Every single person appearing on the regular version of Jeopardy is really smart. You have to pass rigorous tests to even be considered for the show. No one is getting through who isn’t at least significantly more intelligent than the average person, but that doesn’t mean the smartest person on each episode always wins. In fact, a lot of times they don’t, and Stephen Fry thinks he knows why.
Jeopardy was recently relaunched across the pond on ITV with Fry taking over hosting duties, and to promote the show, he did some interviews to talk about his own theories on the beloved game. He said a lot of contestants get really nervous once they get on stage. Many of them have never been on television before, and they’re worried about how they look or what might happen if they don’t do well. That can lead to a lot of tension and a lack of focus. Here’s what he told Deadline…
Even though there’s no audience, people are nervous because they’re on television, or worried about how they look and what they’re wearing and they’re nervous because they want to win...They’re very excited, and that slight tension and strain is inimical... You need to be a bit Zen. It’s like in sport. You know how to hit a ball, but if you try and concentrate on it, you’ll miss somehow. If you don’t know, don’t buzz.
Of course the knowledge base is extremely important. If the facts aren’t inside your brain, it doesn’t matter what your approach is. For a lot of subjects, however, every contestant actually knows the clue. If they were given a test and unlimited amount of time, most contestants would be familiar or at least have a strong guess on most of the clues; so, who wins and who loses is often a matter of who can successfully navigate the buzzer and who can remain calm enough to recall the knowledge quickly.
This also explains why a lot of winners end up winning multiple times. Yes, they’re obviously very intelligent, but they’re not necessarily smarter than every other player they play against. Instead, they’re simply better at playing the game, which means mastering the buzzer, controlling their nerves and being very thoughtful about when to buzz in and when not to buzz in.
As for the UK version of Jeopardy in general, it’ll be interesting to see what happens this time around. Network execs have tried to get a version to take off on British TV a handful of times, and it has never caught on with enough viewers. Channel 4, ITV and Sky One have all attempted at some point between the early 80s and now, but none of the versions have lasted more than three years. Maybe this will be the one.
Regardless, the American version of Jeopardy is still going as strong as ever. After a lot of guest hosts and some initial time splitting, fans have really bought into legendary player Ken Jennings as the new host, and there’s no reason to think the show won’t run decades longer under his leadership.
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