Ken Jennings will be returning to “Jeopardy!” and will be hosting for the next three weeks. And he still can’t believe it.
No matter that Jennings is the all-time "Jeopardy!" champ, hosting the beloved, long-running game show seems to add more pressure for Jennings than a really tough Daily Double.
One might think the pressure was even higher, given that his first day back as host was on Monday, the first anniversary of Alex Trebek's death. And one would be right.
As USA Today reports, Jennings did not know this episode would air that day when they taped it back in September -- and that was by design.
"Apparently, everyone was aware that we were going to air (my first episode) on the anniversary,” Jennings said, “and nobody told me. They didn't want to put that in my head. So I was not told until after that it was the November 8 show."
Jennings first became a temporary host after Trebek passed away last year at age 80 from pancreatic cancer. The search for a permanent host dragged on for months, with 15 celebrities and former players propped up behind Trebek’s podium.
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And even when they finally did settle on executive producer Mike Richards, he was quickly removed after derogatory comments he made on a 2014 podcast resurfaced.
So, even if temporarily, how did it feel to host again?
"You would like to say just like getting back on a bike," Jennings said. “But it's a very tricky job. The mechanics of hosting 'Jeopardy!' are daunting. There's a lot going on at once, and Alex made it all look so easy. But I can tell you firsthand, it's not easy."
"But honestly,” he continued, “it was just such a delight to be back on that stage… I knew that it was going to be a very difficult task … much less the idea that you're trying to step into the shoes of Alex Trebek, which is impossible. This time, we're kind of a year removed or more from all that, so I've had every possible emotion now related to 'Jeopardy!’."
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Former “The Big Bang Theory” star, Mayim Bialik, will be back soon to trade off hosting duties with Jennings for awhile, as per Bialik's commitment to taping her Fox sitcom, "Call Me Kat," which returns in January.
Jennings noted the difference between their two styles. He thinks Bialik presents “kind of a fresh and authentic feeling, like somebody just kind of discovering 'Jeopardy!,' which is not what you're gonna see from me. I hear Alex's voice in my head every time I'm out there."
While the champ sounds generally noncommittal when asked about his desire to be the permanent host, "If my country called upon me to host 'Jeopardy!' I would happily do my patriotic duty,” he admits. “That show is my first love. Even as a little kid, I would run home from school every day to watch. It's just a big part of who I am and the person I became, even before I was on the show. So it's just enormously flattering to be in the mix. And I feel like the show is in good hands, at this point, no matter what happens."
The controversial carousel of possible hosts that occured over the last year has left something of a bad taste in the mouth of viewers who saw Trebek as a smooth rock of dependability. Conversely, the new host search has seemed a bit bumbling for a show known for stout minds.
Ultimately, Jennings doesn’t seem to think it’s hurt the show though, and says the guest host lottery demonstrated what Trebek often said, that "Jeopardy!" is more about the game than the host.
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