# If Alex Trebek Retires from Jeopardy!, Who Should Replace Him? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804 "2019-11-22T02:30:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/21 "2019-11-22T16:24:45Z")
I dunno - I wasn’t around back then. But there was a long gap between him and Fleming. I doubt Jepoardy’s showrunners will want to wait five years before they start filming again. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/22 "2019-11-22T16:40:31Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > What’s Joe Besser doing? We just watched an episode of _The Joey Bishop Show_ two nights ago. I remembered him as being better on that show than what we saw. So the first Curly clone is still alive and well … in reruns on Antenna TV. Check your TV Guide. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/23 "2019-11-22T16:46:08Z")
> [@txjim](#): > > Is that what we said when Art Fleming was replaced on the second reboot? I was way too young to have ever watched the Art Fleming version but it’s safe to say that Jeopardy! is a much bigger phenomenon now than it was then. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/24 "2019-11-22T16:49:16Z")
This is getting to be a [semiannual](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=859667) [thing](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872157). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/25 "2019-11-22T17:16:17Z")
“If” he retires??? Is dying considered retiring? This is all planned out way ahead of time by the producers. I realize there is no one easy answer. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/26 "2019-11-22T18:03:02Z")
John Ratzenberger ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/27 "2019-11-22T18:38:16Z")
I figure they will do the better part of a year with guest/test hosts. Some serious, some not. It will be a mix of former contestants and B-listers who might want the job and A-listers and others who don’t want the job but would do it for fun and ratings. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/28 "2019-11-22T22:15:15Z")
Serious question: How did Dan Patrick do with Sports Jeopardy? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/29 "2019-11-23T02:37:04Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Pushing up daisies. 😃 It was a quote from a great old Friedman Bros. Comic strip, “The Day Chet Huntley Died.” “But…WHO will do th’ news on the teevee?” “What’s Joe Besser doing?” (For the squares, Besser played Stinky on the Abbot and Costello Show, and was briefly a Stooge) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/30 "2019-11-23T08:27:07Z")
> [@txjim](#): > > Is that what we said when Art Fleming was replaced on the second reboot? There were 5 years of no Jeopardy! between Art Fleming’s last season, and Alex Trebek’s first. It’s unlikely that there’ll be a more significant gap between Alex’s retirement and his replacement’s start than a regular hiatus. So Art-\>Alex was a different sort of transition than Alex-\>Post-Alex will be. I have no actual suggestions about who should take over, except to say that if it absolutely has to be someone who got big by appearing as a contestant, it should be Brad Rutter. (I went over my objections to James Holzhauer and Ken Jennings in the main Jeopardy! thread.) I’m not a big fan of the idea of Brad taking over, either, but of all the big contestants, I think he has the best balance of presence and restraint, which a host for Jeopardy! (or similar game) would require. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/31 "2019-11-23T09:08:52Z")
Eugene Levy. Has to be. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/32 "2019-11-23T09:11:53Z")
I understood that reference! ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/33 "2019-11-23T13:24:02Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > I figure they will do the better part of a year with guest/test hosts. Some serious, some not. It will be a mix of former contestants and B-listers who might want the job and A-listers and others who don’t want the job but would do it for fun and ratings. I tend to agree. We’ll see a rotating cast for a while, maybe changing once a month or so. I’m sure the producers have a list of options that they’re already working with. Anderson Cooper and Ken Jennings are the two most obvious. I really like the suggestion of Jane Lynch. With “The Good Place” ending, I’d love to see Kristen Bell have a run as host, and not only because it gives me more opportunities to look at her. I mean, partially that. This suggestion is WAY off base, but I’d like to see John Cena give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/34 "2019-11-23T13:57:17Z")
Alex Jones “Sorry the answer was Who are the interdemensional, Luciferian, pedophile hybrid crab troglodytes!” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/35 "2019-11-23T16:12:25Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > John Ratzenberger What is Cliff Clavin? As an aside, I had the Playstation version of _Jeopardy_ and if you went into Final Jeopardy with a sizeable lead, Alex would say, “The outcome of this game seems assured, that is, of course, unless somebody pulls off a Clavin.” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/36 "2019-11-23T16:15:01Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Serious question: How did Dan Patrick do with Sports Jeopardy? I liked him. And before he was host of _Survivor_, Jeff Probst was the host of _Rock and Roll Jeopardy_. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/37 "2019-11-23T16:39:44Z")
Neil deGrasse Tyson ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/38 "2019-11-23T18:44:03Z")
Any voice actor would be good, hopefully someone recognizable, but not tied up in a leading role. John Ratzenberger is a great suggestion. The last time the Dope had a thread on this I suggested Wil Wheaton and I still think he’s be good. Anybody from “The Good Place” but I’m sure they have better things to do. Nick Offerman, while I think of it. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/39 "2019-11-24T03:58:31Z")
If you are looking for a serious answer, Joey Fatone. Watch Common Knowledge: he’s likeable but straight forward. He is also great at explaining the right answer when the contestant gets it wrong. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804/40 "2019-11-24T04:17:11Z")
I’m sure he’s quite comfortable where he is, but I could really see Peter Sagal from _Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me_ in the role. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-alex-trebek-retires-from-jeopardy-who-should-replace-him/843804.md?page=3)