We knew that we were going to see small changes to Jeopardy! under Mike Richards. However, I’m very concerned about the direction the show is headed, if the early part of Season 37 is to be believed.
At the time of this writing, we are seven episodes into Season 37, and there have been two unusual happenstances (at least by recent standards) by the show in Final Jeopardy!.
Firstly, we have last Tuesday’s ruling on Berry Gordy vs. Barry Gordy, where “Berry” and “Barry” are homophonic for 57% of the American population. It’s a ruling where my most charitable interpretation is that the show applied the wrong rule to the situation. It’s the sort of ruling that sets an uncomfortable precedent going forward and will likely lead to the show getting extra viewer mail unnecessarily when a contestant inevitably spells a response “Steven Crane” and “Katherine Hepburn”. (As, after all, “Steven” is a different name from “Stephen” and “Katherine” is a different name from “Katharine”; just ask the U.S. Social Security Administration when they detail baby names.)
Then, the September 22nd Final Jeopardy! references two books about different Asian countries with an identical title, a problem that should have been seen in the writer’s room, and would have been seen had anyone on the show done a cursory Internet search. Not only that, a contestant gave the name of the wrong one of the countries, a mistake which cost ultimately cost that player the game.
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One “gotcha” moment I can understand; mistakes do happen. Two in Final Jeopardy! in seven episodes, though? This feels incomprehensible to me. These actions seem to be consistent with playing to a thought that being persnickety is going to be the order of the day going forward, and that “ooh, sorry, this hinges on a tiny thing that nobody should be expected to know” is going to become the norm. Even though Jeopardy! has had a reputation in the past about “you could be expected to know about every small minute detail, no matter how minute”, it has done a very good job of keeping its canon to things that a viewer with a solid, well-rounded education would be expected to know. That is why Jeopardy! has been as successful as it has since 1984.
Why am I concerned? This is going to make for a significantly worse product if the show continues down this path. This is going to put doubt in the minds of contestants when they’re already in a stressful situation. Stressed and doubting contestants do not make for an entertaining program, as it leads to more stand-and-stare moments and dead air, as the doubt of “If the show told me I was wrong about a topic I thought I knew a lot about, what exactly do I know?” kicks in. (Former contestants have vocalized these exact concerns on the #JeopardyLivePanel podcast when confronted with problematic in-game clues in past seasons.)
Thus, I have to ask you: stop being so persnickety, Mike Richards. Your viewers are counting on you. Your future contestants are counting on you. The ultimate future of the show is counting on you.
Do you agree, fellow Jeopardy! fans? Or am I way off-base here? Make sure to leave a comment!
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Does The Jeopardy! Fan contact Jeopardy!, under these circumstances, or is it up to individuals to do so?
It is up to individual contestants.
I meant in terms of pointing out potential mistakes to the Jeopardy! staff, not making appeals on behalf of the contestants.
I try to limit my contact with the show as much as is possible, as I’ve always worried that it would have a negative effect on my contestant eligibility.
I’m a big fan and thought they dropped the spelling rule years ago! Wrong to bring it back now! I saw the Berry answer and didn’t understand the decision! Bad! Bad! Contestants are going to lock up!! Change it now!!
Hear, hear !!!! Good luck !!!!!
I still do not understand why the Gordy answer was disallowed.
According to Alex, they are pronounced differently. I don’t think the majority of people pronounce them differently, but Alex pronounced both after proclaiming her answer incorrect, and there was a very slight difference.
I’m guessing that they’re hiding behind the “starting in 1833,” thinking that everyone “surely knows” that India was just a colony at that time.
I think it’s stupid, and I agree with your post completely. I’m just guessing the logic behind their justification. Again, I agree with you… especially with the idea that the trend of “gotcha” answers is bad for the show overall.
Either Mike Richards will realize his mistake later on in the season, or we’ll have to write a lot of complaint letters if this keeps going.
You’re way off base! Berry and Barry simply ARE NOT the same name – and trying to bolster your argument with Stephen and Steven is not winning you any points. They are different spellings of the same name while Berry and Barry are not!
The name is Berry Gordy not Barry Gordy
The whole tone of the show is making me mad. I keep waiting for Alex to come back and credit the players for a response. Does jerkdom begin to set in at age 80?
After the last contestant revealed his answer all I could do was yell it’s the same thing!
Totally agree w/the “gotcha”.
Let’s hope they get it together. Peace to all. But, our mouths’ dropped open when contestant spelled Berrie Gourde wrong in Final…
Jeopardy been one of the stable forces in this country for generations. Because it admits and fixes mistakes it demonstrates its honesty and integrity. Don’t turn it into a gotcha game. It isn’t broken, don’t change it. The updates so far have been positive, don’t ruin a wonderful thing.
Some various thoughts about all this. But first, I agree with respect to both these Final clues; in no way whatsoever are you off base here, Andy.
I think placing the focus on Mike Richards here is appropriate. After all, it’s not as though there was wholesale turnover among the writers between Seasons 36 and 37. Since I resumed watching the show on a regular basis in September 2014, I can recall three faulty Final clues in six years. And among them, the only one that was a clear miss in writing was the “moon landing” clue in December 2015 (A. Wilson). “Manchester by the Sea” (R. Zoshak) was a tiny missed detail, and “tree hugger” (V. Valenzuela) was an error on the technical side. To have two controversies this close? It makes sense to look at the change at the top. It also comes on the heels of Andy’s remarks about the decision to re-run the GOAT episodes. In retrospect, it makes me wonder if Richards was responsible for that call as well.
I am, however, also wondering whether changes in the show’s routine effected by COVID-19 have affected things. There’s a minimum of personnel in the studio now; I imagine the writers are largely working remotely. Could there be some element of collaboration missing under the current circumstances that would have flagged the error in the 9/22 final? Would having the full complement of production staff in person at Stage 10 have given someone an opportunity to note the pronunciation similarity in the 9/15 game? In theory, staff should be available remotely to weigh in on these matters, and they should have been called upon to do so.
It would be most unfortunate if Harry Friedman’s well-deserved retirement portends a downward slide from the high standard and his sterling record at the helm of the program. Hopefully, the current regime heeds the feedback it’s been receiving.
You raise a really good point about the possibility that COVID has affected matters. Remote working definitely has a different dynamic.