Celebrity Jeopardy! has been criticized by game show fans complaining that they have “never heard” of most of the contestants.
Others blasted the lineup — revealed in a splash with host Mayim Bialik on Tuesday — for the “lack of variety” compared to when Alex Trebek did the honors.
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Season 38 of Jeopardy! ended on July 31 and the show will air again until September.
When the treasured show returns, Ken Jennings, 48, will share presenting duties permanently with actress Mayim, 46.
The Bing Bang Theory alum will host Celebrity Jeopardy! starting September 25 – which will air on Sundays and will not interfere with regular episodes.
The primetime synoff will feature about eight celebrities at podiums instead of your average unremarkable citizens — but its big reveal on Tuesday left fans unsold.
In its highlight trailer, Mayim announced Marvel actor Simu Liu, Crazy Rich Asian star Constance Wu, comedian Iliza Shlesinger and Ray Romano.
Also starring — all for charity — are Who’s Line star Aisha Tyler, Patton Oswalt, Superbad’s Michael Cera, The Office’s BJ Novak and the WNBA’s Candace Parker.
Mayim stood tall in a white lab coat with a wide smile as she introduced the cast with her long hair down and signature specs, a red lip and a game board flashing behind her.
“It’s the OG danger, with celebrities,” she said in the clip, hilariously quipping: “Let’s hope they’ve read more than scripts.”
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‘NEVER HEARD OF THEM’
The “script” joke has legs as this year’s lineup is almost all actors, which fans didn’t even know about.
At a private risk! Facebook group, one began: “Am I the only one who has never heard of any of these celebrities? Only Patton Oswalt and Ray Romano.”
Another wrote: “I only know Ray Romano, who are the others?”
A third replied sharply: “Apparently ‘celebrities’.”
And the fourth: “I’ve never heard of them.”
A fifth agreed and wrote: “Just know Ray Romano. Cash picks!”
Other fans noted that Michael’s presence is especially surprising since his biggest film roles were about 10 years ago.
One defended: “I have a problem criticizing when it’s for charity, but it seems like a good fit for Mayim.”
WHEN FAME OVERCOME DANGER!
Celebrity Jeopardy! was first broadcast in 1992, and the last tournament took place in 2015.
The special was previously hosted solely by the late Alex Trebek, who died in 2020 — it’s unclear if the reboot will follow the same format.
But cruel comments aside—seven years ago and every tour before that, the lineups were so weirdly awesome that the spinoff became almost as famous as the regular show.
2015 was won by football player Aaron Rodgers (who also took a turn as host of the show in 2020), and he beat out Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
Underneath a highlight video, one fan waxed poetic: “A billionaire and an astronaut lost to an NFL quarterback in peril. Let that sink in.”
In another year, Andy Richter and Wolf Blitzer faced the hilarity.
Funny notoriously stricken CNN’s figure is close to $40,000.
Another YouTuber recently wrote: “Lol poor Alex trying to reign in these dramatic celebs. He’s like giving me back my quiet bullshit.”
Indeed, another year, Penn Jilette of Penn and Teller won and nearly ran into the audience in celebration.
Since its debut, Celebrity Jeopardy! there are featured over 200 celebrity contestants, including Anderson Cooper, Jodie Foster, Regis Philbin, Pat Sajak, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Stephen King and many other stars – not just actors.
One Twitter user also recently recalled: “Regis Philbin starring on Celebrity Jeopardy is one of my favorite episodes. His unique personality played hilariously by Alex Trebek.”
So famous was the spinoff that it scored the famous Saturday Night Live parody sketches — some of Will Ferrell’s “most popular” sketches for The Hollywood Reporter (he certainly played an over-the-top Alex).
“I loved them,” Alex once said in the dispatches, according to the media. “That means you’ve arrived.”
Celebrity Jeopardy! will air Sundays at 8pm ET on the ABC network, and each episode will be available to stream on Hulu the day after it airs.
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