‘Jeopardy!’ Considering Big Rule Change

Jeopardy! might be switching things up in a major way. As TV Insider reported, executive producer Mike Davies floated the idea of giving cash bonuses to contestants who “run a category” by answering every question in it. However, he may face an uphill battle in actually implementing this idea, as not everyone approves of it. 

Davies shared his idea on an episode of the Inside Jeopardy podcast with show producer Sarah Foss and Jeopardy! alum Buzzy Cohen. He explained that he would be interested in “experimenting with giving out a cash bonus for contestants who run a category.” The producer suggested that they could try this idea out with one of the tournaments, as it’s “a moment in the studio; it’s a great thing” when it does occur. 

Even though this idea would place even more money in contestants’ pockets, Cohen, a former champion himself, is hesitant. When the idea was first mentioned, Cohen recalled that “Twitter exploded with pros and cons.” He wanted to know whether this new idea would affect the overall game score, to which Davies replied that it would be a “separate bonus.” Foss added that it would enable the players to go “home with an extra prize from Jeopardy!, with or without a win.” The producers went on to clarify that this bonus would only be available if a contestant stuck with a category straight through instead of jumping around the board. 

Still, Cohen has his concerns if they do decide to implement this, as he said, “It’s going to affect gameplay strategy, and I don’t know if that’s something you’re interested in doing.” However, Davies was adamant that this would simply be an extra bonus, saying, “It might also give incentive to people who are trailing to go into a category and get something from the game beyond their second or third place prize.”

If they do include this new rule, it would be one of the many changes that Jeopardy! production has navigated in recent years. One of the biggest changes that the show has implemented concerned its hosting line-up, as there had been much conversation over who would officially replace the late Alex Trebek. Ahead of the 2022-2023 television season, Davies confirmed that Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik would continue to share hosting duties going forward. The producer defended the plan to have two hosts in a statement.

“With Mayim and Ken hosting, the show is considerably up in viewership year over year, with more than 27M viewers tuning in each week this season,” Davies wrote. “When you consider that almost every other show in broadcast television and syndication is declining, this has been a quite remarkable season: we’re the most-watched entertainment show on all of television. Yes, all of television.”