Jeopardy Invitational Tournament

[Jeremy Nelson]

Field is 27 deep and includes two chasers- Brandon Blackwell and Victoria Groce, who made one-time appearances on the show years ago.

Only one contestant in the entire field, Chuck Forrest, first played before the year 2000, and because of that, we weirdly have zero contestants in this invitational who played on the grid set.

While I like the field, I would have liked to see a few more sharks and a few less dolphins- there are a few people I would have happily switched out for a Robin Carroll or a Dan Melia. Also, weirdly, no sign of Brad Rutter.

https://www.jeopardy.com/track/2024/invitational

[DoItRockapella]

Also, weirdly, no sign of Brad Rutter.

I have no inside information, but I've seen a lot of speculation (on places like the Jeopardy subreddit) that Brad is the "Producers Pick" for season two of Jeopardy Masters in primetime on ABC. The Invitational Tournament winner will also advance to Masters season two.

[Kevin Prather]

Field is 27 deep and includes two chasers- Brandon Blackwell and Victoria Groce, who made one-time appearances on the show years ago.

I'm guessing this makes Brandon Blackwell the first contestant invited back for a tournament who has never won a game of Jeopardy.

[TLEberle]

I have no inside information, but I've seen a lot of speculation (on places like the Jeopardy subreddit) that Brad is the "Producers Pick" for season two of Jeopardy Masters in primetime on ABC. The Invitational Tournament winner will also advance to Masters season two.

Helluva gig, that. Get paid an absolute minimum of I think $50,000 to get thrashed around for 14 games.

I'm guessing this makes Brandon Blackwell the first contestant invited back for a tournament who has never won a game of Jeopardy.

Trying to think about who else could have qualified--I know the Tenth Anniversary throwdown had constestants who were at minimum semi-final winners, but they all moved up to the Tournament of Champions in years past. I don't think anyone else has had such a meteoric rise in trivia world from such humble beginnings.

[Jeremy Nelson]

I don't think anyone else has had such a meteoric rise in trivia world from such humble beginnings.

Honestly, now that you say that, it makes a lot of sense, and not only has he done it here, but on two other continents as well, having won a University Challenge series and now being featured on The Chase Australia. Only recent argument that comes close, IMO, is the fact that this ToC has become the LearnedLeague Open.

I like a lot of the players in this field, but boy would I would love to see Chuck Forrest come in and wreck shop.

[MSTieScott]

Is Jeopardy! still advertising the contestant test for people who haven't been on the show before?

[Jeremy Nelson]

Is Jeopardy! still advertising the contestant test for people who haven't been on the show before?

Rumor has it that there's a secret hotline that all the alums have been calling maniacally to get back on the show

That said, they advertised the Anytime test heavily last season. Wouldn't surprise me if they've built up a healthy backlog of contestants at this point.

[colonial]

Is Jeopardy! still advertising the contestant test for people who haven't been on the show before?

Online, yes. They have the Anytime Test available to play. Based on some comments on another board, they last did Zoom auditions in October of last year.

I am happy for all of the returning contestants, but to come out of what was essentially a seven-month tournament with yet another tournament leaves a bad taste in the mouths of some viewers. While we can debate until kingdom come whether the seven-month tournament was the right choice given the WGA strike, it seems Sony and Davies are not reading the room in regards to what viewers want with the syndie version of J!

I don't have an issue with Davies honoring the superplayers and what not, but work out details with ABC, ESPN, Disney+, etc., and move several of these tournaments and special versions to other outlets (not just Celebrity J! and Masters, but also J! Invitational, potential college, teen and kids tournament, even attempting to bring back, say, Sports J! and Rock and Roll J!).

Using a wrestling analogy, 2024 Michael Davies reminds me of All Elite Wrestling's Tony Khan. Well-intentioned people but prone to making tons of promises and "big announcements," yet only being able to make good on a handful of those and getting caught in a quagmire as a result.


JD

[Joe Mello]

it seems Sony and Davies are not reading the room in regards to what viewers want with the syndie version of J!

I think they are reading the room, but they're reading the wrong parts of the room. There's enough evidence to support talking about Jeopardy in the language of sports and statistics, but that's an add-on benefit for already existing viewers. Making it the focus isn't going to bring in new people and investing so heavily in the sports angle is just wasting resources.

[Nick]

Making [sport and statistics] the focus isn't going to bring in new people and investing so heavily in the sports angle is just wasting resources.

If new people are what they are looking to acquire, what, then, would be the way to acquire them?

To me, the answer would be to have some other way to see the show than to be tuned in (or have a DVR set) to a network affiliate at 7:30 PM (or whatever time on that station), and that unless you do this, you will never see the episode ever unless it is one of the lucky ones picked for a Saturday rerun next year.

Is the exclusivity of syndication really still that lucrative to a show like J!?  Lucrative to the affiliate stations, no doubt; but J! is one of the few strong holdouts in the dying breed that is syndication.  With streaming being what it is now and only growing more dominant, at what point will J! jump on board?  The fact that you can't go to J!'s website a week or two after episodes have aired (giving some level of priority to the affiliates that air it) and watch them there seems to me a gap to be filled.  I'm just not seeing where "appointment television" can really apply to anything anymore except live events, such as sports (and even they're streaming live on streaming services).

I recall a contestant interview several years ago where, if I remember correctly, the contestant talked about how big J! fans her parents were that, when the power went out during an episode, they videocalled her, where the power was still on, and she pointed her cellphone at the screen for her parents to watch the show via videocall.  I think that story should have served as a bigger inspiration to the powers that were and be now.

[Jeremy Nelson]

In a recent Jeopardy podcast, Sarah mentioned that Brad Rutter, Julia Collins, Roger Craig and Emma Boettcher all turned down bids. Now I'm very curious to see who the sixth entrant in Jeopardy Masters ends up being, since Brad seemed like a lock for a bye to Masters.

[Ian Wallis]

I am happy for all of the returning contestants, but to come out of what was essentially a seven-month tournament with yet another tournament leaves a bad taste in the mouths of some viewers. While we can debate until kingdom come whether the seven-month tournament was the right choice given the WGA strike, it seems Sony and Davies are not reading the room in regards to what viewers want with the syndie version of J!

I know I can look it up online but does anybody even remember who the last champion was at the end of last season?  Making them wait for close to a year before they come back is quite a long time.

[SuperMatch93]

I know I can look it up online but does anybody even remember who the last champion was at the end of last season?  Making them wait for close to a year before they come back is quite a long time.

Lucas Partridge won his third game last July 28th and recently broke Ken Jennings' record for the longest reign as champion.