What Is...An Improvement to Jeopardy?

[Driad]

What would make this show better?

I would like the "correct" answers to be actually correct, and consistently judged.

[ProudMary]

Less chit-chat between Alex and the contestants.  It seems to me that the interviews used to be shorter.  Also, AT'S pre-game comments, usually on the previous day's game, are unnecessary.  There seem to be too many instances where the board is not being cleared. Less chit-chat makes room for more Jeopardy!

[Roaster]

I don't know of any game show even close to as good as J! so I am reluctant to recommend changes, lest they produce unintended consequences.

Sometimes the clues are much too easy.  Get rid of some fraction of the easiest clues, especially for FJ.

And maybe fewer tournaments.  Especially where the contestants are under age 18, or are "power players" from Washington.

[biakbiak]

7 hours ago, ProudMary said:

Less chit-chat between Alex and the contestants.  It seems to me that the interviews used to be shorter.  Also, AT'S pre-game comments, usually on the previous day's game, are unnecessary.  There seem to be too many instances where the board is not being cleared. Less chit-chat makes room for more Jeopardy!

I don't think that has anything to do with the interviews, I tivo the show and FJ is regularly finished by the 25-26th minute, seriously I get through the show in about 10 minutes, I don't watch the interviews, because there are so many ads.

[gimmeegimmeegim]

6 hours ago, Roaster said:

 

And maybe fewer tournaments.  Especially where the contestants are under age 18, or are "power players" from Washington.

I'm for that. Except this yr. Power Players w Trump and his staff--K'anne, Spice, Ban, etc.  Mmmmm, good!??

[Fex]

I'd like to see the answers written on the screen. Some contestants are mumblers!

[Prevailing Wind]

Turn on your closed captioning. You'll see answers and questions.

[GreekGeek]

On 3/9/2017 at 6:15 PM, Roaster said:

I don't know of any game show even close to as good as J! so I am reluctant to recommend changes, lest they produce unintended consequences.

Sometimes the clues are much too easy.  Get rid of some fraction of the easiest clues, especially for FJ.

And maybe fewer tournaments.  Especially where the contestants are under age 18, or are "power players" from Washington.

I completely agree on the bolded. "Easy" is subjective, though. I'm surprised to see people miss clues that I thought "everybody" knew. I agree about eliminating the kids' and the teens' tournament, but I'd like them to bring back the seniors' tournament. Power Players and Celebrities can be fun in a train wreck sort of way. As for some other minor changes:

Avoid "guest" readers of clues who read waaay toooo sloooowly.

AT needs to watch his tendency to interject comments that eat up time. 

Get rid of cutesy category names that require an explanation of what the category is about.

[Fex]

6 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Turn on your closed captioning. You'll see answers and questions.

I suggested this because I don't want to do that anymore! I don't need to see all the chit chat etc. I just want to see the correct response on the screen, like when there is a spelling category.

1 hour ago, GreekGeek said:

Avoid "guest" readers of clues who read waaay toooo sloooowly.

Yes!!!

[DrSpaceman73]

Some of the clues are too long and just not clear.  AT times I hear the clues and I think "I don't even know what they are "asking" (I know, or "questioning", I guess is what I should say) Especially with the video clues and guest clues, they tend to be drawn out long ones that seem more like ads. 

[Driad]

A host who does not do accents unless s/he is good at them.

[Driad]

Consistent judging would be a major improvement!  If 2/3 of the name Richard Dean Anderson was acceptable on Nov. 20 (the clue specified “three named actor”), why wasn’t 2/3 of “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” on Nov. 21?

[illdoc]

6 hours ago, Driad said:

Richard Dean Anderson

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, but I understand your point

[saber5055]

Have AT stop using "accents" to give further clues to the correct answer. Like "Sean Connery was born in this country" in a Scottish accent. Okay, I just made that up, but you know what I mean.

[CarpeDiem54]

4 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Have AT stop using "accents" to give further clues to the correct answer. Like "Sean Connery was born in this country" in a Scottish accent. Okay, I just made that up, but you know what I mean.

I'm sure he hasn't.  We just haven't had a Dracula clue lately.

[Driad]

On 3/9/2017 at 3:21 PM, Driad said:

I would like the "correct" answers to be actually correct, and consistently judged.

