It has been over five months
since Alex Trebek, longtime host of iconic syndicated game show “Jeopardy!”
passed away from cancer at the age of 80. At the time of his death he still had
ample amount of recorded game episodes to be run through weekly, but once they
were finished the production turned to a series of guest hosts handling a few
weeks’ worth of “Jeopardy!” episodes each, as no full-time replacement was
announced for Trebek whose final contract kept him as host until 2022. The next
celebrity up to host the game show is CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, and he is
seeking tips from the first guest host.
CNN tells us that their network anchor Anderson Cooper has
corresponded with “Jeopardy!” long-streak winner Ken Jennings, who was the
first celebrity host of the long-running game show following the death of Alex
Trebek and the airing of all his completed episodes. Jennings, whose
guest-hosting stint lasted from January 11 to February 19 this year, remarked
that the best course of action for a “Jeopardy!” host was merely to copy how the
late Alex Trebek did things, which in his opinion, was minimal because the game
sort of “runs itself.”
"The great thing about
'Jeopardy' is the game kind of runs itself," says Jennings in response to
Cooper’s query. "If you watch Alex, he had this light touch where he would
do, you know, sometimes the least possible.” The one-time 74-episode returning
winner of “Jeopardy!” noted that Trebek never let the camera stay on him too
long and instead moved any in-game conversations in the direction of the
episode’s contestants. And while, Jennings opines, he thinks Cooper will not
really realize the gravity of hosting the show until he was on the host’s
podium, the “Less is more” approach seems to be the best one.
If nothing else, Anderson Cooper
is no stranger to being on the “Jeopardy!” set. He was a contestant on several occasions
for the game show’s Celebrity edition. He will be the sixth celebrity host to
helm “Jeopardy!” with his tenure lasting two weeks. His predecessors include
Ken Jennings, “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” executive producer Mike
Richards, journalist and KCM founder Katie Couric, “Dr. Oz Show” host Dr.
Mehmet Oz, and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.
Following him are other TV and news luminaries like “60 Minutes” correspondent
Bill Whitaker, actress/scientist Mayim Bialik, NBC’s “Today” co-anchor Savannah
Guthrie, and CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Image from Deseret News
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