History YMMV / Jeopardy

** Sports-specific categories often befall this fate. One early example comes from a first-round Bowling category in 1986, from which only the $100 and $200 clues are played. Alex promptly assumes none of that episode's contestants have ever bowled and, in a sharp ad-lib, suggests simply chatting for what little time remained in the round.

** On Alex's first show, he jokingly called Greg Hopkins a "chicken" for wagering only $300 in Final Jeopardy!. On the next show, Greg wagered his entire bank and got Final Jeopardy! wrong. Even worse, it was the first triple-zero finish of the syndicated run.

*** With the Greatest of All Time Tournament, James seems to have fully embraced the role of JerkAss Heel, complete with trash-talking his opponents on Twitter (with Ken Jennings a surprising SnarkKnight foil on the platform). He even trolled Alex in one of the Final Jeopardy! responses, crossing out Pat Sajak's name as [[FunWithAcronyms Greatest Host Of Syndicated TV]] before Alex caught on. [[note]]After it was shown that James bet a low amount, Alex joked that he wished James bet much more[[/note]]. A few of his taunts against Brad Rutter became particularly controversial after Brad's underperformance in the tournament, to the point where even Ken Jennings called him out on it. Some people thought he crossed the line into KickTheDog territory while others said it was standard trash talk and that Brad being one of the best for ''20 years'' makes him an AcceptableTarget even if he's losing.

* TheScrappy: Creator/MayimBialik, a Season 37 guest host and one of the two rotating current hosts. Depending on who is asked when she started out, she was either a pleasant host who brings some fun to the table or she's an annoyance who giggles too much and was only brought in for StuntCasting. After Mike Richards was ousted, Ken Jennings and Bialik split hosting duties. Viewers then noticed a jarring difference between both hosting styles with each rotation. Bialik makes unnecessary pauses before ruling on a response, and she usually doesn't show emotion to anything exciting such as a huge Daily Double or Final Jeopardy! wager. Her robotic demeanor hasn't changed, usually opening the show with a quick recap of the previous game's events and using the same catchphrases such as "Unfortunately, that's not correct." during Final. While fans generally agree that Jennings has settled into the role, Bialik's inability to improve makes her stick out like a sore thumb. Not helping is that she has admitted to not watching ''Jeopardy!'' before taking the hosting gig, to say nothing of her outside views.

* TheScrappy: Creator/MayimBialik, a Season 37 guest host and one of the two rotating current hosts. Depending on who is asked when she started out, she was either a pleasant host who brings some fun to the table or she's an annoyance who giggles too much and was only brought in for StuntCasting. After Mike Richards was ousted, Ken Jennings and Bialik split hosting duties. Viewers then noticed a jarring difference between both hosting styles with each rotation. Bialik makes unnecessary pauses before ruling on a response, and she usually doesn't show emotion to anything exciting such as a huge Daily Double or Final Jeopardy! wager. Her robotic demeanor hasn't changes, usually opening the show with a quick recap of the previous game's events and using the same catchphrases such as "Unfortunately, that's not correct." during Final. While fans generally agree that Jennings has settled into the role, Bialik's inability to improve makes her stick out like a sore thumb. Not helping is that she has admitted to not watching ''Jeopardy!'' before taking the hosting gig, to say nothing of her outside views.

** Creator/MayimBialik, a Season 37 guest host and the current primetime host. Either she's a pleasant host who brings some fun to the table or she's an annoyance who giggles too much and was only brought in for StuntCasting; her usage of "Single Jeopardy!" to refer to the first round has also had detractors, even though there has been at least one documented case of Trebek using it (January 5, 2004), as well as the phrase being seen on clue sheets even while Trebek hosted. Not helping is that she has admitted to not watching ''Jeopardy!'' before taking the hosting gig, to say nothing of her outside views.

** Michael Davies (who replaced the fired Mike Richards in season 38) is well-liked, but some people see him as a ReplacementScrappy for Harry Friedman (whom Richards succeeded). While they do give him credit for bringing the show out of the doldrums of the Richards era, they also say he overexposes the show as opposed to improving the clue writing or updating the Tournament of Champions prizes.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csf9xOXPngA board fill]] sound at the beginning of the round (retired in July 2008 and, after a season wherein the board did not make a noise, replaced with a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M62nqysgdgw relaxing six-tone chime]] from 2009 to 2016 that Trebek has said that he likes, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TccJZfIGYSA the current sound]] since 2016).

** James Holzhauer's 33-game run in 2019 saw viewership grow by 32% in his first four weeks. The final game of his run was ''Jeopardy!'''s highest rated episode in 14 years, with numbers almost matching the NBA finals that were happening around the same time (although the viewership spike of that episode likely came from its result being leaked).

* AmericansHateTingle: Unlike most other game shows of American origin, ''Jeopardy!'' has mostly failed to catch on in other countries, with few foreign adaptations lasting more than a couple years. This is particularly surprising given countries like the most of Europe practically grew up on trivia game shows which are mostly all-gameplay no-gimmick pretty much like ''Jeopardy'' is.

