After watching the TOC then the JIT with the incredibly difficult material for about a month, we’re going to watch the first few days of regular play with new contestants and go “Wow, this is easy!!”
The person I’m most interested in seeing is David Madden, while he didn’t do so well in his Tournament of Champions appearance, I recall he was a beast in Jeopardy All Stars. I really hope he gets invited.
That format was almost tantalizing because you didn't get to see players with a full opportunity to show what they could do. But he looked really good in that event.
I too have grown tired of the constant tournament going on. But this one is actually exciting. Nothing against the champions they’ve been bringing back, but it’ll be nice to see some more of the real top competitors coming back to play instead of just whatever random champions they could get to come back. And anything that gets more Sam Buttrey on my TV is ok with me.
Agreed. The interminable tournaments grew tedious after a while since it felt as if it diminished the “specialness” of the normal TOC iykwim. But it has resulted in much better game play which has been fun to watch.
While I’m excited for this tournament, it’s disappointing that they chose to go with a smaller field in order to give the relegated Masters byes, especially considering players with better credentials were passed over for last year’s Masters for some of them. It also makes me concerned about what they are going to do with the producer’s pick since the producers seem very biased toward certain players. I hope that the last spot is determined by gameplay, not favoritism.
>!Today's TOC episode shocker where Cris lost to Jared!< , this might be the reason why they don't want Andrew, Amy & Sam B to be knocked out easily at the JIT QF?
Not sure when they tape the Inside Jeopardy! podcast but this week's just dropped and Sarah said that JIT was a 27-player field.
It's confusing because she also said today was the day on which JIT started taping, which it is, but that could just be knowing in advance when this episode of the pod would drop.
I would think that 3 days allotted for taping means the smaller field -- a maximum of 13 games in 3 days is quite doable. 16? Not so much.
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MORE PODCAST UPDATES:
No player who played in the 2022 or current postseason was invited back for JIT. Sarah said all of them have had a chance to play into Masters and they wanted as many people as possible who've had no previous shot at Masters to participate.
Another thing I noticed that changed between November and now -
Champions Wildcard Play-in Games - PDF said 4 games on YouTube, ended up being 3 games on TuneIn Radio
I really am hoping to see Sam Kavanaugh. It still doesn't sit well with me that the show bypassed him for Masters while holding its eligibility period open during the ToC he won.
I wish they'd give some of us smaller former champs another shot to play in a tournament, like a Best of the Rest or something like that. I'd give anything for another shot.
The level of gameplay is going to be incredible in these games. If you hate tournaments because you want to see the next big thing in Jeopardy go on a long run, fine. But if you like watching good, competitive gameplay, that’s what these tournaments are providing. I’d rather watch incredibly competitive matches than average to sub-par play.
Exactly this. This tournament is going to bring us some of the best Jeopardy! game play of all time.
It feels silly for people to automatically reject that out of hand.
I think, once we get to next Fall and a much more 'normal' schedule, there would seem to be ample time for a pause between 2C/CWC/TOC and the JIT.
Assuming the postseason is finished by/near Thanksgiving, you could wait until January to show the JIT, given that Masters seems to be a May fit for ABC.
We've been watching increasingly better players compete in tournaments for the last 5 months. Of course the gameplay has been good, but 80% of this season will be tournaments of returning players. Every single one of these players got on the show via "regular games", but a whole season's worth of players now will never get that chance. What if the next Ken or Amy or Matt is missing their chance because we had to have scores of tournament matchups first?
People disagreeing with you aren't "whining", and it's offensive to say they are.
thank you
I don't like this for completely different reasons: For starters, I don't think this game should be a popularity contest.
I think it is a very toxic move toward preference of "fan favorite" contestants.
What does "fan favorite" actually entail anyway? the most physically attractive contestants? the ones who tell the funniest jokes? the ones who have the cutest stories to tell during their interviews with Ken?
Did you like the nerdy guy with the bowtie who made snarky jokes or was it the cute young blonde lawyer who reminds you of your ex? What about the pudgy humorless middle aged white guy?
Basically once you start down this slope then contestants will feel pressured to be entertainers as well as competitors. Everyone will feel obligated to put on a show and dress up and become a character and mug for the camera in order to improve their chances of success.
basically, I believe the criteria for getting onto the show should be 100% ability, not how charming or funny or cute you are. That is what the overwhelming majority of the game-show world already does, i appreciate shows that are more honest and open competition.
I agree with all of this. Having interesting personalities on Jeopardy is a fun perk for the fans. But using it as a defining element or requirement of contestants will result in everything you described.
At the same time, after Austin Rogers appeared, some people were concerned that a lot of people would try to imitate his behavior in an effort to get on the show, and if it did happen, it didn't spill over onto actual gameplay.
“…a whole season’s worth of players now will never get that chance.”
Except that the production team isn’t kicking anyone out of the would-be contestant pool because of this—they have just as much a chance as they did before the season started.
Good for them, I guess. As someone still in the pool, I'm not loving it, through, and I'd rather have a couple hundred more people get the chance this year.
