About Jeopardy!

The other night on Jeopardy! a contestant (who won), got his chance to say "Make it a true daily double Alex." 

He said it to Anderson Cooper, but Anderson understood, and I did too.

Back when I was writing about my appearance, I think I mentioned it, but in the practice games I hit the daily double three times. Each time I said "Make it a true daily double", because there were no stakes.

That wasn't to Alex either, but I did finish one of those practice games with $60000. That would have been something.

I just got a notice of the last few guest hosts to round out this year, so I have been thinking about that.

I have not blogged about this a lot (except a little about Ken Jennings on the Sunday blog), but there have been a lot of opinions about the various guest hosts. I have had some individual exchanges, and the main thing I have said -- which has not satisfied anyone when their point was whom they wanted or did not want to see -- is that I did not anticipate a permanent replacement being announced until after the regular season end.

That is still the most important thing to me. My strongest sense of how things would feel for the crew there is the profound sense of loss and grief; they loved him so much. I mean, I still can't write about it without crying. So, without anyone saying it, but observing what they have done and extrapolating from that, I believe there is a strong sense that this, the 37th season, belongs to Alex. Even if someone must come after him, it won't be until after his last season is done.

When you have that limbo, it can be awkward, but it can also be a chance to celebrate friendships, by bringing in people who were friends with Alex and friends of the show.

So I get that if it is someone whom you don't like, there can be that reaction. Dr. Oz? Mayim Bialik? Ew! But so far no one has done a terrible job. Some have been surprising. I don't remember when Aaron Rodgers won Jeopardy!, but he was delightful, if possibly a bit too quiet. Cooper has a good voice for it, but the banter is lacking. Hosting is hard; but you don't know that when you are watching the good hosts because part of what makes them good is how easy they make it look.

My favorite has been executive producer Mike Richards, who did very well, but I don't know that he would want the job; maybe he prefers executive producing.

I am glad that LeVar Burton is getting a turn, because I know a lot of people want to see him hosting. In terms of the regular gig, I had wondered if they would want someone younger than Burton -- someone who could reasonably go another 35 years -- but then, you don't know. There's no guarantee about how long you will have with a 28 year old; this past year or so has taught us some things the hard way.

I would be curious to know if they reached out to the people Alex mentioned specifically: Alex Faust, Ben Mankiewicz, and Laura Coates. Those are also all people who have jobs. Did that also maybe become an idea of what qualities to look for?

For whatever decisions the show makes, I imagine they will be thinking about not only how well that person can do the job, and how much the audience will like them, but also how much they will like working with that person; would they want 35 years? Not as a replacement, but as someone they could respect and admire and love again. 

They do make a product that we consume, but they are people too, and they are a tight unit. I know.

I'll trust them to make their decision and announce it when they are ready. Now my prediction is out there too.

And, just to get it out of my system, I am going to be snarky about two hosts:

I believe most of the guest hosts were approached by the show, but my "ew" was Buzzy Cohen, and I would not be surprised if he were hanging around the studio pestering them: "I get a turn right?" "When do you want me?" "Remember, Alex and I talked about it."

Also, my objections to Ken Jennings are his mean streak and comfort with casual racism, but I also thought he would do a better job. He lacked the gravitas. It felt like he was a kid dressed up in a suit, and nervous someone was going to notice.

However, there was never a reason to think that being a good contestant would make you a good host. From a job experience perspective, Bob Harris would probably be the most natural fit, though I am a Brad Rutter fan.

Related posts:

https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-company-you-keep.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2011/12/and-alex.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-set-in-hollywood.html