“Jeopardy!” executive producer Michael Davies announced on Wednesday that the popular game show will have two hosts indefinitely.
“I write today with the exciting news that we have closed and signed deals with Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings to be the hosts of ‘Jeopardy!’ moving forward,” Davies said in a statement.
“The fact is, we have so much ‘Jeopardy!’ to make, and so many plans for the future, that we always knew we would need multiple hosts for the franchise and we are just so grateful that Mayim and Ken stepped in and stepped up to put the show in a position to succeed,” he continued. “And succeed it has.”
Per the statement, Jennings will host new episodes debuting in September along with the inaugural Second Chance competition and the Tournament of Champions. Bialik will then begin hosting in January and will also head up “Celebrity Jeopardy!” and the “Jeopardy! National College Championship,” per New York Post.
The long-running trivia show has gone through multiple hosts since the death of “Jeopardy!” icon Alex Trebek in November 2020. Now producers have settled on having two hosts despite backlash against both for different reasons.
Jennings, who became famous for his record-breaking run on the show as a contestant, had to apologize for some controversial tweets that were unearthed after he began hosting. Meanwhile, Bialik has been criticized for making mistakes on the show.
“Jeopardy!” fans had mixed feelings about the news that both Jennings and Bialik would be hosting going forward.
“Alex, I’ll take Who Will Be More Woke? for $500.00,” one person replied.
“Both are boring & lackluster,” someone else said.
“Ken should be the one and only,” another fan argued.
“Keep her. Lose him,” another person chimed in.
While there was no clear sentiment on which of these two, if any, should become the permanent solo host, fans did seem annoyed that show execs decided to keep both rather than making a decision. Some predicted that “Jeopardy!” would eventually choose Jennings or Bialik based on future ratings.
Earlier this summer, LeVar Burton expressed his disappointment over not being chosen as the permanent host of the game show. “Experiencing a very public defeat — humiliation, if you will — was sobering. And what I learned from the experience, really, is that it reinforced my belief that everything happens for a reason, even if you cannot discern the reason in the moment,” Burton said at the time.
“I didn’t expect that I would not be their choice for host,” he continued.
While “Jeopardy!” fans seem divided on who should take over, they all seem to agree that Trebek left some very big shoes to fill.