** Subverted with Joe Buck, the final guest host of Season 37. Despite his contentious history as a sportscaster, he was generally considered by the fandom to have done a good job as guest host.
** Played straight with then-executive producer Mike Richards, whose selection resulted in the largest amount of backlash against the show to date.

** Mike Richards, who replaced the retiring Friedman starting with Season 37. While his tenure in the same position on ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' from 2009-2019 has been divisive, particularly among fans who prefer the Bob Barker years, his run on that series still has a lot of fans, and unlike Friedman, has been somewhat commended for his job on ''Wheel''. On ''Jeopardy!'', however, fans were quick to call him out for approving some of the most controversial Final Jeopardy! clues in the show's history so far, as well as other misleading clues. The report that he was in "advanced negotiations" to become the permanent host was met with near-universal backlash, especially given allegations of age and sex discrimination towards staffers on both ''Jeopardy!'' and ''Price''. Worsening the backlash was that, according to two sources in an article on ''The Ringer'', another guest host (later confirmed to be Ken Jennings by [[http://www.golden-road.net/index.php/topic,31680.msg491589.html#msg491589 a former staffer]] on ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'') had a "minor scheduling conflict". While the staff was more than willing to work around it, Richards decided to step in himself, [[BlatantLies completely contradicting his claims about only being a substitute last-minute host]] and losing whatever goodwill he had gained from that. Once journalists unearthed a podcast Richards had hosted in 2013-14 where he commonly made off-color and even offensive comments, the situation became untenable and Richards announced on August 20th, 2021 that he would step down and allow someone else to become the permanent host (which delayed production of the 2021-22 season). He would lose his job as executive producer by month's end.

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: Starting in Season 39, a bonus was added for sweeping a category. ''Wheel of Fortune'' fans pointed out that this was added one season after that show added their own bonus for sweeping the Triple Toss-Up round.

** While Ken Jennings' "What's a hoe?" response is regarded as one of the show's funniest moments, a not-insubstantial number of fans feel he should have been given credit for a correct answer, and that the actually-intended response ("What's a rake?") was far too obscure. For his part, Jennings himself has said that he didn't feel cheated, knew the response probably wouldn't be accepted, and that "hoe" and "ho" are different enough spellings to justify rejecting his response.

** On September 15, 2020, the correct response to the Final Jeopardy! clue was Berry Gordy. The third place player's response of "Who is Barry Gordy?" was deemed incorrect. Although this didn't affect the outcome since the leading player had a lock game, fans had a field day over this ruling. The majority of the base claimed that she should have been given credit because most dialects pronounce "Berry" and "Barry" exactly the same. Those who agreed with the judges said there is enough of a difference between both names. It didn't help that this was only Mike Richards' second game as executive producer.

* On September 15, 2020, the correct response to the Final Jeopardy! clue was Berry Gordy. The third place player's response of "Who is Barry Gordy?" was deemed incorrect. Although this didn't affect the outcome since the leading player had a lock game, fans had a field day over this ruling. The majority of the base claimed that she should have been given credit because most dialects pronounce "Berry" and "Barry" exactly the same. Those who agreed with the judges said there is enough of a difference between both names. It didn't help that this was only Mike Richards' second game as executive producer.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: In response to criticisms that the 2022 National College Championship format meant that a contestant would win a semifinals game but miss the finals, Michael Davies announced that said semifinalist would be invited to the Second Chance Tournament.

** Season 37 (2020-21), the only full season with Mike Richards as executive producer, is widely considered the show's worst season in its entire history. Among other things, the clue writing and judging went downhill with an increase in ProductPlacement and CriticalResearchFailure throughout the clues (an issue that would worsen after Trebek's death as he reviewed clues before taping and would request edits to clues he didn't feel were right), and many of the guest hosts after Trebek's death were considered very lackluster or forgettable (and the less said about Dr. Mehmet Oz, the better). Some people have even called for the show's cancellation after Trebek's death, despite his wishes for the show to continue.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** Almost every ThemeTune from the current version qualifies.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6rHqrLA7aw The original theme]] had a dramatic buildup to the four-way TruckDriversGearChange accompanied by synthesizers and saxophones. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4exVV_Msgs prototype theme]] from the second Trebek pilot also qualifies as this, thanks to the drum fills. In 1992, the theme was remixed to include [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfDUKtxi8HU a bongo and shaker track]], but the tournament and celebrity games would use a combined version of both.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75SvzqamY-k The 1997 arrangement]] was smooth and jazzy with more diverse instrumentation and guitar and sax solos near the end. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwcCfpI6-Q4 2001 update]] also deserves a mention, with its quicker tempo and freestyle solos. It helps that the latter version brought back the second half of the "globe swoosh" used to introduce the show.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5yU78avR6w The 2008-2021 version]]. It's nice and relaxing, plus the eleven-note ending is styled after the iconic Daily Double sound effect.
*** Likewise ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBrbp8kyNVw The Greatest of All Time]]'' version has been the dubbed either as the movie version or more appropriately the Final Boss version bringing a cinematic sound and heavy percussion to add to the grandeur.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXGhvoekY44 think music]] is iconic in itself, but [[https://youtu.be/rJUuz9D5jos the current version]] with a small orchestra taking over the second half of the song from the pianos is awesome, particularly when it cues up and the made-for-HD backdrop turns from blue to red.

