‘Jeopardy!’ Producer Reveals When to Expect New Permanent Host Announcement

Alex Trebek Jeopardy
Jeopardy, Inc./CBS Television Distribution

While Jeopardy! is currently going through a revolving door of guest hosts, fans won’t have to wait much longer to find out who is taking over the quiz show permanently.

Executive producer Mike Richards, who recently guest-hosted himself, shed some light on the matter when he appeared on The Wall Street Journal’s podcast The Journal last week. He stated that a decision will be made before filming begins on the 38th season in late July or early August and explained why the hiring process has taken so long.

“We started talking about it internally that to name someone right away would be very hard for us because we were still reeling from the loss [of Alex Trebek],” said Richards. “If on Friday it’s Alex’s last show and then Monday it’s a new person’s show, that would probably be unfair to the person stepping in to do it.”

Trebek passed away in November 2020 after a nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer and his final Jeopardy! episode aired in January. Since then, several guest stars have taken up the mantle, including Ken Jennings, Katie Couric, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Aaron Rodgers, Anderson Cooper, and currently 60 Minutes reporter Bill Whitaker.

Whether any of these guest hosts will be given the full-time role remains to be seen, as even Richards himself isn’t sure who the new host will be.

“It’s going to come down to the heads of Sony to make that decision, ultimately, and it’ll come down to testing,” he told The Journal. “They’ve been a part of it. They know what’s going on in the studio. They’re watching the feed, the tapings. It’s very extensive. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of, as far as testing in its size and scope.”

There is still a strong lineup of guest hosts to come as Jeopardy! finishes up its 37th season. This includes the likes of Mayim Bialik, Savannah Guthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Robin Roberts, LeVar Burton, and Joe Buck.

“You want to make an informed decision,” Richards continued. “We want to go at this with real analytics and real testing and not just go, ‘Hey, how about this guy?’ which is kind of how a lot of these decisions have been made historically.”

Jeopardy!, Season 37, Weeknights, Check your local listings