What is the future of Jeopardy!?
No, that's not an answer to a question on the celebrated game show. Rather, it's the question we're all asking after Jeopardy! executive producer Michael Davies teased a hosting announcement could be coming "very, very soon."
After acknowledging some "awkward months" for the show—executive producer Mike Richards was fired after being named Alex Trebek's successor—Davies is looking forward to the future. "What's happened over the course of the season—Matt Amodio, and Amy Schneider and Mattea [Roach] and Ryan [Long]—really made us just remember how incredible the game is," he said backstage at the 2022 Daytime Emmys, according to Variety. "The stars of our show and Mayim [Bialik] and Ken [Jennings] have done incredible job hosting."
But will Bialik and Jennings, who stepped in to host season 38, become permanent fixtures? Well…
"With all of our plans for Jeopardy!—which is more Jeopardy!, not less, more versions—we're going to need multiple hosts to represent the entire audience," the executive producer explained, "to represent the entire country, in order to take this franchise forward."
We can't help but wonder how LeVar Burton feels about this update, as he guest hosted the show following Trebek's passing in 2020 and publicly petitioned for the full-time role.
As Burton detailed, he was "wrecked" after not being cast as Trebek's replacement. "Experiencing a very public defeat, humiliation, if you will, was sobering," Burton told Newsy's In the Loop in May. "I didn't expect that I would not be their choice for host."
He's since been tapped to host and executive produce a new Trivial Pursuit game show for eOne.