Fans debate a recent trend
In broad strokes, Jeopardy! has remained the same in its four decades on air, tasking contestants with choosing categories and presenting their answers as queries. But it has also undergone small changes that have a big impact, in the hopes of streamlining the process and maximizing comfort for viewers and players alike. For this reason, fans want the showrunners to consider changing a rule concerning categories.
Jeopardy! has recently undergone an unexpected overhaul. Its usual two-person hosting team of Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik was trimmed down to just the former Jeopardy! GOAT, although Bialik may return in the near future. Showrunners are also experimenting with new displays on viewers’ TVs to provide more information. In a similar vein, fans are debating the presentation of category names – although they remain divided.
Jeopardy! categories, as a general rule, can and have been about anything ranging from geography to WWE matches. These days, the game has gotten cheeky – and a bit verbose – with its wording, presenting topics like “Third Graders Know This Stuff” and “Thomas Aquinas, Advice Columnist.” In moments such as these, contestants took to saying a shortened version of the category name.
However, recently, that trend has reversed course. Over on Reddit, one user pointed out the new habit of contestants saying the full name once again. October 6 player Daniel Nguyen replied, “Good catch. We were asked to say categories in their entirety. I think it’s to help remind the audience the category of each clue.” A later edit by Nguyen confirmed that this had been requested of them for this current season, but back in February 2022, they had been asked to use shortened names.
Nguyen’s suggestion that this recent rule change is to remind the audience about the categories is in keeping with some other alterations the showrunners have been making. Jeopardy! is experimenting with showing more information on viewers’ screens so they more easily remember where everything stands in the game.
This particular change has fans a bit more divided. One Reddit user said they could just rely on having the category clue on the screen, to allow contestants to go back to shortening the name again. This could allow the game to move along better, as one user argued, “I find hearing 4-5 word categories repeated five times to disrupt the flow of the game.”
Another user, however, enjoyed the exact benefit Nguyen mentioned, saying they “like the change” because “it allows me to remember what category is being played.”
Where do you stand in this debate?
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