{"id":803688,"date":"2026-07-15T15:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/803688\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T15:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:07:11","slug":"jeopardy-is-looking-for-a-writer-heres-who-will-get-the-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/803688\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Jeopardy!\u2019 is looking for a writer. Here\u2019s who will get the job."},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The head of this long-running, beloved quiz show with a perilous name is currently drowning under a sea of applications to join its staff and help devise clues, famously written as answers. If you answered, \u201cWhat is \u2018Jeopardy!<\/a>\u2019?\u201d you might just be what the show is looking for.\n <\/p>\n

\n Earlier this month, for the first time in the history of the popular game show, \u201cJeopardy!\u201d opened its hiring process to the public at large, inviting anyone willing and able to be its next writer to apply \u2013 as long as they can pass a rigorous recruitment process befitting a TV show synonymous with some of the smartest people in the country.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOur \u2018Jeopardy!\u2019 writers are not only brilliant, but they also write prolifically, and so we needed to put candidates under that same test of writing quite a lot,\u201d said Michael Davies, the show\u2019s executive producer, in his first interview about the hunt for the next staff member.\n <\/p>\n

\n The \u201conce-in-a-lifetime opportunity\u201d<\/a> to join the show\u2019s team of nine writers only arose because one of them, Jim Rhine, decided to retire after three decades with the series. Davies, a veteran producer who brought \u201cWho Wants to Be a Millionaire\u201d to American TV screens<\/a>, said quiz shows typically recruit from within their insular worlds or via referrals about specific topic specialists \u2013 until now. \u201cThis is a different process than we have ever used before,\u201d Davies said. \u201cWe\u2019ve never advertised for a writing job. The number of applications has been staggering.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n When the role was first posted online<\/a>, it generated a slew<\/a> of news<\/a> stories<\/a> that also undoubtedly led to an increase in the number of candidates. With the July 10 application deadline passed, Davies said that he\u2019s still yet to tally the final number of candidates, but estimates it could be as high as 1,000, all of which he and senior staff will need to begin sorting through. \u201cI don\u2019t think we expected this much of a response, and we\u2019ve got to figure out the process,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The job listing noted that the new hire will be responsible for writing an average of eight categories each week (all sourced according to the show\u2019s rigorous standards, meaning no use of artificial intelligence or Wikipedia), devising last-minute replacement clues on taping days and providing quick research during filming to assist with judging during game play. The role, which is based out of the Sony Pictures Entertainment studio lot in Culver City, California, has a potential salary of up to $172,000.\n <\/p>\n

\n To apply, candidates first had to complete the same online test as prospective contestants<\/a>, which involves answering 50 clues, before also submitting 12 written samples of potential \u201cJeopardy!\u201d and \u201cDouble Jeopardy!\u201d rounds (covering categories like history and geography, but also pop culture and famous people) that each contained five questions, were titled as they saw fit and provided sources to back up facts. Then, they had to pen three samples of the notoriously difficult \u201cFinal Jeopardy!\u201d clue. Oh, and a cover letter and resume, of course.\n <\/p>\n

\"ken<\/p>\n

‘Jeopardy!’ legend reveals the cheat code to winning\n <\/p>\n

\"ken<\/p>\n

‘Jeopardy!’ legend reveals the cheat code to winning<\/p>\n

0:41<\/p>\n

\n Davies said that as he sorts through the writing samples \u2013 which he will do without knowing who wrote what, to make the process fair \u2013 he\u2019s looking for more than just facts and figures. To him, a good \u201cJeopardy!\u201d clue \u201cjumps off the page\u201d with a sense of fun and whimsy befitting the fact that this is game, after all. \u201cAnybody can actually write a \u2018Jeopardy!\u2019 clue,\u201d he said, \u201cbut to really be game-worthy for these amazing contestants who have spent a lifetime of learning to get to be on the program, we owe them some really great writing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n One potential black mark against candidates? Anyone who used the word \u201ctrivia\u201d in their application. \u201cWe do not use the word trivia at \u2018Jeopardy!\u2019,\u201d Davies said. \u201cWe don\u2019t regard what we write as trivial. We regard this as the subjects, the facts, the things that an elite, modern American should know.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n According to Davies, the current team of writers are a diverse bunch, with some having worked previously on \u201cStar Trek\u201d or in late-night TV, but they\u2019re all avid readers with a curiosity about the world. A typical week involves working in an on-site library \u2013 with strong security measures, of course, to ensure no clues leak \u2013 on a variety of categories that may be assigned by the show\u2019s two head writers or devised purely by a writer\u2019s own creativity. Davies said he often sees the writers roaming around the studio lot with their noses in books or listening to music as they try to spark their creative juices.\u201cJust like any other writer, they\u2019re looking for inspiration,\u201d he said, \u201cand that inspiration can come from all sorts of places.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The writers\u2019 work is then fact-checked by a team of researchers who might even place calls \u2013 say, to a renowned cemetery that\u2019s the final resting place for a famous figure \u2013 in order to vet and verify the 61 clues that what will ultimately be read on-air each episode by host Ken Jennings. Some of these researchers occasionally make the switch to writing roles, and Davies said a few have tossed their hats into the ring to be considered for this new opportunity.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cLast year, we put 25,687 clues on the air between all the different versions,\u201d Davies said, referring to all the celebrity, college, masters, and pop culture \u201cJeopardy!\u201d spin-offs. \u201cIt\u2019s an assembly line, and we needed constantly to get other writers to come in and help us get there.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n After Davies and his team read through all the submissions and choose their favorites, he expects to offer a dozen or so candidates the chance to move on to the interview phase. That\u2019s when he\u2019s hoping to get a better sense of what makes each writer tick. \u201cIt\u2019s about being yourself,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat do you read? What do you watch? What do you see? What makes you think something is interesting enough to be a \u2018Jeopardy!\u2019 clue?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Davies\u2019 goal is to have the new hire begin work by the time the show begins filming its 43rd season at the end of August, but for that to happen, he\u2019d better work as fast as the show\u2019s contestants do with their buzzers. \u201cI\u2019ve never had this many submissions for a writing job before,\u201d Davies said. \u201cBut that\u2019s a high-class problem, and it speaks to the fandom of the program.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The head of this long-running, beloved quiz show with a perilous name is currently drowning under a sea…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,75],"class_list":["post-803688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}