CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA: ‘Jeopardy!’ has finally shown some hope to the game show’s fans by releasing the exciting line-up for the upcoming Second Chance Tournament.
The line-up has been released for the three weeks of the show which will see three sets of contestants each, competing for the final champ of each of those weeks.
This is a different format for 'Jeopardy!' as the show was originally supposed to open the doors for new contestants and start the regular game show with its Season 40.
However, the uncertainties caused by the double strikes of Hollywood have not allowed things to go back to the old normal.
'Jeopardy!' moves along with new episodes amid strikes
There have been a lot of controversies surrounding the producers of 'Jeopardy!' who have strived to keep the game show up and running even during such major strikes in the industry.
The show has struggled with following the normal route of getting new contestants through auditions and bringing back the older contestants for their 'Tournament of Champions' which is usually scheduled to happen right before the regular season.
Many had refused to step on the Alex Trebek stage in solidarity with those on the picket line, including co-host Mayim Bialik who would not be making a return for a long time, even for the new season.
Despite that, the showrunners found makeshift solutions, which involved recycling previously written material by the writers who have currently deserted the 'Jeopardy!' grounds.
They have invited the contestants from Seasons 37, and this is the line-up for the first week:
Each week, there will be a winner chosen from the pool of contestants who will then move on to compete in the Champions Wildcard Tournament, featuring contestants from both seasons 37 and 38.
Fans excited to see old 'Jeopardy!' contestants
The game show's viewers have been quite deprived of any exciting new content, especially seeing how 'Jeopardy!' has been on a hiatus for the summer for the past month.
In talking about contestant David Maybury, a fan wrote on a Reddit thread, "David M. is one of the nicest people I've ever come across in the trivia world."
Mentioning other contestants, a fan posted, "Super exciting! Definitely happy to see both Davids, Barb, Jill, Deanna and Michalle back. Also pleasantly surprised to see Jilana, Susan and Elaine back. I don't really remember a few of them but it's still gonna be exciting!"
The game show viewers did not forget those who had decided to not participate in order to support the strikes.
One of them wrote, "Would like to throw out a kudos for all of the brave former contestants who declined their invite due to the strike; I’m sure it must be hard seeing that the tournament is still proceeding without them."
Another one pointed out that contestant Gabriel Ostler was a strange choice for the very first day of the tournament as he is a scriptwriter himself.
"I think it's interesting that the first episode matchup features a scriptwriter from California," they wrote, "No judgment either way from me, I just find that interesting given the context.."
A fan also speculated Ostler's involvement saying, "I wonder if he got special dispensation to cross the picket line or if he somehow thinks he stands to make enough money from Jeopardy to balance out future earnings losses when other writers (rightfully) don’t want to work with him."