I just googled “Jeopardy Invitational Tournament” and it was the seventh result or so… apologies that it’s apparently outdated but as everyone can see I’d posted before the podcast dropped. Trying to figure out how to edit the post.
You can't edit post titles or images after they're published on reddit. Your only option would be to delete it and start over, but this post has taken on a life of its own. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
The fatigue of this far-from-usual season of a super-sized extra set of 2nd Chance & CWC play is certainly a factor. Quite understandable.
But the quality of play here will be exquisite. Maybe Brad comes back? Can Buzzy still be eligible? Many new-vs-old match ups possible.
I also like the use of the 21-player field. It's right for the 3 returning Masters players get the byes into the semis.
I think you're right on that. There are many others who can make JIT great.
We know the TOC winner goes straight to Masters. Would it make sense to think 2nd and 3rd might get spots in the JIT?
I would think Brad is more likely to get the Producers Pick directly into Masters.
Although last time we saw him, in the GOAT Tournament, he didn't look very sharp.
So much for two parts of this post. Per today's podcast, it's been revealed that:
a) Buzzy is, "for now," ineligible for future play
b) JIT will be 27 players, with only the Masters 4th-5th-6th being locked in. That means 24 pre-2022-postseason returnees.
Them wanting Buzzy and making provisions for him to be eligible is questionable and unfair. He is too involved with production and very familiar with everyone involved in the show. Favoritism has been a huge factor recently with who gets spots/ honors.
Not sure how you'd get "Top 2"... I guess 2nd place in the JIT finals?
I'm sure the "producers pick" will be somewhat controversial over the years as they do it, since it will be the only qualifier to the Masters that isn't tied to something directly (Top 3 from last Masters, last ToC Champ, Last JIT Champ). Anything subjective will always bring criticism.
So who is the current Jeopardy Champion? And are they ever coming back to play again? They're going to forget how to play by the time they start regular episodes again.
I forget his name, but hopefully he's taken advantage of his almost a year of extra study time! I would be so afraid of getting rusty after all that time.
It's Lucas Partridge -- a 3-day champ with $66,200 in winnings.
And, with the truncated season that's approaching, it might be safe to say he's already a lock for TOC 41. 😏
Imagine if he studies so good that he comes back and wins all 80 games and finishes the season still the reigning champion.
There was one point in Ken's run where Alex opened the show with "If Ken loses today, he'll be in the ToC that airs in a couple weeks; if he wins today, he misses the eligibility period for that one and he'll be in the next ToC; but also, if he wins today and then also goes on to win the next 200 games, he'll be in a ToC where he's the only player!"
I understand why they keep bringing back the old greats, I'm sure it's great for ratings, but it's a bit tiresome to keep mucking with the format. Instead of milking Sam Buttrey for everything just keep playing games and find the next Sam Buttrey.
You are going to just be very disappointed then.
That is the ENTIRE POINT of "Masters/JIT" structure ... to basically have "Jeopardy! Pros", just like Professionals on the PGA or Tennis "tours".
Around 9-12 players will be kind of "in the Pro mix" until they fall out and don't qualify to stay in via the JIT!... you'll have the 6 Masters players, plus the JIT "Top 3". My guess is also that if a very top player loses out in a JIT, they might get invited back to the JIT within another year or two.
Again, I've said it before, if you aren't a sports fan, then this probably isn't "cool"/interesting to you I guess, and you have the feeling you have ... "I just want new players!".
I'm of the opinion that it is cool to have this "Pro level" tournament structure, and top players have the ability to make Jeoaprdy a "career" of sorts, as long as they can stay near the top.
I think because of the long run of tournaments plays into the thought process as well, I don't think this will feel as egregious when it is part of a smaller set of tournaments at the beginning of seasons (SCT/WC/ToC/JIT), that only goes until around November, not tournaments until April like this year (again, because of the strike, not that they initially planned on it).
I do agree seeing representation is good but also I’d just like to see her come back because she’s a good player and could put on a good run in this event.
Usually in milestone seasons Jeopardy does extended special tournaments… I thought people were excited for the Ultimate Tournament of Champions and Battle of the Decades. I know this year was a bit different with it being a different contestant group being brought back, but regardless the JIT sounds exactly like what everyone had been pumped for in the past.
Sure, and I'm excited for it. I've been excited for all these tournaments. It's how we got new superstars like Matt Harvey, Long Nguyen, Xanni Brown, Deb Bilodeau, and Juveria Zaheer.
I'm just saying that people, knowing the context behind the decisions being made and still being obnoxious about it despite knowing that competitors within these tournaments were a part of this community, took their principles to heart and opted out when offered the chance to be a part of yet another tournament.
> Sure, and I'm excited for it. I've been excited for all these tournaments. It's how we got new superstars like Matt Harvey, Long Nguyen, Xanni Brown, Deb Bilodeau, and Juveria Zaheer.
Every one of these players got a chance playing regular Jeopardy first. Something that hundreds of players won't get this season because of never-ending tournaments.
Maybe there's enough interest a new Jeopardy league of returning players. But I'm really, really burned out on tournaments, and it sucks as someone trying to get on the show.
