The iconic game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! have announced that they’ve suspended production amidst the Los Angeles wildfires.

Jeopardy! Suspends Production

Jeopardy! was supposed to begin filming its popular Invitational Tournament today. Indeed, Ken Jennings was supposed to host the special through Friday. However, a memo was sent out to audience members saying that the production has been suspended.

“Due to the severe weather conditions and out of an abundance of caution and safety for all, all of next week’s Jeopardy show tapings have unfortunately been canceled,” read the memo, which was obtained by The US Sun

“This tournament will likely move; however, we have not been given any information about new dates as of yet,” it continued. “We do hope to see you in the future at a taping of Jeopardy! We apologize for the inconvenience, but hope everyone stays safe.”

Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune Are Filmed Next To Each Other

Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are filmed next to one another on sound stages on the Sony Lot in Culver City, California. The next Jeopardy! filming date is January 27. It is unclear if that will actually happen, however. There is also no word on when Wheel of Fortune, which is hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White, will begin filming again.

“Every Wheel and Jeopardy taping has been canceled this week. The current tournaments will be delayed and air dates will be delayed,” said an insider.  

“There are no new dates set in place yet but everyone is actively doing as much as they can,” the source added. 

Over 40,000 acres have burned in the wildfires so far, and at least 24 people have been killed. Many Californians have lost their homes. This undoubtedly includes people who work on the productions of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.

Jeopardy! is known to have a 40-person production crew that tapes each episode. An additional 75-member-team handles the post-production. Meanwhile, Wheel of Fortune employs a total of 100 in-house production personnel. A total of 60 to 100 local staff joins them for those episodes that are taped on location.

While Jeopardy! host Jennings has been relatively quiet amidst the wildfires, Wheel of Fortune host Seacrest has been actively promoting various donation sites and resource links on his social media pages. Indeed, Seacrest has lived in Los Angeles for nearly thirty years. That’s why he’s made a point of being active in sharing emergency fire warnings in the hopes of raising awareness of safety alerts.

A ‘Particularly Dangerous Situation’

This comes as authorities have issued a rare warning of a “particularly dangerous situation” in Southern California.

“Any kind of red flag warning is dangerous,” explained meteorologist Ryan Kittell. “But there’s a gradient even within that range of situations, and so we wanted a way to message the extreme of the extremes. And the [‘particularly dangerous situation’ warning] is what came from that.”

Erik Scott, who is the fire captain of the LA fire department, told the LA Times on Tuesday that the wildfires are “the most devastating natural disaster to hit the Los Angeles area”.

“I’ve worked here for 20 years and I’ve never seen nor imagined devastation to be this extensive,” he lamented.

Find out more about this in the video below.

We can certainly understand why Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! have suspended their productions. Please join us in saying a prayer for all those impacted by the wildfires.

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