Jeopardy! Is Overhauling Tournament Of Champions And Fans Are Worried
Jeopardy! has changed the rules to the Tournament of Champions, creating even more criticism against the game show.
To say that the beloved game show Jeopardy! has taken a major hit over the last year would be a massive understatement, and now, according to The Sun, they’re at it again, with fans upset at how this year’s Tournament of Champions will be held. Between category-centered drama and the never-ending arguing over how the hosts perform their jobs, another shakeup is the last thing the long-running trivia show needs. Whereas in previous years, the returning champions would need four or more regular season wins to earn them a spot on the stage, there will now be something dubbed Champions Wildcard that will let players with only one to three wins duke it out with the show’s top competitors.
A pearl-clutching changeup, of course, the production’s shift to what’s perhaps their most anticipated tournament of the year has obviously upset fans. Last year, Jeopardy! contestant Amy Schneider took home the $250,000 prize at the end of the grueling Tournament of Champions. She and previous winners are sure to be rolling their eyes at the new entry rules, which will also see the competition stretched to 10 weeks.
While it’s not completely clear how Jeopardy! plans to carry out its new rules, we do have a breakdown of how the Tournament of Champions will go. Kicking things off in September, audiences can expect to tune in for two to three weeks of the Second Chance Tournament for non-winners. After that, the new tier of Champions Wildcard will come into play with two to three weeks of those one to three-day winners returning to stake their claim for ultimate bragging rights.
Finally, the main event will kick off for three weeks, with the Tournament of Champions taking place with the best of the best, going head to head for the top prize.
Hoping to give contestants “another shot,” Jeopardy! producer, Sarah Whitcomb Foss, thinks the new setup will make for an even more enjoyable and challenging experience for all involved. She acknowledged that since the announcement was made, they’ve already received “lots of feedback” on both sides. For now, she’s asking the show’s dedicated following to trust the changes being made to the Tournament of Champions and to tune in to see how things “play out.”
Jeopardy! has been in some seriously hot water over the last several months, with audiences upset at the seemingly lackadaisical effort being put in on both sides of production and the show’s alternating hosts, Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik. While Bialik was taking the brunt of the hate, Jennings is finally getting his taste of Reddit and Twitter-based complaints as the fan-favorite champion-turned-host has managed to rake in some criticisms of his own after appearing to talk down to contestants and pass out undeserved points.
With the latest complaints surrounding the show’s Tournament of Champions, we’re sure that the execs are holding their breath to see how it all plays out.
When you have a show like Jeopardy! that has been around for decades, it’s no shock for producers to want to make changes to keep things exciting. No one loves change, but we’re going to trust the producers when they say that this year’s Tournament of Champions will not be one to miss.
