Featured J!Buzz

Inside the third episode, and Jeopardy!’s bright future in a transformed TV business.

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I am in rainy New York City this week for the annual TV upfronts, which means I actually got to watch tonight’s Jeopardy! Masters episode in the apartment where I lived before I joined the show in 2021. 

This is that rare week in American television when the TV business revolves around the Big Apple rather than Hollywood. Because virtually the entire industry - the network execs, the talent, a bunch of agents, and a few showrunners - fly east to sell their wares to the advertisers who pay our salaries. 

I attended just four of the lavish presentations - NBC, Fox, Amazon, and Disney/ABC - in front of packed audiences of thousands of “buyers” at Radio City Music Hall, the Hammerstein Ballroom, the Beacon Theater, and the Javits Center. And it was impossible not to be blown away by the assemblage of stars, video packages, song and dance numbers, big screen choreography, executives, and marching bands (two of them in one presentation) that sold every network and streaming offering.

Television has changed a lot over my 35 years in the business. And over the last ten years or so, the rise of streaming services has accelerated that change exponentially. It has become fashionable recently in media circles to proclaim the death of television advertising and the hegemony of subscription. But what was clear to everyone who attended any of the presentations this week was that for both broadcasters and streamers (and especially for the people who own both), advertisements and advertisers remain crucial. And that the TV ad business is only going to grow.

According to the IMARC Group, a global management consulting firm, the global television advertising market will grow from $243.9 billion last year to $329.9 billion by 2033.

And of course, this is very good news for Jeopardy! and all of its extensions. But we must never forget, all of us who love the show, that it is brands and commercials that, for more than 60 years, have made this remarkable program possible. So a massive thank you to tonight’s advertisers on ABC nationally and WABC in New York:

Verizon, Marshalls, Rezdiffra, Cotton, Neutrogena, GMC Sierra trucks, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Disney’s Lilo and Stitch, PayPal, One a Day, Colgate, Tremfya, Kohl’s, Toyota, PWC, ShopRite, Homes.com, Reese’s, Royal Kingdom, Nature’s Bounty, Arm & Hammer, Simpatica Trio, Nature Made, Nissan, Cricket Wireless, Afrin, Planet Fitness, New York Lottery, Fage Yogurt, Subaru, Allegra, Aveeno, and our friends at the AARP.

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Side Note - a Word from our Creator…

My former boss and the creator of Jeopardy! Merv Griffin never forgot how central advertising was to his business and his shows. And he never let any of his producers, talent, or execs forget it either. Right until the end: On his headstone at the Westwood Village Memorial Cemetery in Los Angeles, his epitaph reads, “I will not be right back after this message.”

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Jeopardy! Masters: Behind the Clues – Knockout Game 5

In the last couple of newsletters, I have written about the staggering range and difficulty of the material we ask our Masters to handle. This week, based on your feedback, a few more stories behind the clues.

SWAN DIVING - Ideas for categories very often come from writers’ everyday lives, and in L.A., our commutes take too long to waste all that time. Jim Rhine was listening to classical music on the way to work and heard the Swan movement from “The Carnival of the Animals” by Saint-Saëns. It’s a beautiful piece and inspired Jim to think about other swan references that could fill out a category. The beauty of writing for Masters is that it gives you that extra breadth of information in the universe of things the contestants would probably know. We might not try the Saint-Saëns piece on regular-season contestants, but it seemed perfect for Masters, and we even got a snippet of gorgeous music on the air.

SOME SERIOUS SPORTS TALK - A wrinkle of Masters writing is that with 18 half-hours and only nine contestants, it starts to feel repetitive if we just do standard broad categories over and over. This is an issue with a subject like sports. We don’t want to have four categories just called Sports, but at the same time, it seems wrong to have such an important tournament turn on narrower subjects like Lacrosse or Wearing Number 17 or something. Robert McClenaghan had the great idea of doing a sports talk/broadcasting category, and as a Dodger fan, was happy to be able to include Vin Scully. It also seemed appropriate to name-check our old friend, Sports Jeopardy! host Dan Patrick, but it seemed too easy to go for him, hence the Keith Olbermann clue.

ON THE OLD CABIN’S BOOKSHELF - Billy Wisse had the idea for On the Old Cabin’s Bookshelf, but John Duarte ended up writing it. That was probably for the best because sometimes one can get too close to an idea. John did a nice job of finding books of just the right vintage and onetime popularity that they might end up on the shelves of a random cabin you rent or borrow for a summer weekend. If Billy had written the category, it might have ended up with a snapshot of the bookcase of a certain Adirondack cottage, with obscurities like Skipped Parts by Tim Sandlin, and Tommy Armour’s How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time.

DRUMMING and THE 2 & THE 4 - We don’t end up with as many paired categories in Masters as on the syndicated show, but Drumming and The 2 and the 4 seemed to go together and the second one was a good opportunity to do a special brain-twisting type of wordplay category just for the Masters. Not only can they handle the convolutions better than regular-season contestants, but we have a little more time for Ken to give the wordy explanations. Last year, we presented one called The Kernel of the Clue, which seemed to really get on the Masters’ nerves. They did eventually figure it out and get into the swing of the category, and then the five clues were over!  This year, The 2 and the 4 seemed to be a little more comprehensible – not that we want to go too far in that direction!

