Jeopardy! fans demand show eliminates controversial and hated category

Avid Jeopardy! fans recognized a repeated category, which brought them anger. They’re calling for the show to retire it for something new and fresh moving forward

Jeopardy! fans are banding together against a category they hate (
Image: Disney)

Tuesday’s episode of Jeopardy! gave television fans another reason to gripe.

During the first round of hints, host Ken Jennings revealed that Rhyme Time would be one of the categories for the day. While the contestants managed to get through the category, fans online weren’t thrilled or entertained. “Dear @Jeopardy please stop the Rhyme Time category. It’s dumb and no one likes it. Love, The World,” wrote one fan on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The opinion seemed to be a pretty vast consensus as another fan posted a gif of flames, which read “kill it with fire.” In their caption, they specified it was directed toward Rhyme Times.

 

“Still hate rhyme time,” wrote a third. It appeared that the hatred for the category came from the frustration it creates. “Rhyme Time had us all screaming for different reasons,” said one fan. Another added: “You gotta love or hate the rhyme time #jeopardy category.”

Fans are ready to see Rhyme Time retired for good
Another fan gave an easy solution: subsitute in a different much more beloved category, “Before and After,” which they insisted was much better than Rhyme Time.

It’s not uncommon for the show to reuse categories, especially ones that are so all-encompassing. Typically though, they avoid reusing the clues themselves, especially since so many Jeopardy! contestants are avid watchers. However, there was an instance where the show found themselves needing to do a few repeats.

During the 2023 writer’s strike, the Jeopardy! clue writers were unavailable to pen and research their clues. Luckily, the show was able to pull from a vast bank of ideas to keep the competition alive. However, they made a point to recycle their old contestants, too, rather than bring in some fresh faces. It was noted to be the “most optimal solution” to the specific issue.

The show previously reused hints and categories during a strike ( 
Image:
NBC)
“I also believe principally that it would not be fair to have new contestants making their first appearance on the Alex Trebek stage doing it with non-original material or a combination of non-original material and material that was written pre-strike,” executive producer Michael Davies explained on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast at the time.

When the strikes ended, as the writers were able to reach agreements with the entertainment conglomerates, Jeopardy! hint creators returned to their posts. The show was thus able to proceed, even with the hated complaints from fans.