Finding a replacement for iconic Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek has proven to be a far more complicated undertaking than anyone saw coming. For the remainder of the current 38th season, former Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik and Jeopardy! great Ken Jennings were tapped to share hosting duties, but what happens next? No official word has come out regarding the full-time host for Season 39 and beyond, but Mayim Bialik knows what her response would be if she were asked.
The Call Me Kat actress was among the guest hosts who “auditioned” for the job following Alex Trebek’s death in November 2020. Speaking at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Mayim Bialik said even she doesn’t know the plan for who will host Jeopardy! following Season 38, but she’s certainly interested in keeping the position full time. She told ET:
I would love that. I like to say, I’ve lived season to season, since I was about 13 years old. So, what I know is I’m hosting until May 6, and beyond that, hopefully. Hopefully, I’ll know more before May 6.
Mayim Bialik was a child actress, who along with working in movies like Pumpkinhead (her first film, released in 1988), appeared on TV series including The Facts of Life and Webster, before starring in Blossom. She’s been living her whole life year-to-year, in regards to what job she’s going to have, so not knowing her future on Jeopardy! likely isn’t causing her too much stress. It does sound like it’s a job she’s interested in keeping, though, and of course it would be nice if she knew sooner rather than later whether or not she’ll be asked to continue her hosting duties.
Prior to his death, beloved host Alex Trebek talked about who his eventual replacement would be, joking that it would be Betty White, because he said whoever came next would probably be a woman, “and she’ll have to be bright, she’ll have to have a good sense of humor…” Unfortunately the ship has kind of sailed on that option, as White passed away December 31, 2021, just weeks shy of her 100th birthday. The rest of the description, however, actually fits Mayim Bialik pretty perfectly.
The Call Me Kat star, who holds a doctorate in neuroscience, said she already has the blessing of Alex Trebek’s family:
I got to meet them when we dedicated the stage and just feel so humbled around them. I want to only honor. You can’t match him, so there’s no need to try, but do it continuously, and have their blessing and feel what they are doing is supporting that legacy.
It’s important to many fans that Jeopardy!’s next host continues to honor the man who held the job for 36 years — it’s one of the reasons former champion Arthur Chu was hoping Ken Jennings would follow Alex Trebek as host. So it’s nice to know Mayim Bialik has received that blessing from his family.
We’ll have to wait and see what the powers that be decide to do with the hosting position going forward, but one thing’s for sure: Mayim Bialik has a newfound respect for the difficulties that hosting entails, and the passion longtime fans have for the game, after being called out for referring to the opening round of the show as “Single Jeopardy!” While pointing out that Alex Trebek also used that phrasing occasionally, she apologized and promised fans she’d never do it again.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for any hosting announcements going forward, and check your local listings to see when you can catch Jeopardy! in your market.
