"Jeopardy!" writer posts pic of staff on strike after Ken Jennings backlash (2024)

A writer on Jeopardy! has shared a photo of the show's staff on the picket lines after host Ken Jennings was attacked on social media for stepping in to present the remainder of the season amid the writers strike.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced on May 1 that it was going on strike after six weeks of talks with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Warner Brothers, NBC Universal, Sony and Paramount—all under the umbrella of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)—broke down. Picket lines assembled the following day as writers protested over contracts and pay.

As a result of the strike, TV shows that rely on writers to create content on the day of airing, such as late-night talk shows, were forced off the air. Prerecorded and scripted shows shot before the strike have continued as normal.

However, in the days since the writers walked out, studios have already pushed pause on development of highly anticipated content, including Netflix's Stranger Things, Disney and Marvel's Blade, Apple TV+'s Severance and Paramount's Evil.

According to Deadline, The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik—who recently took over from Jennings to host the remainder of Season 39 of Jeopardy!—has backed the strike by bowing out of the final week of episodes.

It was also reported that Jennings has agreed to step in and record the remainder of the season, due to tape on the Sony Pictures Entertainment lot in Culver City, California, this week, between Tuesday and Friday.

While Jeopardy! features contributions penned by WGA writers, the clues were written well in advance of the strike. Despite this, Jennings has been criticized on social media for returning to the set. Amid the furor, some fans of the show stepped in to defend the all-time Jeopardy! champ.

As shooting continues, Jeopardy! writer Mark Gaberman took to Twitter to share a photo of himself and fellow show writers on the picket line.

"Ladies and gentlemen... your #WGAstrong #Jeopardy writing staff," he captioned the post, which showed the group holding banners outside the entrance of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Since the dawn of the strike, Gaberman has taken to sharing posts supporting his fellow strikers, as well as explaining to a number of Twitter users that Jeopardy! does, indeed, have a team of WGA writers putting its clues together.

"I'm just trying to let people know what's happening with us," he told one Twitter user on Tuesday. "If we're going to be away from the jobs we very much love as well as our longtime friends there, I want folks to know why."

"We are #WGAstrong," he added in a follow-up tweet. "We also love our show and can't wait to get back, of course, but only after our union gets a fair deal for everyone."

While Gaberman has not joined in the criticism of Jennings—or publicly expressed his opinion either way—he did praise Bialik on May 11 for backing the writers.

Sharing a link to an article on Bialik bowing out of hosting the remaining Jeopardy! episodes, Gaberman tagged the star in his post as he wrote: "⁦⁦@missmayim This means more to us than we could ever say. Thank you so much. #WGAstrong."

Newsweek has reached out to representatives of Jeopardy! via email for comment.

Jennings has hosted the hugely popular quiz show since its 38th season, while Bialik has presented its tournaments. The pair have, on occasion, switched places on the main show and specials.

They were officially announced as the show's permanent hosts before the start of the current Season 39 last year, following the death of popular longtime presenter Alex Trebek in November 2020.

Jennings' most recent block of pre-recorded shows came to an end in April, with Bialik stepping up to the lectern from this month onward. Jennings' stint as host of the special Jeopardy! Masters tournament started airing on May 8.

During an appearance on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast in August, Bialik and Jennings spoke with fellow host Sarah Whitcomb Foss about how they deal with online backlash from fans of the show.

"We're still people, so I can't say that when you hear things that are constructive criticism that you don't start thinking a little bit too much about it," Bialik said. "But, I don't know, I kind of take everybody's opinion both with a grain of salt and also believe everybody has a right to their opinion."

For Jennings, the negative reaction came early, when he saw some people were "sick of him" in the earlier stages of his run as a Jeopardy! contestant in 2004. Jennings holds the record of the show's longest winning streak at 74.

"It was the early days of the internet, but people were still very much like, 'Oh, I'm sick of this guy already,'" Jennings said. "And I'm like, 'Oh, there's like three more months [of me]...This guy's gonna have a bad summer!' I just kind of had to dissociate.

"You know what? Jeopardy! has got such a big, diverse audience. You're not going to be able to please everybody every night. But I think that's the virtue of having a couple of hosts. You know, it's a big, diverse audience and maybe that helps broaden the tent. It's a matter of taste hosting style."