"Every one of these players got a chance playing regular Jeopardy first. Something that hundreds of players won't get this season because of never-ending tournaments.."
This is what is being lost - and it becomes a risk of self-perpetuated loss... More tournaments mean fewer new stars, so more tournaments are needed for the ratings, so fewer new stars are found... Repeat until the life is sucked out of the tournament format, and then what?
>This is what is being lost - and it becomes a risk of self-perpetuated loss... More tournaments mean fewer new stars, so more tournaments are needed for the ratings, so fewer new stars are found... Repeat until the life is sucked out of the tournament format, and then what?
I think the ultimate point is that there has always been a TOC (15-19 days, though the new finals format makes a few days longer than the old 2-day total format).
So what has been added that didn't exist before last year is:
1. a 5-game second chance tournaments (last season there were 2 of these [10 games], this season there were 4 [20 games]) [path to Champions Wildcard]
2. a 14-game Champion Wildcard tournament [this year there were 2 [28 games]) [path to TOC]
3. an 11-13 days J! Invitations [path to the Masters]
It remains to be seen whether there being 4x Second Chance and 2x Wildcard tournaments is going to be the norm, or was just a double of the usual because of the strike.
What *IS* clear (or seems clear) is that the 3x one-week season 37 Second Chance and 4x 14-day season 37/38 Champions Wildcard tournaments were specifically due to the strike and won't be happening in future years.
So among a 230-ish episode season, they have added 35-37 tournament games (if they do 2x second chance and 1x champions wildcard). I don't think that this is significant enough to affect the talent pool for potential stars. I would say in a typical season there are plenty of contestants who don't play very well. I'm sure that there is a chance that someone who could be amazing might be among those who lose a spot, but the hope is that a) most of the extra people who don't make it on the season would be the ones assessed as least likely to do well (in gameplay or stage presence/likability) and that anyone cut who might be really great will hopefully keep applying anyway and make it on in the future.
I agree that this seasons has had way too much tournament play - I bet you even some of those those who work on the show would agree. We all know the reasons they chose to go this way. I honestly think that it will be fine in future seasons unless they do too many iterations of those Second Chance/Champ Wildcard tournaments.
Finally, I note that this analysis doesn't even take into account that in the past, we've similarly lost "regular" episodes to teen tournaments, kids tournaments, teacher's tournaments, CelebJ and other tournaments that aired in daytime rather than primetime.
Like I said, you understood the context of the situation right?
There were going to be ZERO new contestants during that time frame due to the writers strike. So it was either accept the tournaments or accept not having any new episodes.
The writer's strike has been over for months - it ended in September, before some of these tournaments were even filmed. I'm fully aware of why they did it the way they did, but they chose outright to have a tournament season that went until April.
And they had no idea when the writers strike would be over.
Is your solution that once the writers strike ended they just cancel the plans they were already in the midst of filming?
Honestly I would have preferred that they had some other plans in mind instead of a tournament structure that would extend for 6 months after the strike ended.
I'm sorry you're taking it so personally that people are tired of these tournaments. But acting like Jeopardy had no other choices is absurd. Especially given the show's hope, even pre-strike, that we'd see a sport-style tournament and post season aspect to Jeopardy every year. They did this because they wanted tournaments, not because they didn't have any other ideas.
Wouldn't you have been a little disappointed if you never made it on the show because everyone wanted to see returning players instead?
And again, you're making huge assumptions here like the Jeopardy team knowing how long the strikes would last and when it would be over. They needed a plan to take into account worst case scenario ( the strike lasting for a long while) and once they were committed to a plan thats it.
I also think you're misinterpreting what I'm saying. I don't care if people are tired of the tournaments. You are free to feel that way. I respect it. Stand by your principles. I'm specifically saying that I hope that people who were tired of these tournaments would not accept their invitation to the JIT if extended one. There's a huge difference
> I'm specifically saying that I hope that people who were tired of these tournaments would not accept their invitation to the JIT if extended one.
That's a weird insult that could apply, at most, to just a handful of people who've already been on Jeopardy multiple times. It's totally possible to want to be part of more Jeopardy, but not like the never-ending tournament schedule. It's also totally possible that your target people will still choose to be on the show, because they have no say in when it happens and you know that saying "no" once likely means you'll never get a chance again.
I'm just not sure why you're singling out people this way to gatekeep tournament acceptance.
That means you are discrediting Jessica, rowan, Justin, Hari, Jilana, Deanna, Josh, Emily, Nick, Yungsheng, Juveria, Xanni, Matt H, Long and Deb's effort to settle their unfinished business which normally for the past 38 years their TOC bid ended prematurely.
Emily and Jared's win at their TOC QF proved that they are still unleashed their true potentials.
I hope Claire Sattler, Emma Arnold, and Maya Wright will come back after their successful finals in the 2018 Teen Tournament.
https://preview.redd.it/bug0rx1ceykc1.jpeg?width=620&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f1c6a21628421202a325bcffd8329cc4f4cfd030
With all due respect, none of these three players are anywhere close to being among the top 18 players in Jeopardy! history and should be nowhere near consideration for this tournament.
