We Finally Know Who Will Be Hosting Jeopardy! For The Rest Of The Year
Alex Trebek may not have been the first host of the seminal quiz show "Jeopardy!" (that honor belongs to Art Fleming), but his 37 years on the job certainly made him synonymous with the show. In the wake of his death in 2020, it seemed almost impossible for longtime fans of both Trebek and of "Jeopardy!" to imagine the show without him. However, after a year's worth of guest hosts it became clear that, as difficult as it would be to step into Trebek's shoes, there were certainly people who were at least competent enough to do it.
However, that's not to say there hasn't been drama — and a lot of it. Shortly after it was announced that Executive Producer for "Jeopardy!" Mike Richards would be one of two people taking over permanent hosting duties (the other being Mayim Bialik), stories began to leak of inappropriate behavior behind the scenes, old podcasts Richards hosted begin to resurface, and it wasn't long before he was forced to step away from one of the biggest gigs on television before he even got started.
Since Richards was dropped not only as host but also as executive producer (of "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune" both), the debate has raged on over who would actually take the spot as the new "Jeopardy!" host. We finally have our answer (again), at least as far as the remainder of 2021 is concerned.
The Greatest of All Time returns to co-host
We already knew that Mayim Bialik, who was originally slated to act as host for prime-time specials and a spin-off series, will act as one of the regular hosts, but there's one other person who will be sharing those duties throughout the remainder of 2021 — long-time "Jeopardy!" contestant and the winner of the "Greatest of All Time" event, Ken Jennings.
Jennings was actually the very first person to step in as a guest host for "Jeopardy!" when the quiz show returned after Alex Trebek's passing and he seemed keen to utilize a similar style to the one Trebek employed for 37 years. Jennings even went so far as to close out each episode with the simple statement, "Thank you, Alex."
The current plan (per a report from Variety) is for Bialik to take over hosting duties first, beginning with September 20 and carrying through until November 5. After that, she and Jennings will take turns hosting until the end of the year.
Whether or not Bialik or Jennings will become the full-time host of "Jeopardy!" in 2022 is still up in the air.