‘Jeopardy!’ champions say they won’t cross writers strike picket line
They’re not putting any writers in jeopardy.
“Jeopardy!” champion Ray Lalonde announced last week that he would not cross the picket line to participate in this season’s “Tournament of Champions” if the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike continues into the fall.
“As a supporter of the trade union movement, a union member’s son and a proud union member myself I have informed the show’s producers that if the strike remains unresolved I will not cross a picket line to play in the tournament of champions,” Lalonde wrote in a Reddit post in the r/Jeopardy forum.
The Toronto contender explained more about his decision to The Post on Monday, describing that he had heard rumblings about the show’s taping plans from “industry insiders” on Facebook.
He also saw that The Hollywood Reporter had reported that the syndicated series would use previously written material from the past four decades, and he noted that the show’s website listed taping dates for August.
“My immediate thought was ‘Damn, if they do that I can’t play,’ followed by the thought that if they tape tournaments starting in August they’ll be calling me soon with airline and hotel reservations, so I have to warn them soon,” Lalonde told The Post in a statement.
Lalonde wrote that he “wrestled with this for a couple of days,” claiming that he sent an e-mail about his decision to the team behind the show.
He also posted in “Jeopardy!” groups across various social media platforms, including a private Facebook group for the show’s former players, in an effort to “reach as much of the ‘Jeopardy!’ community” as he could.
“My first thought was to give the show a few days to read my e-mail first but after stewing about it for half an hour I decided to just post my statement and the internet very rapidly did the rest,” Lalonde explained.
“Like I said I hoped that a few people would read it and agree and that might put some pressure on the show to not adopt this course of action, I never anticipated the reaction it got, especially from my fellow Tournament qualifiers, so now this is a bigger thing and we’ll soon see how the show responds,” he continued.
The Post reached out to Sony Pictures for comment.
Lalonde won 13 consecutive games this season for a total of $386,400.
Many former “Jeopardy!” contestants weighed in on Lalonde’s Reddit post, including champion Cris Pannullo, who pledged to stay behind the picket line during the ongoing strike.
The forum’s moderators verify the identities of the show’s contestants, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“As I have already told Ray personally, though like all of us I am a huge Jeopardy fan and it was a dream to appear on the show, I fully agree with his stance and will not participate in any games comprised of recycled clues while the WGA strike is in effect,” Pannullo wrote.
Pannullo won nearly $750,000, far more than contenders for the next Tournament of Champions.
Ben Chan, another tournament hopeful, who had a nine-game winning streak, thanked Lalonde for his message.
“Ray, thank you for taking this stand,” Chan commented. “If you are out, I am out.”
“I’ll stand with you, Ray!” wrote former contestant Hannah Wilson, an eight-game “Jeopardy!” champion. “A TOC with all recycled clues doesn’t sound like much fun to play in, anyway.”
Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike in May to petition for higher wages, regulation surrounding artificial intelligence, and better pay from streaming services.
Writers are an essential part of “Jeopardy!,” as they write the questions that are read each episode.
Following suit, earlier this month, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) unanimously voted to stop working after its contract expired, meaning that more entertainment professionals have joined the picket line.
In May, The Post reported that “Jeopardy!” host Mayim Bialik walked off the set during the final week of taping for Season 39 in support of the WGA strike.
