The Jeopardy Jeopardy

I know it's not Tuesday when I normally post about TV stuff but I wanted to weigh in on what's going on with Jeopardy and it's current guest host, Dr. Oz.

Well, let me have Mark Evanier give his take on this.

"I'm giving Jeopardy! a pass during the weeks Dr. Oz is hosting it. Dr. Oz is a doctor the way Harold Hill was a Music Professor, only Oz would have taken the life savings of everyone in River City and skipped town."

Or maybe I will turn to Ken Levine for his observations. 

Dr. Oz is just terrible guest-hosting JEOPARDY.  The smarm factor is off the charts.  He's like a high energy Top 40 1960’s disc jockey shouting at you between records.  Except there are no records.  He reads each clue like he’s doing a live spot for a drag strip.  “FUNNY CARS!!!”  

Which seems to be indicative of the reaction overall to Dr.Ehmet Oz and his turn as guest host of Jeopardy. 

Andrea and I have remained devoted followers of Jeopardy through the last days of Alex Trebek and we were very pleased with how well Ken Jennings took the baton for his six week run. We were OK with Mike Richards and Katie Couric as they took their turns behind the podium but we have kind of given the Dr. Oz episodes a miss.

We've watched a couple and we both agree that he is a poor fit for the show, very blunt and bombastic like he's calling a pig race at a county fair. 

In addition to his poor talents in front of the camera, Dr. Oz brings along some really bad baggage has a huckster an a con man that puts him at odds with Jeopary's "facts matter" ethos.  

While the ratings remained at Trebek levels of high with Ken Jennings, the numbers have started to fall and we can't blame that on Dr. Oz. 

It appears that the ratings took a deep downward turn with Katie Couric as host. 

I'm not sure what to make of that since Katie was a genial and professional host. Unless it's America's still galling lack of comfort with women in positions of authority. 

"A woman in charge of Jeopardy? Harumph! What is this country coming to? Harumph! I say, harumph!" 

I will be really pissed off if the numbers go up with Dr. Oz at the helm. 

But there are enough elderly white haired dudes and blue haired ladies in the cross section of the Venn diagram of Jeopardy watchers and Fox News viewers to make that happen.  

I don't think Jeopardy is in jeopardy but I think the concept of rotating guest hosts is back firing on the producers. 

Everyone loved Alex Trebek and we didn't want him to leave and we couldn't see anyone taking his place. 

But Ken Jennings comes in and does such an amazing job as host and yes, we miss Alex but we accepted Ken as an appropriate heir apparent, as a master of the game who loved the game and loved Alex Trebek. 

Ken Jennings made sense. 

Everything else that's coming afterwards does not make sense. It feels less like Jeopardy.