Ocean City’s Pannullo Won’t Play ‘Jeopardy!’ Tourny During Strike

Ocean City's Jeopardy! sensation Cris Pannullo will not play in this year's Tournament of Champions if the show's writers are still on strike.

Pannullo has the fifth-most consecutive wins in the show’s history, dating back to 2003 when a five-game cap was lifted. He took home $749,268 before taxes during his 21-game win streak, which ended in December 2022.

He announced he would not cross the picket line to appear in the Tournament of Champions on a Jeopardy! Reddit thread, saying he will "not participate in any games comprised of recycled clues while the WGA strike is in effect.”

Pannullo was writing in support of another former Jeopardy! champion who said he would not participate this year if the show's writers were still on strike.

Ray Lalonde, who is a set designer and worked on the Hulu television drama The Handmaid’s Tale, said he had heard “credible reports” that the show’s producers are planning on taping the next season of the show with recycled clues if the Writers Guild of America strike remains unresolved.

Jeopardy! host and actress Mayim Bialik stopped working on the show in May when the writers first went on strike and Jeopardy! co-host and former contestant Ken Jennings stepped in to complete the episodes, which used clues written before the strike began.

Jeopardy! writer Michele Loud told Variety there would be no show without the writers.

“Our words are on the screen every night. There is no ‘Jeopardy’ without writers. Without us it’s just an empty blue screen.”

The Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions airs in October, but is filmed in late September. Pannullo would be considered one of the favorites in a match of former champions.

Cris Pannullo is a customer success operations manager and former poker player who grew up in Brick Twp, Ocean County and relocated to Ocean City with his longtime girlfriend.