Ken Jennings Reveals the “Jeopardy!” Advice Alex Trebek Gave Him in Final Phone Call
<img loading=“lazy” src=“https://bestlifeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/08/trebek-jennings-main-e1693323655234.png?strip=1&resize=640%2C360&quality=82" onerror=“this.onerror=null;this.src=‘https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe7F7TRXHtjiKvHb5vS7DmnxvpHiDyoYyYvm1nHB3Qp2_w3BnM6A2eq4v7FYxCC9bfZt3a9vIMtAYEKUiaDQbHMg-ViyGmRIj39MLp0bGFfgfYw1Dc9q_H-T0wiTm3l0Uq42dETrN9eC8aGJ9_IORZsxST1AcLR7np1koOfcc7tnHa4S8Mwz_xD9d0=s16000';" alt=“Alex Trebek and Ken Jennings on “Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time” in 2020 - 1”>
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Alex Trebek hosted Jeopardy! for 36 years, which means that many fans of the show had been watching him for most of all of their lives. Because of that legacy, it was difficult to imagine anyone else stepping into his shoes. But, when Trebek died of pancreatic cancer in November 2020, the show was faced with that reality. Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings was named the temporary guest host before the show slotted in a series of guest hosts on the way to choosing a permanent replacement for Trebek. Today, Jennings and Mayim Bialik share hosting duties, though Bialik has stepped back for the time being in support of striking Hollywood writers.
Back in 2020, before Trebek passed, Jennings was already in talks to guest host, if needed. In a new interview, the former champion revealed that his last conversation with his predecessor took place the night before Trebek died and that Trebek imparted some advice that Jennings uses on the show today. Read on to find out what the late TV legend told his successor.
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<img loading=“lazy” src=“https://bestlifeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/08/Alex-trebek.png?strip=all&w=500" onerror=“this.onerror=null;this.src=‘https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe7F7TRXHtjiKvHb5vS7DmnxvpHiDyoYyYvm1nHB3Qp2_w3BnM6A2eq4v7FYxCC9bfZt3a9vIMtAYEKUiaDQbHMg-ViyGmRIj39MLp0bGFfgfYw1Dc9q_H-T0wiTm3l0Uq42dETrN9eC8aGJ9_IORZsxST1AcLR7np1koOfcc7tnHa4S8Mwz_xD9d0=s16000';" alt=“Alex Trebek hosting “Jeopardy!” in November 2019 - 2”>
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In a new interview with The Last Podcast on the Left , Jennings was asked if Trebek was exactly how he seemed on Jeopardy! in real life.
“He very much was,” Jennings said, before adding, “I mean, he was more fun … During commercials he would tell jokes, go into the crowd. He loved to warm up the crowd himself and do little impressions. He was a very light, funny guy. But, you know, he had to keep the show moving because that’s the job description.”
The 49-year-old continued, “The things you think you know about him—that he’s smart, that he actually knew all those answers and wanted you to know that he knew them, and was very well-read, and kind of a gentleman of the old school—all 100 percent true.”
<img loading=“lazy” src=“https://bestlifeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/08/trebek-jennings-1.png?strip=all&w=500" onerror=“this.onerror=null;this.src=‘https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe7F7TRXHtjiKvHb5vS7DmnxvpHiDyoYyYvm1nHB3Qp2_w3BnM6A2eq4v7FYxCC9bfZt3a9vIMtAYEKUiaDQbHMg-ViyGmRIj39MLp0bGFfgfYw1Dc9q_H-T0wiTm3l0Uq42dETrN9eC8aGJ9_IORZsxST1AcLR7np1koOfcc7tnHa4S8Mwz_xD9d0=s16000';" alt=“Alex Trebek and Ken Jennings on “Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time” in 2020 - 3”>
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Jennings went on to describe his final memories of Trebek.
“I actually ended up talking to him what turned out to be the night before the day he passed away about guest hosting for him,” Jennings said. “We didn’t know. We thought, Oh, he’s going to get better. He’s going to bounce back. He’ll be hosting again . I was just going to fill in. And we talked about the game.”
Trebek gave him advice about hosting by sharing his own philosophy. “He gave me the impression he always did over the years, which was that he did not want to be the center of attention on Jeopardy! . He was never announced as the ‘star of Jeopardy! ‘, he was always the ‘host of Jeopardy! ’ because he thought the game itself and the contestants should be the star,” Jennings explained.
The current host said that he follows Trebek’s lead. “I do the same thing. This should not be about me. This should be about these three people and the clues and that’s what people want,” he added.
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Jennings shared more details about the conversation with E! News in January 2021. “We had talked about the possibility of me guest hosting for him at some point and he was so sweet,” the host revealed. “He was thanking me very genuinely for helping out and I was like, ‘Alex, you gave us 37 years. We should be thanking you. It’s the least I could do.’”
Speaking to E! News, Jennings shared that he knows people would rather see Trebek than him and revealed that he feels the same way.
“Just to be frank, nobody wants me there,” he said. At the time, the show was using Jennings and other guest hosts. “I don’t want me there. We all want to see Alex there for 100 years in a perfect world and, you know, I really just wanted to do the best I could so as not to let him down and Jeopardy! viewers down, so I felt a lot of pressure.”
In an interview with Good Morning America around the same time, Jennings said , “You can’t fill shoes like Alex Trebek’s. He was just a legend and, you know, I’m like everybody else—when I hear that music, I don’t want to see an interim host. In a perfect world, I want to see Alex Trebek.”