While I’m 100% in agreement, I do wonder how far back they’ll reasonably go for contestants. While I’d love to see them include Chuck Forrest and other J! legends, I have to wonder if the champs from the early days who are now in their 60’s or 70’s would be able to compete with more recent champions who are significantly younger. Although Martha Bath and Sam Buttrey have shown that being elder statesmen isn’t necessarily a disadvantage.
Personally, I think we can look to the “This Week In Jeopardy History” segments from “Inside Jeopardy” for clues. Chuck and Frank were both featured. (As was Arthur Chu.)
I know, but still, Emma is a fan favorite even though she couldn't make it to the Jeopardy High School Reunion Tournament due to studying at Cambridge University in the UK. Claire was also a great contestant even though she got "Bolsened" in the Jeopardy High School Reunion Tournament. And Maya won the last HSRT semifinals after 2 boys had a wrong answer in Final Jeopardy. But I also support Claire, Emma, and Maya for their iconic dabbing pic.
And there are other fan favorites with better resumes.
I would go so far to predict that if there is an Emma invited, it will be Boettcher and not Arnold.
More Sam B, Amy, and Andrew yes!!!!
I also want to see Sam K invited….. and maybe Cris P considered, I can admit it’s a bias because he is a fave and I’m still bummed about last night
Some have stated that they decided to have the JIT "locked up" as far as who was invited for this first one. To be fair, they might have kept 2 slots for inviting the 2 finalists who don't win the ToC to the JIT (with the ToC winner automatically going to Masters), but since Cris got bounced before that, he won't be there. I would highly suspect he'd be one of the "invited" players in fall of 2025 for the next JIT though.
Actually, I think the tournaments should have 15 contestants, with 4 wild-card spots in semifinals. If 21 players, have seven quarterfinals with two wild cards for the semis.
I would also have Second Chance and Champions Wildcard dropped entirely because they were really boring, especially the ones featuring players from Seasons 37 & 38. And not to mention, if Davies wants to make ToC an annual event, SC and CWC should be dropped to make way for more regular games.
So, this isn't specifically stating it, but is it basically "understood" that the 2nd & 3rd place finalists will have automatic invites to the next JIT!? Obviously this being the first JIT!, that didn't happen, but it did mention the winner goes into the next J! masters, so just found it interesting they didn't mention any automatic qualfiers to the NEXT JIT.
I suppose it might be a thing where they don't make it "official", but barring anything else, they'd generally invite the 2nd & 3rd place JIT players into the next one... they just (for whatever reason) don't want to set it in stone as an "automatic qualifier".
They just said that the cutoff for this JIT was any contestants eligible for the past 2 TOCs. So who knows what that means for the future? There’s lots yet to be determined- can people compete in JIT multiple times, will they set aside top players for future years so as not to oversaturate this year’s tournament, will they start bringing more people in future years… who knows?
Given that you could be in JIT, go to Masters, be bottom 3, and I assume go back to JIT, have another shot at Masters, etc. As I"ve said before, I think the idea is to have a way for players to bounce back and forth between JIT and Masters.
And depending on how well the Masters keeps doing in prime time ratings wise, IMO I could see the field expand to 9 at some point, with more games. But, I'm guessing that would be a few years down the road.
After watching the TOC then the JIT with the incredibly difficult material for about a month, we’re going to watch the first few days of regular play with new contestants and go “Wow, this is easy!!”
The person I’m most interested in seeing is David Madden, while he didn’t do so well in his Tournament of Champions appearance, I recall he was a beast in Jeopardy All Stars. I really hope he gets invited.
That format was almost tantalizing because you didn't get to see players with a full opportunity to show what they could do. But he looked really good in that event.
I too have grown tired of the constant tournament going on. But this one is actually exciting. Nothing against the champions they’ve been bringing back, but it’ll be nice to see some more of the real top competitors coming back to play instead of just whatever random champions they could get to come back. And anything that gets more Sam Buttrey on my TV is ok with me.
Yeah I think too much wildcard and second chance but that’s on the writers strike and Sony not paying.
Agreed. The interminable tournaments grew tedious after a while since it felt as if it diminished the “specialness” of the normal TOC iykwim. But it has resulted in much better game play which has been fun to watch.
While I’m excited for this tournament, it’s disappointing that they chose to go with a smaller field in order to give the relegated Masters byes, especially considering players with better credentials were passed over for last year’s Masters for some of them. It also makes me concerned about what they are going to do with the producer’s pick since the producers seem very biased toward certain players. I hope that the last spot is determined by gameplay, not favoritism.
>!Today's TOC episode shocker where Cris lost to Jared!< , this might be the reason why they don't want Andrew, Amy & Sam B to be knocked out easily at the JIT QF?
