In November of 2020, an era of
television game show programming came to an end when Alex Trebek, longtime host
of iconic syndicated game show “Jeopardy!” since 1984, passed away after a year
and a half struggling against pancreatic cancer. Following his death, Sony
Pictures Television pushed back the airing of Trebek’s last recorded “Jeopardy!”
episodes, then announced that several guest personalities will take over
hosting duties from January to February this year. The first announced guest
host is veteran contestant and longest streak holder Ken Jennings, followed by
TV personalities such as Katie Couric and Bill Whitaker. This past Tuesday,
more names were announced.
USA Today has it that some new celebrity names were announced to
briefly guest-host “Jeopardy!” for more episodes this year following the
passing of legendary answer-giver Alex Trebek. They were revealed by executive
producer Mike Richards on February 2, with the names being a “who’s who” of familiar
faces on TV. Co-anchor Savannah Guthrie of “Today” on NBC is one guest host,
followed by Dr. Mehmet Oz of his own syndicated show, then two personalities from
CNN, namely anchor Anderson Cooper and chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay
Gupta. In addition to hosting unspecified episode numbers of “Jeopardy!” they
will also contribute to their choice charities.
To wit, for the duration of each
guest host’s time on “Jeopardy!” the cumulative winnings of all contestants
participating within their respective tenures will be added up, with the total
value being the amount of their donation to their charities. Richards says of
the new guest hosts, "We look forward to each guest host bringing their
unique abilities to the show and to our contestants winning a lot of money that
we can match for charity." He himself will take over hosting duties
following Ken Jennings, before the other celebrities.
Other announced guests hosts for “Jeopardy!”
include actress Mayim Bialik and Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers. Jennings’
tenure as guest host will cover 30 episodes airing weekdays over a period of
six weeks. He has also shot down ideas about becoming the permanent host.
Image courtesy of Variety
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