Longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek left a gaping hole in the show when he died last November. Perhaps it’s unfair to say this, as no host will be able to capture Trebek’s magic, but the guest hosts vying for his replacement so far have…well, not been magical at all.
The past and future Jeopardy! guest hosts haven’t captured the show’s celebration of knowledge. With Saturday’s announcement that sportscaster Joe Buck will try his hand at the gig as well, the trend of ill-fitting hosts continues.
Rather than opt for experienced game show hosts or well-known edu-tainment personalities, the guest hosts have been a roundtable of talk show hosts, a football superstar, and a TV doctor who’s spewed so much quackery that the American Medical Association is wary of him.
It’s not that the show is without options. Even before Trebek’s death, LeVar Burton said he wants to host Jeopardy. Burton is the beloved host of Reading Rainbow and more recently had a podcast called LeVar Burton Reads. His career is based in the pursuit of knowledge. He told Entertainment Weekly, “I think my whole career is an advertisement for being the host of Jeopardy.”
So why has the show gone in the opposite direction?
Jeopardy! seemed to have a logical groove at the start of the post-Trebek era. Show legend Ken Jennings was the first guest host, and he was fine at it — but there are legitimate reasons Jennings shouldn’t host the show. Further, executive producer Mike Richards did take the reins for a few weeks. I believe he’s been the best guest host so far, maybe because of his deep familiarity with the show and Trebek’s hosting style.
For whatever reason, however, the show has turned away from internal talent and has looked outward — and outward to people who don’t align with the show’s message or gameplay. The most egregious pick has been Dr. Oz, our aforementioned TV doctor. He’s made many baseless medical claims over the years, such as pushing hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment. This completely contradicts a fact-based trivia game. He also allegedly made fun of contestants. What kind of host is that?
While Oz’s tenure is blessedly over, there are more odd-seeming guests on the horizon: CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, actor Mayim Bialik, broadcaster Savannah Guthrie. I’m not saying any of these people will be poor hosts, but they appear to be a random assortment of people who’ve been on TV.
A Jeopardy! host, in my opinion as a regular viewer, should be someone who is excited to learn and just as excited for the audience to learn as well. Vice said it best: For the love of god, let LeVar Burton host Jeopardy! Barring that, the next permanent Jeopardy! host should be someone with Burton’s passion for education.
No host will replace Alex Trebek, but we deserve better. We deserve a host that will carry his legacy with pride, and see Jeopardy! into the future. No more people plucked from sports, and certainly no more quack doctors. I myself would love if the next Jeopardy! host were LeVar Burton, but even if it’s not, please: someone with at least a touch of Trebek’s hosting magic.