It’s still hard to imagine a permanent “Jeopardy!” without Alex Trebek. His 37-year run was legendary, and it made his name synonymous with the show. But now that he is gone, and the search for a new permanent host has begun in earnest, what will become of the long-running game show?
Well, according to Alex Trebek himself, “Jeopardy!” is going to be just fine.
“Oh yes. It’s a good show; it will survive,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2014.
The question these days is less what will become of the show itself and more who is going to take it over. The past few months have seen a rotation of guest hosts take turns at the “Jeopardy!” podium.
Some of these guests have dreamt of doing it for years and are satisfied with their short stints. But others have a stated desire to fill the permanent role.
Who Did ‘Jeopardy!’ Host Alex Trebek See as a Good Option to Take His Place?
Alex Trebek’s 2014 interview gave us some good insight into who might be a good replacement for the longtime host of “Jeopardy!” And following the month-long run Ken Jennings did in the role—which cemented him as a fan-favorite for the permanent job—it’s ironic that Trebek mentioned Brad Rutter as a good option to take over.
“I mean, someone like Brad Rutter, who was a contestant in our Battle of the Decades tournament,” Trebek said in 2014. “He’s got a good sense of humor and certainly broad-based knowledge that will help him immensely. And he has the credentials — he’s won two of our big tournaments: 1 million and 2 million dollars. So somebody like Brad.”
The longtime “Jeopardy!” host also called out “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak.
“It could be a young broadcaster in another part of the country, it could be someone who follows in the footsteps — someone like Pat Sajak, starting out as a weatherman,” he said. “Weathermen, interestingly enough, as I travel the country, I discovered that so many of the local stations, when they have their news crew doing their early-evening news, the ones on staff who do best — because they play, they watch Jeopardy! while it’s airing — the ones who do best are the weathermen, the weather people, men and women.”
