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Mayim Bialik Declines to Host ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Amid Strikes, Replaced by Ken Jennings (variety.com)

submitted 10 months ago by GeekFTW@kbin.social to c/moviesandtv@lemmy.film

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Mayim Bialik will not be hosting Season 2 of “Celebrity Jeopardy!” as she continues to support the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Variety has learned from sources.

On Monday, ABC issued a press release with changes to their fall schedule, noting that Ken Jennings will host the new season of “Celebrity Jeopardy!,” which premieres Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. ET.

ABC did not respond to Variety’s request for comment.

“Jeopardy!” showrunner Michael Davies revealed earlier this month that material for the star-studded spinoff series’ second season was completed before the WGA went on strike, so the upcoming season will feature completely original material. While Bialik and Jennings split hosting duties on “Jeopardy!,” the former was the sole host for Season 1 of “Celebrity Jeopardy!,” featuring such guests as Simu Liu, Andy Richter, Aisha Tyler, Michael Cera and more.

Back in May, Variety spoke to “Jeopardy!” writers Michele Loud, Jim Rhine and Billy Wisse on the picket line during the fourth day of the WGA strike.

“Our words are on the screen every night,” Loud said. “There is no ‘Jeopardy’ without writers. Without us it’s just an empty blue screen.”

Davies explained on the “Jeopardy!” podcast “Inside Jeopardy!” how the trivia series would proceed with its next season amid the WGA strike.

“We’re going to open the season with a second chance tournament for players from Season 37 who lost their initial game. Winners from that will advance to a Season 37 and Season 38 Champions Wildcard,” he said, adding that questions on these second chance episodes would be “a combination of material that our WGA writers wrote before the strike, which is still in the database, and material that has been re-deployed from multiple multiple seasons of the show.”

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[-] MargotRobbie@lemm.ee 69 points 10 months ago

Good. I'm encouraging everyone here to vocally support the strike.

I'm expecting the studios to start importing foreign movies/TV shows and coming up with absurd reality TV soon, so that could be fun.

[-] sab@kbin.social 21 points 10 months ago

That's something I never really appreciated before. In Europe of course we mostly consume media produced in our own language or in English, but it's completely normal to watch (and for broadcasters to air) shows from all over Europe, either dubbed or with subtitles depending on the country. Subtitles being the only tolerable way of course.

If a show started airing in French or German with subtitled on US television this would be a huge deal?

[-] MargotRobbie@lemm.ee 14 points 10 months ago

I want to watch some crazy Japanese game shows with subtitles on American TV.

Whatever happened to Takeshi's Castle?

[-] soupspoon@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

It's back, but on Prime

[-] MargotRobbie@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago

Oh sweet. I remember really liking the old version of that show, so I'll go check it out for nostalgia.

[-] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 9 points 10 months ago

Outside of dubbed anime, I can't think of cases where that would ever happen in the USA. Hell, it is somewhat rare to even get non-American English shows in the USA.

The USA can produce so much television profitably because it is the largest English language television market.

[-] sab@kbin.social 4 points 10 months ago

Your market at home is also much greater than what any European country could ever dream of. Spain has some occasional hits in Latin America (La Casa de Papel was huge everywhere), but they don't have anything comparable to the American industry.

But for sure, the international market is huge - how terrified Hollywood is of offending China is solid evidence of that. :)

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[-] xyzzy@lemm.ee 8 points 10 months ago

It's common on streaming platforms for foreign language shows to be huge hits. Squid Game was the most notable one, but Dark was another. Both Netflix.

On network TV? Never.

[-] sab@kbin.social 4 points 10 months ago

True, I remember Squid Game was huge in the US. Did people watch it with subtitles?

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[-] zaph@sh.itjust.works 7 points 10 months ago

If a show started airing in French or German with subtitled on US television this would be a huge deal?

During the strike? Absolutely. It'd be nothing but a way for them to undermine the strike. Normal day without a stike? I'd absolutely love some new content.

