Mayim Bialik exits 'Jeopardy!' hosting duties early in solidarity with striking writers
Mayim Bialik won't be hosting the final week of Jeopardy! due to the ongoing Hollywood writers strike.
Deadline and Vulture report Bialik will be sitting out the last week of Season 39 — which is scheduled to shoot at the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City between May 16 and May 19 — in solidarity with the striking writers. However, Jeopardy! will continue with Ken Jennings, who shares co-hosting duties with Bialik, taking over as host for those shows.
Jeopardy! uses Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers for the game clues. Those writers — including Michele Loud, Jim Rhine and Billy Wisse — have been on strike with the WGA since May 1. This likely isn't obvious yet to viewers because the show tapes in advance. The writers have also banked clues well into the future so that production could continue.
Yahoo Entertainment has reached out to reps for Bialik and Sony Pictures Entertainment for comment.
Bialik and Jennings split hosting duties this season for the most-watched show in syndication. He did the first part, from August to December, and then she took over in January. So he'll now close out the season before they break for summer.
Viewers did get to see Bialik on Wednesday's CelebrityWheel of Fortune. She competed against Jennings and the show's own Vanna White for the pre-taped special edition of the show. Maggie Sajak, daughter of host Pat Sajak, filled in for White.
There's been a lot going on for Bialik at the moment. Her Fox comedy, Call Me Kat, was canceled earlier this month. She wrote on social media that it was "so hard to say goodbye" to the show that ran for three seasons.