Warning: This Review may have spoilers for “Jeopardy”
As you may know, Netflix recently added “Jeopardy” to their lineup of shows. This might sound weird, to say the least, but don’t worry, you don’t have to wade through the full five decades this show has been on the air. Netflix has set up two collections: “Tournament of Champions” and “Battle of the Decades,” totaling 45 episodes.
“Jeopardy” first aired in 1964 with host Art Fleming, eventually signing on Alex Trebek in 1984. The series is coming up to 8,000 episodes under its belt and has won over 30 Emmys and a Peabody Award over its runtime on air. “Jeopardy” has seen international adaptations, video game releases and even parodies like “Black Jeopardy,” a “Saturday Night Live” skit.
If you don’t know what “Jeopardy” is, then you have missed out on an American icon of television history. It is a trivia game show with three contestants split into three rounds: Jeopardy, Double Jeopardy and Final Jeopardy. The two main rounds consist of 30 questions in themed categories. Unlike other game shows, “Jeopardy” gives contestants the answer and then they respond with the corresponding question. The rounds also have three Daily Double clues hidden randomly on the game board. With a Daily Double, a contestant can bet a portion of their winnings to earn if they answer correctly. The last round is a single question, and like Double Jeopardy, the players bet an amount of money, which is added or taken away depending on whether or not they get the question right. In almost every episode, Final Jeopardy makes or breaks the game.
To Binge or Not to Binge:
Now, I know you’re probably thinking: “Wow, The Chronicle is really scraping the bottom of the barrel,” but hear me out. “Jeopardy” is one of the most binge-able shows around. Once you cut out the commercials, it becomes a solid 20 minutes of interesting trivia.
It flies by with a snap. The first time I sat down to watch it, I got through the first 10 episodes with no problem. Also, it’s fun to watch with other people. It’s something you don’t need to sit down and shut up to watch — you can talk and try and answer the questions along with the contestants.
Be warned: the episodes on Netflix all feature previous winners, so the contestants are super smart and the questions are extra difficult, especially in the Tournaments of Champions. However, when you get an answer right and they don’t it is beyond exhilarating — it provides little glimmers of superiority through 20 minutes of getting shown just how dumb you are. Whether the question cover arts and entertainment, science, math, history or random tidbits of knowledge, you will get shut down. There were several times where I confidently blurted out the answer, and boy was I wrong. It feels bad, but just as long as you’re humble about it, it’s not the end of the world. The people on this show are infinitely smarter than you and that’s okay because you may know one or two things they don’t. Everyone is special in their own little way.
With all that being said, it gets a little repetitive if you watch a lot over a short period of time as I did, but it still is an interesting show and an easy time-killer. Space it out and you should be fine. You will definitely learn some interesting facts along the way.
Best Episode:
It’s a quiz show, so every episode is basically the same, but I have a favorite category: “Almost Before and After” from Collection 1, Episode 7. It doesn’t require the most archaic of knowledge and I could have answered one or two of them, plus the play on words are really cool. The best answer from this category was “What is Schadenfreudian Slip?”
Similar Shows:
“Wheel of Fortune”, “The Price is Right” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”
Trigger Warnings:
Alex Trebek is a smarmy host with smug jokes and looks. It will really trigger your funny bone, which adds to this otherwise repetitive show. Put Alex in the luxury box of hostdom, along with Bob Barker, Pat Sajak and Steve Harvey.
4/5 stars — This is a great, fast-paced show that’s fun to watch with other people, or just your cat.
“Jeopardy”
Available to stream on Netflix.
45 episodes, about 15 hours of content.