‘Jeopardy!’ Boss Reveals Big Change for Upcoming Season 40

Jeopardy! boss Michael Davies has revealed some big changes for the show’s upcoming Season 40. Deadline reports that Davies — executive producer of Jeopardy! — revealed that the current WGA strike has had an impact on plans for the new season. During a recent episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, Davies revealed that the show will be bringing back previous contestants for Season 40. He also shared that they are using questions written by the writers before the strike, while also supplementing with some recycled material.

“I believe, principally, that it would not be fair to have new contestants making their first appearance on the Alex Trebek stage, doing it with non-original material or… a combination of non-original material and material that was written pre-strike,” Davies said. “So we decided that really we needed to invite back and give a second chance in general to players who probably thought that their chance to come back and play on the Alex Trebek stage had gone forever. We’re going to open the season with a second chance tournament for players from Season 37 who lost their initial game, and winners from that will advance to a Season 37 and Season 38 Champions Wild Card.”

“I understand that the best episodes that are possible are episodes that feature our writers writing original material and the very best contestants that we put on the air playing that original material,” Davies added. The Jeopardy! EP went on to as that when it comes to the show returning to normal, with new contestants, he has “no idea on timing” as to when that may happen.

The Writers Guild of America strike began on May 2. The organization represents more than 11,000 Hollywood TV and movie writers. The strike was the result of the WGA not reaching an acceptable agreement after six weeks of wage negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. “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 negotiating committee wrote in a letter to members, per VOX. “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.” The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined the strike on July 4. The strike currently has no end date.