When Will Regular 'Jeopardy!' Return? Fans Are Tired of Tournaments

The Gist:

• Jeopardy! has been airing tournaments since the writers' strike began.
• Fans are expressing their hunger for regular episodes to return.
• Producers behind the wildly popular game show recently spoke about when normal episodes will resume.

The Writers Guild of America strike impacted many of our favorite shows, including Jeopardy!. With the absence of writers to create clues for contestants, the producers were forced to resort to recycled clues for the show to go on.

Now, even with the WGA strike thankfully behind us, it seems like tournaments have been airing forever. So when will we see normal episodes resume? Answers ahead!

According to Best Life, during the Oct. 2, 2023, installment of the Inside Jeopardy!, podcast, producer Sarah Foss and executive producer Michael Davies answered the question on fans' minds: When can we expect the tournaments to end?

Although Season 40 of Jeopardy! is already underway, Sarah and Michael explained that first, they have to get through the post-season tournaments for Season 39.

"We've got Champions Wildcard for those Season 39 contestants. Then we've got the [Tournament of Champions]. It's going to be the biggest field we've ever featured in TOC history … and then the [Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament]. The JIT is happening … and then feeding into the pyramid, Michael, [Jeopardy!] Masters. I'm just so grateful that we get to talk about these plans in the way they were intended," Sarah said.

The other major thing to consider is that the show doesn't want new contestants competing using recycled clues.

"I want to get original material back on the show as soon as possible, and that's something we're starting to work on with the writers," Michael went on to share, adding, "They have a lot of pent-up clues and I'm sure they're going to write like the wind, but we want them always to have the time they need. What they write really is quality, it takes time, so we won't sacrifice that."

With so many tournaments yet to air, we won't see regular episodes for quite a while.

In fact, the producers revealed that there are still 16 long weeks of tournaments yet to air. So, plan on April 2024 before you can watch regular Jeopardy! episodes.

Over on social media, fans are venting their frustration about the tournaments being ongoing.

"I’m tired of the Jeopardy! 'second chance' tournament. Are they out of 'new' smart people?" wondered one Twitter user, while someone else asked, "Is Jeopardy! just a never-ending tournament of champions now?"

Similarly, someone else said, "So exactly how many 'Championship' episodes of Jeopardy! are there now, LOL? I feel like I've been watching Jeopardy! champions for six months now. Stop already!"

Hang in there, fans! There is an end in sight to the tournament format, but we'll be watching the ball drop in Times Square, seeing the first thaw, and even welcoming the Easter bunny before normal programming resumes.