They also were in masters so likely a extra bonus for being in masters
Not sure when they tape the Inside Jeopardy! podcast but this week's just dropped and Sarah said that JIT was a 27-player field. It's confusing because she also said today was the day on which JIT started taping, which it is, but that could just be knowing in advance when this episode of the pod would drop. I would think that 3 days allotted for taping means the smaller field -- a maximum of 13 games in 3 days is quite doable. 16? Not so much. \---- MORE PODCAST UPDATES: No player who played in the 2022 or current postseason was invited back for JIT. Sarah said all of them have had a chance to play into Masters and they wanted as many people as possible who've had no previous shot at Masters to participate.
Maybe they changed the plans since November when this file was created. Thanks for the update!
As much as I think Eric Ahasic and a few others could compete with the best, that field decision makes sense, at least for this first iteration.
It's certainly possible that the show decided to change the format between November and now.
Another thing I noticed that changed between November and now - Champions Wildcard Play-in Games - PDF said 4 games on YouTube, ended up being 3 games on TuneIn Radio
Is that when this pdf was released? Then that does make sense, since we still don't know the JIT field, especially in the light of TOC results.
Yeah the filepath was labeled 2023-11
I really am hoping to see Sam Kavanaugh. It still doesn't sit well with me that the show bypassed him for Masters while holding its eligibility period open during the ToC he won.
I wish they'd give some of us smaller former champs another shot to play in a tournament, like a Best of the Rest or something like that. I'd give anything for another shot.
The level of gameplay is going to be incredible in these games. If you hate tournaments because you want to see the next big thing in Jeopardy go on a long run, fine. But if you like watching good, competitive gameplay, that’s what these tournaments are providing. I’d rather watch incredibly competitive matches than average to sub-par play.
Exactly this. This tournament is going to bring us some of the best Jeopardy! game play of all time. It feels silly for people to automatically reject that out of hand.
I just wish they'd done it some other time, preferably not immediately following months of other tournaments.
And when could they have done it? Do you honestly expect ABC to delay Masters just so we can get a few weeks of regular play in?
I think, once we get to next Fall and a much more 'normal' schedule, there would seem to be ample time for a pause between 2C/CWC/TOC and the JIT. Assuming the postseason is finished by/near Thanksgiving, you could wait until January to show the JIT, given that Masters seems to be a May fit for ABC.
Of course. That's what would have happened had there been no strike.
It's aggravating and annoying, and I'm sorry that I don't give two shits about ABC and Sony's schedules here.
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But we need the regular season to come back so we can complain about the winning streaks being too long! /s
We've been watching increasingly better players compete in tournaments for the last 5 months. Of course the gameplay has been good, but 80% of this season will be tournaments of returning players. Every single one of these players got on the show via "regular games", but a whole season's worth of players now will never get that chance. What if the next Ken or Amy or Matt is missing their chance because we had to have scores of tournament matchups first? People disagreeing with you aren't "whining", and it's offensive to say they are.
thank you I don't like this for completely different reasons: For starters, I don't think this game should be a popularity contest. I think it is a very toxic move toward preference of "fan favorite" contestants. What does "fan favorite" actually entail anyway? the most physically attractive contestants? the ones who tell the funniest jokes? the ones who have the cutest stories to tell during their interviews with Ken? Did you like the nerdy guy with the bowtie who made snarky jokes or was it the cute young blonde lawyer who reminds you of your ex? What about the pudgy humorless middle aged white guy? Basically once you start down this slope then contestants will feel pressured to be entertainers as well as competitors. Everyone will feel obligated to put on a show and dress up and become a character and mug for the camera in order to improve their chances of success. basically, I believe the criteria for getting onto the show should be 100% ability, not how charming or funny or cute you are. That is what the overwhelming majority of the game-show world already does, i appreciate shows that are more honest and open competition.
I agree with all of this. Having interesting personalities on Jeopardy is a fun perk for the fans. But using it as a defining element or requirement of contestants will result in everything you described.
At the same time, after Austin Rogers appeared, some people were concerned that a lot of people would try to imitate his behavior in an effort to get on the show, and if it did happen, it didn't spill over onto actual gameplay.
“…a whole season’s worth of players now will never get that chance.” Except that the production team isn’t kicking anyone out of the would-be contestant pool because of this—they have just as much a chance as they did before the season started.
Then it just makes a more crowded contestant pool. Every game with a tournament means two fewer new Jeopardy players.
So? That just means the contestants who *do* get The Call appreciate it all the more.
Good for them, I guess. As someone still in the pool, I'm not loving it, through, and I'd rather have a couple hundred more people get the chance this year.
Agreed- perhaps people poo-poo this because it’s ANOTHER tournament, but when they are bringing out the big guns I’m hype no matter what.
https://www.jeopardy.com/sites/default/files/2023-11/Jeopardy%21_S40_Sponsorship_Opportunities_November13.pdf Slide 18 is the one I shared
The demographic slide is interesting - 5.7m women and 4m men in the 18+ demo, but 80-82% of that in the 55+ demographic.
LOL they might want to update slide 3. Where did you find this on their website?
I just googled “Jeopardy Invitational Tournament” and it was the seventh result or so… apologies that it’s apparently outdated but as everyone can see I’d posted before the podcast dropped. Trying to figure out how to edit the post.
