What is being cheap?
The iconic game show “Jeopardy!” has come under fire from one of its former contestants who claimed that he was forced to pay out of pocket for his own hotel and travel expenses while appearing on the game show.
Ben Goldstein, who appeared on the quiz show’s recent season, took to Twitter in an attempt to demand that the show become more “accessible.”
“Interesting discussion of the “Why doesn’t #Jeopardy pay airfare and accommodations” question here,” tweeted Goldstein, 42. “Personally, I think covering travel/lodging would make the show more accessible to a wider range of contestants. Not everyone can afford a trip to LA with no guarantee of payback.”
Goldstein’s salacious tweet comes after a fan website dedicated to answering questions of die-hard “Jeopardy!” enthusiasts published what appears the true reason why the game show refuses to pay for travel.
“This has been a longstanding ‘Jeopardy!’ policy and has generally been presented as an issue of fairness by the show,” writes website creator Andy Saunders, citing a 1994 Oakland Tribune article.
In the article, then-contestant coordinator Kelley Carpenter says that the if they were to fly out contestants from the other side of the country, it would be unfair to those who live closer to the Culver City studio.
According to Saunders, however, those who make it past regular season play and into tournament play do have their flights and hotels paid for by the game show.
It was also revealed that even if a contestant doesn’t win, they are still awarded a stipend of up to $2,000 depending on where they place on the leaderboard.
The Post reached out to “Jeopardy!” for comment.
Several other Twitter users were in shock about the long-standing rule.
“Wow … no clue they didn’t pay your travel expenses … that’s weak,” slammed one user.
“At the *very least*, consolation prizes should be increased, to offset the costs of travel/lodging,” said a second user. “It’s kinda disappointing seeing people play well into the 5-figure range and then drop to $1,000 or $2,000 after Final.”
“I remember thinking “at least the $1,000 third prize would pay for the trip”, but that’s probably not true anymore,” tweeted a third person.
One user questioned if it was perhaps due to the show’s budget.
“There’s also budgetary constraints. Can you imagine the cost at the end of the season? It would be $$$ just flying a few east coasters in & out,” said the fan.
Responding to the tweet, Goldstein said that while he doesn’t have access to “Jeopardy’s!” budget, he assumes that it would cost the show about $2,500 per episode to fly people out which he says “doesn’t strike me as that much.”
This is not the first time contestants and fans have slammed the syndicated game show.
Last week, Fans were in uproar after all three contestants — including Goldstein — appeared stumped over a movie mashup category.
Viewers also got salty during a Final “Jeopardy!” question that was deemed not “appropriate” as according to die-hard trivia fans, there were several answers.
Several fans were also ready to throw rocks when all three contestants were stumped by the final American geography clue.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
