‘Jeopardy!’ Bosses Drop Big News About Season 40 Changes – Fans Aren’t Happy
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Jeopardy! producers Michael Davies and Sarah Whitcomb Foss have shared details on future Jeopardy! plans now that the WGA strike is over, confirming that new contestant episodes won’t return until at least April 2024. The news has not gone down well with a lot of Jeopardy! who are desperate for the show to return to normal with new contestants.
On the latest episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, Davies and Foss updated fans on what they can expect in the coming months, noting that the official Season 39 post-season will begin in the new year before Season 40 gets underway properly.
“We cannot wait to welcome the rest of the Jeopardy! family home,” Foss said, speaking of the returning WGA writers. The show has been using recycled material and material written before the strikes for its recent Second Chance tournament and currently airing Champions Wildcard.
Foss continued, saying that Davies came up to her months ago asking for a plan should the strikes last a long time. “We have to come up with a contingency plan, kind of that holdover… but now, we get to fill it in with our writers, and then we get to get into our official post-season.”
Even though the show’s writers are returning, with new material expected for later in the Wildcard tournament, it won’t change the plans as far as the schedule.
As Foss explained, following the currently airing Wildcard (featuring Season 37 and 38 contestants), the show will move on to another Second Chance (with Season 39 contestants), followed by another Champions Wildcard (with former Season 39 champs), and then the much-anticipated Tournament of Champions.
“It’s going to be the biggest field we’ve ever featured in TOC history,” Foss stated. “So many great competitors, some still to be determined based on these upcoming Champions Wildcards.”
Foss also mentioned the return of the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament and a second edition of Jeopardy! Masters, which James Holzhauer won earlier this year.
“Our number one, sort of, imperative right now is to get the post-season back on track,” Davies added. “And then after that, our regular season, as many weeks as possible of the regular season after that post-season.”
“I do want to assure everybody, we are going to get to multiple weeks of regular, Virginia, new contestants who have never been on the Alex Trebek stage before,” Davies continued. “We’re going to get to that at the end of the season. We should have at least 16 weeks.”
There is still no official word on when Mayim Bialik will return as host. The Big Bang Theory alum stepped away back in May in solidarity with the WGA strike; Ken Jennings has been hosting the recent episodes of Jeopardy! and Celebrity Jeopardy!
“It’s not for me to personally judge anyone else’s decision [but] I am a union supporter,” Bialik told Vanity Fair in a recent interview.
The reaction to the news of more tournaments was mixed, to say the least, with many fans desperate for episodes with new players.
“Apparently we’re not getting any regular Jeopardy! until April 2024. Nearly two-thirds of this season will be tournaments. So yeah, way, way too much,” wrote one fan on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum.
“Too many “special” tournaments and too many second chances! All of this is diluting the value of a regular game,” said another.
“I agree… especially because the quality of gameplay during these tournaments has not IMO been particularly elevated, as one might have hoped,” added another commenter. “I hope the producer’s stated desire to make the show more like a sport does not lead to increased emphasis on this kind of self-referential gimmick in the future, now that the strike has concluded.”
Another fan added, “I totally agree. It’s getting to be a little “Participation Trophy Jeopardy”-ish.”
“I agree, I’m not a big fan of the second chance tournaments. If they’re going to do Second Chance just make it one week a season or every other season with just a week of normal gameplay,” said another.
Others were more lenient, with one viewer writing, “The other option was no new Jeopardy at all during the writer’s strike, so take your pick. You don’t have to watch it.”
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