Mayim Bialik Declines to Host ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Amid Strikes, Replaced by Ken Jennings
Mayim Bialik Declines to Host ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Amid Strikes, Replaced by Ken Jennings
Mayim Bialik will not be hosting Season 2 of “Celebrity Jeopardy!” as she continues to support the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Variety has learned from sources. On Monday, ABC is…
Mayim Bialik will not be hosting Season 2 of “Celebrity Jeopardy!” as she continues to support the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Variety has learned from sources.
On Monday, ABC issued a press release with changes to their fall schedule, noting that Ken Jennings will host the new season of “Celebrity Jeopardy!,” which premieres Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. ET.
ABC did not respond to Variety’s request for comment.
“Jeopardy!” showrunner Michael Davies revealed earlier this month that material for the star-studded spinoff series’ second season was completed before the WGA went on strike, so the upcoming season will feature completely original material. While Bialik and Jennings split hosting duties on “Jeopardy!,” the former was the sole host for Season 1 of “Celebrity Jeopardy!,” featuring such guests as Simu Liu, Andy Richter, Aisha Tyler, Michael Cera and more.
Back in May, Variety spoke to “Jeopardy!” writers Michele Loud, Jim Rhine and Billy Wisse on the picket line during the fourth day of the WGA strike.
“Our words are on the screen every night,” Loud said. “There is no ‘Jeopardy’ without writers. Without us it’s just an empty blue screen.”
Davies explained on the “Jeopardy!” podcast “Inside Jeopardy!” how the trivia series would proceed with its next season amid the WGA strike.
“We’re going to open the season with a second chance tournament for players from Season 37 who lost their initial game. Winners from that will advance to a Season 37 and Season 38 Champions Wildcard,” he said, adding that questions on these second chance episodes would be “a combination of material that our WGA writers wrote before the strike, which is still in the database, and material that has been re-deployed from multiple multiple seasons of the show.”
Good. I'm encouraging everyone here to vocally support the strike.
I'm expecting the studios to start importing foreign movies/TV shows and coming up with absurd reality TV soon, so that could be fun.
That's something I never really appreciated before. In Europe of course we mostly consume media produced in our own language or in English, but it's completely normal to watch (and for broadcasters to air) shows from all over Europe, either dubbed or with subtitles depending on the country. Subtitles being the only tolerable way of course.
If a show started airing in French or German with subtitled on US television this would be a huge deal?
If a show started airing in French or German with subtitled on US television this would be a huge deal?
During the strike? Absolutely. It'd be nothing but a way for them to undermine the strike. Normal day without a stike? I'd absolutely love some new content.
Permanently Deleted
On TV, it would probably gain no traction. I'm sure a lot of old conservative folks would be turned off by being forced to listen to a language they don't understand, and that's exactly the type of people who would phone up their local TV station to complain about it. Younger people might not care so much, and would sit through, but if there's something else on in English they would probably switch.
On streaming platforms, they would just never see it in the first place.
and coming up with absurd reality TV soon,
Holy shit, that ship sailed years ago. Ten years ago I told everyone that we have officially made too many cameras. Are you trying to imply this will get worse?
It's probably a really good time for independent creators with no connections to the established industry to make some waves and fill that void.
I know you were kidding, but I am actually starting to enjoy more foreign films, as American films seem to shoehorn in identity politics at every turn.
Squid game was probably one of the best shows I have ever seen, followed by Alice in borderland. The wandering earth was a fantastic movie. Plenty more, but those are just some good examples of foreign entertainment that buries anything that has come out of hollyweird in the past decade, including the comic book movies.
*Scab Jennings
He’s not an actor and he’d already had this job. It would’ve been cool if he joined the strike but it’s not something to hold against him, either
If an accountant leaves his profession to become a commercial pilot, does he get a pass to fly when the rest of the pilots go on strike?
Technically not, https://www.dlapiper.com/en-US/insights/publications/2023/07/sag-aftra-strike-the-strike-rules-and-the-exceptions
"Work is permitted if covered by the terms of other SAG-AFTRA agreements, including (but not limited to): ... Network Television Code, which covers ... Variety programming (including reality shows and game shows ..."
I would also prefer no one host the show while the strike is on, but it is allowed per existing rules.
Also, is he even in the union?
Honest question, does jeopardy have writers or actors?
I would be extremely impressed if Alex Trebek had just pulled all of the questions out of his butt for all of those years.
Does Jeopardy have writers
They're literally quoted in the body of the post.
Someone has to make those words on that blue screen.
I honestly don’t understand why she is on the show in the first place.
Ken is the greatest Jeopardy player of all time and deserves the job.
Whether or not Alex Trebek was really smart, he certainly gave off that vibe like he knew a lot about the subjects he quizzed the contestants on.
I understand she is some sort of scientist, but they are a dime a dozen.
Why does being good at the game make you a good host? I'm not saying he isn't, but being a good host requires an entirely different skill set than being a good player. Bialik was there because her brand is intellectual nerdiness that Jeopardy wants to leverage, but also because she's been making TV off and on her whole life. That kinda feels more relevant to the skillset required to making TV.
Bialik's delivery of questions is really good. The only downside of her hosting is she sometimes has very long pauses before she says someone is correct. I'd heard speculation that it's because she made a slip up early on when she awarded points for an incorrect answer and the producers wanted to make sure that doesn't happen again.
Since Ken is arguably the Jeopardy goat*, he's much less likely to make this type of mistake.
*Brad Rutter should be up there because he beat Ken a few times in tournaments of champions and was unable to have Ken's streak because Brad was from the 5-wins-and-go-home era.
For the reason I mentioned about Alex. If you’re going to host a show about knowledge, it seems logical to assume the host would fit the part. We’re not talking about hosting let’s make a deal. And having the greatest player of all time, host, would certainly garner more viewers than people who watched blossom or big bang theory, and would certainly be taken more seriously.
If I’m being honest, Alex didn’t really have the greatest personality either, but he had presence to make up for it.
Jennings is a vast improvement over Bialik. Some great things are already happening because of the strikes.
I liked Mayim for Celebrity Jeopardy, but I am interested in seeing Ken’s interactions with the celebrities. I think his wit will make for a great show.
Ken Jennings would scab.
He's not an actor, is he? Hosting jeopardy isn't an acting gig. So he's under no obligations to a union and his role isn't traditionally filled by union employees. This isn't crossing the picket lines, as near as I can tell.
Fuck Ken Jennings then? Scab.
And I assume you're going to only get trump inauguration reject level "celebrities" as well? "Ladies and gentlemen... our returning champion... The bass player from three doors down!"