Friday, May 22, 2026

Ken Jennings Back at “Jeopardy!” as Guest Host This Fall, I Told You Last Fall He’d Get the Job

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I told you last November 2020 that “Jeopardy!” producers expected Ken Jennings to get the job as Alex Trebek’s successor.

Then Mike Richards stepped in and gave himself the job. Now Richards is long gone, and Jennings is on his way in.

TMZ reports that Jennings and Mayim Bialik will split the rest of the season alternating as hosts. Bialik has to concentrate on her sitcom so it’s unlikely she can be full time in the future.

Jennings had the highest ratings of any guest host this past year. He’s the greatest player of all time. The fans love him. Whatever stupid Tweets he sent out years ago are forgotten, and he’s apologized for them. This cancel culture business is out of control. Listen, no one cares. If Nick Cannon can make anti-Semitic rants and still have a daytime talk show, all bets are off.

Trebek wanted Jennings. He got hired on as a consulting producer with that goal. It was Richards, quite Machiavellian, who threw a wrench in the works. I told you this almost a year go. And here it is.

 

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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