Credit: ABCHost Ken Jennings has invoked the name of the late Alex Trebek in order to justify his recent actions when it comes to Jeopardy! Season 40.
Jeopardy! Productions recently wrapped the 39th season of its historic game show. And while the episodes at the latter end of Season 39 should have been led by Mayim Bialik, it would be Ken Jennings presiding over proceedings after the actress and host stepped down in support of the Writers Guild of America strikes back in May.
Bialik, who rose to international recognition for her role as Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory, decided to stand with those striking and refused to cross the picket line to tape her future Season 39 episodes. Jennings took over as host and despite many seeming to prefer the former Jeopardy! champion over Bialik, some have called him out for being a “scab.”
Jeopardy! Season 40
The controversy surrounding Jeopardy! continuing production reached a new height when it was revealed by former contestant Ray Lalonde that the upcoming Tournament of Champions would bring back players to take part in the show and that the show would be taped using recycled material.
“Both the syndicated Jeopardy! and ABC’s Celebrity Jeopardy! are written by WGA members. Sources tell THR that writing on season two of Celebrity Jeopardy! was completed before writers went on strike in May, while the syndicated show will draw on material from its past four decades to begin the 2023-24 season,” The Hollywood Reporter stated last month.
This decision drew immense backlash from the Jeopardy! community and audiences, and eventually, it was shared that the Tournament of Champions would be postponed. However, executive producer and showrunner Michael Davies reignited that same ire when he confirmed that Season 40 would begin taping with returning contestants using clues written before the strike action commenced and also recycled clues.
“…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,” Deadline reported. “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.”
With all this now in motion and original material being replaced with reused clues, attention has turned back to Ken Jennings, who will host the beginning of Season 40. Fans have not been pleased that Jennings has crossed the picket line to tape the episodes. One insensed viewer called out the Jeopardy! host on social media over the big change. Ryan J. (@vanquishpoint) said:
@KenJennings You’re a disgrace if you’re trying to cross picket lines. Alex would NEVER do anything of the sort. He would turn over his grave seeing you act like that
@KenJennings You're a disgrace if you're trying to cross picket lines. Alex would NEVER do anything of the sort. He would turn over his grave seeing you act like that
— Ryan Jones (@vanquishpoint) August 13, 2023
But it seems Jennings had prepared for such a comment when he pulled an old article citing that the late Alex Trebek, who died in November 2020 from pancreatic cancer, had done the very same thing during the strikes of 2007-2008. Jennings (@KenJennings) shared a picture of an article about Jeopardy! Season 40, invoking Trebek in the process:
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. 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.
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) August 13, 2023
Related: ‘Jeopardy!’ Host Mayim Bialik Facing Backlash for Changing Rules Mid-Show
Following Trebek’s death, Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings emerged as co-hosts of the syndicated version of Jeopardy! The individuals also host Jeopardy! Masters (Jennings), and Celebrity Jeopardy! and Jeopardy! National College Championship (Bialik).
Soon Jeopardy! will also return to screens in the United Kingdom after over two decades of being off-screen. TV legend Stephen Fry will host the UK version, with episodes expected to arrive in Fall 2023 on ITV.
What do you think of Ken Jennings’ response about Alex Trebek? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!