'Jeopardy!' Fans Say NO To New Game Show Changes

Long-time viewers of Jeopardy! take comfort in the fact that the gameplay, structure, and rules have remained largely unchanged despite kicking off Season 39. Turns out, producers tossed the idea of switching things up a bit with the rules and structure during a podcast today. Outside of a couple of hosting swaps, it is the lack of change that makes Jeopardy! really appeal to viewers at home. So, it isn’t too surprising that the possibility of altering the structure of the game didn’t sit well with viewers. In fact, fans were pretty quick to take an “if it isn’t broken don’t fix it” stance on the idea.

What exactly did producers propose wanting to change about the game show? And, what did fans have to say about it being a bad idea? Keep reading for the details.

Jeopardy! producer proposes changing the structure

During Monday’s episode of the podcast Inside Jeopardy!, executive producer Mike Davies sat down with “Crew Crew” member Sarah Foss. For those who aren’t familiar with the history of the show, Mike Davies took over as EP after disgraced Mike Richards was axed back in 2021.

The EP approached the conversation very delicately. He noted that he understands how much value the fact that the game play of Jeopardy! has remained unchanged over the years means to people. So, he would never make changes just for the sake of changing things. He, however, doesn’t see the harm in trying out a few things to see if they work.

Mike Davies explained that he believes a contestant should get a reward for sweeping an entire column under a single topic.

He explains: “There’s a real moment in the studio when a contestant runs a category.”

And we saw it a lot more with our super champions this last season, Amy [Schneider] ran categories, Ryan Long was particularly good at running categories.

He continues: “There’s an applause in the studio, but there’s no sound effect, no money that changes hands, nothing happens I don’t know if I want to change the scoring, but I think it would be worth trying out – maybe a cash bonus for running a category.”

His co-host of the podcast, Sarah, chimed in to say the idea of making this change made her nervous. But, she was also excited. Presently, this is nothing more than an idea. Nothing has changed yet.

Jeopardy Hosts Replace Alex Trebek [Jeopardy | YouTube] — [Jeopardy | YouTube]

Fans did not react well to the proposal

On Reddit, fans were furious at the proposal. Most fans agreed there was no reason to change the basic gameplay of the show. Here’s one some fans said in response to the proposal:

“Please, no bonuses for sweeping categories. We don’t need to be making changes to the basic gameplay.”
“Leave the structure of the game alone. It’s worked for 38, now 39, seasons, and it’s the number one syndicated show. There’s no need to tweak the formula.”

A few viewers clarified if the bonus for sweeping columns was separate and not factored into the player’s scores they would be on board. They, however, didn’t want to see any type of bonus that involved a player sweeping a category and the bonus being factored into their score.

How do you feel about this potential change to the structure of the game? Would adding a bonus for sweeping a category in Jeopardy! be a mistake? Let us know in the comments down below. And, keep coming back for more game show news.