# Who should be the next host of "Jeopardy!"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** reality-or-game-show\ **Created:** [November 12, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460 "2020-11-12T20:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/342 "2021-04-08T00:35:32Z")
I really liked “Mr. Rodgers”. I tuned in to be amused, but was surprised by how well he kept the game moving. But my hope is that when someone takes over the job permanently, we’ll all say “Wow, SO much better than any of the temporary guest hosts!” ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/343 "2021-04-08T01:17:13Z")
Yeah, so far Ken’s the best, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/345 "2021-04-08T01:29:23Z")
No offense, but wtf is a “sackbut”, is my first reaction. If that’s your idea of “easy”, then what on earth do you consider “obscure”? (I did NOT mean to withdraw the last post, just edit it and kept hitting the wrong link!) 😠 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/346 "2021-04-08T01:33:54Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > No offense, but wtf is a “sackbut”, is my first reaction. If that’s your idea of “easy”, then what on earth do you consider “obscure”? I dunno. Give me some choices. Amazing how fast we can go from fighting ignorance to embracing it. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/347 "2021-04-08T01:37:39Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Amazing how fast we can go from fighting ignorance to embracing it. If anyone is embracing ignorance here, it’s you: > [@terentii](#): > > Yes, I’m sure he knows tons of sports trivia, while I admittedly know almost none. I pretty much go into hibernation mode whenever a sports column comes up. When a category comes up that I know nothing about, I pay attention and try to learn something I didn’t know. Apparently you can’t be bothered. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/348 "2021-04-08T01:40:51Z")
If you gain utility from it, it’s time well wasted. For me, it does less than nothing, and I in no way feel deprived. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/349 "2021-04-08T03:42:01Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Yeah, so far Ken’s the best, IMO. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/350 "2021-04-08T04:31:45Z")
You’d better hope there’s not another war. I’ve seen the documentaries. Foreign and domestic personnel are differentiated by the asking of sports related questions. Such questions as: Who had the most homeruns in the 1998 Superbowl? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/351 "2021-04-08T04:54:21Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > …then what on earth do you consider “obscure”? Do you know what a poronkusema is? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/352 "2021-04-08T04:57:40Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > If you gain utility from it, it’s time well wasted. For me, it does less than nothing, and I in no way feel deprived. Funny how you wear your own ignorance like a badge of honor while ridiculing others for the same thing. Both sports trivia and musical instrument trivia are equally meaningless outside of trivia games. Knowing more about one or the other doesn’t make you a better or more intelligent person. ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/353 "2021-04-08T06:59:12Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > wear your own ignorance like a badge of honor Well isn’t this the motto of The Straight Dope: “Straight Dope Message Board Your direct line to thousands of the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/354 "2021-04-08T07:08:19Z")
I’d actually argue that sports knowledge is more likely to be useful than knowing the name of the precursor to the trombone. The main reason I would remember the latter is just the funny\* name. If it wasn’t for that, I’d just call it “the early version of the trombone”—and I was a music major in college. The sports info is more likely to be more modern, and to be things that I might want to know to be able to talk to people. People into sports trivia seem to be more common than those into Renaissance music trivia. \*In a Beavis and Butthead sense, of course. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/355 "2021-04-08T14:46:03Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I dunno. Give me some choices. How were Elrond and Galadriel related? How do you pronounce “piobaireachd”? ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/356 "2021-04-08T17:01:20Z")
So you are being willfully ignorant? I see. If you honestly don’t know people who enjoy both sports and jeopardy, then you might want to get out more (when it’s safe to do so). From what you’ve said so far in this thread, it seems like you lead a very narrow life. And why do you suppose that they have so many sports related categories on Jeopardy? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/357 "2021-04-08T17:14:06Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > No offense, but wtf is a “sackbut”, is my first reaction. If that’s your idea of “easy”, then what on earth do you consider “obscure”? My first reaction, too. Plus, it has a funny name. (heh heh he said “butt”. cool, Bevis.) Trivia is a funny thing. There is such a thing as too obscure. Some great examples have been given. There’s the other kind of trivia, like “how many square miles does NYC contain”, or “what is the second deepest shipwreck ever discovered”, or “what is the percentage of oxygen needed in atmospheric air below which combustion is not supported”? While I wouldn’t be surprised someone knows this, you can easily stump even TOC players with these minutae-level trivia. You’ll note that many Jeopardy! answers are thinly disgused “easy” questions, some even provide the answer or at least a serious hint, within the wording of the answer. And how many ways the same question can be elicited by many forms of the same answer, in different categories. For example, category, Babylonian Kings. The answer, “a sculpture from King So-and So is on display in this Parisian museum.” You can be pretty sure of the correct response without even knowing Babylonian kings even existed. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/358 "2021-04-08T17:19:04Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > And why do you suppose that they have so many sports related categories on Jeopardy? And pop music. When they have modern bands, I am as lost as terentii in sports categories. But I don’t blame society. The categories that bother more than most are the ones about brand logos, brand names, or advertising slogans. Too many of them and I start to “conspiracy theory” that these categories are thinly-veiled commercials, or “training” for people to pay more attention to commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/359 "2021-04-08T17:51:05Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Do you know what a poronkusema is? I do now! I didn’t realize there was a need for a word for that. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/360 "2021-04-08T20:40:00Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Who had the most homeruns in the 1998 Superbowl? Hah! That’s a trick question. The 1998 Superbowl ended in a 0-0 tie when a last second three point attempt by Lance Armstrong was disallowed because of leg before wicket… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/361 "2021-04-08T22:37:27Z")
You wouldn’t happen to have been [this guy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK8Qjo7HCIk)? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/362 "2021-04-08T23:21:31Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > You wouldn’t happen to have been [this guy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK8Qjo7HCIk)? 😉 Ouch! Remember that one game, where there was a sports cartegory, and no one rang in on any of the five? Just silence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460.md?page=19)