[-] moody@lemmings.world 2 points 10 months ago

On TV, it would probably gain no traction. I'm sure a lot of old conservative folks would be turned off by being forced to listen to a language they don't understand, and that's exactly the type of people who would phone up their local TV station to complain about it. Younger people might not care so much, and would sit through, but if there's something else on in English they would probably switch.

On streaming platforms, they would just never see it in the first place.

[-] FigMcLargeHuge@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 months ago

and coming up with absurd reality TV soon,

Holy shit, that ship sailed years ago. Ten years ago I told everyone that we have officially made too many cameras. Are you trying to imply this will get worse?

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[-] millie@lemmy.film 2 points 10 months ago

It's probably a really good time for independent creators with no connections to the established industry to make some waves and fill that void.

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[-] citycat@lemm.ee 24 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

*Scab Jennings

[-] AngrilyEatingMuffins@kbin.social 39 points 10 months ago

He’s not an actor and he’d already had this job. It would’ve been cool if he joined the strike but it’s not something to hold against him, either

[-] AnonTwo@kbin.social 4 points 10 months ago

Is it really nothing to hold against him though, when the person he's replacing did join the strike?

[-] AngrilyEatingMuffins@kbin.social 26 points 10 months ago

The person he’s replacing is a member of SAG AFTRA (and maybe also WGA?) and he’d already been hired as her replacement. She’s not going on sympathy strike.

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[-] CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world 10 points 10 months ago

She's literally an actor and thus a member of the union that is striking. He is neither.

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[-] Overzeetop@beehaw.org 2 points 10 months ago

If an accountant leaves his profession to become a commercial pilot, does he get a pass to fly when the rest of the pilots go on strike?

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[-] MimicJar@lemmy.world 22 points 10 months ago

Technically not, https://www.dlapiper.com/en-US/insights/publications/2023/07/sag-aftra-strike-the-strike-rules-and-the-exceptions

"Work is permitted if covered by the terms of other SAG-AFTRA agreements, including (but not limited to): ... Network Television Code, which covers ... Variety programming (including reality shows and game shows ..."

I would also prefer no one host the show while the strike is on, but it is allowed per existing rules.

[-] rifugee@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

Also, is he even in the union?

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[-] DadeMurphy@lemm.ee 19 points 10 months ago

I honestly don’t understand why she is on the show in the first place.

Ken is the greatest Jeopardy player of all time and deserves the job.

Whether or not Alex Trebek was really smart, he certainly gave off that vibe like he knew a lot about the subjects he quizzed the contestants on.

I understand she is some sort of scientist, but they are a dime a dozen.

[-] reverendsteveii@beehaw.org 20 points 10 months ago

Why does being good at the game make you a good host? I'm not saying he isn't, but being a good host requires an entirely different skill set than being a good player. Bialik was there because her brand is intellectual nerdiness that Jeopardy wants to leverage, but also because she's been making TV off and on her whole life. That kinda feels more relevant to the skillset required to making TV.

[-] midorale@lemmy.villa-straylight.social 11 points 10 months ago

Bialik's delivery of questions is really good. The only downside of her hosting is she sometimes has very long pauses before she says someone is correct. I'd heard speculation that it's because she made a slip up early on when she awarded points for an incorrect answer and the producers wanted to make sure that doesn't happen again.

Since Ken is arguably the Jeopardy goat*, he's much less likely to make this type of mistake.

*Brad Rutter should be up there because he beat Ken a few times in tournaments of champions and was unable to have Ken's streak because Brad was from the 5-wins-and-go-home era.

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[-] GuyDudeman@beehaw.org 17 points 10 months ago

Ken should have been the permanent host from the beginning.

[-] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 7 points 10 months ago

I like the idea that the biggest champion becomes the new host

[-] clobubba@kbin.social 7 points 10 months ago

What is "The Highlander"?

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[-] Hiccup@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 10 months ago

Jennings is a vast improvement over Bialik. Some great things are already happening because of the strikes.

[-] TheAndrewBrown@lemm.ee 6 points 10 months ago

I liked Mayim for Celebrity Jeopardy, but I am interested in seeing Ken’s interactions with the celebrities. I think his wit will make for a great show.

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this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023

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