Mayim Bialik opts not to host the final week of ‘Jeopardy!’ Season 39 in solidarity with writers on strike
By Dan Heching, CNN
Mayim Bialik is taking a stand for entertainment industry writers by choosing to stop her “Jeopardy!” hosting gig early.
The “Call Me Kat” star, who has been co-hosting the uber-popular TV trivia show on and off since 2021, opted not to host the final week of filming of Season 39, in solidarity with the ongoing writers’ strike, according to a Friday report from Deadline.
CNN has reached out to representatives for both Bialik as well as “Jeopardy!” for comment.
The report also noted that Bialik’s co-host, former “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings, is taking over hosting duties for her.
The quiz show is able to move ahead with production of the final week of the season during the strike since the trivia questions were reportedly already written before picketing began.
Late-night television shows were the first to be halted by the writers’ strike. Some other popular shows now in production, including “Stranger Things,” have been postponed as well. Many movies have continued to shoot, however, because they already have completed scripts
Earlier this week, “Jeopardy!” caused a bit of ire with viewers when all three contestants on Tuesday’s episode lost out when they mispronounced a response.
The clue, which was worth $1600 in the “Quotable Alex” category, read, “Socialism of any type and shade leads to a total destruction of the human spirit.'”
Returning champion Hannah Wilson, along with Sami Casanova and Juveria Zaheer all gave it a go — attributing the clue to Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the correct response — but none of them used the exact pronunciation.
Bialik said that no one got the right answer, noting, “This is a tricky one to pronounce.”
Many viewers of the show weren’t happy with the ruling, with one commenting on social media, “If you’re not going to accept anyone’s attempt to pronounce Solzhenitsyn, don’t write a clue about him.”
Another wrote, “Solzhenitsyn. I get it’s hard to say but one of them was fairly close. Of all the names to be strict on…”
“Jeopardy!” airs weeknights at 7pm ET/PT on ABC.
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CNN’s Chris Isidore and Marianne Garvey contributed to this report.
