That is (Season) 40.
“Jeopardy!” showrunner Michael Davies revealed Monday that the long-running quiz show will use recycled material and have former contestants in its upcoming season as a result of the continuing Hollywood writers strike.
Davies explained that it “wouldn’t be fair to have recent contestants making their first appearance” on the show with material that isn’t original or that was written pre-strike.
“So we decided that basically we would have liked to ask back and provides a second likelihood on the whole to players who probably thought that their likelihood to come back back and play on the Alex Trebek stage had gone perpetually,” he said on the “Inside Jeopardy!” podcast.
“We’re going to open the season with a second likelihood tournament for players from Season 37 who lost their initial game, and winners from that can advance to a Season 37 and Season 38 champions wild card,” he continued.
Davies also announced a bump in prize money for the upcoming fortieth season.
“The fabric that we’re gonna be using is a mix of fabric that our WGA writers wrote before the strike, which continues to be within the database and material that’s being redeployed from multiple, multiple seasons of the show,” Davies said.
He revealed that the initial plans for the post-season had been “derailed.”
He wasn’t able to provide a timeline for when the “regular” episodes of the show will air. The Writers Guild of America strike began in May.
“I understand that the very best episodes which are possible are episodes that feature our writers writing original material and the best contestants that we placed on the air playing that original material,” he admitted.
Davies added that he “admires” and “misses” the show’s “beloved” writers, who’re petitioning for higher wages, regulation surrounding artificial intelligence, and higher pay from streaming services.
Writers are a vital a part of “Jeopardy!,” as they write the questions which are read each episode.
The news comes after an unidentified source told The Hollywood Reporter last month that the show can be using recycled material to start the brand new season.
In response, several contestants who’re slated to be a part of the show’s upcoming Tournament of Champions voiced their concerns, with some vowing they wouldn’t cross the picket line to participate.
But a “Jeopardy!” rep told The Post that there was never “any intention of manufacturing a Tournament of Champions for Season 39 until the strike is resolved.”
The choice still left some players, like Season 39 contestant Ray Lalonde, feeling “dissatisfied.”
“Essentially I discovered this response disappointing since the show continues to wish to shoot recent shows across the WGA picket line,” the Toronto-based winner told The Post last month.
