Jeopardy! production is resuming November 30 with a series of guest hosts, the show announced via its social media channels today. Ken Jennings, who won 74 games in 2004, will be the first guest host.
Additionally, according to WBZ Boston, Alex Trebek’s final episode is now airing January 8, 2021, with 10 of Alex’s best episodes airing between December 21, 2020 and January 1, 2021. The first Ken Jennings episode will air January 11, 2021. Here at The Jeopardy! Fan, I was calling for the show to do exactly this, and I am very happy to see that common sense has prevailed here.
In a statement from Executive Producer Mike Richards, “Alex believed in the importance of Jeopardy! and always said that he wanted the show to go on after him. We will honor Alex’s legacy by continuing to produce the game he loved with smart contestants and challenging clues. By bringing in familiar guest hosts for the foreseeable future, our goal is to create a sense of community and continuity for our viewers.”
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Excellent. I hope Jeopardy doesn’t suffer the same fate as Siskel and Ebert after Siskel died- a bunch of different hosts, never recaptured the magic, ultimately cancelled.
Looks like you might have lit the fire that led the producers to move Alex’s last episodes and save them from being pre-empted. Good for you, and thanks! It would have just added to the heartbreak if we didn’t get to say a final goodbye
Sounds good to me. Hopefully the big 3 all get to host.
Exactly! Brad all the way!
I feel like November 30 is a terrible time to resume taping. Even if all the contestants are from SoCal.
They normally take a break in November and do resume taping after Thanksgiving, for about three weeks in November to December, before taking another holiday break. When i taped my shows three years ago, i won on the Wednesday taping in early November, around the 8th, then had to wait two weeks before i could return, right after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Plus, they were moving the taping dates that week after Thanksgiving, from normal Tuesday and Wednesday, up a day, to Monday and Tuesday, because Alex had to go to Canada at the end of the week to get some special honor from the Canadian government. They did provide airfare for returning champs at that time, so they wanted me to fly back out on Sunday, to be there for taping on Monday, but i pointed out that that Sunday was at the end of the Thanksgiving weekend, so THE busiest travel day of the year, plus i would be flying out of Denver, so hard to guess what the weather could be like to fly out, so I talked them into my flying out earlier, so they actually found cheaper fares (about half price) if i flew out on the Friday after Thanksgiving. So, i got a few more days in California for my return trip, and yes, it was “on my dime” but i had already picked up some ‘extra dimes’ on my first trip out there, so it was not really a problem.
So, to resume taping on the 30th makes perfect sense to me (basically, ‘been there, done that’). And, really, no one in SoCal should have the same travel issues that other contestants would have coming from other parts of the country right now. And, enough companies should be able to give employees personal time off now, if they had to go to LA for a couple days of taping.
I get the feeling they may use the rest of this season to ‘audition’ different guest hosts, and hopefully more than just former contestants, and maybe make a decision about a new host to begin next fall for season 38, and use the rest of season 37 to ‘rebuild’ some sports teams do.
And remember, Alex was still kind of an unknown commodity 37 years ago, after many other short-lived game shows up to that point, and it took him a while to grow into the style and pacing of the show and kind of make it his own. They just re-ran the very first episode, and there was a huge difference between his first appearance who see now. Still have mixed feelings about who could be the best fit, so it might be nice to see quite a few different faces. The fan base is passionate enough that they will make their opinions very well known about favorites, and long shots.
Boo. My choice is NYC bartender Austin.
Maybe he’ll also be a guest host
I had a feeling that Ken would be the next host!
I wonder what it will be like if in a game, he introduces a category presented by himself.
Alex Trebek presented video clues from remote locations.
Definitely Brad as he is the perfect candidate. Not cocky and very down to earth!
I agree that it should be someone with gravitas. Of the four former contestants mentioned, that would make Brad Rutter the best, although I don’t think that the ultimate choice should be a former contestant.
Maybe Austin will also be a guest host
Ahh yes, the classic “guest host” strategy. Also known as “auditions”. It’s been done before in dozens of cases—from “Live” having “guests hosts” to audition for replacements for both Kathie Lee and Regis, to CBS auditioning “guest hosts” to replace a Craig Kilborn on the Late Late Show, to Wrigley Field having “guests” sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame after Harry Carey died. Hopefully it goes well, and quickly—but I wouldn’t be surprised if it runs through the end of the season.
My vote is for Brad Rutter. As with Alex, he’s got a low-key personality, so the focus will be on the contestants, not him.
I would have liked to have seen Kelly Miyahara take over as host as she has done announcing on Sports Jeopardy and was a Clue Crew member. However, since she left the show it appears that won’t happen.
Buzzy Cohen for host.