Jeopardy Officially Delays Tournament of Champions Amid Ongoing Writers' Strike

Jeopardy! is officially delaying its Tournament of Champions amid the ongoing writers' strike. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a spokesperson Sony Pictures Television said late on Tuesday that there was never any intention to produce a Tournament of Champions during the strike. Jeopardy! employs members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on the game show. The Tournament of Champions typically films in late August and September.

"Jeopardy! never had any intention of producing a Tournament of Champions for season 39 until the strike is resolved," a spokesperson for the show said in a statement. "Further, no contestants from season 39 have been contacted regarding their availability for any postseason tournaments, including the TOC. The Jeopardy! postseason represents the pinnacle of our competition, and it should feature our strongest players playing our toughest original material."

"Jeopardy! has a long history with and tremendous respect for the WGA and our writers. We have always been careful to honor our WGA agreements and we would never air game material not created by WGA writers," the statement continued. "However, just as we did, led by Alex Trebek, during the 2007-2008 strike, we will deliver first-run episodes again this fall to more than 200 affiliate stations nationwide. Our current plan is to go into a holding pattern of sorts, pushing back the season 39 postseason to first produce original episodes featuring the best of our WGA written material.

"Everyone at Jeopardy! hopes that the guilds and the AMPTP can reach a fair resolution quickly. Celebrity Jeopardy! will return on ABC this fall with original material written by WGA writers before the strike. Jeopardy! and Celebrity Jeopardy! are covered under the SAG-AFTRA Network Code, which remains in effect."

It had previously been reported that even if Jeopardy! was planning to go forward with its Tournament of Champions for Season 39, it would have to do so without a number of its contestants. 13-time Jeopardy! Winner Ray Lalonde shared on Reddit that a number of contestants have pledged not to return for the series' Tournament of Champions to stand in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America, which is currently on strike. Lalonde is a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employee, the union that represents more than 168,000 technicians, artisans, and craftspersons in the entertainment industry.

Lalonde wrote in his post that there have been "credible reports that the producers are making contingency plans to start filming the next season of the show with old and/or recycled material if the WGA strike remains unresolved."

"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," he wrote.

"My hope in saying this publicly now is to perhaps influence some future decision to proceed without the writers and to encourage any others in the community who feel the same way to speak out as well," Lalonde continued. "A few small voices may not change any minds but we can try."

Several other champions indicated that they would join Lalonde in not crossing picket lines.

Jeopardy! Host Mayim Bialik Dropped Out of the Show Due to WGA Strike

It isn't just former champions who aren't participating in Jeopardy! due to the strike. Host Mayim Bialik walked away from hosting the final week of episodes of Season 39 to stand in solidarity with the writers' strike. Ken Jennings stepped in to host Bialik's episodes, which were filmed between May 16th and May 19th.The questions and clues for those episodes had been written prior to the strike.

Why is the WGA on Strike?

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.

Earlier this month, SAG-AFTRA also went on strike when their own contract negotiations with the studios broke down. This marks the first time since 1960 that both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA has been on strike at the same time.