Stephen Fry
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Jeopardy! host Stephen Fry ‘not the right guy’ to front reboot as viewers switch off

The new show launched on ITV

Jeopardy! is finally back, with Stephen Fry hosting the classic gameshow on ITV.

However, viewers have been left unimpressed by the revival of the show – as well as Stephen’s hosting – with some claiming the 66-year-old is “not the right guy” for the show.

Stephen Fry on Jeopardy!
Stephen Fry is the show’s new host (Credit: ITV)

Jeopardy! launches on ITV

Jeopardy! has been around for decades. The show first launched on NBC in 1964 and has been running pretty much consistently ever since on US TV.

The show is different from usual quiz shows, as it sees a contestant given clues to a question in the form of an answer. They must identify the person, place, thing, or idea that the clue describes, by phrasing it in the form of a question.

In 1983, a UK edition launched on Channel 4, before coming to an end in 1984. Between 1990 and 1993 it aired on ITV, before being cancelled.

Between 1995 and 1996, it aired on Sky One, before, again, being cancelled.

Now, after 27 years away, Jeopardy is back on ITV – with Stephen Fry at the helm. It launched on Monday, January 1.

Stephen Fry
Stephen’s hosting hasn’t gone down that well (Credit: ITV)

Fans unconvinced by Jeopardy! host Stephen Fry

Some fans have taken to Twitter to complain about Stephen being the host of the new show.

Stephen Fry is making #Jeopardy seem so dry, he is no Alex Trebek I’ll tell you that,” one viewer tweeted. 

Love Stephen Fry but I’m not really liking #Jeopardy and it seems like a waste of his talents. Will it last longer than 1 series?” another wrote. 

@ITV I had SO looked forward to #Jeopardy coming to our shores, but as much as I’m a fan of Stephen Fry, am just not sure he’s the right guy for it,” a third complained. 

Other fans simply switched off. “Can we all agree that #Jeopardy should have stayed in the USA? It was so bad I had to turn off,” one said.

#Jeopardy I’m going to turn this off. It’s boring,” another wrote.

Sheridan Smith and Stephen Fry
Sheridan and Stephen were stuck in a lift (Credit: BBC)

Stephen stuck in a lift with Sheridan Smith

The Jeopardy relaunch comes not long after Stephen Fry got stuck in a lift with Sheridan Smith – and almost missed his interview on The One Show.

“We are having a night here. Stephen Fry and Sheridan Smith are due on this sofa. Obviously, it’s a live programme they are stuck in the lift,” Alex Jones said during the show.

“And they’re fine! They’re absolutely fine. Hopefully, they’ll be here before the end of the show,” Ronan Keating said, laughing.

When finally joining the show, Stephen joked about the situation, stating, “Santa’s sleigh ride got a little stuck. I think the reindeer were drunk”.

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Jeopardy airs on weekdays from 4pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

Jeopardy! | Starts Monday 1st January | ITV

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Robert Emlyn Slater
Senior Writer

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