What ought to happen next?

[opusthepenguin]

Nothing against Burton, I just don’t get the hype. But my exposure to him is limited to Roots.

Don't quote me on this, but I'm sure many others feel this way, but I think many millennials like myself grew up watching "Reading Rainbow" and were greatly impacted with a love of reading and learning from that show like Jeopardy! LeVar Burton is very similar to Alex Trebek in many ways, telegenic, calming presence, and articulate. Even on his podcast you get that same relaxing vibe, which I recommend. Also he promotes and rewards lifelong learning, which obviously translates very well on Jeopardy! I don't think its a matter of people wanting to see Burton in something new, but more that he would be a solid pick to be the next J! host and be able to continue the tradition that J! and Alex Trebek represents because he is a perfect embodiment of those same qualities. Also J! always wants more diversity for the show, so that doesn't hurt either. Honestly I feel he just checks many of the boxes that qualify to be a good successor, and he'd be my top choice if I had a say in the matter. I really feel that he would make Alex proud, which many lifelong J! fans like myself want to see!

Thanks for this. I only know Burton from TNG so I didn't have the background to appreciate the recommendation. Sounds like he would be an excellent choice.

[Bamaman]

Alex’s last taping day was October 29. I think I read where his last “week” was split over two days because he wasn’t up to doing five in a day.

When would the next taping have been held if he hadn’t died? Just wondering how much time they have left to decide who will host on December 28.

[Cat Hammarskjold]

Alex’s last taping day was October 29. I think I read where his last “week” was split over two days because he wasn’t up to doing five in a day.

When would the next taping have been held if he hadn’t died? Just wondering how much time they have left to decide who will host on December 28.

My understanding is that when Alex had the hematoma in the fall of 2015, some of the episodes in the winter aired less than a week after they were recorded, but with a new production crew, maybe they wouldn't be able to turn new episodes that quickly.

[reddpen]

Nothing against Burton, I just don’t get the hype. But my exposure to him is limited to Roots.

People's exhibit A for the defense is the petition for Burton with many signatures.

The prosecution counters with this: https://twitter.com/levarburton/status/ ... 7883170816

He could have spelled Trebek correctly, at least.

This thread began with a similar lack of reberence.

[Cat Hammarskjold]

Do you think that Johnny will be doing the intros for the rest of the season, or will it be someone else?

[TenPoundHammer]

Isn't Johnny already doing everything in post? I do wonder what the plan is if he should go, too. Unlike on Wheel, where the announcer also describes the prizes and does other bits in between, Johnny only does an intro anymore (which might explain why it's been years since we've seen him do one of the "Johnny reads song lyrics" categories). But "This... is... Jeopardy!" is such an iconic phrase that calls for the right tone of voice. For this, I would nominate Randy West. It'd be nice on a meta level, since both men have also announced Supermarket Sweep.

+1 to LeVar Burton. I didn't grow up on Reading Rainbow but looking at his body of work I see that he has all of the right qualities. He's warm, telegenic, and very education-oriented, and I think that he'd be pitch-perfect at fitting the traits that made Trebek so beloved while being able to make the show his own.

Obviously no replacement is going to placate everyone. Art Fleming supposedly hated Trebek, although some of that could just be the amount of chrome that was changed in the intervening years (not to mention the fact that Trebek's hosting style was somewhat different early on). But I think that Burton has the name recognition and belovedness to more than succeed.

[talkingaway]

I hope Johnny will stay as long as he's able. I wouldn't blame him one bit either way - stop now, finish the season, or continue on. I imagine it's even easier today to do his job - a nice podcast microphone and a room in your house with good acoustics where you can spend an hour a month reading contestant names is probably even easier on him than his old schedule of coming in for the afternoon tapings.

The more I think about it, the more I think Levar Burton would be a good choice for host. His three most famous series - Roots, Reading Rainbow, and Star Trek TNG - show that he's at the very least curious and interested in history, literature (okay, children's lit - but Roots is a book too!), and STEM. That's a pretty wide range. Add to that the fact that, as an actor, he's probably into pop cultural stuff, and you've got a recipe for someone who's interested in the world around him.

The only negative is I don't know that he has quiz bowl host type experience. Of the non-reality game shows out there currently being made, I think J! is the hardest to host, with perhaps Weakest Link coming in a close second. Millionaire is slow motion, and you can always do a second or third take. Supermarket Sweep and Match Game require raw enthusiasm and improv skills, respectively. Press Your Luck and Card Sharks mostly run themselves. But the role of "first judge" in a rapidly paced game where you don't really get do-overs is tough.