Just repeating this for emphasis, because the judges have made some bad calls recently.

What do you think would improve Jeopardy?

[Tabasco Cat]

I'd like to see an effort to un-dumb-down the clues. There are too many that provide extra information that can lead to the answer. One clue per answer, please.

Other than that I think the producers should up their game with the writing staff in general.

[HighMaintenance]

I don't quite remember when the cash winnings got so stingy, but I'd like to see them bring back the payouts for 2nd and 3rd like they used to be.  If you came in 2nd with $10,000 and 3rd with $5,000 then that's what you earned and received.  This $2,000 for 2nd and $1,000 for 3rd place is bullhoopty.

[illdoc]

57 minutes ago, HighMaintenance said:

I don't quite remember when the cash winnings got so stingy, but I'd like to see them bring back the payouts for 2nd and 3rd like they used to be.  If you came in 2nd with $10,000 and 3rd with $5,000 then that's what you earned and received.  This $2,000 for 2nd and $1,000 for 3rd place is bullhoopty.

Um, I've watched J! from the beginning of the "Alex era" and have no idea what you are talking about! Used to be, 2nd & 3rd place got prizes (not cash, and certainly not "what they earned"). Eventually, it changed to the present dollar amounts. The only time runners-up kept what they earned was during tournaments (bumped up, if need be, to certain minimums). Of course, I supposed I'm mis-remembering.

[Sounder]

They used to allow all contestants to keep their winnings during the Art Fleming network daytime era.  But of course.....only the days champion returned.  And the dollar values were a lot less.

[HighMaintenance]

4 hours ago, Sounder said:

They used to allow all contestants to keep their winnings during the Art Fleming network daytime era.  But of course.....only the days champion returned.  And the dollar values were a lot less.

Yes, I am an "old".  I recall Art and Don Pardo announcing.

[DEL901]

11 hours ago, Sounder said:

They used to allow all contestants to keep their winnings during the Art Fleming network daytime era.  But of course.....only the days champion returned.  And the dollar values were a lot less.

They changed it because some players started to care more about protecting their winnings than winning the game.  One e ample, the guy who came in to win $5000 for an engagement ring.   Once he hit that, he stopped buzzing in.  

[junemeatcleaver]

Quote

Sometimes the clues are much too easy.  Get rid of some fraction of the easiest clues, especially for FJ.

I'm watching old episodes on Netflix and it seems they have always had "easy" clues.  The contestants have already proven they're good at trivia by passing the test, I don't think it would be an improvement to make the clues harder and less accessible the average viewer.

I pretty much think the show is fine as it is imo.  I could have done without two Teen Tournaments, but that's not a deal breaker.

[ProudMary]

I started this post as a response in the College Tournament thread, but thought it better here, even though this thread hasn't been bumped in a few years. 

 

I wish they'd stop creating new categories and formats for J! tournaments. Also, there's no need for prime time broadcasts of these.

The only tournament that merited a prime time special IMO was the G.O.A.T. Tournament. There's a good reason that tourney garnered such amazing viewership: As of its early 2020 broadcast, those three were the most superb Jeopardy! players ever. People tuned in to marvel at their brilliance! The games flew by, there were very few missed answers to much harder questions, the boards were cleared, the wagers were excitingly high. They were the best of the best and that is a very high bar, considering it's an achievement just to make it onto the show as a contestant. The bar moves up a notch for those who actually become champions, even if it's just for one game; a little higher for those who win multiple games; higher still for those who make the TOC. Ken, James and Brad are household names. If ABC thinks they're going to get anywhere near those ratings for a standard tournament, they're out of their minds; let alone these contrived new ones they've been coming up with, where lesser players get multiple answers wrong, triple stumpers abound and the boards are left uncleared. Who wants to watch the game played poorly?

I hope the prime time ratings flop and the tournaments are kept to the original few concepts and return to their regular slots.

And yes, Ken should host everything. 

 

[Driad]

Bumping this thread because of recent discussion in the Season 38 thread.

Clearly written clues, and correct and consistent judging.

[rubaco]

On 7/6/2022 at 11:48 AM, Driad said:

Bumping this thread because of recent discussion in the Season 38 thread.

Clearly written clues, and correct and consistent judging.

And one permanent host (talk about consistency!).