Jeopardy Winners Not Returning to Tournament of Champions During Strike

Several prominent Jeopardy! winners are not returning for this year's Tournament of Champions due to the ongoing writers' strike. According to Variety, 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. Jeopardy! employs WGA members as part of the show. 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 Jeopardy! contestants expressed that they would join Lalonde in not crossing picket lines — WGA writers write the questions on Jeopardy! — with Ben Chan and Hannah Wilson both commenting that they, too would stay out. Luigi de Guzman, Troy Meyer, Suresh Krishnan, and Cris Pannullo have also offered their support of Lalonde's stance. One participant who was meant to appear in Tournament of Champions is already confirmed to be unable to participate. Ike Barinholz, who won Celebrity Jeopardy!, is a member of both WGA and SAG-AFTRA (which is also on strike) and therefore is prevented from participating.

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.

What do you think about previous Jeopardy! champions not participating in the Tournament of Champions out of solidarity for the WGA strike? Let us know in the comments.