Jeopardy Contestants Refuse To Partake In Tournament Of Champions During Writer's Strike
Jeopardy fans you better get ready for some reruns.
The upcoming game show's Tournament of Champions has been put on pause after multiple champions from last season refused to "cross the picket line" and compete while the writers strike is ongoing.
Jeopardy's Tournament of Champions, which features the best of the best from the previous season, usually begins taping in August and September. However the television game show will now have to rely on material from its previous 39 years of shows in order to fill slots for upcoming 2023-24 season due to the strike.
"I believe that the show’s writers are a vital part of the show and they are justified in taking their job action to secure a fair contract for themselves and their fellow WGA members. As a supporter of the trade union movement, a union member’s son and a proud union member myself I have informed the show’s producers that if the strike remains unresolved I will not cross a picket line to play in the tournament of champions," 13-game winner Ray Lalonde wrote in a Reddit post.
A number of other winners publicly agreed with Lalonde and said they wouldn't participate either - including last year's four highest total winners.
JEOPARDY WILL AIR RERUNS FROM ITS PREVIOUS SEASONS
As a result of the player's refusing to actually, ya know, play ... Sony Pictures TV conveniently said that the show "never had any intention" to tape in the first place. Yeah, sure. Something tells me the studios had no choice when previous champions like Ray Lalonde took to Reddit and announced that they would not partake in the upcoming tapings.
Jeopardy's pause is just the latest example of what is going to be a long fall and winter for viewers that were looking forward to their favorite television and streaming shows giving them entertainment. Personally, I don't think the effect of the strike has resonated with the average person yet - it will, don't worry. For example, Netflix's Stranger Things may not return till at least 2025 - if you're lucky.
Netflis writer actor strike (Getty Images)
IT'S GOING TO BE A LONG WINTER
The problem is that many shows scripts aren't finished. So whenever the strike does come to an end, many of the stories still have to be written - which will take time. It's also not like everything is going to be all cordial in the immediate aftermath of a tenuous battle between the studios and the actors.
The WGA writers union began their strike on May 3rd, while the actors SAG-AFTRA union started on July 13th. Both are arguing for production studios to pay higher wages, as well as figure out a new royalty deal due to the rise of streaming platforms. Both are also heavily focused on trying to limit the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) that could eventually phase writers out via programs like ChatGPT, as well as actors and actresses via AI using their name, image and likeness.
The studios seems to think that they can hold out much longer than the individual can. Netflix recently posted a job listing for a single AI job for $900,000, while the majority of SAG-AFTRA actors make less than $30,000.
The upside? If you've been watching Jeopardy for years you will sound like a genius when you know the answers for the reruns they're about to start playing!