Jeopardy! legend James Holzhauer is known for posing the questions in response to the clever clues formed as answers. Now, the tables have turned, as he called out the show’s producers in the form of an expository statement.
The man known for his 32-episode winning streak is calling out the plan to continue on with Season 40 of the historic trivia show next month amid the ongoing WGA strike, per Entertainment Weekly.
Holzhauer took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Monday (Aug. 7) and linked to the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, where Sarah Whitcomb, Michael Davies, Buzzy Cohen and Jimmy McGuire grant listeners intel on “America’s Favorite Quiz Show.” In response to Monday’s episode, which dove into plans for the upcoming season, Holzhauer had some thoughts on how the producers approached the subject of continuing production sans writers.
“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 couldn’t produce the show without them,” he began. “2:00-15:00: Here is how we will produce the upcoming season without them.”
If you listen to the podcast, Holzhauer’s description is not terribly far off. Davies begins the podcast by thanking fans for their enthusiastic input, and then continues to gush about “how much [he] admire[s] and miss[es their] writers,”praising the writers as “beloved and valued members of the Jeopardy! team.”
He and Whitcomb then proceed to explain how the “original plan for Season 40,” was “compromised” due to the strike. They had initially planed to “extend the post-season” through various methods such as filming a first-ever “second chance for Season 39.” This plan would have featured “15 to 16 weeks of post-season and special tournaments and about 30 to 31 weeks of regular Jeopardy.”
They also detailed a “major announcement” involving “increasing the second and third place prizes by $1,000 each.”
In Davies’ defense, he did note that he “understand[s] that the best episodes that are possible are episodes that feature our writers, writing original material, and the very best contestants.”
This made him know “immediately that [they] would have to postpone [their] post-season.”
“I believe, principally, that it would not be fair to have new contestants making their first appearance on the Alex Trebek Stage and doing it with non-original material, or as we’ll talk about a combination of non-original material and material that was written pre-strike,” he shared.
They have chosen to begin the season with a Second Chance tournament for contestants from Season 37, which will then feed into a Season 37 and Season 38 Wildcard tournament.
The show’s questions will include “a combination of material that [their] WGA writers wrote before the strike, which is still in the database, and material that has been re-deployed from multiple seasons of the show.” Ken Jennings will host, as he isn’t a member of either of the two unions on strike.
Jeopardy! will premiere on Sept. 11. Otherwise, the show airs weeknights at 7 p.m. ET. Check their website for local listings.
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