Posted on 11/17/2021 9:07:03 AM PST by Kaslin
Ken Jennings returned for a second stint as guest host. In the episodes that aired last week, he appeared more willing to open up a bit.
An old axiom states that no news is good news. For “Jeopardy!,” that mantra has certainly applied to the last several weeks.
In August, the sense of stability and solidity the program cultivated over decades evaporated seemingly overnight. Within days of naming Mike Richards as its permanent host to replace Alex Trebek, it had to replace him as host for making a series of offensive remarks, eventually firing Richards as the show’s executive producer too.
The show recruited Mayim Bialik, originally hired to emcee “Jeopardy!” network specials and spin-offs, as a fill-in to replace Richards as host of the syndicated program. And it had to endure an incredibly awkward week of episodes hosted by Richards, which were taped prior to his termination but aired after his firing.
By last week, however, those dramatic events of late summer seemed, if not ancient history, at least in “Jeopardy’s” rearview mirror. Ken Jennings returned for a second stint as guest host; he and Bialik will preside over episodes through the end of calendar year 2021.
By the time Jennings returned to the lectern, he did not see a familiar face at the returning champion’s position in the studio. In an episode that aired October 11 (and the first episode after Richards’s ouster as executive producer), Matt Amodio lost after 38 wins and just over $1.5 million in earnings.
Amodio’s winning streak ranks second behind only Jennings’s run in 2004, and his earnings total ranks third behind Jennings and James Holzhauer. Likewise, the man who defeated Amodio, Jonathan Fisher, completed his own 11-day run as champion in October, earning early $250,000 in the process.
Jennings’s comportment also changed during last week’s episodes when compared to his first stint behind the lectern. His first round of episodes taped in late November 2020, mere weeks after Trebek’s death last November 8. I noted in January that Jennings seemed subdued in his first week of episodes as host, no doubt in part due to the somber mood at the time and his nerves.
In the episodes that aired last week, however, Jennings appeared more willing to open up a bit. He engaged with contestants, for instance making comments about a Russian category as it related to a contestant who had studied in St. Petersburg. Overall, he seemed less ill-at-ease than he had in January, and even occasionally willing to crack a joke.
But one negative trait cropped up on several occasions last week when Jennings made comments about contestants’ wagering and strategy. “You could have bet bigger; you’d be in the lead,” he said last Monday after a contestant got a Daily Double correct. He made similar remarks liking particular contestants’ aggressive betting strategies during Final Jeopardy.
In fairness, Trebek would also occasionally participate in this same behavior. He could try to goad people into big wagers (“If you made this a true Daily Double and responded correctly…”), to the point that two champions noted this tendency in a book published nearly 30 years ago.
But Jennings seemed to do this more frequently during last week’s episodes. Moreover, as a former champion himself, for Jennings to insert his commentary about how contestants choose to play the game could add more pressure to an already intense environment for most players. If Jennings wants to host “Jeopardy!,” he should host “Jeopardy!.” and not armchair quarterback contestants from behind his own lectern.
As to the permanent host of “Jeopardy!,” that remains unknown. The show has not announced plans for emcees beyond the end of the calendar year, although it should do so shortly, as episodes airing in January will likely get taped in the next few weeks.
As former champion Arthur Chu noted in a column written after Richards’s departure, a lower-key host search is consistent with the “Jeopardy!” ethos, which places the contestants—and not the emcee—at the heart of the show. Richards, who supervised last season’s rotating cavalcade of guest hosts, turned “Jeopardy!” into a mini-circus, one in which people tuned in to watch the host, not the contestants, and in which most of the people “rooting” for a particular guest host to get the permanent nod were by definition going to be disappointed.
“Jeopardy!” could, and should, entertain other names than Bialik and Jennings as the permanent host for the syndicated program. But Michael Davies, who developed the American version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” and succeeded Richards as executive producer, should also use a more dignified, and less chaotic, process to select the show’s ultimate host. The fact that “Jeopardy!” has started to move on from the tumult of the summer suggests that the production team will do exactly that.
The host of the show is Brooke Burns who is a former Model and also hosts The Chase
Jennings is an anti-Trump Leftist crank. Balik is no better.
I wouldn’t envy anyone who tries to follow Alex. He was the face of the show and anyone else will be measured by that yardstick.
As a regular Jeopardy watcher, I’m fine with either Mayim Bialik or Ken Jennings.... or the two of them sharing it.
T R U M P
make jeopardy hugely greater than evah!
Heh. I was at a relative’s a few weeks ago and he’s a game show nut. We watched jeopardy. For me it was the first time in 25 years. I wondered where Alex was. Meanwhile, they were rooting for this guy that was winning like crazy, week after week. Oddly, I didn’t find it the least bit entertaining seeing an “ultimate nerd” prove he had perfect recall of an infinite number of useless facts. It’s like watching the Rain Man count toothpicks.
However, I think the quality of the questions have continued their steady decline.
More about celebrity crap (who won this academy award in 2018 or this music award in 2020) and less about hard science, math or history. I understand they think that they have to attract a younger and more shallow thinking audience, but most of those would rather watch Oprah or Naked and Afraid anyway.
Bialik leaves me cold. Jennings has lightened up and is much improved. If it’s between those two then my choice is Ken, but I thought Buzzy did an even better job than the other two.
Jennings is fine He should have been quiet about Trump, but…
Problem is he let the guy yesterday have two guesses on the answer. He says no that’s the wrong answer and stares at him. Then the guy takes another guess and its right.
Alex did not do that
And its favoritism otherwise everyone gets two guesses.
I didn’t know they were doing new Master Minds. Jeopardy could do worse than Brook, but I personally liked “Blossom”. She does a better job than Ken.
I like Ken Jennings as host. There is nothing controversial about him (on the show) at all. I also really like Mayim Bialik.
Ken Jenningshas a lisp that drives me crazy. He needs to spend some time with a speech therapist.
They will pick a gay black woman.....................
Sad to hear that about Bailk, I liked her as a guest host.
You mean you didn’t know he had passed away?
I watch a few game shows on the game show channel and the Price is right on CBS if I think about it.
My wife watches rerun game shows and tries to guess answers. Ugh.
Once in a while I will watch a 70’s “Let’s Make a Deal” to see the prizes. It can be funny to see someone get excited about winning a Vega, a piano, avocado appliances, or a fur coat. Makes you realize possessions are not really worth much.
Ken Jennings was actually my favorite he did a great job!!
After watching the replacements struggle, I am leaning towards Mayim Bialuk.
She is neutral, even-toned and always polite, never talking down to the contestants.
Jennings is awkward, smug and often condescending.
But IMO Alex Trebek was so outstanding that I cannot imagine *anyone* else even coming close to filling his shoes. Therefore it's unlikely that I'll be tuning in in the future.
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