Jeopardy! season 40 to have no new contestants until writers' strike ends

Though there were concerns about what Jeopardy! season 40 may look like with past contestants threatening to boycott in solidarity with the ongoing writers' strike, the game show's executive producer Michael Davies has confirmed the plan for the new season that begins in September. One of the biggest details shared is there will be no new contestants competing on the show until the strike is resolved.

Speaking on the August 7 episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, Davies confirmed what was previously reported — the game show would reuse old Jeopardy! questions, or "redeployed" questions from multiple past seasons as Davies puts it.

"[I]t would not be fair to have new contestants making their first appearance on the Alex Trebek Stage and doing it with non-original material," Davies said.

When the writers' strike ends, that is when Davies says they will get back into the business of inviting new players. But as the writers' strike for a new labor agreement with studios stretches on, Davies admits he has no time table for when that will be.

It was confirmed on the podcast though that all players in the contestant pool awaiting their chance to appear on Jeopardy! are going to have their eligibility window expanded to take into account this holding pattern.

Just because we won't be getting new players on Jeopardy! doesn't mean we won't be getting new episodes. Davies laid out that to start the new season on Monday, September 11, contestants from season 37 will be invited back to compete in a Second Chance tournament. The winners from that tournament will go on to face select season 38 champions who did not qualify for their original Tournament of Champions in what will be the first Champions Wild Card tournament.

"So really we're just trying to find these great contestants from recent years who didn't think they would get another opportunity, allowing them to come back and providing some great games for those of you that are looking forward to the launch of the season," said Sarah Foss, who co-hosts Inside Jeopardy! with Davies.

This is different from the original plan Davies and the Jeopardy! team had pre-strike. He said they were planning to do 10 ½ weeks of season 39 postseason play, first with a season 39 Second Chance tournament and then season 39's own Champions Wild Card tournament, all of which would lead into the season 39 Tournament of Champions. Those are all still in the cards, but not until the writers are back full time.

There was some other big Jeopardy! news shared in the podcast. First, Celebrity Jeopardy! season 2 is going to air in September as previously planned (they said it would start toward the end of September). This tournament will feature all new questions as the writers were able to complete their work on it before the strike began. No participating celebrities were announced.

It was also confirmed that Jeopardy! Masters would return in 2024, around the same time that the inaugural 2023 edition took place (likely May). Plus, they shared how they will help fill out the contestants for the next edition, with the all new Jeopardy Invitational Tournament, which will invite past players back to compete for a coveted Jeopardy! Masters slot. The original plan was for that tournament to take place in February, but it's possible that timeline is also impacted by the ongoing strike.

And last, but certainly not least, the prizes for Jeopardy! contestants are set to be increased, with second and third place finishers getting an extra $1,000 each. So now third place will get $2,000 and second place will take home $3,000.

Jeopardy! season 40 begins on Monday, September 11. Time and station varies depending on where you live.