The Hollywood Writer’s Strike Forces “Jeopardy!” now in its 40th season, to make adjustments to his show after producers acknowledged that the original plan had been “compromised” by the historic labor movement.
Lacking enough fresh material for another season, “Jeopardy!” will recycle old material and contestants alike, executive producer Michael Davies revealed in the most recent episode of the “Inside Jeopardy!” podcast.
He called it the “most optimal solution” given the circumstances and the fact that the show’s original plan was scuttled.
He explained the impetus for not hosting first trivia competitors during the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike.
“I also believe first and foremost that it would not be fair to allow new entrants appearing on the Alex Trebek stage for the first time to perform with non-original material or a combination of non-original material and material produced before the attack is written,” he said.
A second chance
The show’s producers have come up with a solution that they hope will be a hit with contestants and viewers alike. It continues with another season of the show featuring contestants from season 37 who lost their first matches. Normally, first-round losers don’t get a second chance to appear on the podium.
“We decided we really needed to invite players and give them a second chance in general who probably thought their chance to come back and play on the Alex Trebek stage was gone forever,” Davies continued.
The returning contestants will compete on a combination of material written before the strikes and material “re-purposed from multiple, multiple seasons of the show,” Davies said.
He announced an additional major change unrelated to the WGA strike. The second and third place prize pools will each end with $1,000.
“So the third place prize goes up to $2,000, the second place prize goes up to $3,000,” Davies said. The move was a work in progress, he added, as contestants must pay their own way to appear on the show.
“We understand that travel costs have increased post-COVID. We understand how complicated financing a trip to ‘Jeopardy!
“Celebrity Danger!” will return in September with both brand new material and contestants, Davies added, as trivia questions had previously been answered writers went on strike. It features all new original material and the show is currently booking guests.
