Is James Holzhauer helping or hurting ‘Jeopardy!’?
Question: We are fascinated by the continued success of James Holzhauer on “Jeopardy!” I’ve heard rumblings that he’s ruining the game, or even that his dominance is somehow boring. Do you think his approach will change the way “Jeopardy!” is played, and is that a bad thing for my favorite quiz show? — Dana
Matt Roush: For “Jeopardy!” to become a national obsession again in its 35th season is remarkable, and so is the game play of Holzhauer.
Just about everyone I know (including my mom, who watches precious little TV anymore) is talking about him, almost always admiringly.
His bold approach to working the board from the bottom in the first round, amassing a bank that his opponents can rarely keep pace with — and then going all-in on Daily Doubles — is riveting. The opposite of boring, in fact.
Will this change the way the game is played going forward?
It’s possible, although when things get back to “normal” once Holzhauer’s run is over — and one of these nights he’ll make a big wager, get stumped and not be able to recover — we’ll probably learn that very few can successfully adopt his strategy.
There will always be players who try to shake things up, but there are just as many who revere the game played traditionally. I’m just glad “Jeopardy!” has become must-see TV again, not that it has ever been anything else but that for me.
To submit questions to TV Critic Matt Roush, go to tvinsider.com.