Jeopardy! is preparing to finally announce a permanent successor for the late Alex Trebek. Their first attempt to do so lasted a very short period of time. Former executive producer Mike Richards was just nine days into his run as the new host when comments he made on a podcast ended his time as the host. He filmed just 5 episodes.
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An announcement on the new permanent host is expected very soon according to Jeopardy! executive producer Michael Davies. He revealed backstage at the Daytime Emmys that an announcement was on the way “very, very soon.”
Since Richards’ time as the host ended, Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik and Jeopardy! star Ken Jennings have been handling the hosting duties.
“The scandal was, as we call it at Jeopardy!, ‘the awkward months,'” Davies said. “But it showed the power of our audience and how passionately our fans care about the program, which is just so important. What’s happened over the course of the season — Matt Amodio, and Amy Schneider and Mattea [Roach] and Ryan [Long] — really made us just remember how incredible the game is. The stars of our show and Mayim [Bialik] and Ken [Jennings] have done incredible job hosting.”
Davies hinted that the announcement could name multiple hosts
Davies hinted that the announcement could name multiple hosts, “We hope to have a hosting announcement very, very soon. But with all of our plans for Jeopardy!, which is more Jeopardy!, not less, more versions, we’re going to need multiple hosts to represent the entire audience, to represent the entire country, in order to take this franchise forward.”
Prior to Richards’ short run the game show had several celebrities try their hand in Trebek’s shoes. Among the celebrities were Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, actor LeVar Burton, and journalist Katie Couric.
Alex Trebek was the host of Jeopardy! from 1984 until his death in November 2020 at the age of 80. Over his decades-long career he hosted multiple other game shows, including The Wizard of Odds, Double Dare, High Rollers, Battlestars, Classic Concentration, and To Tell the Truth.
Trebek also made several appearances in movies and TV shows. The appearances were usually as himself. He received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host eight times for his work on Jeopardy!