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<img loading=“lazy” src=“https://bestlifeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/08/mayim-ken.png?strip=all&w=500" onerror=“this.onerror=null;this.src=‘https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe7F7TRXHtjiKvHb5vS7DmnxvpHiDyoYyYvm1nHB3Qp2_w3BnM6A2eq4v7FYxCC9bfZt3a9vIMtAYEKUiaDQbHMg-ViyGmRIj39MLp0bGFfgfYw1Dc9q_H-T0wiTm3l0Uq42dETrN9eC8aGJ9_IORZsxST1AcLR7np1koOfcc7tnHa4S8Mwz_xD9d0=s16000';" alt=“Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings in a September 2022 “Jeopardy!” video - 5”>
Jeopardy! / YouTube
Jennings and Bialik began hosting Jeopardy! permanently in September 2021, following a brief and controversial stint by the show’s former executive producer Mike Richards . Recently, the show made headlines for deciding to film new episodes amid the Writers Guild of America strike. The current executive producer, Michael Davies , announced that the show would use clues that were written before the strike began in May 2022, as well as clues recycled from previous episodes.
Amid the strike, Bialik stepped down from hosting in solidarity with the WGA. Jennings has continued to host the show, which has led to criticism that he is crossing the picket line. Jennings defended himself on X, formerly Twitter, by pointing out that Trebek continued to host the show during the 2007-2008 WGA strike.
“Jeopardy!” Is Returning Next Month, But Get Ready for Major Changes
ABC
With the ongoing Writers Guild of American (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes stalling production in Hollywood, we’ve all been left wondering about the fate of our favorite shows —and Jeopardy! is no exception. The long-running game show employs WGA writers to draft questions, so while they’re on the picket line, no new clues are being produced. But despite speculation that the series would have to pause indefinitely as a result, Jeopardy! is officially returning next month—and producers just revealed that it’ll be accompanied by major changes. Read on to find out what you can expect to see come September.
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Before any of the strikes were in motion, Jeopardy! was anticipated to kick off with a different format next month. As executive producer Michael Davies explained during a March episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, Season 40 was set to begin with the Season 39 postseason.
However, last month, Sony Pictures Television confirmed that the postseason, including the ToC, would be delayed indefinitely due to the strikes .
“ Jeopardy! never had any intention of producing a Tournament of Champions for season 39 until the strike is resolved,” the spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter . “Further, no contestants from season 39 have been contacted regarding their availability for any postseason tournaments, including the TOC. The Jeopardy! postseason represents the pinnacle of our competition, and it should feature our strongest players playing our toughest original material.”
But while the show is pressing pause on the tournaments, the spokesperson confirmed that new, syndicated episodes would be airing in September, with production using recycled questions. Now, Davies has shared more details on what that will look like.
RELATED: The 10 Most Beloved Jeopardy! Contestants of All Time .
ABC
During the Aug. 7 episode of Inside Jeopardy! , Davies addressed the situation, noting that the game show is in a “ holding pattern .”
“Obviously, the entire staff is committed to producing the best episodes we possibly can, but I understand that the best episodes that are possible are episodes that feature our writers writing original material, and the very best contestants, as we’ve always put on the air, playing that original material,” he said, noting that writers are needed to draft questions for Season 39’s strongest competitors.
But as for the “new” episodes, Davies revealed that production will not only use recycled material, but will also feature recycled contestants.
“I believe, principally, that it would not be fair to have new contestants making their first appearance on the Alex Trebek stage, doing it with non-original material or, as we’ll talk about, a combination of non-original material and material that was written pre-strike,” Davies said. “And so we decided that really we needed to invite back and give a second chance in general to players who probably thought that their chance to come back and play on the Alex Trebek stage had gone forever.”
He continued, “So we’re gonna open the season with a Second Chance tournament for players from Season 37 who lost their initial game, and winners from that will advance to a Season 37 and Season 38 Champions Wild Card.”
According to Davies, the material in question includes WGA material from before the strike “which is still in the database,” as well as material “that is being deployed from multiple, multiple seasons of the show.”
RELATED: Jeopardy! Producer Explains “Painful to Watch” Episode Amid Backlash .
ABC
Jeopardy! producer Sarah Foss added that this new structure gives additional former contestants the opportunity to “come back and provide some great games for those of you that are looking forward to the launch of the season.” (Season 38 players already competed in their Second Chance tournament, which debuted in Season 39.)
The remaining elephant in the room, however, is the question of who’s going to host these new episodes. Mayim Bialik is unlikely to return before the strike is resolved, as she already bowed out of the final week of filming to stand in solidarity with the writers. Ken Jennings filled in, but he’s since received heavy criticism about crossing the picket line . Both are also SAG-AFTRA members.
Davies and Foss didn’t share plans for the host, and Davies conceded that he has “no idea on timing” for when the show will return to normalcy. However, he said the Season 39 postseason will begin filming once the strike ends.
As for Celebrity Jeopardy! —which is a separate show—that will proceed with original material drafted under the WGA contact before the strike began May. Foss noted that they have already started “booking exciting talent.”
ABC
These aren’t the only changes for the upcoming season, as Jeopardy! is also upping the prize money by $1,000 for second and third-place finishers. According to Davies, third-place finishers now receive $2,000, and second-place finishers will receive $3,000.
“This is something that we’ve been working on ever since I really took the reins of the show,” he said. “It’s something that obviously is discussed widely within our social communities and with the community of our contestants. We understand that post-COVID, travel costs have increased. We understand how complicated sort of funding a trip to Jeopardy! is for, you know, many contestants within our community.”
