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LEARN MOREPosted: 11:47 a.m. EDT Aug 8, 2023
With Hollywood writers still on strike, producers of the hit television game show "Jeopardy!" are planning to recycle some old content to keep the series rolling.
On Monday's episode of the "Inside Jeopardy!" podcast, executive producer Michael Davies revealed that the long-running trivia show will reuse previous material and call on former contestants to return for the upcoming 40th season.
In the episode, Davies said he didn't believe it would be "fair" to have new "Jeopardy!" contestants while using non-original content. He explained that producers plan to use "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 seasons of the show."
Davies acknowledged that the ongoing writers strike has "derailed" the show's initial plans and didn't give a timetable for when so-called "regular" episodes would return.
"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," he added.
Davies also announced that the second- and third-place prize amounts will be increased this season by $1,000 following criticism that runner-ups had to fund their own travel and lodging.
The three-month standoff between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has shown no signs of ending anytime soon. The two sides met last week in an attempt to see if there was enough common ground to resume negotiations, but no agreement was reached.
Issues behind the strike include pay rates amid inflation, the use of smaller writing staffs for shorter seasons of television shows, and control over artificial intelligence in the screenwriting process.
The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have also been on strike, which has halted production on most Hollywood films and television shows.
