OK, you caught me, ranking the guest hosts who’ve appeared on Jeopardy! this season is slightly outside the purview of Video Game Canon.
But there have been a lot of video game adaptations of the show over the years, and the firestorm surrounding the selection of Mike Richards as the permanent host (and his quick exit from that job just a week-and-change later) makes figuring out who the next host should be a very interesting question.
Plus, I’m a huge Jeopardy! fan, and I’ve been slightly obsessed with this whole process from the beginning.
After Alex Trebek revealed his cancer diagnosis in 2019, many fans assumed that the show’s greatest champion, Ken Jennings, would be installed behind the podium. The show itself seemed to confirm this theory when his name was added to the list of producers before the most recent season, and he even presented several clues during Trebek’s final episodes.
Jenning was also picked by producers as the first guest host after Trebek’s death in November 2020. According to The New York Times, Trebek had prepared for this moment and instructed the show’s staff to leave a pair of his cufflinks for Jennings. A handwritten letter from Jean Trebek, Alex’s widow, was also waiting in the dressing room.
But after Ken Jennings departed the stage, Jeopardy! went through a rotating series of guest hosts (15 more in all, including two weeks for Richards, who also serves as the show’s Executive Producer) that doubled as an audition for many of the participants. In addition to Jennings and Richards, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Reading Rainbow‘s LeVar Burton, Big Bang Theory‘s Mayim Bialik, and Jeopardy! champion Buzzy Cohen all said they wanted the permanent hosting job.
On August 11, Jeopardy! announced that Richards had been chosen as the new host, and Mayim Bialik would also return to MC a series of primetime tournaments.
Fans weren’t happy, especially because many of the other candidates had much better command of hosting the game and because Mike Richards more-or-less picked himself to be the host. As the Executive Producer, he ran the audition process, even if other producers at Sony Pictures ultimately made the final decision. This feeling of disappointment gave way to anger once journalist Claire McNear uncovered his history of harassment for The Ringer.
But now that Richards is out, who should be in? Several outlets ranked every Jeopardy! guest host in a 1-16 format, and averaging them together gives us a pretty good look at who the public wants…
The AV Club, Buzzfeed, and The Sporting News all liked Ken Jennings, who had the best average overall.
Buzzy Cohen was close behind, and Mayim Bialik came in third thanks to a top vote from Variety. Mike Richards ultimately finished in the middle of the pack, though only because he was inexplicably the top choice at Den of Geek and USA Today.
While each outlet had different criteria for what makes a good host, they almost all agreed on what makes a bad one. Dr. Oz was in last place on six of the seven lists.
Special Report: Jeopardy! Guest Hosts
Several outlets published incomplete lists that aren’t included in the table above. The Boston Globe and SFGate both favored Buzzy Cohen, while What To Watch preferred LeVar Burton.
I’ll keep an eye out for more rankings of the Jeopardy! guest hosts and update this list in the future accordingly.
The next season of Jeopardy! begins on September 13th. Mayim Bialik will serve as the host until the producers can line up another slate of guest hosts. A new decision on the permanent host is still pending.