‘Jeopardy!’ & ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Set to Resume Filming With Changes

Meredith Jacobs July 29, 2020, 11:15 am

Alex Trebek and Pat Sajak — Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Two popular game shows are ready to get back to work.

Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are scheduled to resume production this week and next, respectively, Deadline reports. But to ensure the health and safety of all involved, including the hosts and contestants, some changes will be made to the sets. (The format will remain the same.)

“The productions have protocols in place in accordance with current government guidelines to protect contestants, staff, crew and talent from the spread of COVID-19,” a spokeswoman for Sony Pictures Television said in a statement. “While some things may have changed behind the scenes and on the set to keep everyone safe, fans can expect to see the same Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! they have come to love when the season starts.”

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For Jeopardy!, as host Alex Trebek had previously detailed, the contestants will be situated according to social distancing guidelines from each other and him. “We are taking all kinds of precautions,” he had noted, including filming five shows a day twice a week. (Adjustments may be made, depending on how the host, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, is feeling.)

Over on Wheel with Pat Sajak and Vanna White, changes have been made to the wheel to allow for more space between the contestants.

For both productions in Culver City, California, those on set—staff, crew, and contestants—must abide by social distancing and testing guidelines.

Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune had shut down when everything else did in March, and both have filled gaps in the schedule with reruns. In the case of the former, that includes retrospective weeks from July 20 through August 3, including Trebek’s first episode, “Celebrity” editions, and 2002’s “Million Dollar Masters” tournament. We’ll have to wait to find out when new episodes will air.