'Jeopardy!' Twitter Is Asking A Lot of Questions About the Show’s New Permanent Host
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It's an understatement to say that Jeopardy! fans are excited to hear who will be named the show’s new permanent host. On Twitter this spring, folks have been sharing their hopes that a person will be picked soon.
“Another day, another #Jeopardy host … I can’t wait till they settle on someone for keeps,” one person wrote. “I think Jeopardy might lose followers if they don't select a permanent host,” another added.
Two months after longtime host Alex Trebek’s death in November, his final Jeopardy! episode aired in January. Since then, a handful of celebrities and TV personalities have stood behind the lectern as guest hosts, including Ken Jennings, Katie Couric and Anderson Cooper.
But when will Jeopardy! pick a permanent host?
According to executive producer and previous guest host Mike Richards, who recently spoke on The Wall Street Journal’s podcast The Journal, a decision will be made before the next season of Jeopardy! begins taping in late July or early August. He also shared the reason why the show has had a slow hiring process.
“We started talking about it internally that to name someone right away would be very hard for us because we were still reeling from the loss [of Alex Trebek],” he told the outlet. “[For] the Jeopardy! family — which is the fans, the country, the staff — that if on Friday it’s Alex’s last show and then Monday it’s a new person’s show, that would probably be unfair to the person stepping in to do it.”
While Jeopardy! viewers are enjoying watching guest hosts take their turn, the show’s numbers are being looked at closely behind the scenes. What’s more, focus groups are being brought in for testing and social media is also being considered in helping decide who will become the permanent host of Jeopardy!
“You want to make an informed decision,” Mike said on The Journal. “We want to go at this with real analytics and real testing and not just go, ‘Hey, how about this guy?’ which is kind of how a lot of these decisions have been made historically.”
So, who will be the new host of Jeopardy!?
Of course, this is the biggest question fans have at the moment, especially in light of recent headlines surrounding Aaron Rodgers's football career. When rumors surfaced last week that Aaron might not return to the Green Bay Packers, some immediately wondered if this was a sign he is being named the permanent host of Jeopardy! After all, when guest hosting in early April, the NFL quarterback did make a big impression on fans.
That said, Mike explained that to his knowledge there's no leading contender for the permanent hosting position right now as testing continues.
The executive producer anticipates that one of the guest hosts will be named the new face of Jeopardy!, though he’s also not ruling anything out. He noted that he would prefer if the chosen person only dedicated their time to the beloved game show and made the role their own while honoring Alex's legacy.
In the coming weeks, Today show star Savannah Guthrie and former Jeopardy! champion Buzzy Cohen and several others are expected to guest host. Meanwhile, a passionate online campaign to get Reading Rainbow's LeVar Burton on the show has many viewers excited to see what he will bring to the lectern later this summer.
We'll just have to wait and see who is picked this summer. For the time being, we'll just be over here enjoying Bill Whitaker hosting the beloved quiz show.
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