We were happy to see the tapir Final Jeopardy! strike a chord with Juveria’s brother, apparently a tapir superfan, in the audience. We understand Dr. Zaheer, a veterinarian,  is an ungulate specialist, but he obviously still has his favorites among our hoofed friends. The source of that clue was another frequent one for show writers: random reading. In this case, a book called How The New World Became Old: The Deep Time Revolution in America by the wonderful Stanford historian Caroline Winterer. 

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Stats and Analysis: Knockout Game 5

So, this episode concluded the knockout round and would feature our first eliminations of the series. And you could certainly feel the tension in the studio.

First up, the three second-place finishers from their first games. All three knew that whoever finished third in this game would be eliminated.

Victoria (3), Matt (1), Adriana (0)

Game summary: Runaway win for Victoria, who beat Matt for the third time in Masters competition. But this was her first time playing Adriana, and the respect between all three of them was evident from the outset. 

Victoria in the Zone: After a somewhat slow start, our reigning Masters champion was still trailing Matt and only just ahead of Adriana at the halfway point of the Jeopardy! Round. But then a fierce run of 12 of the next 18 correct responses, including two Daily Doubles worth a combined 9,800 points, put her practically out of reach, with both Daily Doubles found early in Double Jeopardy!. Victoria had 42 buzzer attempts and 29 successful buzzes (69% success rate) - That's the second-highest buzzer conversion rate in Masters history, behind only James Holzhauer's Season 1 record (70% on 50 buzzes).

Adriana’s Final Push: Adriana rebounded well in Double and hit seven correct responses on 14 attempts at the buzzer. She made up some ground on Matt, accumulating more than half his total, and gave him something to think about with his wager in Final. After much deliberation, he locked in his wager and with all three players correct (tapir), Matt secured second place and 1 match point (giving him a total of 2 match points) and securing him a spot in the Quarterfinals. 

A Fond Farewell: Adriana's 0 match points this game and 1 match point total from her first KO game means she was mathematically eliminated from the competition. Adriana spoke with Ken after her elimination about her Masters debut and meeting, for the first time, some of her fellow Masters. “It’s nice to be here with other people who have done this,” she said. “We know what we’re doing, we know it’s going to be tough but competitive and fun, and a good approach is simply to have fun with it”. I told her before she left that we all look forward to seeing her back on the Alex Trebek Stage. She has so many fans on our staff and in the Jeopardy! community. 

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Jeopardy! Masters: Behind the Clues – Knockout Game 6

Another couple of game boards of outstanding material.

SHOP TALK - All Jeopardy! clues are thoroughly scrutinized by our whole staff of writers and researchers -- but when it comes to Masters, the focus becomes even keener. Not only is there more at stake, but the quality of the contestants’ minds means they could know about a term or a whole angle on a clue that we didn’t think of. In the Shop Talk category, there was a lively debate about the original draft of the clue with the response of restaurant “tops”. Some felt that “covers” would be acceptable, while others insisted no one who worked in food service would ever talk about a “four-cover” or a “six-cover”. Finally, as is often the case, the principle of “better safe than sorry” prevailed, and we rewrote the clue with a definition of “cover” in it. (If there is a standard list of quiz show writing hacks, near the top must be “if you’re worried about an alternate response, include it in the clue”.)

AARON SORKIN, WRITER - It’s always exciting when one gets to write clues to be presented by a celebrity one admires, but it can also be intimidating. Though Co-Head Writer Michele Loud is an Aaron Sorkin fan, she may not have anticipated the sheer number of projects that would make for interesting game material. Still, it’s better to have alarmingly many options for clue topics than too few. Michele looked below the surface for stories that shed light on the master’s (lower case m) process, and Aaron Sorkin really appreciated the clues and the work she put into writing and researching them. Not only did the category play great, but it is not inconceivable that some of the material that we didn’t have room for in the category might someday appear on a certain syndicated show of your acquaintance.

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Stats and Analysis: Knockout Game 6

You could feel the nerves and desire to win behind the contestant podiums (podia?) as we got ready to play this game. These were the three third-place finishers from their first games. And now two of them were going to be eliminated from the competition in less than half an hour. 

Juveria (3), Brad (1), Neilesh (0)

This is the first time any of these three players have played against each other, in any combination.

Game Summary: Juveria led entering Final and won on a Triple Stumper - Brad went on a tear in the J! round, finishing the round with 15 correct responses to enter DJ! with the lead. Juveria found the first Daily Double in DJ! with 7,600 pts and said, “If it’s the last time I get to say this, true Daily Double,” and was correct (Rachel Carson), followed by some serious emotional relief to capture the lead from Brad. Juveria added another 4K on the last Daily Double and took a good but not insurmountable lead into Final. Brad ended the round in second place with a respectable 15,800 pts. Final was a Triple Stumper (Aaron Copland), and the big lead Juveria built allowed her to wager minimally and secure the win from first place. Brad finished in second and Neilesh in third, and both were eliminated after not securing a match point in their first KO games. In his FJ! response, Neilesh wrote a sweet message, "Thanks for this awesome experience". 

