Somehow it’s been nearly four years since Alex Trebek passed away, ultimately passing the torch to one of the biggest winners in Jeopardy! history, Ken Jennings. It wasn’t necessarily an easy road for Jennings to get from champion to host, but now that Season 41 is off and running on the 2024 TV schedule, fans finally feel like they can sit back and assess the current state of the quiz show. Let’s just say not everyone’s in agreement, after a viewer started a conversation that dived deep into everything from the categories to the vibe of Jennings’ era of Jeopardy!.
Season 41 of one of the best game shows ever is Ken Jennings’ second as its full-time host. Alex Trebek died in the middle of Season 37, and with no clear successor, the show endured a bit of turbulence before reaching its current state of consistency. Redditor Sea-Rush445 asked fellow fans of their opinion of the post-Trebek era of Jeopardy!, saying:
I'm not sure if it's just me but do you feel Jeopardy! doesn't feel the same anymore as it used to? Ever since season 37 ended, Jeopardy! hasn't felt the same. The categories are weird, the vibe isn't there, and the tournaments are boring and repetitive.
As noted, there are quite a few factors that play into the show’s evolution, but Ken Jennings being the host is an obvious one. While bmann1111 says “Jeopardy will never be as great as it was” without Alex Trebek, others like Cultural_Salad_2933, are more than happy to move forward with the GOAT. They wrote:
I like KEN Jennings a lot. Equal and on par with Alex Trebek who I adored, but Ken brings a fresh and happy vibe to the show, and yes probably a somewhat more youthful vibe. They are two different people and they each have brought a different personality to the show. I am 80 years old, and a diehard fan of the show. Change is hard, and we get stuck in our ways, but we need to embrace the new. Ken had a monumentally hard act to follow. And he’s doing a darn good job.
As a Jeopardy! fan myself, I’d tend to agree with the above statement. I loved Alex Trebek, and I love Ken Jennings, especially now that he’s gotten more comfortable in the position. However, I sometimes question if there are inconsistencies in some of the more controversial rulings when it comes to pronunciation or a contestant being able to change their answer before the host rules them incorrect.
That may speak to the different vibe mentioned by the OP, as some said they weren’t as into the show as they used to be:
- Yes, this is so true to me. It is weird. I feel like it's all about the quest for the next "super champion" - not as interesting to me as people with different, sometimes interesting or just regular backgrounds competing. I never missed a night, now sometimes I do. – celtica98
- I also think that there is something off because my interest in the show is significantly diminished. I cannot define what is off; it could be me or the show, but it has taken effect. – DotAccomplished5484
Meanwhile, Alison Betts, a five-game winner and future Tournament of Champions contestant would have to disagree, naturally, as she wrote:
Idk I thought season 40 was amazing, and season 41 seems like it’s just as good ;)
The categories were another thing that some took issue with, commenting that there seems to be more of a pop culture presence these days. Despite others' protestations that there is no more pop culture in today’s clues than there was in Ken Jennings’ playing days, this comment from Comfortable-Policy70 is hilariously spot on:
There seem to be more weird artificial pun categories like ‘triple before and after almost rhyming hip hop superheroes’. Bring back Potent Potables and Those Darn Etruscans
I have to admit, I love all the Triple Rhyme Time and Before & After categories, but that is only because I have the privilege of pausing the episodes to figure the clues out. I might not be too impressed as a contestant trying to play those word games.
As for when Jeopardy! started to lose its luster, the critics don’t seem to be blaming Ken Jennings or the hosting brouhaha. It was all those damn tournaments. In the words of logaruski73:
I stopped watching when they started all the tournaments. It was so boring. I wish they had put Jeopardy on repeat during the writers strike rather than air tournaments that lasted twice as long as the strike. I like new contestants not same old ones. I’ve restarted watching and enjoying it again.
Tournament fatigue was real last year, when the writer’s strike prevented new clues from being crafted, but like the commenter above, now that we’re back in the regular-season swing, the negativity is a distant memory.
I actually really enjoy seeing the familiar faces return, and the gameplay is phenomenal more often than not. My sole complaint continues to be with the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament — and that’s for its abbreviation, not the tournament itself. I just can’t keep from cringing when Ken Jennings says, “JIT.”
Jeopardy! has been on quite a journey since we lost one of the best game show hosts of all time in Alex Trebek. That’s not a knock on the Ken Jennings era, but many of the quiz show’s fans agree there’s just something that’s been lost in the years since we last saw our mustachioed hero.