Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings on Mayim Bialik’s departure

As many of you may have heard already, there are changes afoot for the syndicated version of Jeopardy! moving forward — Mayim Bialik will no longer be co-host. Ken Jennings is going to man this particular version of the show solo, and that may not be that much of a surprise to those who have been watching the past several months. It felt like things were moving in this direction already.

With that being said, though, Jennings himself expressed to TV Insider that he did not anticipate the change happening:

“I was surprised … I love working with Mayim, but I can’t speak to her decision-making here … But [when it comes to] Jeopardy!, I am just a fan of the show and I am always delighted to host it when called upon because I love doing it.”

For those who are wondering, there does still remain a chance that the Big Bang Theory star does come back and host some primetime specials or some other iterations of the show moving forward — just not the main one that has defined the series for so many years. Jennings does have a chance now to create even more consistency but in general, we will argue that in the ideal universe, Jeopardy! is not really defined by the person sitting behind the lectern. While Alex Trebek himself was the institution, he never quite craved the publicity or attention. Instead, it was more about watching the contestants trying to rake up money or having some epic winning streaks. Those are the things that continue to make us the most excited here as a viewer long-term. (This is certainly something that Jennings himself has to be familiar with, given his own history with the show and with Trebek.)

Related – Be sure to see more of what Bialik had to say about her exit from the syndicated Jeopardy!

Do you still think we are going to see Mayim Bialik host other versions of Jeopardy! down the road?

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