Tomorrow will mark exactly one year since the passing of iconic Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek. Tomorrow will also see the return of all-time Jeopardy! contestant Ken Jennings to hosting duties. After a few months with Mayim Bialik at the helm, the long-running game show is switching things up, and fans are sharing their thoughts on Twitter.
It’s no wonder fans are excited about Jennings’ return. When he did his guest-hosting stint as the first person to step into the role after Alex Trebek, he earned the highest ratings of any other guest host. Jeopardy! averaged 10.3 million viewers through the first week of Ken Jennings’ run.
Given everything that Jeopardy! has been through in recent months, tomorrow’s episode likely won’t do those kinds of numbers. Even still, fans are excited about Ken Jennings’ return.
Good Morning Everybody, this week I’m looking forward to seeing Ken Jennings host Jeopardy again but what I’m not looking forward is that it’ll be one year since we’ve lost a game show icon: Alex Trebek… We love you, Alex… 💜💔
— 🇨 🇭 🇷 🇮 🇸 🇸 🇹 🇪 🇵 🇵 (@Chris15637919) November 7, 2021
And he wasn’t the only one.
I can’t wait to watch Ken Jennings host Jeopardy! again!
— Moe Joe, Moe better (@joes_da_man) November 5, 2021
“I am looking forward to watching Ken Jennings. He is great,” another fan echoed.
‘Jeopardy!’ Legend Ken Jennings Called Hosting One of the ‘Greatest Honors’ of His Life
Ken Jennings spent more time on that stage with Alex Trebek than any other contestant in the history of the show. While that pales in comparison to the time Trebek spent with loved ones, Jennings had a tremendous amount of respect for the longtime Jeopardy! host.
The remarks he gave ahead of his first hosted game demonstrate why he’s the perfect person to honor the anniversary of Alex Trebek’s passing.
“Sharing this stage with Alex Trebek was one of the greatest honors of my life. Not many things in life are perfect, but Alex did this job pretty much perfectly for more than 36 years. And it was even better up close. We were dazzled by his intelligence, his charm, his grace — really, there’s no other word for it,” said Jennings during an episode of Jeopardy!
Ken Jennings understands that no matter who eventually gets the permanent hosting job, they’ll never be a genuine replacement for Trebek. They’ll simply be trying to live up to his example.
“Like all Jeopardy! fans, I miss Alex. Very much. And I thank him for everything he did for all of us. Let’s be totally clear: No one will ever replace the great Alex Trebek, but we can honor him by playing the game he loved,” Jennings continued.
