According to Deadline, the Jeopardy! Tournament Of Champions has been postponed due to the writers strike.
What’s Happening:
- Due to the writers strike, Sony Pictures Television is pushing back the upcoming Jeopardy! Tournament Of Champions after a number of former winners declared that they would boycott the show if they used "recycled material" for questions.
- Contestants who said they would not compete under current circumstances include Ray Lalonde, Chris Pannullo, Ben Chan, Luigi de Guzman, and Amy Schneider.
- Producers for Jeopardy! have said that no contestants from season 39 have been contacted regarding their availability for any postseason tournament and noted that it "represents the pinnacle of our competition, and it should feature our strongest players playing our toughest original material".
- The show will instead return with original episodes featuring “the best of our WGA written material.”
- More details will be shared next month.
- Meanwhile, Celebrity Jeopardy! will return to ABC this fall with original material written by WGA writers prior to the strike.
- Both Jeopardy! and Celebrity Jeopardy! are covered under the SAG-AFTRA Network Code, which allows the shows to continue filming.
What They're Saying:
- A spokesperson said: “Jeopardy! never had any intention of producing a Tournament of Champions for Season 39 until the strike is resolved.”
- “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. Next month, we will share more news about exciting plans and enhancements to the contestant experience for this upcoming season and beyond,” it added.
- “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,” the spokesperson added. “Everyone at Jeopardy! hopes that the guilds and the AMPTP can reach a fair resolution quickly.”