The formation of the new “Jeopardy!” hosts is so long that I could now use my own category.
Longtime show producers announced Wednesday that Katie Couric, Aaron Rodgers, Bill Whitaker and Mayim Bialik will be the guest hosts this season, replacing Alex Trebek, who died in November at the age of 80 from pancreatic cancer. .
Couric, 64, will be the first woman to attract the lectern as a host, the trivia show noted. Rodgers, 37, announced his guest host concert on Tuesday and called Trebek one of his “idols.”
“Alex was a legend, revered by all of us,” said executive producer Mike Richards. “I want to thank our guest guests, who will not only help us all celebrate their great legacy, but will also bring their own touch to the program.”
Ken Jennings, who holds the record for “Jeopardy!” Longest streak of victories, he was the first host since Trebek’s death. The last episode of Trebek was filmed 10 days before he died and aired on Friday, January 8th.
Richards himself will also host two weeks of shows once the episodes filmed by Jennings are sold out so that guests can “prepare for their appearances.”
In addition to the screening time of the program, guests will also help raise funds for their favorite charities.
“As part of the appearance of each guest host, a donation will be made to a charity of their choice,” a press release said. “The amount given will be equal to the accumulated winnings of the contestants competing during the weeks they serve as a guest host.”
There will also be other guest guests announced later in the season, according to a press release.
No permanent replacement has been formally announced for Trebek, who has hosted the show for more than 8,200 episodes since 1984. However, it has been rumored that Jennings would be the leader, among other candidates such as George Stephanopoulos. Jennings, 46, even apologized for past “insensitive” tweets, which many believe was a strategy to erase her name. It was even reported that Trebek made several suggestions behind the scenes, although he was very reluctant to name a possible successor.
Jennings, who hosted an emotional show Monday after the last episode of Trebek, said she received some very valuable advice before Alex died.
“I talked to him on the phone last weekend and he was, he was fragile, but he was still very Alex,” Jennings told “Good Morning America.” “I remember he just had a lot of confidence in me to be a guest if I ever needed him.”
Trebek also reminded him that “the host is not the star of ‘Jeopardy!'”