‘Jeopardy!’ Introducing Big Changes to ‘Enhance Viewing Experience’
The second season of Celebrity Jeopardy! is set to make a changes which could be headed for the regular show if they prove popular with viewers.
Show bosses are testing out new additions to the on-screen experience, which will allow viewers at home to keep track of the categories while the contestants answer clues.
This has long been a goal of Jeopardy! showrunner Michael Davies, who has talked previously about finding a way to keep the category on the screen when the clues are shown. The question was finding a way to do this without distracting from the clue itself. Well, it seems the producers might have figured it out.
“Sometimes the show moves so fast that you lose track of the category we’re in… so we’ve tried a new thing,” Davies said on the latest episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast. “I’m not gonna try to describe it too much because describing it, when you see it, you’ll instantly understand, but it’s a way that you get to focus much more on the individual categories every single time that a category is being chosen.”
He added that this new addition will give viewers a better sense of “what the experience is for the actual contestants and for the producers in the studio watching the show.”
Davies didn’t share details on how exactly this new wrinkle will be implemented, but he received backing from long-time producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss, who said, “Making this come to fruition and seeing it actually in these celebrity shows, it’s good!”
“I know for myself, the first few clues, you’re kind of finding your footing, like ‘Where am I gonna look? Where do I need to focus?’ And then all of a sudden, it just opens up: ‘Wow! It’s all right here,'” she continued. “It’s unlike anything I’ve watched before, but everything is right here for me to see. If I want to see the category, the game board, the contestant, I’ve got it all.”
As of now, this change will only be featured on Celebrity Jeopardy!, which premieres on Wednesday, September 27, at 8 pm ET/PT on ABC. Davies stated there is no guarantee that it will be used on the regular syndicated show.
“We by no means are committed to go and do this on the regular show,” he explained. “We’ve actually debuted the regular Monday-through-Friday Jeopardy! and we haven’t included this change. But we’re interested, as we try to make the show more engaging and more easy to follow for a broader audience, as well as to satisfy our very top-notch, most-experienced viewers who have been watching the show and enjoying it for years.”
The on-screen categories are sure to be welcomed by Jeopardy! fans, many of whom have been asking for this change for years.
“In this day and age, there’s plenty of real estate on the screen to put both the category and $$ amount,” wrote one fan on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum. “Shrink the text if need be, but some of those clues could be shortened anyway, they’re getting wordy and long. We’re not watching jeopardy on 13 inch CRTs anymore!”
“This would def help at home. Categories like “Countries that start with N” and my dumb ass answers Bolivia. Then I’m like, Duh!” added another.
“$ amounts would be nice but the category [on screen] is a must,” said another. “We are already at 1-2 second disadvantage having to answer clues before contestants, the least they can do is give us the category with the clue.”
Celebrity Jeopardy!, Season 2 Premiere, Wednesday, September 27, 8/7c, ABC
Jeopardy!, Weeknights, Check your local listings
