You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who has never watched Jeopardy! It is just one of those shows that has been around so long and was so popular that it became a household name. It wasn’t just the show that made it what it was, it was also the host, Alex Trebek. He is one of the most loved game show hosts of all time, but unfortunately, he lost his battle on November 8 to pancreatic cancer.
This has led many people to wonder who would be filling in now that Alex Trebek would no longer be the host on Jeopardy! There will actually be a series of hosts that will rotate, starting with Ken Jennings, the all-time tournament winner from the show.
The show released a statement saying that production would begin again on November 30 with Jennings. There would be additional hosts, but they are to “be announced.”
A personal message was then added by executive producer, Mike Richards. He said they would do what they could to preserve the legacy of Alex Trebek, showing honor and respect to the show and the position. He continued: “Alex believed in the importance of Jeopardy! and always said that he wanted the show to go on after him. We will honor his legacy by continuing to produce the game he loved.”
There will only ever be one Alex Trebek, but I'm honored to be helping Jeopardy! out with this in January. https://t.co/2m2b5IQnkw
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) November 23, 2020
According to Jennings, he is happy to be part of the show. He says he’s honored to help with Jeopardy!, although he admits that there will only ever be one Alex Trebek.
The Internet was actually putting a list of potential candidates together before the announcement was made. They included LeVar Burton, Anderson Cooper, and others. Over 100,000 people signed the petition for LeVar Burton!
Only time will tell when they will add a permanent host to the show, but for now, we may just be watching each candidate in rotation and see how the viewers react to them.
There will be a few more weeks of the show with Trebek at the lead because they were pre-recorded. As they announced on Twitter, at that point, 10 of the all-time best episodes will be airing during the weeks of December 21 and December 28. The final 35 episodes with Alex Trebek will begin airing on the week of January 4. Those final episodes were filmed just two weeks before he died. During the episode aired on November 9, Richard says that the 35 episodes will air “as they were filmed” because that’s the way Trebek wanted it.