Being on Jeopardy! has to be stress-inducing for contestants but fans said a certain part of the show gives them anxiety. After the first commercial break, host Ken Jennings always does a brief interview with each contestant. Some fans think that certain contestants take too long to get to the punchline of their story.
Most of the time, the story is about what they want to do with their winnings, a run-in with a celebrity, a story about their family, or an odd fact about them that takes a while to get to the punchline.
“Anecdote Anxiety — Does anyone else experience anxiety about the show’s time constraints when someone takes too long to get to the ‘punchline’ of their personal anecdote?” a Reddit user posted.
“Omg, I definitely experience anxiety when this happens. I rush them along from my sofa,” one Jeopardy! fan said.
“I’m not a huge fan of the anecdote segment. Especially when they bring up some tragic details about their lives. I don’t get why they don’t just keep it light-hearted,” a Reddit user said. “Also, I hate when they don’t get through all the clues. I can’t help but think that if there were 10 seconds less chit-chat during the contestant anecdote portion, they could’ve gotten to the last 1 or 2 clues. I feel like Ken contributes to this occasionally, too.”
Many fans said they record the show and watch it later to fast forward through the interviews. “I used to feel bad because it’s the contestant’s moment to shine, but too many uninteresting stories and bad storytellers,” one Reddit user wrote.
However, one fan said they watch the interviews to “rate the quality of their stories.”
“It’s so interesting to me when their fun little story isn’t about them at all but someone they know….” another replied.
Five-game winner Luigi de Guzman shared information about how they filmed the segments. “Periodic reminder that the show isn’t live, and they can and do edit for time or content. Sometimes anecdotes require more than one take—if the first take ran really long they may stop down and tell you to cut it down a bit,” he wrote.
“Unplayed clues are usually the result of an unusually high number of triple stumpers (the stand-and-stare burns a LOT of time that can’t be cut) or long-winded video clues (likewise cannot be cut)—usually a combination of both. Also, you’d be surprised how nerves and fatigue interact up on stage. You’d think you’d be able to power through the whole first round without a break. But the break after 15 clues really comes at a good time. You can catch your breath, get re-centered, and let the initial shock of “holy shit I am actually on Jeopardy right now” wear off.”
James Burns, a 2003 contestant said, “They can edit them for length. Or for weird, melancholic content, like with mine.”
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