Thoughts on Michael Davies in 2021 compared to now

[Trevor807]

Bring back Mike Richards.

Yeah, no chance.

[idearat]

I prefer non-tournament play. The exception is a once-a-year TOC. All the other celebrity, second chance, kids, etc could be primetime or their own thing, not dwindling the number of games for regular play. I mostly watch for the clues to test myself, not for the personalities. Seeing the same people over and over again distracts me from the clues, and I can't help but think it is keeping someone's dream of getting on Jeopardy from being realized.

[goongas]

As Mr. Davies views himself as the commissioner of a sport, the ultimate goal of a commissioner would be to create stars of the sport so people will keep coming back to watch. What he is missing though is the contestants don't play every week/day like in other sports (unless they keep on winning). I don't begrudge him for trying to shake up the show (it is kind of a dinosaur format at this point, well liked and well meaning, but from another era), but I agree he is going too far though with postseason...At least the show is casting noted trivia heavyweights from time to time to try and create the stars/superchamps.

[cinemaniax7]

He is fixing what wasn’t broken.

Agree.

[Trevor807]

He is fixing what wasn’t broken.

I think that's the consensus here. Some folk may tell you the opposite of what you said, but I'm pretty sure they lowered their standards just because of who he replaced, and certainly wouldn't have praised his gimmicks if the guy he replaced were the one who made them, as I theorized in another thread.

It's not a good thing when Sony ended up replacing one inept producer with another inept producer.

[StevenH]

At least the show is casting noted trivia heavyweights from time to time to try and create the stars/superchamps.

This is a good point, and I am also happy that a couple of the top quiz players have gotten their chances recently.

That being said, I also hate the idea of a "postseason" and having all of these second chance-style tournaments.

[Trevor807]

And for the record, the thread was about how you guys' thoughts on Davies changed between 2021 and 2023.

[cf1140]

And J! is still the top rated syndication program for something like 25 weeks now, which included the Second Chance and High School Reunion tournaments.

https://tvnewscheck.com/article/tag/wee ... n-ratings/
SCT week 1: Jeopardy (CMV) 5.2 NC
SCT week 2: Jeopardy (CMV) 5.4 +4%
TOC week 1: Jeopardy (CMV) 5.3 -2%
TOC week 2: Jeopardy (CMV) 5.5* +4%
TOC week 3: Jeopardy (CMV) 6.1* +11% (this was the week of five games with Amy, Andrew and Sam only, by the way.)

But syndication ratings usually increase until late January and then start declining. Aside from the final week, those numbers are down from last year and significantly off what they were in 2017 & 2018

[Trevor807]

If I were Tony Vinciquerra I'd look at those numbers and begin looking for a new producer. Then again I wouldn't have hired Davo for any game show if I were him. And he hired Richards in the first place, so...

[twelvefootboy]

I've got a statement which might be a bit of a reality check for boardies, just in case it's needed. I think boardies already realize almost everybody here is in a top echelon of J! fans, with some a level above that as far as knowing the show history and evolution better than some of the production and writing staff.

Spoiler

Who is Michael Davies?

I suspect the average viewer, and up to the 98th percentile of viewers don't even know there has been management changes other than the obvious death of Alex. They undoubtedly have noticed the long winning streak epidemic and are probably apathetic about it. They more likely have noticed the plethora of LGBTQ contestants (which started well before Alex's demise) and some of the haters have already defected, perhaps some have become enlightened, and some just complain and watch.

The only other clue is the re-jiggering of tournament formats, but casual viewers don't care if they're watching a repeat player, a tournament, or even a re-run in some cases.

I found this board in 2017 just following up on the Cindy Stowell story. Before that, I was a Joe Casual viewer - I had started taping and watching regularly but not religiously. I'm way more bonded to this JBoard than I am the actual show but even though I know there have been production / management changes, I could not have named the EP because I didn't try to absorb it through the osmosis exposure here.