** Season 31 (2014-15) removed the co-champion rule, where players tied for first place could each return the next day to play. All ties are now decided by tiebreaker clues, though the first instance didn't occur until March 1, 2018. The rule was presumably introduced because co-champions take spots away from potential contestants. Said rule was still criticized by fans, mainly because the contestant who loses the tiebreaker doesn't keep their winnings.

** The removal of the five-game limit in 2003, which usually comes up when someone from Season 20 onward goes on a lengthy run. Fans who support this say it invites new viewership, because it makes people curious about the super-champion everybody's talking about. They have in turn speculated on how winners from before that era would have lasted had their streaks not been cut short. On the other hand, a comfortable super-champion risks a decreased play-along factor for fans who are forced to adapt to Forrest-bouncing or Daily Double hunting. It also results in [[CurbStompBattle anti-climactic games that are put out of reach for opponents and render Final Jeoaprdy! meaningless]]. The division only increased with the sudden rise in super-champs since late Season 37 starting with Matt Amodio.

** The removal of the five-game limit in 2003, which usually comes up when someone from Season 20 onward goes on a lengthy run. Fans who support this say it invites new viewership, because it makes people curious about the super-champion everybody's talking about. They have in turn speculated on how winners from before that era would have lasted had their streaks not been cut short. On the other hand, a super-champion's style could reduce the play-along factor the more games they win, especially if they are comfortable with hunting for Daily Doubles or Forrest Bouncing. This subsequently results in [[CurbStompBattle more games being put out of reach for challengers and anti-climactic Final Jeoaprdy! playings]]. The division only increased with the sudden rise in super-champs since late Season 37 starting with Matt Amodio.

** The removal of the five-game limit in 2003, which usually comes up when someone from Season 20 onward goes on a lengthy run. Fans who support this say it invites new viewership, because it makes people curious about the super-champion everybody's talking about. They have in turn speculated on how winners from before that era would have lasted had their streaks not been cut short. On the other hand, a super-champion's style of playing could reduce the play-along factor the more games they win, especially if they are comfortable with hunting for Daily Doubles or Forrest Bouncing. This subsequently results in [[CurbStompBattle more games being put out of reach for challengers and anti-climactic Final Jeoaprdy! playings]]. The division only increased with the sudden rise in super-champs since late Season 37 starting with Matt Amodio.

** The removal of the five-game limit in 2003, which usually comes up when someone from Season 20 onward goes on a lengthy run. Fans who support this say it invites new viewership, because it makes people curious about the super-champion everybody's talking about. They have in turn speculate on how winners from before that era would have lasted had their streaks not been cut short. On the other hand, a super-champion's style of playing could reduce the play-along factor the more games they win, especially if they are comfortable with hunting for Daily Doubles or Forrest Bouncing. This subsequently results in [[CurbStompBattle more games being put out of reach for challengers and anti-climactic Final Jeoaprdy! playings]]. The division only increased with the sudden rise in super-champs since late Season 37 starting with Matt Amodio.

** The removal of the five-game limit in 2003, which usually comes up when someone from Season 20 onward goes on a lengthy run. Fans who support this say it invites new viewership, because it makes people curious about the super-champion everybody's talking about. They have in turn speculate on how winners from before that era would have lasted had their streaks not been cut short. On the other hand, a super-champion's style of playing could reduce the play-along factor the more games they win, especially if they are comfortable with hunting for Daily Doubles or Forrest Bouncing. This in turn leads to [[CurbStompBattle more games being put out of reach for challengers with anti-climactic Final Jeoaprdy! playings]]. The division only increased with the sudden rise in super-champs since late Season 37 starting with Matt Amodio.

** The removal of the five-game limit in 2003, which usually comes up when someone from Season 20 onward goes on a lengthy run. Fans who support this say it invites new viewership, because it makes people curious about the super-champion everybody's talking about. They have speculated also on how winners from before that era would have lasted had their streaks not been cut short. On the other hand, a super-champion's style of playing could reduce the play-along factor the more games they win, especially if they are comfortable with hunting for Daily Doubles or Forrest Bouncing. This in turn leads to [[CurbStompBattle more games being put out of reach for challengers with anti-climactic Final Jeoaprdy! playings]]. The division only increased with the sudden rise in super-champs since late Season 37 starting with Matt Amodio.