Jeopardy UK’s Important Lesson About Enjoying Life
The first few minutes feel like shifting from fifth gear to second gear while travelling at 70 miles an hour. The current version of Jeopardy in the US has a runtime of maybe 22 minutes, and with a quick skip button to pass the interviews you can rush through the whole show in 17 minutes. That’s not the case for Jeopardy in the UK. J:UK’s pace is slower; skipping both interview spots, you’re looking at a 40-minute show. Even with a third Jeopardy board, everything is just sedate.
I love my quiz shows with lots of questions – I don’t have a ‘questions per minute’ spreadsheet, but sometimes I think I should – and that has always meant J:US has been incredibly high on my likes list (it’s not quite up there with ‘Bob’s Full House,’ but it’s close). J:UK’s ratio is lower.
Yet its ninety questions count is far higher compared to most UK quiz shows, especially in the ITV afternoon slot that it occupies.
This timeslot has driven the discussions of J:UK compared to J:US. It’s not designed for the intense focus demanded by the likes of J:US or University Challenge. It’s designed for those sharing their attention with the show, and everything else. And J:UK needs to balance that out in a way that J:US has never needed to address.
Jeopardy UK adds an important lesson to the Jeopardy rule book.. no matter the journey, sometimes you should take the time to enjoy the forest and the trees.
Plus, they’ll ask questions about Eurovision, which is always a good thing.
