With its primetime debut, Celebrity Jeopardy! took a page from Celebrity Wheel of Fortune by stretching the syndicated runtime to a full hour, letting viewers spend twice as long with the famed folks competing for their respective charities. While more is usually a good thing in such cases, a whole lot of Jeopardy! fans seemingly would have been happy for stand-up comedian Hasan Minhaj to have faced some form of elimination after the first episode. The Daily Show vet earned more than his fair share of negative comments for his vocal and energetic performance.
Game shows are known to get pretty rowdy, particularly where Family Feud is concerned, though Jeopardy! has long maintained an heir of sophistication in that regard, where it’s almost an unspoken rule for those playing to carry on in a streamlined manner without disrupting the flow. Hasan Minhaj did not fall into those expectations, though, and instead provided a constant flow of emoting and vocal reactions to his guesses, whether they were correct or wrong. And fans took to social media to share their harsh reactions to how the former Patriot Act host conducted himself throughout the episode.
The Twitter user below summed up a lot of people’s thoughts with his various criticisms about Minhaj, particularly in the way his reactions threw off the game’s pacing.
i didn't know who Hasan Minhaj was before Celebrity Jeopardy last night but i really really really dont like him. he tried waaay too hard to be funny and threw off the pacing of the entire episode. just play the game dude.October 31, 2022
To be fair, celebs aren’t as accustomed to playing the game rapid-fire the way that things play out during traditional games, and they’re often pushed to be as entertaining as possible in any situation. So it makes sense why a stand-up comedian would instinctively bring a wave of silliness to the proceedings, especially for episodes that need to stretch runtimes to hit the full 60 minutes with ads. But just because it’s logical doesn’t make it enjoyable, at least where this viewer is concerned.
Just turned off Celebrity @Jeopardy I have never seen a more grating human being in my life. @hasanminhaj Holy Christ!!!October 31, 2022
More than a few people claimed to have stopped watching in the middle of the episode due to Minhaj, which seems like an extreme reaction, but certainly not a limited one.
First time I ever had to turn off @Jeopardy was last night when @hasanminhaj thought the entire show was about HIM for some reason. Really annoying. Sad he ruined it for the other 2 contestants and he evidently didn't care. #CelebrityJeopardy
@TheDeerSlayer4
Others also called out Hasan Minhaj for seemingly using the game show as a platform for something performative, when viewers just want to see Jeopardy! play out without sporadic distractions.
There needs to be stronger rules for #CelebrityJeopardy bc this is not anyone’s personal comedy special - despite Hasan treating it like oneOctober 31, 2022
Even viewers who generally enjoy Hasan Minhaj’s comedy were a bit put off by his hyperactive appearance, with this more or less summing up the fandom’s views.
Hasan Minhaj's behavior can be entertaining in a stand up set.Less so in #CelebrityJeopardyOctober 31, 2022
To be sure, there were some fans who found the comedian’s efforts endearing, though those comments seemed to be fewer and farther between as compared to the rest. And host Mayim Bialik remained tickled by his antics throughout, which also drew criticisms, but there’s been enough Jeopardy! slamming for one day.
Anyone with a Hulu subscription who missed the episode may not want to catch up with Celebrity Jeopardy! after seeing all that, but new episodes air on ABC on Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET. In the meantime, fans of Hasan Minhaj can check out his latest CinemaBlend-approved comedy special with a Netflix subscription. Head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what else is hitting the small screen soon.
