Guest Host Lineup For 2021 Jeopardy! Season Following the Death of Alex Trebek
Television celebrities and athletes set to take the place of late gameshow host.
March 17, 2021
The popular game show Jeopardy!, known and loved throughout the world, is still the same as it has always been, just with new faces. The death of former longtime host Alex Trebek made cause for a new approach to show hosts until a permanent replacement for Trebek could be found. The first guest to host on the show after Trebek’s final episode, aired on January 8, was Jeopardy’s Greatest Of All Time contestant, Ken Jennings.
Jenning’s appearance as a guest host lasted for six weeks, from January 11 through February 19, four weeks longer than originally planned due to scheduling conflicts with other guest hosts. Jenning’s sarcastic and sometimes snarky personality took a more relaxed friendly tone while talking to contestants, much like Trebek. Jenning’s run as a host was well received by Jeopardy! fans as he modeled Trebek’s love for the game and paid tribute to the late host each night by closing every episode with “Thank you, Alex.”
After his final episode as guest host aired, Jennings tweeted, “Thanks for watching, thanks for your patience with a tough learning curve…and, as always, thank you Alex.” Thanks for watching, thanks for your patience with a tough learning curve…and, as always, thank you Alex.” — Ken Jennings
Following his extended performance on the show, Jenning’s was forced to pass the cards to Executive Producer Mike Richards in order to fulfill other filming obligations. Richards served his scheduled two weeks and received the best reviews from viewers. His charismatic approach and knowledge of the game was evident in his hosting performance.
“As a Jeopardy fan, I really like both Ken and now Mike as hosts… I really hope they consider either Ken or Mike permanently.” said Twitter commenter Mary L.
Journalist and New York Times best-selling author Katie Couric is the current guest host until the end of this week. After her, Doctor Mehmet Oz (March 22 through April 2) and former Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rogers (April 5 through April 16) will take their turn on the air, followed by anchor Anderson Cooper (April 19 through April 30).
Shortly thereafter, co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bailik, “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker, and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will join the line of guest hosts but are at a still to be determined show time status.
