As one other season of Jeopardy! involves an finish, host Ken Jennings has opened up about whether or not he can see himself staying on the present without end or if he is likely to be tempted to step away after just a few years on the helm.
Jennings, 51, has firmly cemented himself as host of the long-running present, following Alex Trebek‘s dying from pancreatic most cancers on the age of 80 in 2020.
The sport present started with Artwork Fleming, who hosted from its inception in 1964 to 1979. When Jeopardy! turned a syndicated present in 1984, Trebek took over the reins.
After Trebek’s dying, there have been non permanent hosts till a everlasting one might be named. Former producer Mike Richards served because the host for one week in 2021. Then, Mayim Bialik and Jennings had been named cohosts from 2021 till 2023.
Bialik was then fired on the finish of 2023, and Ken Jennings has been the only real host ever since. Whereas selling his look on Who Desires to Be a Millionaire Jennings took outing to talk with TV Insider about how lengthy he thinks he would be the host of Jeopardy!, what he would change if something, and his upcoming guide launch.
Do you suppose that you’ll host Jeopardy! for the remainder of your life? Or do you have got an endgame in thoughts?
The final host labored into his 80s. Historically, it’s not a job you retire from. I didn’t know on the time, however now that I’ve just a few years beneath my belt, I feel I perceive why Alex wished to do it. It’s simply such an extremely enjoyable job. You’re taking part in together with the neatest of us and attending to see them do their factor up shut. I actually really feel very fortunate that I’m nonetheless a part of the Jeopardy! household in spite of everything these years. And I’ve, I’ve no plans to hold it up.
In the event you had been a showrunner or the boss of Jeopardy! Is there something that you’d change?
*chuckles* I do miss, and I don’t know what number of many years it’s been, however there was once a factor the place the greenback quantities would seem on the board and the sound impact can be like ‘beep boop boop beep boop boop’ and we don’t have time for that sound impact anymore, apparently, however I miss it. I’m very nostalgic for that sound impact. I really feel like our scores would in all probability double simply from that. I’m not an professional, however I’m simply spitballing. I feel we might double our scores if we had the greenback quantity sound impact again.
You even have a guide popping out and a guide tour developing. What can followers count on from each guide and the tour?
Oh yeah, I’ve been writing a trivia quiz referred to as [The Complete] Kennections for effectively over a decade, first for Parade Journal, that’s how way back it was, after which for Psychological Floss, and most of them are misplaced within the bowels of the web or of newsprint now, so we’re doing a whole connections, 5000 trivia questions. I feel they’re actually enjoyable to play together with. The guide has a intelligent gimmick the place you can also make the quizzes simpler or tougher through the use of one of many cowl flaps to cover a part of the web page. In order that’s a enjoyable angle. We’re simply going to do, I feel, the guide signings are all going to be little mini Kennection sport exhibits. We’ll get individuals to play alongside, and we don’t have Jeopardy!-sized prizes, a lot much less Who Desires to be a Millionaire’s prize finances. Sorry. So no, no confetti will likely be falling from the ceiling at your native unbiased bookstore.
Jennings appeared on Who Desires to be a Millionaire? on Wednesday, July 23, with Matt Damon. The pair will end their sport, which ended on the $250,000 query, on July 30. Tune in at 8/7c on ABC to see if he goes all the best way.
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