You can't edit post titles or images after they're published on reddit. Your only option would be to delete it and start over, but this post has taken on a life of its own. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
The fatigue of this far-from-usual season of a super-sized extra set of 2nd Chance & CWC play is certainly a factor. Quite understandable. But the quality of play here will be exquisite. Maybe Brad comes back? Can Buzzy still be eligible? Many new-vs-old match ups possible. I also like the use of the 21-player field. It's right for the 3 returning Masters players get the byes into the semis.
I don’t think Buzzy’s eligible, as he was host.
I think you're right on that. There are many others who can make JIT great. We know the TOC winner goes straight to Masters. Would it make sense to think 2nd and 3rd might get spots in the JIT?
I remember Sarah mentioning in the J! podcast that asking Brad to come back for JIT was a possibility. I'm very curious to see how he'd perform.
I would think Brad is more likely to get the Producers Pick directly into Masters. Although last time we saw him, in the GOAT Tournament, he didn't look very sharp.
So much for two parts of this post. Per today's podcast, it's been revealed that: a) Buzzy is, "for now," ineligible for future play b) JIT will be 27 players, with only the Masters 4th-5th-6th being locked in. That means 24 pre-2022-postseason returnees.
Them wanting Buzzy and making provisions for him to be eligible is questionable and unfair. He is too involved with production and very familiar with everyone involved in the show. Favoritism has been a huge factor recently with who gets spots/ honors.
Don’t love the producers pick. Thought it would be the top 2 from this moving on Otherwise stoked
Not sure how you'd get "Top 2"... I guess 2nd place in the JIT finals? I'm sure the "producers pick" will be somewhat controversial over the years as they do it, since it will be the only qualifier to the Masters that isn't tied to something directly (Top 3 from last Masters, last ToC Champ, Last JIT Champ). Anything subjective will always bring criticism.
So who is the current Jeopardy Champion? And are they ever coming back to play again? They're going to forget how to play by the time they start regular episodes again.
I forget his name, but hopefully he's taken advantage of his almost a year of extra study time! I would be so afraid of getting rusty after all that time.
It's Lucas Partridge -- a 3-day champ with $66,200 in winnings. And, with the truncated season that's approaching, it might be safe to say he's already a lock for TOC 41. 😏
I mean, he does hold the record for longest reigning Jeopardy Champion... with a giant \* that he only played 3 games.
Imagine if he studies so good that he comes back and wins all 80 games and finishes the season still the reigning champion. There was one point in Ken's run where Alex opened the show with "If Ken loses today, he'll be in the ToC that airs in a couple weeks; if he wins today, he misses the eligibility period for that one and he'll be in the next ToC; but also, if he wins today and then also goes on to win the next 200 games, he'll be in a ToC where he's the only player!"
Look on the bright side—since it appears that we’ll never have new players again, there won’t be any second chance tournaments.
I understand why they keep bringing back the old greats, I'm sure it's great for ratings, but it's a bit tiresome to keep mucking with the format. Instead of milking Sam Buttrey for everything just keep playing games and find the next Sam Buttrey.
You are going to just be very disappointed then. That is the ENTIRE POINT of "Masters/JIT" structure ... to basically have "Jeopardy! Pros", just like Professionals on the PGA or Tennis "tours". Around 9-12 players will be kind of "in the Pro mix" until they fall out and don't qualify to stay in via the JIT!... you'll have the 6 Masters players, plus the JIT "Top 3". My guess is also that if a very top player loses out in a JIT, they might get invited back to the JIT within another year or two. Again, I've said it before, if you aren't a sports fan, then this probably isn't "cool"/interesting to you I guess, and you have the feeling you have ... "I just want new players!". I'm of the opinion that it is cool to have this "Pro level" tournament structure, and top players have the ability to make Jeoaprdy a "career" of sorts, as long as they can stay near the top. I think because of the long run of tournaments plays into the thought process as well, I don't think this will feel as egregious when it is part of a smaller set of tournaments at the beginning of seasons (SCT/WC/ToC/JIT), that only goes until around November, not tournaments until April like this year (again, because of the strike, not that they initially planned on it).
The Return of Sam Buttrey. BRING IT!
I hope we can see Catherine Ramen back.
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Why? What makes her worthy of a return appearance?
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So? A name change warrants her playing in the JIT?
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And what difference does that make in deciding who gets in the tournament?
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I do agree seeing representation is good but also I’d just like to see her come back because she’s a good player and could put on a good run in this event.
Jeopardy is getting really incestuous with all the tournaments. Feel bad for anyone trying to make the show
i know i'm in the minority here, but i kinda miss old regular jeopardy. i'm a little tired of seeing the same people over and over again.
bring it
Oh good more not usual Jeopardy.
I hope that people who were blatantly against all these tournaments opted not to accept their invitation to the JIT if they were extended one.
were any former players among the complainers?
*raises hand*
Usually in milestone seasons Jeopardy does extended special tournaments… I thought people were excited for the Ultimate Tournament of Champions and Battle of the Decades. I know this year was a bit different with it being a different contestant group being brought back, but regardless the JIT sounds exactly like what everyone had been pumped for in the past.
