‘Jeopardy!’ Champions Become Labor Champions by Refusing To Play, in Support of Writers’ Strike

If the ongoing WGA Strike is teaching viewers anything, it’s how much writers contribute to television. Writers’ contributions to narrative shows are obvious: They write stories and create characters, but writers also write literally everything else on TV, from news copy to scripts for reality competition shows, to game show questions.

Apparently, Jeopardy! is planning how to move forward with filming their next season if the writers’ strike continues, and the Jeopardy! champions who’d be expected to return aren’t having it.

Former Jeopardy! champions are too smart for this sh*t

Deadline reports that upon hearing that Jeopardy! is developing a “contingency plan” allowing them to film their next season, despite their unionized writers being on strike, several of the show’s champions have reached out to the producers to let them know they will not be returning until the strike is resolved fairly.

Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider, who won over $1M in a 40-game winning streak last year and has already played in the “Tournament of Champions,” took to Twitter to assert that she wouldn’t return for any Jeopardy! productions (including Jeopardy! Masters, a spinoff that exclusively features former champions) “that don’t use new clues written by their amazing, unionized writers under a fair, collectively bargained contract.”

Contestant Ray Lalonde won over $386,000 last season and would qualify to participate in next season’s “Tournament of Champions.” Despite totally being into that, he reached out to Jeopardy! letting them know he would not cross the picket line. He took to Reddit to explain:

“There are now 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. I am a lifelong devoted fan of Jeopardy!. I am and will always be grateful for the experience I had on the show and the opportunity to participate in the TOC is beyond a dream come true for me. That being said, I believe that the show’s writers are a vital part of the show and they are justified in taking their job action to secure a fair contract for themselves and their fellow WGA members.”

Fellow champion Luigi de Guzman replied to Lalonde’s message, asserting the importance of the famed quiz show’s writers:

“The writers make the clues; the clues make the show. The clues in the Tournament of Champions have typically been some of the best of the best clues the show has had to offer. They are at once challenging and creative.”

As other champions continue to speak out and express their support of the WGA, they are potentially turning down the chance at higher winnings and risking breaking their winning streaks established last season. Yet they’re saying it’s worth it, because their positive experiences on Jeopardy! aren’t just about winning money and being on TV. It’s about the experience of interacting with well-written, creative, and challenging questions that keep them on their toes.

“Jeopardy! champions Amy Schneider, Ray Lalonde, Luigi de Guzman, Chris Pannullo, and Ben Chan demonstrated this quality in response to the Writers Guild of America Strike in 2023.”

What is “solidarity?”

“That is correct.”

(featured image: Sony Pictures Television)