Meet the Writers Behind the Challenging ‘Jeopardy!’ Questions

America’s favorite game show, Jeopardy!, has captivated audiences for decades. This quiz show uniquely challenges master trivia stars to flex their knowledge by flipping the concept of questions and answers. Since its inception in 1964, there have been over 700,000 prompts presented on the show.

Currently, the questions are posed by host Ken Jennings, who succeeded the late Alex Trebek. Ken, a trivia expert in his own right, doesn’t create the questions himself. Instead, a dedicated team of producers and writers ensures the show’s smooth operation.

A team of writers, who are part of the Writers’ Guild of America, works behind the scenes to craft the questions. According to the Jeopardy! website, the current team includes John Durate, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michelle Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, and Billy Wisse, with Michelle and Billy also serving as producers.

When the Writers’ Guild went on strike, the show faced a unique challenge. While most people associated the strike with scripted shows and movies, game shows like Jeopardy! were also affected. To navigate this, the program opted not to introduce new writers, which would have violated the strike, and instead relied on its rich history by recycling old prompts.

This approach allowed Jeopardy! to remain both familiar and fresh for its audience. Once the writers struck a deal, they returned to their roles, researching and developing new trivia questions for future episodes.

Creating questions for Jeopardy! involves more than a simple internet search. The process, detailed in the Jeopardy! Writers’ Room, can start with an idea for a punny category title or a general subject, which is then developed into questions.

Michelle Loud shared that inspiration can strike unexpectedly. She recounted, “Apollo 13 was coming out, and there was a Whitney Houston song playing on the radio when I saw the poster. I said to myself in my car, ‘Whitney Houston, we have a problem.’ And I wrote it into a BEFORE & AFTER category the next day.”

Whether starting from a pun or a random thought, the next crucial step is thorough research. Writers ensure that every question is accurate, as mistakes could cost contestants thousands of dollars and impact the competition’s outcome.