A whole host of TV shows and films have overhauled their release schedules in light of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes — but not Jeopardy!
Although co-host Mayim Bialik stepped down during the final week of the filming the show's 39th season (and from the forthcoming season of Celebrity Jeopardy! set to premiere later this month), it's officially full-steam ahead for Season 40 with Ken Jennings as sole host, Deadline reports.
Replacing our dearly departed Alex Trebek, former Jeopardy! champion Jennings was named Bialik's alternating host last July after former executive producer Mike Richards was ousted from the role while embroiled in controversy.
Both Jennings and showrunner Michael Davies have assured that the franchise would never "air game material not created by WGA writers," who write the trivia questions. Contestants will now be asked questions that were either written pre-strike or have been recycled from previous episodes of the game show.
Davies became showrunner and executive producer on a permanent basis last year, and has admitted on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast that a lot of his initial plans for the show's 40th season were "derailed" and that Jeopardy! is now in a "holding pattern."
The writers' strike, which began in May, has resulted in a "changed" Season 40, according to the exec. Among these changes are prize sums for second and third place being increased by $1,000 USD each. "We understand that post-COVID, travel plans have increased and how complicated funding a trip to Jeopardy! is for many contestants within our community and we think this is way about time," Davies said.
Although co-host Mayim Bialik stepped down during the final week of the filming the show's 39th season (and from the forthcoming season of Celebrity Jeopardy! set to premiere later this month), it's officially full-steam ahead for Season 40 with Ken Jennings as sole host, Deadline reports.
Replacing our dearly departed Alex Trebek, former Jeopardy! champion Jennings was named Bialik's alternating host last July after former executive producer Mike Richards was ousted from the role while embroiled in controversy.
Both Jennings and showrunner Michael Davies have assured that the franchise would never "air game material not created by WGA writers," who write the trivia questions. Contestants will now be asked questions that were either written pre-strike or have been recycled from previous episodes of the game show.
Davies became showrunner and executive producer on a permanent basis last year, and has admitted on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast that a lot of his initial plans for the show's 40th season were "derailed" and that Jeopardy! is now in a "holding pattern."
The writers' strike, which began in May, has resulted in a "changed" Season 40, according to the exec. Among these changes are prize sums for second and third place being increased by $1,000 USD each. "We understand that post-COVID, travel plans have increased and how complicated funding a trip to Jeopardy! is for many contestants within our community and we think this is way about time," Davies said.
