Jeopardy! bosses admit to ‘mistake’ by changing most important part of show and say it ‘wasn’t the best idea’

JEOPARDY! producers have admitted they may have jumped the gun by messing with the tried-and-true formula for Final Jeopardy.

Recently, the beloved game show began using wordplay for the final round instead of just trivia-based questions.

Jeopardy! producers said they ‘pushed’ the writers to try wordplay Final cluesCredit: Jeopardy

The showrunners apologized, ‘That wasn’t the greatest idea’Credit: Jeopardy
Last week, fans were thrown a curveball by a Final Jeopardy! clue that involved wordplay.

The clue, from the never-before-seen category “RHYME TIME: OPERA EDITION,” required deciphering “Rigoletto Libretto.”

Fans lambasted the clue as “evil” on social media, with contestant Allison Gross, who clinched the game, deeming it “horrible” on Reddit.

‘WASN’T THE GREATEST IDEA’

Executive Producer Michael Davies and Producer Sarah Foss addressed the change on the latest Inside Jeopardy! podcast.

Davies, who is the showrunner after Mike Richards was ousted in 2021, confessed that wordplay in Final Jeopardy was a “mistake.”

Foss said, “We dont have a lot of wordplay FJs; this is actually the first time we’ve had a rhyme time Final Jeopardy.”

“We once had opera anagrams that went over a little better,” she added.

“If we’ve learned anything, maybe there’s a reason we dont have wordplay finals, and we’re gonna take note.”

Davies chimed in, “Well, I think it’s amazing that we did this in the dreaded opera category.

“We are trying to push the material on Jeopardy! across a greater range.

“And word games gives us the ability to reward people for thought and puzzle/riddle-solving ability instead of just fact-based material.

“In doing that, sometimes we are going to make mistakes with the material.

“Every time you push something, you’re going to learn that maybe this was not the right thing to do.

“But we’re trying to be less predictable and obvious.

“And that will mean looking back and saying ‘that wasn’t the greatest idea.’”

“But we have to continue in moving forward with writing our program.”

‘FREAKING IMPOSSIBLE’

Viewers were baffled by the “Rhyme Time: Opera Edition” clue when it aired last week and took to social media to vent about how difficult it was.

The clue read, “Telling the story of a duke, a jester & the jester’s daughter, it was written by poet Francesco Maria Piave.”

No player came even close, and Ken Jennings awkwardly clarified the correct response, saying, “No, this was a reference to Verdi.

“We are describing the ‘Rigoletto Libretto,'” he said, parsing out each word. “The Libretto to the opera Rigoletto.”

“I knew Rigoletto was the opera referenced, but still would have lost. What a crappy clue,” one YouTuber wrote.

“Probably the cruelest final Jeopardy in recent memory…” wrote another.

“That was freaking impossible. I couldn’t figure out the rhyme time part of the clue even though I was familiar with that opera. Way too hard,” wrote a third.

“They normally don’t do the more “creative” categories in final, very surprised by this,” noted a fourth.

On Jeopardy! Masters, another wordplay Final Jeopardy clue also reared its head this week.

It stumped all three contestants and left Mattea Roach looking bewildered.

The clue tasked the players with figuring out “Algorithm Logarithm,” and many said the rhyme was a stretch, and the clue itself didn’t make sense.

Luckily, it didn’t impact who won as Mattea came in to Final Jeopardy with the most points.

“My life is dedicated to computer science and that question was near impossible,” one YouTuber roared under that clip.

Jeopardy! also tried wordplay on Masters and fans were as perplexed as the playersCredit: Jeopardy

The clue was looking for ‘Algorithm Logarithm’ and Mattea’s expression says it allCredit: Jeopardy

NEW QUEEN OF MASTERS

Meanwhile, Jeopardy! Masters Season 2 airs its second-to-last round of two quarterfinal matches tonight on ABC.

The six elite-level contestants are reigning champ James Holzhauer, Amy, Matt Amodio, Mattea, and newcomers Victoria Groce and Yogesh Raut.

It’s become clear that the two newcomers and James are head and shoulders above the other three and will be the finalists.

Meanwhile, the bottom two will be eliminated on Friday, and it’s looking like it will be goodbye for Matt – and either Mattea or Amy.

The Masters grand prize is $500,000, a glitzy Alex Trebek trophy to honor the late iconic host and the title of Masters Champion.

Victoria, a mere one-day champ from 2005, qualified by winning the recent Jeopardy’s Invitational Tournament against Amy and Andrew He, and has become the special’s breakout star.

Meanwhile, James has already lost three times, and fans predict his fellow Chaser Victoria will win the entire event as she’s seemingly unstoppable.

“I’m a James fan but he’s struggling against Victoria,” one social media user noted.

“I think he’s met his match,” wrote another.

“I know we’ve already seen her do it time and time again, but Victoria plays this game on a whole other level,” wrote a third. “These Masters boards are light work for her. Locking out James is no easy feat.”

“Is there ANYTHING she doesn’t know?” wrote a fourth.

Each Masters episode consists of two half-hour games, and the winner of each is awarded three points, while the runner-up receives one.

The four players with the most points will then advance to the semifinals, and the top three competitors will face off in finals.

The bottom two will be eliminated before the two semifinal episodes beginning on Friday, May 17.

After the fourth placer is eliminated, the finale will air on May 22.

The round-robin tournament sees every combination of the famous contestants face off before any eliminations happen, and it all is determined by points instead of dollar amounts.

Jeopardy! airs at 7 p.m. ET while Masters continues on Wednesday, May 15 with Games 11 and 12 on ABC at 8 p.m. ET. and on Hulu.