I don’t know how many episodes of Jeopardy I have watched in my life, but it’s for sure in the multiple thousands. It is, without question, the greatest game show of all-time, and I love every single part of it, except one: the contestant interviews. When I’m watching Jeopardy, I want to watch people play Jeopardy, not listen to them tell a semi-amusing anecdote about a fishing trip they took six years ago. Well, it turns out I’m not the only one with this opinion. Ken Jennings apparently feels the same way.
The Jeopardy legend and current co-host sat for an extensive interview with The New Yorker, and during the conversation, the subject of contestant interviews came up, and Ken Jennings was almost shockingly honest. He called the exchanges “cringey” and said he has “never liked that part.” He doesn’t think longtime former host Alex Trebek liked them either. Here’s a portion of his quote…
Yeah, I never liked that part… It’s a little cringey. And, even if the players tell an amazing anecdote perfectly, I mean, that’s just not the time for it, like when they interrupt a football game for Jennifer Lopez or to salute the troops or whatever. Like, why is this happening now? I don’t think Alex loved the interviews. I think he was kind of ready to get back in the game.
The first part of this quote is what I really resonate with. Even if the player absolutely nails their story (most do not), I’m not watching Jeopardy because I’m looking for funny stories. I want to see really smart people attempt to answer difficult trivia questions, and also, I want to see how many of them I can get. In a perfect world, I want to know one answer none of the other contestants do in order to generate a nice little ego boost for the day.
In all fairness though, I’m going to begrudgingly mention that I typically still watch these interviews, despite having full fast forward capabilities, because my wife loves them. She feels they humanize the contestants and allow her to properly decide who to root for. She’s not there mostly for the questions. She’s there to watch other people try to answer the questions, which is a key distinction. My guess is she’s not the only one who feels this way either as producers clearly leave that segment in for a reason.
As far as I know, there aren’t any plans to get rid of the interviews, no matter how Ken Jennings or other Jeopardy winners feel, even though the show has recently been open to some change. And I get it. Some people really want to know something about the contestants they’re watching, but at the same time, every single time a Jeopardy episode is running long and they cut off some of the clues, I’m still going to get mad at the interview segment. That'll never change, even if I logically understand why they do it.
