‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Want These Major Changes for Season 42
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Next fall, Jeopardy! will be entering its 42nd season. Quite a run for any show, but especially impressive for one that continues to evolve. The fast-paced battle of the brains has had many different iterations over the years, but fans of the celebrated game show feel that its still in flux.
In a recent thread in Reddit’s r/Jeopardy forum, a Redditor posed the question, “What do you hope Davies does to the show this fall? I’d like to see Teen and College Tournaments return, if not on syndication, then on streaming.”
The poster was referring to the man steering the iconic show behind the scenes, exec producer Michael Davies, who officially took over Jeopardy! in April 2022 after serving in an interim role following Mike Richards‘s departure. Under his leadership, the show has expanded in new directions, including spin-offs, streaming content, and tournaments.
Davies also introduced incentives such as JeoparDAY! celebration and Second‑Chance Tournaments for contestants who gave champs a good run for their money.
The first suggestion from a fan who wrote, “Give Masters and Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament a break for a year. Bring back College and Teen Tournaments. Heck, put them in primetime. More people than ever are trying to get on the show and it would be nice to see more new faces.”
“This will also never happen because no one would watch it, but I would want to see an academic version of Pop Culture Jeopardy with teams. No pop culture ins on clues, no wordplay and vocab. Just Tournament of Champions-level difficulty and above academic stuff.”
One viewer agreed that the abundance of tournaments has led to a sense of repetition, not only with the tournaments themselves, but also with the repeated appearances of familiar champions.
“I had tournament fatigue,” said a Redditor. “Mostly because I’m sick of seeing the same contestants over and over. If they bring back Teen and College, maybe pause Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament for a time.”
This has become a major issue among fans, as the same players keep making repeat appearances, leading to frustration over the lack of variety and fresh faces in the competition.
“Only tournaments with the same 12 people we’ve seen countless times the past four years,” wrote another fan.
“Definitely want a long break from Masters and JIT. I would put them on every five years max, and hopefully, with new contestants,” offered a Redditor.
One Redditor suggested that instead of champions, go for a return of All-Stars, a special one-time team tournament that aired in 2019. “I’d like to see the All-Star Games make a return, that was so much fun back from Season 35. Few names I can name off the top of my head for captains are James Holzhauer, Matt Amodio, Amy Schneider, Mattea Roach, and Cris Pannullo Should that not happen in Season 42, a primetime event of the ASGs would be fine too,” wrote the fan.
Other Redditors also wanted to see a return of old favorites. “Reboot the Clue Crew (You have all these Jeopardy! champs like Buzzy [Cohen] and Sam [Buttrey] on payroll, give them the gig Clue Crew and Alex used to do with on-location clues,” wrote one user.
One fan wanted to see more of a change to the look rather than the gameplay, “Everybody’s hoping for less tournaments. I’m hoping for new graphics and a new title card.”
It seems fans still love the long-running game but wouldn’t mind a few changes to break the monotony caused by the constant stream of championship events, especially with how closely they’re scheduled, one seemingly picking up the buzzer right after the last.
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