Jeopardy! Masters‘ Daily Double Twist: Love It or Loathe It?
We’ve got a timely question for Jeopardy! fans: What did you think of the seismic Daily Double format change that was introduced in tonight’s Jeopardy!: Masters?
The tweak in a nutshell: For the first time in franchise history, viewers at home — and only viewers at home — were privy to the exact location of the Daily Doubles on the game board. The alteration will remain in place throughout Jeopardy!: Masters, which consists of 10 hour-long episodes spread out over three weeks and pits the current six highest-ranked contestants (Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach, Andrew He, Sam Buttrey and James Holzhauer) against each other.
“This is something we’re trying out with Masters,” host Ken Jennings explained Monday to ABC’s Milwaukee affiliate WISN. “We noticed it’s very fun in the studio that we know where the Daily Doubles are because we can see the contestants get close [to the clue]… [and] sometimes they veer away at the wrong time. It’s a little bit like a big game of Battleship.”
It remains to be seen if the format twist will be carried over to the syndicated version. “I don’t know if we’ll try it on the syndicated show,” Jennings hedged. “But I really like it because the host always knows where the Daily Doubles are in advance, so I get to watch a contestant who really needs the Daily Double kind of advance towards it, ‘Oh, is she gonna get it?’ [or] ‘Oh no, she’s switched categories!’ You can really get a sense of how the match is changing and how the odds are changing in real-time.”
For those viewers who prefer to remain in the dark about where the Daily Doubles are hiding, Jennings suggests they should simply “avert their eyes.”
Monday’s two-round Jeopardy! Masters debut saw He and Holzhauer prevail over Schneider/Amodio and Buttrey/Roach, respectively.
Great “Jeopardy Masters” so far.
Hope it does well in the ratings.
Special kudos to Ken Jennings for being a terrific host.
The change I would prefer for the Daily Double would be a 20% of it in being in each spot (200, 400, 600, 800 or 1000), not almost always being in 800 or 1000.
That would prevent the annoying jumping around from column to column.
We watch regular Jeopardy faithfully but these extra prime time tournaments are just boring. The same 6 people over and over for 10 games. No thanks. Didn’t make it all the way through one of them. And what does it matter whether viewers at home see where the daily double is? We can’t do anything with that information. They are going to beat a good show into the ground with all the extra episodes.
I like seeing these people. As my daughter pointed out, since they’re all familiar with each other, the format and the host, they are comfortable. Therefore, there’s more funny banter and interaction. Which – for me – is a lot of fun. And I can see the contestants (and the host) having fun and enjoying themselves.
I am not really a fan of this tournament as we just came off of the Tournament of Champions with 5 of these competitors plus The annoying Holzauer who has changed his occupation to “Proffessional Game Show Villain” and who resorts to making crass comments and jokes Ken’s ways. Ken, at least, has transitioned properly as the host, but I don’t want to overdose on our recent big winners.
I love some of these people, but I just think it’s a bit too soon. Are we going to keep on seeing the Amodio, Schneider Buttrey and (ugh) Holzauer on future seasons of Masters? Is it going to have that year’s TOC top 3 or whatever
I think the people chosen for this tournament were bad choices. They’re all from the current tournament of championship game, plus James Holzhauser. They could have switched in more winners from previous years. Mattea Roach did not need to come back, nor Amodio. They were weak in the tournament of champions. Amy and Andrew were good and deserved to come back. They could have chosen 3 other competitors from other seasons.
It’s quite possible that these were the ones who agreed to participate among those who were invited.
I’m loving Jeopardy with Ken! He owns that show and I think that is exactly what Alex would have liked. It’s also fun to see Miyam from time to time.
The Masters is also a lot of fun. It’s fun to see all of my favorites like James, Amy and Matt and the rest. Great format and fun to see in prime time.
Things are looking good Jeopardy!
Showing the audience the locations of the Daily Doubles is pointless. It doesn’t add anything to our enjoyment of the show. (It doesn’t take away anything, either, but it’s annoying that they’re promoting it as a big deal.)
I really enjoyed the first couple of episodes, except for Holzhauer’s aggressive trash-talking. This isn’t “The Chase” — people like “Jeopardy” in part for the friendly competition and good sportsmanship.
Pointless is the word I was going to use as well.
I don’t mind Holzhauer, he’s playing a role, and the other players seem to know and be amused by it.
Yeah, I agree, I don’t care where the Daily Double is.
I’d rather be as surprised as the contestants when they find it. I don’t think knowing where the DDs are is as thrilling as they think it is.
I was more surprised by the second game not having an intermission halfway through the first round.
The first game didn’t have an intermission either.
I liked the playful jousting between James and Ken. I can take or leave the new Daily Double twist.
The revealing of the location of the Daily Double is pointless and unnecessary. I don’t like it.
Also James Holzauer is horrible.
Long time viewer, Don Pardo & Art Fleming era;
I am in agreement with ALL regarding the
unnecessary preview location of the Daily Double.
It adds nothing to the enhancement of the program,
too cutesy, and should go the way of the EDSEL..
Never had to endure the unchecked EGOES of the
participants during the “ALEX ERA”. What has
happened to the focus of success of what works.
Loathe it!
What I enjoyed most about the Masters Tournament was the players humor and good hearted sportsmanship, even though they were trying to win. Also I noticed most of them showed more willingness to make large double Jeopardy bet ala James “the villain”. They were more relaxed.