I doubt if this perspective surprises anybody, and may not be germane to this topic. I don't think viewers are as resistant to change as the avid fans. I like the end of wildcards for the tourneys, and wish the two day final was gone or redone with triple and quadruple jeopardy games. I see no need for the EP to get fired if the show keeps up the viewership, and 98% of the viewers just shake their heads about all the inside baseball stuff.

I find the NFL induced death of networks to be an interesting prediction. I can see it happening, although the NFL may be jumping the shark with the half-billion dollar player contracts in store. The product on the field can't sustain with a handful of tycoons and 40 journeymen on every team.

tfg and I will see the afternoon taping tomorrow - I'll update the audience experience as compared to our 2017 visit.

[Anachronism]

Viewers vary greatly in their familiarity with contestants and the show. I can't speak for any group as a large segment, nor would I feel comfortable assigning my own biases to any group. It's not an effective method of argument.

For me, it comes back to liking the tradition, preferring not to fix what wasn't broken. As a former journalist, when I worked on a daily and met tons of people in the area on a regular basis, I realized that nothing seems to matter more than people feeling a personal connection with media. Maybe that's largely replaced by Twitter and TikTok these days, but people responded very well, for instance, when I tried to go to as many basketball games as I could, reach every school at least twice during a season.

They'd read about it, and when I told the basic story about the game, mention as many players as possible, tried to be positive all the time, I was always welcomed back enthusiastically. I'd save my "real journalism" for stuff that came out of planning commission meetings or school boards (the latter were a heck of a lot tamer in those days, though). Thankfully, we weren't terribly crime- or politics -driven, as many news outlets seem this day.

In some ways, I'd argue, Jeopardy is an ambassador to the audience. And every single person who gets the call, in turn, reaches their family and their friends. Why else would they tape the home-town shout-outs. The magic, if there is any to the show, is in making the average person out there feel part of something.

If Davies is causing harm, it's a slow harm. I don't think you'd see it week to week or maybe even season to season. I can only speak for myself, but for the first time in a long time, I've considered not taking the test anymore. I didn't take the test again on Thursday. I dislike the tournaments that much, and I feel my chances of getting the call are a lot smaller than they were a couple of years ago.

[Trevor807]

So I just added a poll asking how you guys grade Mr. Davies' performance.

[Golf]

I doubt if this perspective surprises anybody, and may not be germane to this topic. I don't think viewers are as resistant to change as the avid fans. I like the end of wildcards for the tourneys, and wish the two day final was gone or redone with triple and quadruple jeopardy games. I see no need for the EP to get fired if the show keeps up the viewership, and 98% of the viewers just shake their heads about all the inside baseball stuff.

You are not wrong, the average viewer won't care and continue watching. But ignorance is bliss and I and others here and elsewhere choose not to be ignorant. Michael Davies has killed one golden goose trivia game show already and we don't want to see that repeated here. The average viewer of course has no knowledge of such.

[Trevor807]

Honestly, I don't regret all those times (on Twitter, The Jeopardy! Fan, or Reddit) I blindly praised Davies for doing things I never would've praised under Richards. But only because they give me a good laugh.

IMHO he should never be trusted with golden geese again. Or any non-sports geese. On a side note, I've been having thoughts on whether Mike Richards would've been better for the show's long-term future had he not made the critical mistake of naming Mike Richards the host, thus exposing all the skeletons in his closet.

[MarkBarrett]

Imagine some unknown ideas for J! that Michael Davies has thought of that Sarah has been able to rein in without fans' knowledge.

[Trevor807]

Oh yeah. Another reason why Sarah is one of my preferred EP choices. At least she gets the show (I doubt Davies was a longtime viewer), has actual passion for it (while Davies' attempts at showing passion seem performative to me), and is a longtime veteran (Davies joined in 2021, Sarah in 2001). Sony made a mistake not promoting a veteran to EP. I wonder if she needs to do a better job reining him in though?

