Wheel, Jeopardy & others suspend production due to coronavirus concerns

[Loogaroo]

California governor Gavin Newsom has announced that some parts of the state can resume television and film production as early as next week, as part of the plan to reopen the state.

Sadly, this does not apply to LA County, where pretty much all game show production is currently taking place.'

Source: https://deadline.com/2020/05/governor-gavin-newsom-says-production-could-restart-next-week-guidelines-released-monday-1202939927/

[weaklink75]

J! is going to run out of original episodes on June 12th (so one more week after the Teachers Tournament ends tonight), and no word on when they'll restart production- WOF is going to sprinkle in their remaining new episodes with reruns over the summer.

https://tvline.com/2020/06/05/jeopardy-reruns-start-date-last-new-original-episode-coronavirus/

(Based on the Vanna interview that was posted elsewhere, I'd think Wheel is closer to restarting than J! is)

[byrd62]

Would sterile isolation booth-like covers in front of each contestant work for the likes of J!, Wheel or Price?

[Brig Bother]

French TV is already doing shows with plastic dividers between contestants, surely it would be pretty easy to just put up the Final Jeopardy panels all show?

[cmjb13]

I obviously can’t speak for everyone, but I doubt anyone at home is going to want to watch contestants play a game wearing masks or standing 6 feet apart.

I’d bet these shows would likely do heavy testing with temperature checks and whatever other protocols they will follow before they go the mask and distance route. But maybe there’s just too much money involved and they will wear masks. Who knows?

I’m also getting kind of tired about hearing that a vaccine will be the be all end all. Who knows what will be in that vaccine that may cause side effects 10-20 years down the line?

[Casey]

French TV is already doing shows with plastic dividers between contestants, surely it would be pretty easy to just put up the Final Jeopardy panels all show?

I don’t think the Final Jeopardy panels extend above a person’s face, and they also aren’t physically between the people’s bodies - they just block the view of the writing area.

[Brig Bother]

There are fairly cheap workarounds for that, I suspect.

[Fedya]

It's all the latter-day equivalent of TSA security theater anyway.

[Jeremy Nelson]

Read an interview with Vanna  that says that Wheel is renovating the contestant area to account for social distancing. I would guess it’s got to include glass dividers, right? Cause if they don’t build a bigger wheel to increase the amount of space on the contestant rail, six feet would put Pat almost directly across from the blue player.

[Kevin Prather]

Read an interview with Vanna  that says that Wheel is renovating the contestant area to account for social distancing. I would guess it’s got to include glass dividers, right? Cause if they don’t build a bigger wheel to increase the amount of space on the contestant rail, six feet would put Pat almost directly across from the blue player.

Having the contestants stand at 90° intervals around the wheel is certainly possible. Pat doesn't have to stand at the wheel.

[jjman920]

Wheel of Fortune in Greece has recently started back up production with the contestants at individual podiums away from the wheel with the plan being that each player steps up to spin the wheel when it's their turn and stay there as long as it's their turn. Seems like the simplest fix for every version of Wheel and honestly, individual podiums would probably work best for Jeopardy too.

https://twitter.com/StarChannelGr/status/1268158160541548544

[calliaume]

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced guidelines for resumption of television and film production in the state. Note these do not affect Los Angeles County, which was hardest hit by COVID-19.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-06-05/gavin-newsom-hollywood-production

[MSTieScott]

Wheel of Fortune in Greece has recently started back up production with the contestants at individual podiums away from the wheel with the plan being that each player steps up to spin the wheel when it's their turn and stay there as long as it's their turn.

Not pictured: the other two contestants constantly applying hand sanitizer because they're all grasping the same pegs.

[Kevin Prather]

Not pictured: the other two contestants constantly applying hand sanitizer because they're all grasping the same pegs.

An easy (maybe tongue-in-cheek, maybe not) solution: Paint the pegs alternating red, yellow, and blue, and tell the players they have to grab their own pegs.

[BrandonFG]

Wheel of Fortune in Greece has recently started back up production with the contestants at individual podiums away from the wheel with the plan being that each player steps up to spin the wheel when it's their turn and stay there as long as it's their turn.

Not pictured: the other two contestants constantly applying hand sanitizer because they're all grasping the same pegs.

I know you jest, but the peg situation immediately crossed my mind too.

/They could always bring back the motorized wheel
//I keed