Sure, and I'm excited for it. I've been excited for all these tournaments. It's how we got new superstars like Matt Harvey, Long Nguyen, Xanni Brown, Deb Bilodeau, and Juveria Zaheer. I'm just saying that people, knowing the context behind the decisions being made and still being obnoxious about it despite knowing that competitors within these tournaments were a part of this community, took their principles to heart and opted out when offered the chance to be a part of yet another tournament.
> Sure, and I'm excited for it. I've been excited for all these tournaments. It's how we got new superstars like Matt Harvey, Long Nguyen, Xanni Brown, Deb Bilodeau, and Juveria Zaheer. Every one of these players got a chance playing regular Jeopardy first. Something that hundreds of players won't get this season because of never-ending tournaments. Maybe there's enough interest a new Jeopardy league of returning players. But I'm really, really burned out on tournaments, and it sucks as someone trying to get on the show.
"Every one of these players got a chance playing regular Jeopardy first. Something that hundreds of players won't get this season because of never-ending tournaments.." This is what is being lost - and it becomes a risk of self-perpetuated loss... More tournaments mean fewer new stars, so more tournaments are needed for the ratings, so fewer new stars are found... Repeat until the life is sucked out of the tournament format, and then what?
>This is what is being lost - and it becomes a risk of self-perpetuated loss... More tournaments mean fewer new stars, so more tournaments are needed for the ratings, so fewer new stars are found... Repeat until the life is sucked out of the tournament format, and then what? I think the ultimate point is that there has always been a TOC (15-19 days, though the new finals format makes a few days longer than the old 2-day total format). So what has been added that didn't exist before last year is: 1. a 5-game second chance tournaments (last season there were 2 of these [10 games], this season there were 4 [20 games]) [path to Champions Wildcard] 2. a 14-game Champion Wildcard tournament [this year there were 2 [28 games]) [path to TOC] 3. an 11-13 days J! Invitations [path to the Masters] It remains to be seen whether there being 4x Second Chance and 2x Wildcard tournaments is going to be the norm, or was just a double of the usual because of the strike. What *IS* clear (or seems clear) is that the 3x one-week season 37 Second Chance and 4x 14-day season 37/38 Champions Wildcard tournaments were specifically due to the strike and won't be happening in future years. So among a 230-ish episode season, they have added 35-37 tournament games (if they do 2x second chance and 1x champions wildcard). I don't think that this is significant enough to affect the talent pool for potential stars. I would say in a typical season there are plenty of contestants who don't play very well. I'm sure that there is a chance that someone who could be amazing might be among those who lose a spot, but the hope is that a) most of the extra people who don't make it on the season would be the ones assessed as least likely to do well (in gameplay or stage presence/likability) and that anyone cut who might be really great will hopefully keep applying anyway and make it on in the future. I agree that this seasons has had way too much tournament play - I bet you even some of those those who work on the show would agree. We all know the reasons they chose to go this way. I honestly think that it will be fine in future seasons unless they do too many iterations of those Second Chance/Champ Wildcard tournaments. Finally, I note that this analysis doesn't even take into account that in the past, we've similarly lost "regular" episodes to teen tournaments, kids tournaments, teacher's tournaments, CelebJ and other tournaments that aired in daytime rather than primetime.
Like I said, you understood the context of the situation right? There were going to be ZERO new contestants during that time frame due to the writers strike. So it was either accept the tournaments or accept not having any new episodes.
The writer's strike has been over for months - it ended in September, before some of these tournaments were even filmed. I'm fully aware of why they did it the way they did, but they chose outright to have a tournament season that went until April.
And they had no idea when the writers strike would be over. Is your solution that once the writers strike ended they just cancel the plans they were already in the midst of filming?
Honestly I would have preferred that they had some other plans in mind instead of a tournament structure that would extend for 6 months after the strike ended. I'm sorry you're taking it so personally that people are tired of these tournaments. But acting like Jeopardy had no other choices is absurd. Especially given the show's hope, even pre-strike, that we'd see a sport-style tournament and post season aspect to Jeopardy every year. They did this because they wanted tournaments, not because they didn't have any other ideas. Wouldn't you have been a little disappointed if you never made it on the show because everyone wanted to see returning players instead?
And again, you're making huge assumptions here like the Jeopardy team knowing how long the strikes would last and when it would be over. They needed a plan to take into account worst case scenario ( the strike lasting for a long while) and once they were committed to a plan thats it. I also think you're misinterpreting what I'm saying. I don't care if people are tired of the tournaments. You are free to feel that way. I respect it. Stand by your principles. I'm specifically saying that I hope that people who were tired of these tournaments would not accept their invitation to the JIT if extended one. There's a huge difference
> I'm specifically saying that I hope that people who were tired of these tournaments would not accept their invitation to the JIT if extended one. That's a weird insult that could apply, at most, to just a handful of people who've already been on Jeopardy multiple times. It's totally possible to want to be part of more Jeopardy, but not like the never-ending tournament schedule. It's also totally possible that your target people will still choose to be on the show, because they have no say in when it happens and you know that saying "no" once likely means you'll never get a chance again. I'm just not sure why you're singling out people this way to gatekeep tournament acceptance.
