'Jeopardy!' Finally Announces Who Will Take Over Hosting After Months Of Guest Hosts

Aug 12, 2021

Over 50 years old, “Jeopardy!” is still beloved by viewers worldwide even today. Throughout the decades, the show has accumulated a wide viewership of people of all ages — as well as its fair share of professional accolades. The show has an incredible record of 39 Emmy Awards and one Peabody Award. There are even versions of "Jeopardy!" in other countries, such as Australia, Germany, China, Azerbaijan and Argentina.

Although the show has had multiple hosts over the years, Alex Trebek — who hosted the show for 37 seasons in total — is probably the most well-known and beloved host of the series. Aside from "Jeopardy!" Trebek hosted other shows such as "The Wizard of Odds," "Double Dare," "High Rollers," "Classic Concentration" and many others. Trebek was so good at his job as a host that he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for his work on "Jeopardy!" alone.

Unfortunately, Trebek passed away from pancreatic cancer on Nov. 8, 2020. Since then, a number of different people have had the honor of hosting the popular game show. Sony Pictures Television, the production company behind the evening favorite, opted for a rotating number of 16 different hosts while the search for a permanent successor was ongoing. Now, almost a year after Trebek's passing, it seems the search is coming to a close. Mike Richards, the show’s executive producer, and Mayim Bialik of the “Big Bang Theory” will fill Trebek’s shoes, according to an official announcement on Wednesday. While Richards will assume the role of the show’s nightly host, Bialik will take the helm during special competitions like the 2022 college championship.

"I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to host the syndicated version of 'Jeopardy!,'” Richards said in an official statement. “Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined being chosen to step into a role of this magnitude."

Bialek also released a statement, writing: “I couldn’t be more thrilled to join the Jeopardy! family. What started out with my 15-year-old repeating a rumor from Instagram that I should guest host the show has turned into one of the most exciting and surreal opportunities of my life!"

Since Trebek's death in early November 2020, “Jeopardy!” fans have been wondering and guessing who might take over his role. Names that have been floated included ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos, "Reading Rainbow" host LeVar Burton and former contestant Ken Jennings, according to CBS.

Jennings is best known for his title as the contestant who has earned the highest winnings on the show during a regular season, as well as having won the most consecutive games. He also took part as a contestant on “Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time” tournament back in January 2020. Jennings won the tournament, making him among the best players the show has ever seen.

Jennings later returned to host the show for six weeks as one of the 16 interim hosts the show has seen in the meantime. His short stint as the show's presenter ended in February 2021. He marked his leaving with a post on Twitter, stating: "That's a wrap on my six weeks of @Jeopardy guest hosting. Thanks for watching, thanks for your patience with a tough learning curve...and, as always, thank you Alex."

Up next to take on the mantle of Trebek after Jennings was Mike Richards, the show's executive producer. Shortly after Trebek's death, Richards had already spoken out about the future vision for the show to CBS News:

"Alex believed in the importance of ‘Jeopardy!’ and always said that he wanted the show to go on after him. We will honor Alex's legacy by continuing to produce the game he loved with smart contestants and challenging clues. By bringing in familiar guest hosts for the foreseeable future, our goal is to create a sense of community and continuity for our viewers."

Richards was followed by other guest hosts that took their turns fronting the show since the final Trebek episodes aired. Among them are notable people such as Mayim Bialik, Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, Bill Whitaker, Mehmet Oz, George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, LeVar Burton, Savannah Guthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Aaron Rodgers and former contestant Buzzy Cohen.

Richards came to work for Sony in 2019 as the executive producer of the celebrity edition of the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" specials, which aired on ABC.

Previously in his career, Richards had worked as the host of the reality shows "High School Reunion" on The WB network as well as "Beauty and the Geek." He left the reality show genre and joined "The Price Is Right" in 2008 as the game show's co-executive producer. By the time he took the reins of "Jeopardy" in 2019, Richards had already produced more than 4,000 hours total of game shows.

USA Today reports that the final decision to go with Richards and Bialik was up to top Sony executives, who in part based their decision on focus group data.

What do you think of the show's new hosts? Who was your favorite interim host out of the 16? Let us know — and be sure to pass this news on to friends and family members.