On a side note, Davies seems like a nice guy to me. Certainly not as bad as Richards when it comes to personality. But having a good personality doesn't automatically translate to being a good captain. Or commissioner, in Davies' case.

[Bamaman]

His “me too” issues aside, how was Richards as EP at TPIR? Did he try to reinvent the wheel or did he just keep it the way it was and not upset hard core fans?

[Trevor807]

Well, he didn't exactly keep things the same as they were in the Bob/Dob days. And I'd say his changes (for the most part) were for the better, at least IMO. The show had gotten quite stale in Bob's last few years, and my thinking is that, if Dobokowitz stayed, the show would not go on today.

Jeopardy!, on the other hand, Richards wanted to add teams to the National College Championship. Even though the entire staff hated it when it was tried out in the All-Star Games (and according to Maggie Speak, even Alex hated it). Other than that, the clue writing taking a tumble, and the guest hosts though, who knows how he would've done had he named someone like Ken as host? I mean, he was decent during his short time on Wheel of Fortune (which had been very stale by the time Friedman left).

Speaking of, who knows what Davies would've done for Wheel? Or how Bellamie Blackstone would've done for Jeopardy? I'm so glad Davies didn't get the EP job on that show, in retrospect.

[Trevor807]

If Davies is causing harm, it's a slow harm.

Hit the nail on the head there.

...but for the first time in a long time, I've considered not taking the test anymore. I didn't take the test again on Thursday. I dislike the tournaments that much, and I feel my chances of getting the call are a lot smaller than they were a couple of years ago.

Honestly, I don't think even Richards would've planned that many tournaments. The more tournaments there are that interrupt the show, the more potential players get alienated. If Davies were any adept he would've tried putting them all (except the ToC and maybe one or two others) on ABC. (Full disclosure: I have zero ill will towards any of the contestants featured on his tournaments.)

Now that I think about it, is Davies even any better than Richards job-wise? Again, Davies has done just about everything we were all fearing Richards would do when he first started. I know some folk (*cough* the subreddit *cough*) may treat it like the Jeopardy! equivalent to Godwin's Law, but think about it.

You know, it's pretty funny that, back in 2022, even, I would've said something to the effect of "Davo could've cured cancer and you guys would've still found any excuse to rip oh him!" if I had an account then. So glad I opened my eyes after the way he responded to the criticism of that Final clue during the ToC.

[jamie]

As Mr. Davies views himself as the commissioner of a sport, the ultimate goal of a commissioner would be to create stars of the sport so people will keep coming back to watch. What he is missing though is the contestants don't play every week/day like in other sports (unless they keep on winning). I don't begrudge him for trying to shake up the show (it is kind of a dinosaur format at this point, well liked and well meaning, but from another era), but I agree he is going too far though with postseason...At least the show is casting noted trivia heavyweights from time to time to try and create the stars/superchamps.

The problem is, I don't see how you can call Jeopardy! a sport, and say you need all these rematches to find the truly best players, and still have the bar for entry at 35/50 on the test they offer. Outliers like Troy and Yogesh notwithstanding, the majority of players they put on are bright, knowledgeable, and perfectly competent at the game -- and eminently replaceable in skill by legions of others in the contestant pool. If it's a sport, it's like If Major League Baseball decided to have a 162-game season and playoffs to crown a World Series champion, but only contested by teams in the AL Central.

And I'm not at all suggesting that they should prioritize putting on people who score the highest on the test. I think that would run the risk of making the show unwatchable:

People watch it because they want to see people answer questions and sometimes miss those questions. Folks at home like getting questions that folks on TV do not get.

If the people who were the actual best players possible were regularly on the show, there would be a lot fewer opportunities for viewers to feel superior to contestants. And even more so if people knew a high test score was a ticket on to the show -- how many people are capable of a Roger- or James-like study regimen, but hold off because of the low probability of getting on in the first place?