The Jeopardy! Giant Awakens: Brad's 15 correct responses in the J! round were tied for the 3^rd most in a single round in Masters history (tied with multiple players). Brad also ran the SHOP TALK category in the J! Round. This was the first category run in Masters so far this season. (not an easy thing to do against other Masters.)

Statistical Parity: Despite the outcome, Juveria and Brad both had very comparable stats. Juveria - 23 correct/2 incorrect (92%) / buzzer: 39 att/22 buzz (56% success) / 16,400 coryat. Brad - 21 correct/1 incorrect (95%) / buzzer: 40att /22 buzz (55% success) / 15,800 coryat. This game came down to the Daily Doubles - Juveria got all 3 Daily Doubles (total of 13,600 pts added)

The Hottie Identification Service: We all love a cross Jeopardy! franchise interview story and Juveria’s crediting of the Pop Culture Jeopardy! champions, Personality Hires, with helping her know all about the contemporary “young hotties,” was a staff favorite.
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Highlights of the Postgame Chat…

After the game, Ken congratulated Juveria and pointed out that Brad appeared to be running away with it. Juveria replied, “he’s pretty amazing, as you know.”

Brad spoke about his return - “It was nice to prove that I could still hang, but at the same time, you know, this Ken, I’m not as good as I used to be. I mean, I'm 47, that's gonna take a toll. So it's nice to know that I can still play up here, but you know, when do you hang them up?”

Personally, I would love to see Brad back.

Ken also applauded Juveria for her big swing on the Daily Doubles, and she replied, “My entire Jeopardy! career has been characterized by having literally nothing to lose. I think I’m the first loser to be at Masters!” (from Second Chance > Masters). She added that it’s great to be an avatar for players out there who maybe didn’t get that luck in their first game.”

On his Jeopardy! career, Neilesh said, “whatever it is that I’m moving on to, I’ll come back stronger. I’m hoping to take this experience away, it’s just been absolutely amazing regardless of what happens.”

I have so much admiration for Neilesh. He is just a remarkable young person: His graceful and eloquent acknowledgement of his high school librarian and quiz coach in the audience during his interview, his determination, and his humility. He is so serious about his Jeopardy! career, and we saw him in the audience the following week as the competition continued. Soaking it all in. Learning from the experience. The self-proclaimed “Jeopardy! Apprentice."

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STANDINGS AFTER 303 (HEADING INTO QUARTERFINALS)

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Final Thoughts

At the upfronts this week, all the talk, and all the momentum, seemed to be with sports, engaged audiences, and live events. “The hallmarks that define a modern entertainment company,” declared one executive from the stage.

I am gently ribbed by many of my friends and colleagues (and some of you) for suggesting, often for reaction, that Jeopardy! is a sport. I know that our players are not athletes, or that, beyond buzzer reaction time, our game does not require physical acumen. But our elite players do share certain qualities with elite pro athletes in terms of focus, consistency, belief, concentration, mental stamina, discipline, training, calculating risks, and self-belief.

Moreover, many other aspects of Jeopardy! as a television spectacle are more comparable to sports than most entertainment shows. Jeopardy! certainly behaves like a sport in terms of its ratings power, reach, and fan engagement. And we are running Jeopardy! kind of like it is a sport, taking what I have learned from leagues like the EPL and NFL to improve our competition, building out our postseason, mining and publishing our player data, unearthing and promoting our elite players, and eventizing our calendar. 

Like sports, our games and competitions turn on individual moments when our players can win or lose everything. And the outcome is often hugely unpredictable. 

So as we build in each episode, or competition, or tournament, towards Final Jeopardy!, towards eliminating contenders, towards crowning a champion or Master, audiences stay glued to the action, remain engaged, and pay attention to the commercials. 

And we are brimming with ideas on how to engage viewers and advertisers even more.

Over the past year, we have embarked on our early ventures into live events with our Inside Jeopardy! Live on Tour shows around the country - New York, DC, Detroit, Seattle, and Orange County to date, with many more to come over the next year. 

One day, we hope (or perhaps rather, I hope) to make a truly live version of Jeopardy! itself, rather than the live-to-tape, prerecorded shows that we produce today. 

And at that point, the evolution of Jeopardy! into a truly modern piece of entertainment will be complete. 

But I am also reminded this week and reinforced with the conviction and commitment that Jeopardy! will always remain its classic self. 

It will always feature the Jeopardy! Round, Double Jeopardy!, and Final Jeopardy! (plus Triple Jeopardy! on Celebrity Jeopardy!), separated by commercial breaks featuring some of the biggest advertisers and brand names on television. 

Whether you’re reading on Jeopardy.com or my personal Substack, https://substack.com/@embassydavies, thank you so much for your time and for all of your comments, kind words and helpful notes!

Stay in charge,

Michael