Ken Jennings Surprises Fans At ‘Jeopardy!’ Event

Jeopardy! Host Ken Jennings - YouTube/CBS Sunday Morning

Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings made a surprise guest appearance at a sold-out event last Friday. He sat down and shared some of his thoughts about the future of the popular game show. Plus, he talked about something that Alex Trebek did that he could never do or “ratings would drop.” Keep reading to see what the host had to say about the beloved game show.

Jeopardy! Live On Tour Kicks Off In New York City

The game show kicked off the “Inside Jeopardy! Live on Tour” in New York City last week. The tour is expected to be taken nationwide. Its NYC event had 230 fans in attendance. Each and every one of them gave Ken Jennings a standing ovation after he spoke.

Since Mayim Bialik was fired last year, Ken Jennings has been made the sole host of Jeopardy! He opened up to the crowd about the challenges of hosting the show and filling Alex Trebek’s shoes. Throughout the discussion, he joked about not being as handsome as Trebek was. Jennings also confirmed that he will never sport a mustache like Trebek did for many years.

Ken Jennings - YouTube/Jeopardy!
YouTube/Jeopardy!

“I don’t think I’m going to be the good-looking silver fox we were so lucky to have with Alex,” Jennings said. Michael Davies, the executive producer on the game show, and producer Sarah Whitcomb-Foss both asked, “We won’t be seeing a mustache?”

“I don’t think you’d like it if you did,” Jennings responded. “You will see the ratings drop.” The audience laughed at his reply.

Ken Jennings Would Like To Make One Change To Jeopardy!

Even though Jennings has no plans to copy Trebek’s mustache, he did talk about other ways he’d like to channel the beloved Jeopardy! host.

“But the thing about Alex is you’d marvel at his flawlessness, almost never making a mistake on stage,” he said. “I aspire to that kind of perfection where he has that control at all times.”

Ken Jennings also mentioned that Alex Trebek would take a look at clues during a commercial break but “not very often.” However, there is one thing that Jennings would like to do to set himself apart from Trebek.

Alex Trebek - YouTube/Jeopardy!
YouTube/Jeopardy!

“The other thing I’ve noticed is we’ve talked about the endless tournaments that were not our choice,” he said. “Now that we’ve had new contestants on, the difference is not really the gameplay but how comfortable they are on television.”

The Jeopardy! host said that there is something he’d like to do when he sees someone is uncomfortable on the game show. Because he knows what it feels like to have that “deer in headlights feeling,” he wants to go the extra mile for them.

“How can I settle that person down? Is there a way to bring them out in the interview? Is there a way to get them to laugh, to catch them off-guard, to get them to enjoy this moment?” he said during his interview before concluding, “Because I think they deserve that, and the moment often goes by.”

Amanda Blankenship

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