Jeopardy! is getting a major change as a result of the ongoing Writers’ Guild of America strike. On Thursday, reports revealed that Jeopardy! host Mayim Bialik has walked away from hosting the final week of episodes for Season 39, in order to stand in solidarity with the writers’ strike. Ken Jennings, who also hosts episodes of the iconic game show, will reportedly step in to host Bialik’s episodes, which will be filmed between Tuesday, May 16th and Friday, May 19th. While Jeopardy! is technically a WGA production, the contributions of questions from WGA writers were written in advance of the strike.
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Bialik and Jennings have shared hosting duties of Jeopardy! following the passing of original host Alex Trebek. Jennings hosted the batch of episodes from August through December, and Bialik hosting from January up until this point.
Why is the WGA striking?
The WGA strike began at the beginning of May, after the Guild was unable to come to a consensus with representatives from studios. This is the second time that the WGA has gone on strike in fifteen years, after striking for 100 days from 2007 to 2008.
“Though we negotiated intent on making a fair deal — and though your strike vote gave us the leverage to make some gains — the studios’ responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing,” the WGA said in a statement on May 1st. “We must now exert the maximum leverage possible to get a fair contract by withholding our labor.”
The statement continued: “The WGA Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, but the studios’ responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing. The companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing. From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a ‘day rate’ in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”
What do you think of Mayim Bialik dropping out of Jeopardy!‘s final week of filming due to the writers’ strike? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
h/t: Deadline
