‘Jeopardy!’ Champion James Holzhauer Admits Game Show Needs “A Little Tweaking” After High Behind-the-Scenes Turnover

Jeopardy champion James Holzhauer is sharing some behind-the-scenes insights after years of competing on the game show. After fan backlash to recent seasons, Holzhauer credited some of Jeopardy‘s issues to the high staff turnover, and shared what he would change about the iconic show.

During a recent interview with TV Insider, Holzhauer revealed his suggestion to improve Jeopardy.

“There has been a lot of turnover backstage, I will say,” he said. “The whole production team has turned over, so you kind of see some of the things were lost when they changed hands there.”

Though he still thinks Jeopardy is a “great show,” he admitted, “It could use a little tweaking here and there. Some of the question writing could be a little sharper than it has been.”

Holzhauer may be one of the better-qualified Jeopardy contestants to offer criticism on the show. The game show champion has become well acquainted with the Jeopardy format and rules after completing a 32-game winning streak in 2019.

He also recently won the two-week-long Jeopardy! Masters tournament, which pitted six of the game show’s top champions against one another. Though he later added that he would continue competing on the show if given the opportunity, it seems that he still thinks there is room for improvement.

Just last week, the game show introduced a new category that did not go over so well with fans. The “Let’s Make A Movie Crossover!” category featured hints that blended two different films, leaving contestants to guess which films were being referenced. But its debut resulted in a triple-stumper, meaning not one of the three contestants was able to answer the question, leaving viewers at home frustrated.

Fans have been noticing triple stumpers more often these days. One early June episode included a stunning 23 triple stumpers out of 55 questions, according to one fan’s count.

“In this game — this has to be a record — 23 triple stumpers. And it’s something we never like to see,” producer Sarah Foss said on an episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast. She later added, “We’ll forget it ever happened.”

An episode in March also contained a major production error that revealed the contestants’ final scores within the first two minutes of the episode.

Producer Michael Davies suggested the error went unchecked because production has been under added pressure due to the show’s expansion.

“We’re making more episodes, people are working more hours, and so that does lead to mistakes. But still no excuse for this,” he said. “This was too basic. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Jeopardy! airs on weeknights at 7/6c on ABC.