Like all of TV, Jeopardy! has been affected by the continued strikes by each writers and actors.
Co-host Mayim Bialik stepped again from her function in May in solidarity with writers. The SAG-AFTRA member’s personal group has since created their very own picket traces, ensuing within the first such double strike since 1960. Jeopardy! officers have introduced plans to skirt the foundations by utilizing prewritten clues and recycling each outdated clues and contestants. However, that does not fly for some viewers, who’ve publicly criticized the present’s different co-host, Ken Jennings, for being disloyal to the present’s scribes, who’re calling for greater pay and protections towards Artificial Intelligence. What’s extra, Jeopardy! has even delayed its annual Tournament of Champions, after contestants refused to return to the present amid protests.
The reality, although, is that the late Alex Trebek additionally hosted the sport present during the final writers strike, which lasted from Nov. 5, 2007, to Feb. 12, 2008.
But it was Jennings who was reprimanded by actor and Celebrity Jeopardy! contestant Wil Wheaton for agreeing to proceed standing behind the rostrum amid the picket traces.
“This is a VERY small town, Ken Jennings, and we will all remember this,” the Stand by Me alum wrote on social media. “Your privilege may protect you right now, but we will *never* forget.”
Another critic obtained a response instantly from Jennings, whom the commenter referred to as a “disgrace” and whose actions would make Trebek “turn over [in] his grave.” Yikes.
To which Jennings replied with a press release from Sony Pictures TV, which produces the present: “Jeopardy! has a long history with and tremendous respect for the WGA and our writers. We have always been careful to honor our WGA agreements and we would never air game material not created by WGA writers. However, just as we did, led by Alex Trebek, during the 2007-2008 strike, we will deliver first-run episodes again this fall to more than 200 affiliate stations nationwide. Our current plan is to go into a holding pattern of sorts, pushing back the season 39 postseason to first produce original episodes featuring the best of our WGA written material.”
In brief, Jeopardy! has numerous beforehand used materials written by guild members that will nonetheless stump a lot of the inhabitants.
The assertion continued, “Everyone at Jeopardy! hopes that the guilds and the AMPTP can reach a fair resolution quickly. Celebrity Jeopardy! will return on ABC this fall with original material written by WGA writers before the strike. Jeopardy! and Celebrity Jeopardy! are covered under the SAG-AFTRA Network Code, which remains in effect.”
The syndicated present is anticipated to return for its fortieth season on Monday, Sept. 11, though there would be the adjustments famous above.
Showrunner Michael Davies additionally defined variations this month on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast.
“I also believe, principally, that it would not be fair to have new contestants making their first appearance on the Alex Trebek Stage, doing it with non-original material,” Davies mentioned. “Or as we’ll talk about a combination of non-original material and material that was written pre-strike. So, we’re gonna open the season with a second chance tournament for players from Season 37 who lost their initial game. And winners from that will advance to a Season 37 and Season 38 champions wildcard.”
To which James Holzhauer, the Jeopardy! champ and record-holder for essentially the most cash gained in a single sport, chirped again, “If you don’t have time to listen, here’s the executive summary of today’s announcement: “1:00-2:00: Jeopardy’s writers are invaluable and we could not produce the present with out them, 2:00-15:00: Here is how we are going to produce the upcoming season with out them.”
Davies had mentioned in that same podcast that the people who had scored highest on the Jeopardy! test, who normally wait to be called up for the show for up to 18 months, would now be in the pool for up to 24 months. He also said that contestants who come in second- and third-place would begin receiving an additional $1,000 in prize money. That means the third-place contestant will take home $2,000 and the second-place contestant will leave with $3,000, to help defray increased travel costs.
Trebek, who died of pancreatic cancer in November 2020, praised the writers in a 2010 interview with the Television Academy. “The writers, god bless them, are actually sharp, and I’m pleased to see they’ve gained so many Emmys due to their writing. They can take a secular reality and make it very entertaining, make it gentle.”
The show touts 43 Emmy awards, several explicitly for writing.
Variety spoke to Jeopardy! writers Michele Loud, Jim Rhine and Billy Wisse as they picketed outside the Sony lot in Culver City, Calif., on May 6, just four days into the strike.
“Our phrases are on the display screen each night time,” Loud told the publication. “There isn’t any Jeopardy! with out writers. Without us it is simply an empty blue display screen.”
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