Just over three years after Alex Trebek passed away, Jeopardy! has returned to having just one permanent host. Mayim Bialik skipped the final week of Season 39 to stand in solidarity with the striking writers, and it was announced last week that she will not be returning to Jeopardy! Continuity is the reason Sony gave for making the decision to move forward with Ken Jennings as the sole host of the syndicated episodes, and it looks like a lot of the game show’s fans are having the same response.
Ken Jennings and The Big Bang Theory alum shared hosting duties in Seasons 38 and 39, and while we suspected it might be longer than we thought before Bialik was able to return to the Alex Trebek Stage after the strikes, it turns out she has already seen her final game as a permanent host. Many have thought that the position always belonged to the former champ, and one fan had the following reaction on X:
Ken Jennings when the #Jeopardy execs come to tell him he’s the new solo host pic.twitter.com/S7GaKd955wDecember 16, 2023
Other fans seemed to have the same “What took you so long?” attitude, as Alex Trebek himself had predicted Ken Jennings would eventually replace him as far back as 2014. There’s also the fact that Jennings was already set to fill in for Trebek ahead of his death — which was the topic of the past and present Jeopardy! hosts’ final conversation. With this most recent decision, Jeopardy! finally enacted the plan that should have been in place all along, this viewer said:
ken jennings is the rightful successor to alex trebek pic.twitter.com/Bgk8asZbQbDecember 16, 2023
Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik have been pitted against each other since the beginning by a passionate fanbase that has collectively voiced their opinions for years about which of them should be the one true permanent host. Although executive producer Michael Davies stepped in to clarify that the hosts earned similar ratings, Team Ken is claiming the victory, with one fan writing:
Praise be!! Mayim Bialik is no longer Jeopardy! co-host. Long live Ken Jennings, the one true host.
Another viewer channeled Barbie in regards to one of Jeopardy!’s biggest winners, writing:
Fortunately, Ken Jennings is #Kenough.
Mayim Bialik released a statement on December 15 notifying her followers that “Sony has informed me that I will no longer be hosting the syndicated version of Jeopardy!” She said she was honored and grateful to have been part of the quiz show for the past few years. Sony followed that up with a statement of their own, thanking the actress and saying that they hope to be able to continue to work with her on primetime tournaments.
Another fan posted on social media that they think this was the right move, pointing to some of the critiques fans and players have had regarding Mayim Bialik, saying:
Sorry but I'm glad Ken Jennings is the permanent Jeopardy host now. I don't dislike Mayim but between her awkward banter with contestants and long pauses before telling a contestant they were right or wrong, she just wasn't working.
We’ll have to see if Mayim Bialik does, in fact, return to host any primetime tournaments — which was the original position she’d been hired to fill — but until then, you can see Ken Jennings in action by checking your local listings to find out when syndicated Jeopardy! episodes air in your area.