But we have to remember that Alex was probably rougher around the edges in his 1984 shows. We should expect that to some degree with any new host. The one saving grace is that you might notice Johnny Gilbert says, "Here is the -host- of Jeopardy!", not "Here is the -star- of Jeopardy!". I think the stars are the clues, and those will always be there. That certainly doesn't diminish Alex's role, but even Alex's own persona of being someone who loves the pursuit of knowledge does show that the focus of the show is, rightly, on knowledge and curiosity.

I imagine Alex would want the show to continue, to encourage and reward knowledge - something that isn't rewarded enough today. And pretty much whoever the new host is, I'll still follow J!.

[triviawayne]

Do you think that Johnny will be doing the intros for the rest of the season, or will it be someone else?

If he stops, it will be by his own choice. No reason the show would want too much to change too quickly.

[doriko]

My husband said that they should change the theme music after December 25th. Grounds for divorce, no?

[yclept]

1. While a temporary host is fine, I wouldn’t love rotating hosts. It would require too much adjusting for everyone. If you want to try out multiple hosts, do it in test games (I realize that doing test games may be tougher due to the pandemic...);
2. While Jeopardy is a tough game to host, we shouldn’t forget that Jeff Probst, Dan Patrick, and even Pat Sajak were able to do it without too much extra effort. This is not meant as a knock on Alex. Just a general observation that a new host will probably fit in to the pace of the show fairly quickly;
3. I don’t really care who the next host is. I would still place Ken Jennings high on the favorites list. He is doing The Chase and Masterminds is coming back soon, so he is staying sharp in the world of trivia and should be able to fit it right into his schedule IF he desires.

[Spiny Norman]

Jeopardy! makes too much money for the affiliates (and for Sony) to be retired anytime soon, at least based on business results in the before-COVID time. The show must go on.

Two names not even mentioned in the discussion of host, both of whom have experience at the host lecturn - Todd Alan Crain and Jimmy McGuire. Todd Crain hosted over 100 Watson test games. Jimmy usually runs the warm up sessions in the studio. Of course, neither has the same experience in front of a camera with an audience of several million people. Or maybe Mike Richards decides to step out from the exec producer chair and host games for the rest of the season. He has hosted game shows before.

[MarkBarrett]

Jeopardy! makes too much money for the affiliates (and for Sony) to be retired anytime soon, at least based on business results in the before-COVID time. The show must go on.

Two names not even mentioned in the discussion of host, both of whom have experience at the host lecturn - Todd Alan Crain and Jimmy McGuire. Todd Crain hosted over 100 Watson test games. Jimmy usually runs the warm up sessions in the studio. Of course, neither has the same experience in front of a camera with an audience of several million people. Or maybe Mike Richards decides to step out from the exec producer chair and host games for the rest of the season. He has hosted game shows before.

No argument from me: viewtopic.php?p=342464#p342464

[Spiny Norman]

Jeopardy! makes too much money for the affiliates (and for Sony) to be retired anytime soon, at least based on business results in the before-COVID time. The show must go on.

Two names not even mentioned in the discussion of host, both of whom have experience at the host lectern - Todd Alan Crain and Jimmy McGuire. Todd Crain hosted over 100 Watson test games. Jimmy usually runs the warm up sessions in the studio. Of course, neither has the same experience in front of a camera with an audience of several million people. Or maybe Mike Richards decides to step out from the exec producer chair and host games for the rest of the season. He has hosted game shows before.

No argument from me: viewtopic.php?p=342464#p342464

Consider my post a respectful bump of yours.

[jeffwolfe]

What about Brad Rutter? If Ken Jennings is a possibility, then surely Rutter must be one, too. Or is he ruled out for some reason?

[opusthepenguin]

What about Brad Rutter? If Ken Jennings is a possibility, then surely Rutter must be one, too. Or is he ruled out for some reason?

'Cause he's a loser! Duh!

[talkingaway]

Jeopardy! makes too much money for the affiliates (and for Sony) to be retired anytime soon, at least based on business results in the before-COVID time. The show must go on.

Two names not even mentioned in the discussion of host, both of whom have experience at the host lecturn - Todd Alan Crain and Jimmy McGuire. Todd Crain hosted over 100 Watson test games. Jimmy usually runs the warm up sessions in the studio. Of course, neither has the same experience in front of a camera with an audience of several million people. Or maybe Mike Richards decides to step out from the exec producer chair and host games for the rest of the season. He has hosted game shows before.

I've always liked the idea of Jimmy as an in-house promotion of sorts. People said that Ken's connections with the trivia world might make the contestant pool shrink, but I'm not sure how big of a minus that would be. Jimmy would be a natural replacement since he does the warm-ups in studio (and for auditions, I think?), so he's recognizable to anyone who's watched more than, say, 10 episodes in the last 20 years.

