'Pop Culture Jeopardy!' is a disgrace to the 'Jeopardy!' name: Review
What is a bad idea, Colin?
That's the question "Jeopardy!" fans are sure to be asking after they get a peek at Amazon Prime Video's new spinoff "Pop Culture Jeopardy!" (three episodes streaming weekly on Wednesdays, ★ out of four), hosted by "Saturday Night Live" star Colin Jost. Because it's clear from the changes in format, tone, rules and look that this isn't really "Jeopardy!" Instead, it's an ill-informed attempt to mix bar trivia with flash-in-the-pan internet memes and a familiar game show name. I don't know who the audience for this monstrous mashup is supposed to be, but it's certainly not people who like "Jeopardy!" or popular culture.
"Pop Culture Jeopardy!," filmed on the iconic Alex Trebek stage, is the first streaming-only version of the show. Each episode features three teams of three, the first big departure from the original format. The teams have twee names and the contestants wear costumes like you'd find at your local dive bar on a Tuesday night. It's too cutesy and silly. Anybody from any team can answer a question, which makes it hard to keep track of or feel connected to any of the contestants. It's a 40-episode tournament, which isn't new to the "Jeopardy!" world, but the rules are somehow more complicated than a normal tournament; I forgot them as soon as Jost explained them.
The series still has the "Jeopardy!," "Double Jeopardy!" and "Final Jeopardy!" rounds, but in addition to Daily Double squares there are "Triple Plays" which involve each team member answering part of a question, with the opportunities for other teams to "steal" the clue if the first team gets anything wrong. By the time you get there, however, you may have forgotten what the initial clue was, because each element really drags. Jost ends up adding a lot of filler to each round. He's fine when he's just reading the clues, but he should save his jokes for "Weekend Update."
And that brings us to the actual quiz content of the show. I love pop culture. Seriously, it's my entire life and career. I'm a TV critic, for goodness sake. But it is ill-suited to this format on its own, and too limited in scope with no science or history categories to prop it up. The producers seem to be running out of good clues and answers by the third episode, when the dives get very deep, and the show features trendy categories about TikTok, YouTube and online culture. It's a very misguided attempt to inject some Gen Z and Gen Alpha appeal into a game show franchise that primarily serves the over-65 crowd. I doubt it will attract any younger fans to the series and it will very much turn off the regular demographic.
And while stumbling through the silly categories, the contestants are dumbfounded far too often during the episodes made available for review. This either means they weren't able to recruit players who are intelligent enough or the clues are too difficult and obscure. "Jeopardy!" is ultimately a show that embraces knowledge, competence and success. It's no coincidence that ratings and interest go up when there's a brilliant high-earning winner like James Holzhauer or Amy Schneider: Fans love to see the contestants succeed. So it's a boring and cringey letdown to watch these teams miss so many clues about TikTok stars and YouTube controversies. That's not what anyone expects to see on a "Jeopardy!" show, no matter how much "pop culture" is involved.
If the new show was able to capture the spirit of "Jeopardy!" and simply replace all categories with exciting and relatable trivia about music, movies, television and books, there would be value. But all the other tweaks and changes to the tried and true format dilute the "Jeopardy!" brand so much that the only parts that resemble Trebek's version are the set and the fact that the responses have to be phrased as questions.
A half-hearted game show you can easily skip: What is "Pop Culture Jeopardy!"?