‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Shocked by 2023 Tournament of Champions Lineup
While Jeopardy!‘s 2023 Tournament of Champions has been temporarily postponed due to the ongoing WGA strike, it hasn’t stopped fans from discussing the upcoming competition and who has qualified to take part. One things that stands out for many is the lack of diversity.
Season 39 finished airing last Friday, July 28, and throughout the season, only one woman qualified for the upcoming Tournament of Champions, data scientist Hannah Wilson, who won eight games earlier this year. A player must win at least four games to be eligible for the TOC.
Thirteen contestants officially qualified for the 2023 TOC, including fan favorites Ray LaLonde, Cris Pannullo, Luigi de Guzman, and Ben Chan. Celebrity Jeopardy! winner Ike Barinholtz is also set to compete in the tournament.
“There’s no way they would go ahead with such an un-diverse tournament after the 50% non-male field from the last tournament,” wrote one fan on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum.
“I would have liked to see more women in the TOC,” added another commenter.
One of the TOC qualifiers, Ben Goldstein, spoke to The U.S. Sun about the male-heavy field, offering his opinion on how the show could bring in more diversity.
“I think Jeopardy! is amazing. I don’t wanna dump criticism their way. What I wanna do is offer constructive, positive feedback,” Goldstein said. “People complain about the lack of diversity in the 2023 TOC contestant class. What are some ways we can address that?”
“One way is to offer a travel stipend, for example, or an official hotel with a discounted rate and shuttle service,” he continued. “Not everyone can afford a trip to LA and get $750 return after taxes 90 days after their show airs – it’s good we’re talking about this sort of thing.”
Jeopardy!, Inc
The line-up for the 2023 TOC so far includes High School Reunion Tournament winner Justin Bolsen, Celebrity Jeopardy! winner Ike Barinholtz, Cris Pannullo (21 wins), Ray LaLonde (13 wins), Ben Chan (9 wins), Hannah Wilson (8 wins), Stephen Webb (8 wins), Troy Meyer (6 wins), Suresh Krishnan (6 wins), Luigi de Guzman (5 wins), Ben Goldstein (5 wins), Matthew Marcus (4 wins), and David Sibley (4 wins).
However, there are still slots available. Before the WGA strike caused a change of plans, Jeopardy! planned to host a number of postseason tournaments, including a Second Chance competition and a Champions Wildcard, offering another chance for other Season 39 players to qualify for the TOC.
Those plans are currently on hold due to the strikes. And even if the producers did decide to move ahead, several TOC qualifiers stated they would not cross the picket line. There is no word as of yet when the 2023 TOC will air.
Season 40 is currently scheduled to begin airing on September 11 and will feature recycled WGA material.
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Conversation19 Comments
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Comments are closed on this story.
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For Heaven’s sake people! Get a grip! It’s a game show, a competition of obscure facts, less commonly known information and trivia. I am an avid fan of Jeopardy! and have watched for decades. Can’t we all just enjoy the wonderful nerdy-ness of it and forget all the rest for a few minutes?
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O
It's not like they CHOSE all these men. Remember, you must qualify for the TOC. Jeopardy!'s so-called "legion" of fans are often too much to take ....
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Exactly right. What is the show suppose to do? Have easier questions for females who try out? or are contestants? Why stop with female diversity? How about race? sexual orientation? Pacific Islander? red-headed people from the mid-west? and the list could go on ad nauseum!! Same rules apply to all who try out and qualify. Then the chips fall where they may.
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C
Sheesh. Some Jeopardy fans are always finding new things to complain about. If last year's TOC was more diverse then apparently the women who were champions in the preceding year were just better than those who were champions this year. From what I can tell, since the last TOC there were 43 different men (+ the pre-TOC carry-over champ) who were champions while 28 were women. Not that big of a difference (at least not in comparison to the TOC qualifiers). The chances to qualify were there (and two slots were separate tournament winners w/ very mixed fields), but the women just didn't win enough games.
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Its is simply too bad that more women didn't qualify for the tournament. Want to get in....win games.
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O
My only concern is the host. if M. Bialik hosts, I'll skip it.
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G
For over 2 years fans have complained mostly about Mayim as being a bad host. I get the complaining initially but this is absurd. If fans like you continue to complain then cancel the show, Jeopardy is about the contestants not the host. Plus Jeopardy is one of the hardest game shows to host and she and Ken work real hard to do a good job. But that’s not good enough. Instead of skipping when she’s on. Why don’t you skip altogether because Jeopardy doesn’t deserve to have a crybaby of fan like you.
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Nope. Bad hosting diminishes the viewer's enjoyment. It was true about Tyra when she took over Dancing With the Stars, and with many of the rotating guest hosts on Jeopardy.
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The buzzer doesn't know who is pressing it, and the question doesn't know who is answering it. Other than trying to inject more minority or female-centric questions, not much they can do to insure a more diverse set of champions.
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R
IMO there's a good chance that far fewer women try out for the show.
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The problem has always been that in general women contestants - for good or ill - are more conservative betting. As a result they don’t allow themselves the chance to come from behind or to build big bankrolls during a game. Not always, but often enough that it is noteworthy.
FWIW, there are fewer female participants in poker tournaments. I think gambling is just not as popular with women. Is it in the DNA or cultural? I don’t know. What do you think?
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G
Stupid argument. You either win enough games to qualify or you don't. If those that won enough games were men, too bad. It's not like they barred women from competing.
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Really? No women? Tsk tsk
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C
ditto for me!
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O
Why is there a stink about sex but not race?
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There is. This particular article just didn't bring it up.
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G
Because contestants are recruited on merit alone; affirmative action has no place in game shows based on knowledge. AA is for game shows such as Family Feud, Pyramid and. Pictionary.
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B
True. Even universities are changing their admissions policies, realizing that AA takes space away from brilliant students and admitting under qualified ones. While I'm on this soapbox, no more athletic scholarships and open a third program limited to trans athletes only.
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That would be worse than AA. Trans is not a thing. Just because you DECLARE yourself to be the opposite sex, it doesn't make it so. It's impossible to change sexes. Trans people need mental help, not encouragement of their incorrect beliefs.
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