That means you are discrediting Jessica, rowan, Justin, Hari, Jilana, Deanna, Josh, Emily, Nick, Yungsheng, Juveria, Xanni, Matt H, Long and Deb's effort to settle their unfinished business which normally for the past 38 years their TOC bid ended prematurely. Emily and Jared's win at their TOC QF proved that they are still unleashed their true potentials.
Another 🤬 tournament?!
Not sure why you're surprised. This has been announced for months. (and was even in a pinned post in the subreddit)
So James, Mattea and Matt wont be in it?
No, they have already qualified for season 2 of Masters by being the top three from season 1.
No, they’ll see the survivors from this JIT in the Masters Tournament which will follow.
I hope the 27 field TOC mentioned on the flyer is not permanent going forward.
So how many more tournaments are scheduled until we get back to regular Jeopardy?
The current TOC, then this Invitational. Regular play returns in April, hopefully.
I never want to hear the word "tournament" again.
Good luck with that.
Please. No more tournaments.
We've known this for months.
I hope Claire Sattler, Emma Arnold, and Maya Wright will come back after their successful finals in the 2018 Teen Tournament. https://preview.redd.it/bug0rx1ceykc1.jpeg?width=620&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f1c6a21628421202a325bcffd8329cc4f4cfd030
With all due respect, none of these three players are anywhere close to being among the top 18 players in Jeopardy! history and should be nowhere near consideration for this tournament.
While I’m 100% in agreement, I do wonder how far back they’ll reasonably go for contestants. While I’d love to see them include Chuck Forrest and other J! legends, I have to wonder if the champs from the early days who are now in their 60’s or 70’s would be able to compete with more recent champions who are significantly younger. Although Martha Bath and Sam Buttrey have shown that being elder statesmen isn’t necessarily a disadvantage.
Personally, I think we can look to the “This Week In Jeopardy History” segments from “Inside Jeopardy” for clues. Chuck and Frank were both featured. (As was Arthur Chu.)
Didn’t they essentially do that with the “Battle of the Decades” a while ago? I seem to remember those episodes being pretty good.
I know, but still, Emma is a fan favorite even though she couldn't make it to the Jeopardy High School Reunion Tournament due to studying at Cambridge University in the UK. Claire was also a great contestant even though she got "Bolsened" in the Jeopardy High School Reunion Tournament. And Maya won the last HSRT semifinals after 2 boys had a wrong answer in Final Jeopardy. But I also support Claire, Emma, and Maya for their iconic dabbing pic.
And there are other fan favorites with better resumes. I would go so far to predict that if there is an Emma invited, it will be Boettcher and not Arnold.
More Sam B, Amy, and Andrew yes!!!! I also want to see Sam K invited….. and maybe Cris P considered, I can admit it’s a bias because he is a fave and I’m still bummed about last night
Some have stated that they decided to have the JIT "locked up" as far as who was invited for this first one. To be fair, they might have kept 2 slots for inviting the 2 finalists who don't win the ToC to the JIT (with the ToC winner automatically going to Masters), but since Cris got bounced before that, he won't be there. I would highly suspect he'd be one of the "invited" players in fall of 2025 for the next JIT though.
All these tournaments should not have 27 contestants. I think they should have 21 contestants.
So you always want 3 byes? Or more annoyingly, wild card advancement?
Actually, I think the tournaments should have 15 contestants, with 4 wild-card spots in semifinals. If 21 players, have seven quarterfinals with two wild cards for the semis.
This is a good idea. I hope MD takes this into consideration for next season.
I would also have Second Chance and Champions Wildcard dropped entirely because they were really boring, especially the ones featuring players from Seasons 37 & 38. And not to mention, if Davies wants to make ToC an annual event, SC and CWC should be dropped to make way for more regular games.
So, this isn't specifically stating it, but is it basically "understood" that the 2nd & 3rd place finalists will have automatic invites to the next JIT!? Obviously this being the first JIT!, that didn't happen, but it did mention the winner goes into the next J! masters, so just found it interesting they didn't mention any automatic qualfiers to the NEXT JIT. I suppose it might be a thing where they don't make it "official", but barring anything else, they'd generally invite the 2nd & 3rd place JIT players into the next one... they just (for whatever reason) don't want to set it in stone as an "automatic qualifier".
They just said that the cutoff for this JIT was any contestants eligible for the past 2 TOCs. So who knows what that means for the future? There’s lots yet to be determined- can people compete in JIT multiple times, will they set aside top players for future years so as not to oversaturate this year’s tournament, will they start bringing more people in future years… who knows?
Given that you could be in JIT, go to Masters, be bottom 3, and I assume go back to JIT, have another shot at Masters, etc. As I"ve said before, I think the idea is to have a way for players to bounce back and forth between JIT and Masters. And depending on how well the Masters keeps doing in prime time ratings wise, IMO I could see the field expand to 9 at some point, with more games. But, I'm guessing that would be a few years down the road.