‘Jeopardy!’ Hit With Mayim Bialik Absence But Continues Production – Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Jeopardy! has become one of the first game shows to be impacted by the writers strike.

Deadline understands that host Mayim Bialik decided against hosting the final week of filming for season 39, standing in solidarity with the striking writers.

However, we understand that production on the final run of episodes for the season is going ahead with Ken Jennings taking over hosting duties. The final episodes of the season will be filmed at the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City between Tuesday May 16 and Friday 19 May.

Jeopardy!, which is produced by Sony Pictures Television, is a WGA show and features contributions from WGA writers, but the questions were written in advance of a season and the strike.

Bialik and Jennings have shared hosting duties this season; Jennings hosted the first stretch of episodes between August and December with Bialik starting in January. Jennings will now host the last week before the summer hiatus as a result of Bialik’s decision.

SAG member Bialik is best known for her scripted work; she starred as Blossom in the 90s NBC series, played Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, and starred as the main character in Call Me Kat, which recently ended on Fox with its third season.

This all comes as all of the Jeopardy! writers, including Michele Loud, Jim Rhine and Billy Wisse, have joined the picket lines as part of the WGA strike.

The show, which is exec produced by Michael Davies, is the most-watched show in syndication with around 9M viewers weekly and is the second most-watched same-day entertainment show on TV after only 60 Minutes.

Jeopardy! has aired on ABC Owned Television Stations in major markets for over 30 years and currently air on numerous ABC stations, including those in the top four markets: WABC, New York; KABC, Los Angeles; WLS, Chicago; and WPVI, Philadelphia. 

The company also recently renewed the show for another five years.