Sad news for Jeopardy! fans: the popular trivia show will run out of new episodes next week. Jeopardy! was among the first TV productions to make changes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In early March, the show decided to stop filming in front of a live studio audience, with host Alex Trebek’s stage 4 pancreatic cancer factoring into the decision. However, soon after, Jeopardy! shut down production all together, as did essentially all TV and movie projects. The entertainment industry remains at a standstill, though there are hopeful signs some productions may resume work soon.
In the interim, Jeopardy! has aired new episodes that were taped before filming stopped. The show also re-aired its The Greatest of All Time tournament during its usual syndicated time slot. That week-long special originally aired earlier this year on ABC during primetime. It saw the three highest-earning contestants in the show’s history compete against each other for $1 million, with Ken Jennings eventually taking the win.
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This week, Jeopardy! is airing the second half of its Teachers Tournament. However, per TVLine, the show will run out of episodes on Friday, June 12. Beginning the next Monday, June 15, Jeopardy! will begin airing reruns. It’s unclear when the show will be able to film new episodes, with the shutdown lasting “until the show deems it safe to resume production.“ Fellow game show Wheel of Fortune is taking a different approach and will air both new and old episodes until filming can begin.
Jeopardy! fans shouldn’t be too surprised by the reruns; the show always airs those for a decent chunk of the summer. However, since Jeopardy! stopped filming so long ago, it seems likely this pause in new episodes will last longer than usual. Considering Trebek’s health, the show will likely take a more conservative approach to resuming production than others might. It’s also possible Jeopardy! could begin filming again but without an audience for the time being. Hopefully, fans will get more information about a potential filming start date soon.
The casual Jeopardy! viewer probably won’t notice the switch to old episodes. Plus, if the shutdown continues on for too much longer, Jeopardy! could air other past tournaments, bringing viewers in that way. The show could even re-visit classic games from throughout its decades-long history. All told, it seems unlikely airing reruns for awhile will affect Jeopardy‘s viewership too much. Fans are devoted enough to return when the show has new episodes and enjoy old favorites in the meantime.
Source: TVLine
