One of the best game shows, Jeopardy!, has been around for what feels like forever, and it doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. With the original series as well as the many spinoffs, the Jeopardy! workload only seems to be increasing, and Season 40 of the game show saw more tournaments than ever with veteran contestants. Now, one former contestant has raised a good point when it comes to future tournaments.
Season 40 only had four months of regular episodes, and via The U.S. Sun, and plenty of viewers were upset over it, taking to social media to complain about “tournament fatigue.” One Reddit thread even wondered if Season 40 was the “worst ever” because of it. Recent contestant Sam Kavanaugh, who participated in the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament earlier this year, told the outlet what the big challenge is for the tournaments and there’s a lot of balance at play:
That series of all the different tournaments and everything, I think a certain segment of the viewership are people who see themselves up there. So, when you're seeing that there aren’t new people up there, I'm sure that felt discouraging for a lot of people. Now that they're back into regular play, and this is sort of the big challenge: Balancing the people who are coming back, old favorites, some of those familiar faces and people who have perfected the game and that sort of spirit of anyone off the street. People watch it and prepare for it, that's a big part of the audience.
It does make sense. Having regular episodes on with new contestants every day or at the very least, almost every day, makes the show less predictable and relatable. It’s more fun to watch as a viewer that way rather than just knowing how smart someone is since they’re already a Jeopardy! winner. However, as he said, balance is important, and it's good to have both kinds of people on the show.
For Kavanaugh, he’s just hoping that a good balance can be found when it comes to Jeopardy! featuring new people and returning contestants. Considering the show has been on for decades, it’s never too late to try something new, especially since many viewers are feeling the same way. He said:
There’s a lot of latent talent out there; I hope that, for everyone’s sake, the show is able to [find that balance] and continue to grow in that direction. One of the joys of the show is, 'oh, you're a waiter,' and you watch them do well, and it's super affirming.
Since Jeopardy! should be going back to a somewhat normal format for Season 41, hopefully, there will be more of a mix with contestants and tournaments. They didn’t really have too much of a choice last season because of the strikes, but now that they have more room and flexibility, that balance should hold up.
At least, that’s what we’re all hoping, but you never know what could happen. There does seem to be more of a chance things will change with the tournaments, so fans should make sure to tune in on September 9 on the 2024 TV schedule when Jeopardy! returns.
Even after all these years, there are still some challenges in store for Jeopardy!, which remains one of the best game shows, so it’s nothing they can’t handle. Viewers will continue to voice their opinions no matter what goes on, but finding a balance certainly seems like a main priority for fans. Since Jeopardy! has no plans to end any time soon, it has the opportunity to do just that and we can't wait to see how the show evolves.
