It has been over a year since Alex Trebek lost his battle with pancreatic cancer, and the long-time host of the game show “Jeopardy!” has proven to be very hard to replace.
In an effort to replace the beloved host, Sony Pictures Television had potential hosts take turns guest hosting the game show. Among those guest hosts were “Big Bang Theory” star Mayim Bialik, former “Jeopardy!” contestant Ken Jennings, NFL star Aaron Rodgers and fan favorite from “Star Trek” and “Reading Rainbow,” LeVar Burton.
In the end, the job was given to not one but two hosts. Bialik was tasked with hosting specials and spin offs, but the main job of hosting the daily show was given to one of the show’s executive producers.
Mike Richards filled in as a guest host at the last minute. Even though he wasn’t originally planning to audition to host the show, Sony felt he was the perfect fit, that is, until they didn’t.
Richards stepped down as host just days after being offered the job. Things he said on an old podcast had resurfaced, and he felt it was only right to step down to step away from the controversy. In the end, Sony decided he shouldn’t be part of the show at all, and fired him from his job as executive producer.
That left the hosting spot wide open. Would Bialik fill it? Would another guest host be chosen as the new host? Fans waited.
Sony decided to let Bialik host half of the remaining episodes for the year and to let Jennings host the other half. The two would share the hosting duties, but for how long? It remained unclear.
“Jeopardy!” has yet to announce an official host of the show, and we kind of can’t blame them for taking their time after what happened when they announced they had chosen Richards for the job; however, there is pertinent news about the hosting job.
We now know who will be hosting season 38 of “Jeopardy!” The hosting duties will once again be split by Bialik and Jennings. Will this just be for season 38? Are they going to continue to co-host the show long term? That is still not clear.
Do you think Bialik and Jennings will be the official hosts of “Jeopardy!” long term? Do you think someone else should host the show? Why do you think it’s so hard for Sony to replace Trebek?