Would Ken Jennings Make a Good Successor to Alex Trebek?
UPDATE: Jeopardy! confirmed today that Katie Couric and Aaron Rodgers will be guest hosts. Also added to the guest host roster are: “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker and actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik.
J!Buzz: Roster of Guest Hosts Announced
The announcement does not say when each person will be hosting or for how long each. But before we see any of them, it says that executive producer Mike Richard will be hosting for two weeks after Ken Jennings finishes his stint. It also says that more guest hosts will be announced.
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This post was originally published 5 years ago when rumors were rife that Alex Trebek was considering retirement. Since then, Alex continued to renew his contract and to host Jeopardy! until he passed away on November 8, 2020 from the pancreatic cancer he had bravely fought for over a year.
It’s interesting that I suggested the guest host idea that long ago. Now Ken Jennings has become the first guest host on Jeopardy! and many people are loving it. Some love him so much that they suggested there is no need to bring out other guest hosts after Ken’s debut on January 11, 2021.
So far, it’s been reported that Katie Couric will be a guest host. Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers revealed on 1/12/2020 that he has been tapped to be a guest host. Rodgers, you may remember, won his Celebrity Jeopardy! game on 5-12-2015.
I’m all for giving each guest host a fair shot, even though the two people that I would like to see hosting are Buzzy Cohen, winner of the 2017 Tournament of Champions, and Brooke Burns, GSN’s game hostess extraordinaire, I would be delighted if either or both at least got a chance.
Original post from January 24, 2015:
Ken Jennings’ name pops up in a lot of places as a good choice for Jeopardy! host when and if Alex Trebek retires. Here is a quiz that Ken put together about Jeopardy! where you might get an idea of what kind of host he would make. Ken certainly likes to joke around, maybe a bit more than Alex. He likes to talk about himself, too, maybe just as much as Alex.
As for the difficulty level of the quiz itself: Easy. Fairly well-known facts that frequent Jeopardy! viewers will have no trouble with.
The scoop on Trebek’s contract is that it is due to expire at the end of 2016, so we’ve got almost 2 years before we’ll know if he will retire. But take a look at this article in Philadelphia News & Opinion from last year. The article is actually commenting on the New York Post’s article suggesting that Matt Lauer, Anderson Cooper, Brian Williams and Dan Patrick are all in the running for Trebek replacements. Gail Shister, the writer, makes her own mostly tongue-in-cheek replacements (Sarah Palin? C’mon!)
Not every commenter nominated an alternative, but out of 20 comments, there were 5 votes for Ken Jennings, more than anyone else. Others mentioned by the commenters were Jeff Foxworthy, Jeff Probst, LeVar Burton and Marc Summers.
Just watched Katie Couric host. She was grating. I hope her guest spot is cut short!
Katie’s guest spot is 2 weeks, like all the others — except Ken Jennings
i think Jennings is a fine choice, wish his voice were just a little deeper or turn up his volume a bit. i agree he is the youngest.
I don’t think that Ken Jennings can make his voice louder without sounding hoarse or squeaky.
I think Ken Jennings would be a good successor. However, on Monday, during the Interview Segments, I realized that Ken and somebody named Jeff Sutphen have something in common, when it comes to game shows. On 1 game show, that person is rooting for the contestants to win. On the other game show, that person wants to see the contestants lose. Since Ken Jennings is now guest hosting “JEOPARDY!” for a few weeks, he is rooting for the contestants to win, but since he is also 1 of the 3 Chasers on “The Chase”, on that show, he wants to see the contestants lose. As for Jeff Sutphen, when he hosted “Brainsurge” & the 2012 Revival of “Figure It Out” on Nickelodeon, he rooted for the contestants to win, and Nickelodeon is still 1 of my favorite channels, but when he hosted “101 Ways To Leave A Gameshow” on ABC in 2011, which lasted only 6 episodes before it got cancelled, he wanted to see contestants do all these crazy stunts that you should never do at home, or anywhere else, and several years ago, I realized that the gameplay for that show is the exact opposite from “Fear Factor”, which, in my opinion, is more safer. On “101 Ways To Leave A Gameshow”, as long as you don’t give the wrong answer, and you don’t end up doing a stunt, you could possibly win $50,000. On “Fear Factor”, if you want to win $50,000, you have to complete 3 stunts, and do them successfully all 3 times, because if you’re too afraid to complete a stunt, or if you fail a stunt, you’re out. That’s all I know about this.
I would think Ken Jennings or Brooke Burns.
David Pogue would be good…who thinks so?
idk about Pogue, Arjav. I like John O’Hurley myself.
Here’s what I think would be GREAT — if they narrow it down to 3 or 4 and then have them guest host a week during Trebek’s last season. Then let viewers vote.
As I have previously mentioned, I believe Brad would be an excellent choice. Not only as the Greatest player, possessing insightful game theory, but as one with, although it on a vastly smaller scale, game show hosting experience, he would be my choice to help evolve the show.
The Philly website is actually for Philadelphia magazine (www.phillymag.com).
Whoever they pick when Trebek retires, it will certainly be the end of an era for Jeopardy!
One thing about Ken Jennings — he’s only 40 now, and Trebek was about 44 when he took over. Everyone else mentioned is in their 50s. Slimmer chances of them hosting for as long as Trebek.
so jennings would be 42 IF he takes over from alex. he has certainly one advantage among j fans: name recognition and he was a very nice guy. he took his loss very gracefully although it was really a “duh” clue. FedEx??
i would not mind seeing him as host. plus, people change and grow with what they are doing. 15 years ao alex behaved somewhat differently than today, that’s only natural and normal. we all change with the years, be it professionally or in private life.
there are of course naturals. no matter who hosts/hosted family feud, the only guy who could make that show happen was richard dawson. same with WoF and pat.
Marc Summers would be good….Definitely not Ken, please. Brian Williams, LeVar Burton, or Marc Summers.