'Jeopardy!' Champ James Holzhauer Criticizes Show's New Changes
James Holzhauer is calling out the popular game show for a recent announcement about future episodes.
Holzhauer—who won 32 games of Jeopardy! in early 2019, leading him to take home a total of $2,464,216—took to Twitter to talk about the upcoming changes shared in the Aug. 7 episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast.
He shared with his followers, "If you don’t have time to listen, here’s the executive summary of today’s announcement: 1:00-2:00: Jeopardy’s writers are invaluable and we couldn’t produce the show without them 2:00-15:00: Here is how we will produce the upcoming season without them."
If you don’t have time to listen, here’s the executive summary of today’s announcement:
1:00-2:00: Jeopardy’s writers are invaluable and we couldn’t produce the show without them
2:00-15:00: Here is how we will produce the upcoming season without themhttps://t.co/w6XzbTXutV— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) August 7, 2023
The former champ's tweet called out the show for claiming that they truly value the writers who come up with the questions for each episode shortly before stating that they will continue the show despite the writers' strike.
In the podcast, executive producer Michael Davies spoke of admiring writers who are “beloved and valued members of the Jeopardy! team," before sharing that the show will start reusing old questions in new episodes.
Along with that, the show will recruit old contestants to compete again, with Davies saying in the podcast, "I believe, principally, that it would not be fair to have new contestants making their first appearance on the Alex Trebek stage, doing it with non-original material or… a combination of non-original material and material that was written pre-strike."
Holzhauer found Davies' announcement to be hypocritical and dismissive of Jeopardy! writers and their true value.
Many people agreed, with one reply to Holzhauer's tweet from TV host and writer Adam Conover saying, "Jeopardy is NOTHING without its writers. Thank you to @James_Holzhauer and to all the Jeopardy fans who are standing with us. Here's a clue: Instead of recycling old questions, come back to the table and MAKE A FAIR DEAL."
Another person wrote, "Jeopardy really needs to save itself the embarrassment and just shut down production. one of the hosts has backed out and multiple contestants who were lined up for the new season refuse to participate. they gotta just wait it out until they can make something good again."
In May, co-host Mayim Bialik decided not to host any more episodes of Jeopardy! in solidarity with the writers striking. Davies has not shared any further comments on the game show's new changes.
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