Jeopardy! fans left divided over Thanksgiving schedule as 'important' episodes are set to air despit

JEOPARDY! has dropped its show schedule for Thanksgiving and Black Friday, much to the chagrin of some fans.

The beloved game show will air the consequential Champions Wildcard tournament semifinals despite the major holidays.

Jeopardy! updated its website to let fans know that they'll be continuing to air new episodes all week.

After some seriously intense past player matchups, the top nine contestants of the latest leg of Champions Wildcard will be facing off while many viewers are catching up with their families.

On Wednesday, November 22, Nick Cascone will face Deanna Bolio and Kit Sekelsky.

On Thursday, November 23, Jen Jazwinski will face Ed Hashima and Amy Bekkerman.

'I'D RATHER THEY AIR RE-RUNS...'

While Jeopardy! always airs episodes during holidays, fans aren't sold on the tournament still airing because they don't want to miss out.

One wrote on Reddit: "Considering how good these semifinals are looking to be, I don’t think anybody wants a preemption for a sporting event."

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Another wrote: "I'd rather see rerun episodes over any new episode, tournament or otherwise, on a day such as Thanksgiving when considerable pre-emptions are likely."

A third agreed: "I’d rather they air reruns on 11/23 and 11/24, Heck, having numerous sporting events on Black Friday just seems weird. It’s not a federal holiday but they sure act like it’s one."

A fourth had different sentiments: "I want them to burn off all those tournament episodes as quickly as they can."

A fifth agreed the show has no choice: "Having a random regular play episode in the middle if a tournament would be awkward and clunky. Even more so if it was this season, in the middle of the neverending tournament."

Since Jeopardy! doesn't air online, if viewers can't watch the episodes they'll just have to see who makes the event's finals on Monday.

That said, Celebrity Jeopardy! will not be airing a new episode on Wednesday, November 22, and will return on November 29.

WILDLY LONG CHAMPIONS WILDCARD

Champions Wildcard consists of past players from Season 37 or Season 38 getting a second shot at glory.

There will be four winners by the time it ends on December 18.

The lengthy new-to-Season 40 tournament saw the upbeat Emily Sands clinching the second crown on November 8.

She joined Matt Saak (who won the first group) in earning $100,000 and going on to the next Tournament of Champions.

After its third winner prevails on November 28, the slate will be wiped clean for one more round.

Jeopardy! has relied on placeholder programming given Hollywood's since-resolved strikes, dividing fans and contestants who want new contestants back.

Once Champions Wildcard ends, Jeopardy! will get into the tournaments execs wanted the big season 40 to start with.

There will be a Second Chance Tournament for last year's most snubbed nonwinners, a Champions Wildcard for the best brief winners of last year, and finally, the actual Tournament of Champions.

Then there will be the Jeopardy Invitational Tournament which will be a precursor to Jeopardy! Masters.

All of these tournaments have left fans a bit overwhelmed as regular episodes with new contestants won't be back until April 2024.

One fan recently wrote on X: "I'm all championed out, people. #jeopardy."

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