Ken Jennings is a busy man these days, pulling double duty on syndicated Jeopardy! as well as hosting Celebrity Jeopardy!, which airs Wednesdays on the 2025 TV schedule. When it was announced in late 2023 that Mayim Bialik would not return as co-host, many wondered why it had taken so long to settle on what seemed like the obvious choice to succeed Alex Trebek. The hosting carousel that followed Trebek’s 2020 death felt like a circus at times for viewers — and certainly for contestants — and even Jennings admits that his predecessor would have looked down his famous mustache at the brouhaha.
While Ken Jennings took the reins immediately following the passing of one of the best game show hosts of all time, then-executive producer Mike Richards invited several celebrities to guest host but ultimately named himself Alex Trebek’s permanent replacement. That, however, lasted only a day when former podcast comments led Sony to part ways with the EP, and Jennings and Mayim Bialik were named co-hosts. In a game where Trebek had insisted the contestants were more important than the host, Jennings told Rolling Stone he doesn’t think Trebek would be too happy about how things played out, saying:
You have to think Alex would not have loved [the emphasis on multiple hosts]. The virtue of it is, people did see a bunch of different styles hosting Jeopardy!, and they realized, ‘Oh, if it’s Ken this week and it’s Mayim next week, it’s still Jeopardy!.’ The show can survive not being the force of personality of one lovely man.
There were definitely things that were enlightening about the rotation of guest hosts. Celebrities, contestants and fans all had a bigger appreciation for how easy Alex Trebek made that job look, and — as Ken Jennings pointed out — we got to see hosts deliver clues with different cadences, rhythms and tones.
It also proved that Alex Trebek was right — the game would survive regardless of who was behind the lectern. Despite some benefits to seeing different people in that position, there was an air of instability that rubbed many the wrong way. Amy Schneider, who along with Ken Jennings is one of the biggest winners in Jeopardy! history, didn’t like the tour of guest hosts, saying:
It just felt weird. I understood the thought process, but I was like, ‘This is the position of Jeopardy! host. This is a national institution. It’s not a game.’
Of all the contestants who competed during that time, Matt Amodio was most affected. During his 38-game win streak and the tournaments that followed, he played under seven different Jeopardy! hosts and has spoken candidly about the “frustrating” thing about Mayim Bialik’s hosting.
Matt Amodio thinks the quiz show landed with the right host, and while opinions will certainly vary about the Ken Jennings era of Jeopardy!, many other fans and former players think so too. Check your local listings to see when the show airs in syndication in your area, or catch Celebrity Jeopardy! at 9 p.m. ET Wednesdays on ABC. You can also fire up your Amazon Prime subscription to see Colin Jost crushing it as the host of Pop Culture Jeopardy!.
