The game show world lost a legend earlier this month when Alex Trebek died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Trebek was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2019 and was able to continue his hosting duties on Jeopardy! for most of his illness. Since his November 8th death, the trivia show recently announced that they are ready to resume production once again and will be featuring a variety of interim hosts in the meantime. Notable winner Ken Jennings will be the first to act as interim host.
The show announced that they will resume filming on November 30 with Jennings, the show's record holder for most consecutive wins as their first interim host. "We will honor Alex's legacy by continuing to produce the game he loved with smart contestants and challenging clues," said 'Jeopardy!' executive producer Mike Richards in a statement. "By bringing in familiar guest hosts for the foreseeable future, our goal is to create a sense of community and continuity for our viewers."
Trebek hosted the iconic game show since 1984 and many speculated that Jennings would be a logical replacement for him after his death. Jennings won 74 consecutive games as a Jeopardy! champ and wrote that he was "honored to be helping Jeopardy!." One day after Trebek's death, Jennings remembered the talk show host as "a natural for the erudite, dignified Jeopardy! vibe," stating that he "enjoyed the fact that his singular job description turned him into a familiar figure in popular culture and comedy," in an essay for TIME.
The show has yet to announce a permanent replacement for Trebek, with Jennings being the first of many interim hosts planned for future episodes. Although some were critical of Jennings being named as interim host, the author, and former Jeopardy! champ seemed to take the criticism in stride.
In addition to acting as interim host, Jennings also just snagged himself a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for narrating Trebek's memoir, Alex Trebek: The Answer Is…Reflections on My Life.
In addition to having the most consecutive wins on the game show, Jennings also earned the title of “Greatest of All Time” when he played against the show's other two highest earners, Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer. He also holds the record for highest winnings in regular-season play ($2,520,700). Sounds like Trebek would have been happy to see Jennings step in as Jeopardy! host, even if it's just for a short while.
Source: TIME