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‘Jeopardy!’: When Can Audiences Expect Ken Jennings to Start Hosting?

Big news landed for “Jeopardy!” fans today. Fan favorite legend and former guest host Ken Jennings will join Mayim Bialik as a temporary guest host for the game show.

The news broke on the official “Jeopardy!” website after reports from TMZ leaked it earlier today. Per the press release, Bialik will helm the episodes airing from Sept. 20 to Nov. 5. After that, Jennings will switch off with Bialik until the end of the calendar year. Sony Pictures Television hasn’t released any news yet on what comes afterward in 2022.

Jennings and Bialik stepped in for the game show after former executive producer Mike Richards stepped down from the permanent host spot. His past controversial comments caused fans to call for his removal from the show.

According to TMZ’s sources, that’s also why the show refuses to name Jennings as a permanent host. Though he’s a “Jeopardy!” legend, having won the most consecutive games (74) and the highest earnings (over $2.5 million), Jennings also has a few skeletons in his closet. The network’s happy to have him on hand for temporary gigs like this one. But it sounds like the hunt for a permanent person continues.

“Jeopardy!” lost its longtime host, Alex Trebek, back in Nov. 2020. He died of stage four pancreatic cancer, leaving a gaping hole in the “Jeopardy!” community and world as a whole. The game show’s tried out multiple guest hosts since Trebek’s death in an attempt to find someone to step into his shoes. But the struggle continues almost one year later.

‘Jeopardy!’ Announces Jennings and Bialik Co-Hosting on Social Media

Following the announcement, “Jeopardy!” released a cheeky update on Twitter with the news. “Not sure if you’ve heard but @missmayim and @kenjennings are hosting me until the end of the year. Everyone on the staff is supralunar.”

Leave it to a trivia show to use a high-vocabulary term like “supralunar.” Basically, the show’s saying that the staff are “over the moon” to have Jennings and Bialik on it. Very clever, “Jeopardy!” social media interns.

Fans quickly reacted to the news, with several people expressing their excitement about the duo. Twitter user Andy Winner quote tweeted the “Jeopardy!” post and said, “All’s well once again in the nerdatorium.”

“If Ken Jennings isn’t named the permanent host, I’m rioting,” said another Twitter user named Polly Flowers.

But a majority of fans also once again called for the fan-favorite guest host to end all guest hosts: LeVar Burton.

“Not sure if you heard @Jeopardy , the correct spelling is @levarburton . How do you keep failing to read the room? We want Levar! Give us Levar!” one fan wrote.

Another fan named Jayeson kept it short and simple when summing up fans’ thoughts. “Dear, Jeopardy. Levar Burton. Thanks.”

https://twitter.com/jayesonjackson/status/1438551796591513604