‘Jeopardy!’ Legend James Holzhauer Mocks Show’s Endless Tournaments
Jeopardy! is in the midst of a tense and chaotic Tournament of Champions, but one of the game show’s most iconic players is seemingly bored with all the recent tournaments.
Super-champ Jamez Holzhauer, who returned to the Alex Trebek Stage last year to win Jeopardy! Masters, took to social media on Thursday, March 7, to poke fun at the show’s recent tournament obsession.
Responding to a tweet that asked, “What’s a harsh truth that people don’t agree on?” Holzhauer quipped, “Jeopardy should have a First Chance Week sometime.”
The self-described game show supervillain was referencing the lack of new Jeopardy! contestants.
Since September, the trivia show has been in full-on tournament mode, with two editions of Second Chance, two instalments of Champions Wildcard, and now the Tournament of Champions. The inaugural Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament will follow the TOC.
Jeopardy should have a First Chance Week sometime https://t.co/i7vc7841Vx
— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) March 7, 2024
Many fans agreed with Holzhauer’s comments, with one person responding, “Right, has this year been like a really long tournament to nowhere?”
Another asked, “Will they ever go back to regular Jeopardy format? It’s getting tiresome.”
“I am so sick of the re-treads. What is going on there?! Is no one trying out for Jeopardy anymore?” wrote another.
“I am ready for regular Jeopardy!” added one commenter, while another wrote, “Anything to put an end to the Tournament of Tournaments.”
Another said, “I stopped watching after being an avid viewer for years with all this second chance BS.”
One fan even wondered if the show will have enough new contestants to fill out next year’s TOC. “I’m really unclear how there’s even going to be enough games this season in order to have a tournament of champions next season,” they wrote.
The reason for the influx of tournaments is last summer’s WGA strike. Rather than pause the show entirely, Jeopardy! chose to recycle old clues with former contestants. In addition, the TOC was delayed after many of the qualifiers refused to participate until the strikes were resolved. Regular episodes with new contestants are expected to be back in April.
After Holzhauer’s comment, the official Jeopardy! social media account fired back, responding, “Darn! wish we’d thought of that first.”
Darn! Wish we would have thought of this first https://t.co/rpYQcSjS1J pic.twitter.com/U2NDSR14sF
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) March 7, 2024
Despite poking fun, Holzhauer, who won 32 games and a massive $2,462,216 in 2019, will be back for the second season of Jeopardy! Masters in May, which will air in primetime on ABC. Holzauer returns to defend his crown alongside Masters runners-up Mattea Roach and Matt Amodio. The rest of the bracket has yet to be announced.
What do you think? Are you tired of all the tournaments? Let us know in the comments below.
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Comments are closed on this story.
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JH does have a way of speaking truth.
At this point, I'm not really buying "But the strikes!" as the reason for an almost season-long Tournament-a-Go-Go, but, whatever, Michael Davies. The most exciting thing for me on Jeopardy is when a player goes on a hot streak, a la Cris Pannullo or JH himself. You took the excitement away, MD.
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Yes, too many tournaments. Please get back to regular schedule. But bring back James H. I could watch him every day!
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I agree with JH. The TOC has gone on long enough!
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C
Too many tournaments, hard to follow if it's a two- day match or single match, or who cares anymore! April you say? Maybe I'll tune in then.
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Want to see a tournament with James Holtzhower and Kenny Jennings...Just the two of them going heads up...That is the only tournament I want to watch...And I think there is a lot of people who would agree with me...!
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they should invite back contestants from the early days before they doubled the amounts. Give THEM a chance to win more money. Like a "ONE DAY WONDER TOURNAMENT" for early season winners who won alot in 1 game and then lost.
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Since I remember some but not all the contestants, and virtually none of the questions/answers, I'm enjoying the tournaments.
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I’m fine with the TOC shows. The reasons have been explained, and I prefer to watch some form of Jeopardy as opposed to nothing.
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More evidence that Sony should dump Mike Davies.
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O
PUHLEAZ! Waaaay past time to get back to “regular rules “ games.
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I think the show is fine.
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I'm bored with all of it. Tired of Ken Jennings and his hints when he reads the clues. Tired of contestants that "ham it up" for the camera. Very tired of the insulting way a win is taken away from a contestant cause the judges aren't paying attention.
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Please hurry up, get back to regular jeopardy format. I cannot take it anymore. Ready to rip my eyeballs out.
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Add Big Blue ( I know it's been done ) and I'm with you.
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R
I agree that the Tournaments got tiresome. To win 3 was very hard to watch. Please go back to the 2 contest total for the win.
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I stopped watching recently because of the endless tournament thing
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C
I never want to see any of these bloated, dentally challenged faces again. I thought they'd get back to normal -- finally -- after the end of this endless TOC, but hearing is to be followed by ANOTHER tournament? Yeah, you've just lost me. I'm out.
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Actually, I don't need to see anymore of JH, Mattea ,etc.
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Get rid of Ken Jennings
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I totally agree with James Just bring back regular Jeopardy which I said 2 months ago
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I stopped watching.
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P
Tired of the tournaments. Time to get back to normal jeopardy already, they're going kill this show too if they're not careful.
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Get back to regular shows and get rid of all the weird Answers /Questions categories. Guess I'm just getting older but sometimes I can't even figure out what they are asking.
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Why couldn’t they have used old clues with new contestants? I am so tired of the retread contestants! We need new blood !
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Don't need a Master Tournament, either. We know James etc are smart & Don't need more money. Give us new contestants,new clues.
People need to say full names when answering,not just "Olson". Ken needs to say "yes or no" without hesitation. He gives some chances to keep trying for correct answer.
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I totally agree with James. I don't know what's going on, who's the champ or who to cheer for. Time to get back to normal Jeopardy.
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Gave up on it...cash cab is much better. Jeopardy is for nerds.
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Also tired of the tournaments that aire over and over. Stopped watching the show 😏
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I think enough is enough. Millions of people ,can't they find new players b4 April? TOC ends soon.
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M
I stopped watching months ago and at this point I doubt I will return any time soon. Why should I? If I want repeats I can watch Alex, and occasionally Ken, on PlutoTV.
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"We Paid A Freelancer To Say A Thing You Like ls Bad Because The Google/Facebook Duopoly Ate The Whole Digital Ad Market And Now Harvesting Hate Clicks Is The Only Viable Business Model For Online Media"
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Sick of all the tournaments. Get back to Regular Jeopardy already.
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Yes we are tired of all the tournaments, bring back regular Jeopardy!
Alex would be very unhappy with all this mishmash!
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