'Jeopardy!' champs to boycott in solidarity with WGA strike: 'I can't be a part of that'

The new season of "Jeopardy!" won't have any writers if the current Writers Guild of America strike isn't resolved soon. And it looks like it won't have champions for a tournament, either.

Ray Lalonde, who won $386,400 over 13 games last season on the iconic game show, qualifying for the series' yearly "Tournament of Champions," has stated publicly, and privately to "Jeopardy!" producers, that he will not participate in any tournament that is produced during the strike.

"I believe that the show's writers are a vital part of the show and they are justified in taking their job action to secure a fair contract for themselves and their fellow WGA members," Lalonde wrote on Reddit and Facebook. "I will not cross a picket line to play in the tournament of champions."

The Reddit and Facebook posts quickly received support from other "Jeopardy!" champions, including 21-time winner Cris Pannullo, eight-time winner Hannah Wilson, six-time winner Troy Meyer and nine-time winner Ben Chan.

The champions may not have had much to worry about in the first place. "'Jeopardy!' never had any intention of producing a Tournament of Champions for Season 39 until the strike is resolved," a spokesperson for the game show told USA TODAY in a statement late Tuesday. "The 'Jeopardy!' postseason represents the pinnacle of our competition, and it should feature our strongest players playing our toughest original material."

Lalonde first began thinking about refusing a potential tournament invite when he saw rumors on social media that "Jeopardy!" may resume filming without its striking writers. "My immediate reaction was if they’re going to do that, I can’t be a part of that," he says. After emailing his "Jeopardy!" contacts he decided also to post his intentions publicly. "I thought other people might be struggling with the same thing and maybe I could have other people sign on."

"Jeopardy!" writers, responsible for the clues that hosts Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik read out in each episode, are members of the WGA and have been on strike since May along with the rest of their union. The game show completed its 39th season with clues the writers completed before the strike began. However, Bialik (a member of actors union SAG-AFTRA, now also on strike) stepped away from hosting in solidarity with the WGA, with Jennings stepping in as full time host.

"'Jeopardy!' has a long history with and tremendous respect for the WGA and our writers. We have always been careful to honor our WGA agreements and we would never air game material not created by WGA writers," the show's statement added. "Our current plan is to go into a holding pattern of sorts, pushing back the Season 39 postseason to first produce original episodes featuring the best of our WGA written material. Next month, we will share more news about exciting plans and enhancements to the contestant experience for this upcoming season and beyond. Everyone at 'Jeopardy!' hopes that the guilds and the AMPTP can reach a fair resolution quickly."

No end is in sight for the WGA's strike, nor for the recently called SAG-AFTRA strike. The sides are far apart on the details of the contract, and no new talks between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which bargains on behalf of the studios, have been scheduled. The double strike, the first in Hollywood since 1960, has virtually ceased all scripted film and TV production in the United States and in many places around the world.

"(The guilds) are trying to bargain in good faith and it seems like the AMPTP is more or less trying to break them instead of continuing negotiations. They’re just saying no," Lalonde says. "I’ve been on both sides of that being in a union my self. I’ve seen negotiations go well and negotiations go poorly. If I can put a little pressure on my little corner of the world … that’ll be good."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Jeopardy!' champions to boycott tournament because of writers strike