‘Jeopardy!’Host Selection Process Fails to ‘Walk The Talk’

Death, taxes and “Jeopardy!” with Alex Trebek. For some, these were life’s certainties. That is, until Trebek, who’d hosted for nearly 40 years and 8,000 shows, announced in March 2019 he had late-stage pancreatic cancer. He died 20 months later, battling a disease that often kills within weeks or months.

So, while fans, management and owners of the second-highest-rated syndicated game show knew Trebek’s time was short, his off-the-charts ability to live and work for months with pancreatic cancer might have provided a false sense of security. That’s one way to explain a series of fumbles and flip-flops, including one last week, to name Trebek’s permanent successor. Another is mismanagement (more on that below).

Let’s begin with the latest development. Jeopardy! great Ken Jennings and actor Mayim Bialik were named Sept. 16 as interim co-hosts.