. I have my King James Bible to read. Like God, that will never change.”

“They didn’t waste time making Alex start spinning in his grave; did they?” one other fan wrote.

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‘Triple stumper’

Ken Jennings hosting "Jeopardy!"

Contestants have been left stumped on quite a lot of events just lately. (Christopher Willard/ABC by way of Getty Images)

Sometimes, even when the prompts are clear, contestants nonetheless have a tough time attending to the fitting reply. On a current episode of “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions,” all three contestants had been stumped by a Taylor Swift query.

The $400 clue in the class “Songs of Youth” learn, “Inspired by her bestie, Tay Tay sang when ‘somebody tells you they love you’ at this title age ‘you’re gonna believe them.'” The contestants guessed 17 and 22, with the proper reply being 15, a music which Swift mentioned was impressed by her highschool greatest pal, Abigail Anderson.

“We’re gonna get killed for that,” one of many contestants mentioned after the proper reply was revealed.

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“The only wrong response in the entire last #Jeopardy episode is of a Tay Tay song. Don’t let the Swifties know about this…,” one X consumer wrote, with one other writing, “I can’t believe the one triple stumper this episode was about Taylor Swift.”

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