In case you missed it, Jeopardy! premiered a new spinoff far from its original network roots. Pop Culture Jeopardy! is now available to stream with a Prime subscription and it's a fun new highlight hitting the 2024 TV schedule. Taking on hosting duties is Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update co-anchor, Colin Jost, who says he wasn't all that nervous to embrace the new role, and it's all (or in part) thanks to his SNL deskmate, Michael Che.
As we’ve all seen, Jeopardy!’s transition to a new host after the iconic Alex Trebek passed was quite the lengthy process. And it seems that its sister show had the same sort of process when the show was in development, with produders looking at many other hosts but with Jost coming out on top. The Fly Me to the Moon alum talked with The Ringer all about Pop Culture Jeopardy!, and revealed that someone's cold reading skills, or lack there of can make or break a host’s longevity heading up the game show. He shared:
One thing they told me is how when they’ve had guest hosts, they’ve had some that just are not as good at cold reading. You’re reading 61 clues in a game, then you suddenly have a lot of cold reading that you’re doing. You see everything in advance, but you still never know what order it’s going to pop up in.
The amount of reading may seem slight and simple enough, but to be able to deliver each question clealry (and in any order) while maintaining contestants' order, and still keeping audiences interested is indeed a tall order. That’s why some of the best game show hosts have stuck around for that long, while others have fizzled. I do think that Jost has the chops to measure up to some of the best, in his own humorous yet intellectual style.
The 42-year-old divulged that it was his SNL co-anchor, Michael Che, who helped build his confidence in his hosting abilities and cold reading. It was because of their long-standing Weekend Update tradition of swapping jokes live on air. He said:
So weirdly, a thing that prepared me very well for it was the joke swap that we do at SNL, because I’m also cold-reading that, and it’s live. I weirdly had confidence from being forced to do that by Michael Che. It gave me confidence: If you don’t want to read a clue, I was at least not going to be in racial jeopardy.
The joke swap has become a fan-favorite element for fans of the pair, and it’s great that Che continues to push the joke swap, and that Jost is continuously game to stay on his toes for it. And it makes sense that the segment prepped him to be able to take on other cold reading projects with ease.
The Coming 2 America alum also opened up about his own game show he was developing before signing on to be the pop culture host with none other than Michael Che. And funnily enough, it’s how he met Michael Davies (who helped produce and write some of the best game shows of all time). As he put it:
Michael Che and I are developing a game show with Michael [Davies], and that’s how I met him—not knowing at all his involvement in Millionaire, not knowing that he was doing Jeopardy! Those were my reference points. I wanted a game that had great trivia to it and was a serious trivia game. I didn’t want to ever do a game show that felt gimmicky or too game-based, like physical games or anything. I wanted to have an intellectual component because that’s what I loved about watching Jeopardy!
It’s funny to realize that the writer’s meeting with Davies seems as serendipitous as can be when it comes to landing the game show gig. It's all about who you know, I suppose.
I kept expecting to see That Damn Michael Che star showing up to the Pop Culture Jeopardy! set so it’s great to hear the two are talking about making a gameshow of their own. And with them gearing up with one of the best television game creators of our time is thrilling to hear. Hopefully, we’ll see that sooner than later!
As for Jost and Pop Culture Jeopardy!, I’m a few episodes in and he does seem like a natural already. And as always, it’s seemingly thanks to Michael Che, naturally. Let’s just hope that confidence sustains him throughout the season, and beyond.
