I have found over the past few months that it is surprisingly easy for contestants and others to find The Jeopardy! Fan. I know that many contestants (or members of their family) read what is posted here. I thus feel that the site has a responsibility to keep the general tenor of conversation in this space positive. Please keep this in mind when commenting.
With that in mind, any comment on The Jeopardy! Fan must fall within the following rules:
- Any comment which is judged to be personally negative towards a contestant will not be approved, or will be deleted. You can talk negatively about gameplay, but do not get personal about the contestant. Think of it like arguing with a baseball umpire. You can talk about the call, but don’t get personal.
- You’re welcome to voice objections to question material; however, your remarks must be reasonably sound with citations provided. It’s very rare for the show to make mistakes—it’s much more likely that you as a viewer either misunderstood the clue, or misremembered the requisite knowledge. We all watch Jeopardy! to learn—use the clue as a learning experience instead of assuming that you already know everything.
- Complaints that the show failed to miss a response not in the form of a question are always improper and will be instantly removed. The judges have the ability to isolate contestant audio and are always willing to stop tape to confirm. If a response is not in the form of a question, the judges will tell us. Moreover, this sort of behavior is akin to those who used to call into the PGA Tour with rules violations. It’s incredibly gauche. Viewers are also reminded that failing to form a response in the form of a question is a warning violation in the game’s opening round, and only a penalty violation in Double Jeopardy!.
- Don’t be creepy. You may think you’re complimenting a contestant with your remarks, but to them, it might come across differently. If it’s something that a reasonable person might compare to attempting to chat someone up, it’s not going to be allowed.
- Any comment that clearly demonstrates that one did not read the post being commented on will not be approved. Also, as The Jeopardy! Fan’s recaps are specifically intended not to serve as a replacement for watching the show, comments where it is clear that the commenter failed to watch will also not be approved.
- For technical reasons, I cannot move a comment to a different post. Please be mindful of spoilers for those who may watch out-of-order, and keep comments germane to the specific episode. If a comment is posted in the wrong episode thread, I may have to delete it.
- Often, comments will be placed in moderation. It may take a few hours for it to be approved, if I am predisposed.
- If making comparisons between contestants, please do not use undefined criteria that might confuse other posters. (i.e. references to one’s own “Fantasy Tournament of Champions” is very likely to confuse others). Any term in J! Archive’s glossary is fair game.
- Any article more than 30 days old will not have comments allowed on it. (This rule is more to keep the spambots away as much as possible).
- If you have been removed from other areas of the show’s fan community for your actions, your presence will not be welcome here.
- Please remember that The Jeopardy! Fan is a fan site that has no official ties to the show. The best way to contact Jeopardy! itself is via the show’s website itself.
- Any comment which might be seen to incite replies that incite episode piracy will be considered in violation. Specifically inciting or encouraging episode piracy will result an immediate ban from the comments section.
- Any comment which has been posted identically to that on another website will be in violation, as those sorts of comments are likely to be considered by a search engine to be spam and may harm this site’s long-term viability.
Thank you for your help in upholding these principles.