Sometimes big names aren't necessarily the good ones. Remember Terry Crews and Cedric the Entertainer? I'm also not particularly fond of Elizabeth Banks on Press Your Luck.

I wouldn't mind the idea of an interim host while they figure things out - they do need to churn more episodes out for the affiliates, as long as the current COVID situation allows them to. If a better host becomes available for season 38, great - if not, continue. But a rotating panel of hosts wouldn't be good, IMO.

[Volante]

(Thread compression)

Jeopardy! makes too much money for the affiliates (and for Sony) to be retired anytime soon, at least based on business results in the before-COVID time. The show must go on.

Two names not even mentioned in the discussion of host, both of whom have experience at the host lecturn - Todd Alan Crain and Jimmy McGuire. Todd Crain hosted over 100 Watson test games. Jimmy usually runs the warm up sessions in the studio. Of course, neither has the same experience in front of a camera with an audience of several million people. Or maybe Mike Richards decides to step out from the exec producer chair and host games for the rest of the season. He has hosted game shows before.

I've always liked the idea of Jimmy as an in-house promotion of sorts. People said that Ken's connections with the trivia world might make the contestant pool shrink, but I'm not sure how big of a minus that would be. Jimmy would be a natural replacement since he does the warm-ups in studio (and for auditions, I think?), so he's recognizable to anyone who's watched more than, say, 10 episodes in the last 20 years.

Sometimes big names aren't necessarily the good ones. Remember Terry Crews and Cedric the Entertainer? I'm also not particularly fond of Elizabeth Banks on Press Your Luck.

I wouldn't mind the idea of an interim host while they figure things out - they do need to churn more episodes out for the affiliates, as long as the current COVID situation allows them to. If a better host becomes available for season 38, great - if not, continue. But a rotating panel of hosts wouldn't be good, IMO.

I mean, as far as rotating hosts... even if they're in for only one week, that's 10 episodes. Two weeks would probably be best, though, to fill out a month's worth.

That said, Test Positivity rates doubled between last week and this (LA went from 10 to 20 per 100k, OC from 5 to 10...) so...honestly, should probably do a couple weeks of reruns, syndication be damned.

[AndyTheQuizzer]

honestly, should probably do a couple weeks of reruns, syndication be damned.

If they're going to do reruns, they really need to insert some reruns (Heck, there's a Teachers Tournament from last season that hasn't been rerun yet--throw in a "taped before COVID-19" disclaimer if need be) before Alex's final episode. It would be supremely stupid of the show to lose out on ratings from Alex's final show and then make it worse by running reruns.

[Bamaman]

honestly, should probably do a couple weeks of reruns, syndication be damned.

If they're going to do reruns, they really need to insert some reruns (Heck, there's a Teachers Tournament from last season that hasn't been rerun yet--throw in a "taped before COVID-19" disclaimer if need be) before Alex's final episode. It would be supremely stupid of the show to lose out on ratings from Alex's final show and then make it worse by running reruns.

The final Alex episode being on Christmas is the problem. It will be pre-exempted in a number of markets. Plus people are busy with other things on Christmas. Pushing it back two weeks gives everyone the ability to see it “live” instead of hoping your DVR picks it up at 2:00 AM or if your station airs it at all. (I am sure they all will but you never know). And I don’t want to be saddened on Christmas. It also gives them two extra weeks to figure things out.

Seeing a holiday themed board in early January and Alex talking about Christmas will seem odd. And Alex probably wouldn’t have wanted a big fuss made out of this or a bunch of special arrangements. But the show is for the fans and rerunning a tournament from last year could fill the void the last two weeks of the year. Or two weeks from the vault could help build up the hype over what will be a huge TV moment. Hyping Alex’s unplanned last episode sounds a little tacky but it will be a big event. It will hype itself, more than it would if he had never gotten sick and simply retired at the end of a season.

[Leander]

I suspect that under the circumstances, the producers have been thinking about a new host for the past year and a half and almost definitely know who it will be. The specific timing of Alex’s passing may throw a bit of a wrench into the process if that person currently has other commitments.

Given the amount of attention this has received in the media, I would find it jarring and unlikely that a new host suddenly pops up on a December 28 broadcast. It would also seem disrespectful to announce a new host while Alex’s new shows are still running.

I’d guess there will be a couple of weeks of reruns until we get out of the holiday period, with a new host announced around the New Year and the show effectively re-launched sometime in January.

Of course, I could be completely wrong.