'Today' host Craig Melvin baffled as 'Jeopardy!' announces major changes ahead of Season 40
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Recently ‘Today’ correspondent Craig Melvin was baffled by ‘Jeopardy!’ executives after the gameshow announced major changes for the upcoming season.
During the ‘Today’ PopStart segment, Carson Daly reported the specific changes made to the ‘Jeopardy!’ show that will apply from the next season.
While the major changes were confusing for co-host Al Roker, Daly revealed that the revamp was occurring due to the "ongoing WGA [Writers Guild of America] strike."
On the other hand, ‘Jeopardy!’ champs who were also taken aback by the decision took to social media to share their concerns.
Season 40 of "Jeopardy!" will have some new changes due to the WGA strike: Episodes will have a combination of material that was written before the strike and re-deployed material from previous seasons.
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 8, 2023
They will also be bringing back previous losing contestants. pic.twitter.com/d29oJUIJge
'Today' hosts discuss major changes in 'Jeopardy' Season 40 due to WGA strike
‘Today’ host Daly led his usual PopStar segment and spoke about the revamp happening on the ‘Jeopardy!’ gameshow because of the ongoing WGA strike. He revealed that the upcoming Season 40 of ‘Jeopardy!’ would be a mixture of new and old material.
Daly further disclosed that Michael Davies, the game show's executive, shared that upcoming season clues would blend a “combination of material that our WGA writers wrote before the strike.”
Daly elaborated that alongside reusing "re-deployed material from past episodes”, they're reintroducing contestants from "Seasons 37-38” as well.
After the shocking disclosures, Roker mockingly joked about 're-deploying contestants' in 'Jeopardy!' Season 40.
Indulging further in the topic, Daly humorously predicted a 'revamped rerun' for ‘Jeopardy!’ Melvin, his co-anchor, questioned how devoted viewers would react to the show's re-deployment strategy.
Melvin expressed conveying his bewilderment, “If you watched Jeopardy! for years, and you remember some [of the clues]...wow.”
‘Jeopardy!’ champ Amy Schneider 'disappointed' over major changes
Melvin and Roker’s confusion is shared by others, including ‘Jeopardy!’ champion Amy Schneider, who has taken a stand in support of WGA writers.
On July 25, Amy expressed her alliance with WGA through a Twitter post amidst their ongoing strike.
The 40-time game show winner retweeted a Deadline article highlighting ‘Jeopardy’s plan to "recycle material" due to the WGA walkout's impact on their writing staff.
Disappointed to hear that Jeopardy is considering this course of action. For what it’s worth, I, too, will not be participating in any Jeopardy productions that don’t use new clues written by their amazing, unionized writers under a fair, collectively bargained contract https://t.co/yBiqd1k1oa
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) July 25, 2023
She wrote, “Disappointed to hear that Jeopardy! is considering this course of action. For what it’s worth, I, too, will not be participating in any Jeopardy productions that don’t use new clues written by their amazing, unionized writers under a fair, collectively bargained contract."
