# 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:** 30
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/584 "2021-07-29T03:31:21Z")
Sorry Levar, I hope you don’t get the hosting gig. I don’t think I could handle “That’s _ **RIGHT!** _” for more than a week. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/585 "2021-07-29T12:24:25Z")
Like many others, I was looking forward to LeVar Burton hosting _Jeopardy!_ But after three days of him, I can’t wait for the week to end. Way too hyper. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/586 "2021-07-29T12:34:57Z")
Yes, and it is totally contrary to Alex Trebek’s even temperament and quiet dignity. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/587 "2021-07-29T15:01:45Z")
I don’t mind his upbeat personality, but his cadence while reading the questions is just weird. He seems to emphasize random words, and raises and lowers his volume arbitrarily. It’s very distracting. While I do think he would improve given time, I’m afraid he is low on the list of guest hosts for me. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2021, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/588 "2021-07-29T15:07:53Z")
Wasn’t Buzzy Cohen overly enthusiastic the first day? He seemed to settle down after that, though. I wonder if someone talked to him. Perhaps in this case no one bothered? ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/589 "2021-07-29T18:47:10Z")
I think LeVar is too slow on calling on the contestants when they ring in, and it kills the rhythm of the game for me. He’s better than some, but not as good as the majority. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/590 "2021-07-30T12:21:13Z")
My revised rankings: 1. Buzzy Cohen 2. Anderson Cooper 3. Sanjay Gupta 4. Mike Richards 5. Aaron Rodgers 6. Mayim Bialik 7. Ken Jennings 8. George Stephanopoulos 9. LaVar Burton 10. Robin Roberts 11. Savannah Guthrie 12. Katie Couric 13. Bill Whitaker 14. Mehmet Oz ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/591 "2021-07-30T13:13:32Z")
There was a weird moment in yesterday’s game where LeVar said “No…uh, Yes!” in response to a contestant’s answer. And the answer was a person’s name (Andrew Carnegie), so it’s not like it was some weird alternative answer that the judges hadn’t considered. I had some enthusiasm for the idea of LeVar Burton when it was first mentioned, and some great love for him as a long-time Star Trek fan, but I’m sorry to say he has not lived up to expectations. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/592 "2021-07-30T15:43:23Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I had some enthusiasm for the idea of LeVar Burton when it was first mentioned, and some great love for him as a long-time Star Trek fan, but I’m sorry to say he has not lived up to expectations. Same. Seems like a great guy and he’s a good actor. He’s not a particularly good Jeopardy host. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2021, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/593 "2021-07-30T15:47:26Z")
And yet, some people think hosting a show such as this is easy. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/594 "2021-07-30T15:51:20Z")
Maybe it’s easy to do it adequately (everyone has been at least _acceptable_ so far) but hard to do it really well. We all have opinions on who is in the top tier, but I’d continue watching if any one of these guests hosts got the permanent job. ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/595 "2021-07-30T16:17:43Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > There was a weird moment in yesterday’s game where LeVar said “No…uh, Yes!” in response to a contestant’s answer. And the answer was a person’s name (Andrew Carnegie), so it’s not like it was some weird alternative answer that the judges hadn’t considered. I noticed that as well. The only thing that I could think of was that Levar had always heard the name pronounced as “car-NAY-ghee” and the contestant said “CAR-nu-ghee”. Or that LeVar was looking at the wrong answer or something. I’ve noticed that many of the guest hosts have a bit of a strange rhythm in how quickly they call on a contestant or how quickly they verify the answer’s correctness. I thought LeVar and some of the other guest hosts sometimes sounded shocked that the contestant had the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/596 "2021-07-30T18:28:20Z")
Yes, I assume the judges are talking in their earpiece, telling them whether or not to accept the answer if it’s not exactly what was on the card. But it’s weird how the guest hosts have been so much worse at making those calls than Trebek was. If there was a clue where they were, say, going for “grater,” but someone rang in and said “what is a shredder?” Alex would just say “yes, we were going for grater, but we’ll also accept shredder” without missing a beat. But the guest hosts will just stay silent for a long, awkward pause, then sort of nervously say “yes, shredder, that’s correct” without any further explanation. Also, not to be morbid, but given the common view that the new permanent host should be someone who would last, I’m kind of surprised Burton had such support to begin with. He’s already 64. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2021, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/597 "2021-07-30T18:52:53Z")
I’ve never been on the show, but my guess is that while it _seemed_ Alex Trebek made a call like that (is shredder an acceptable substitute for grater?) without missing a beat, there may have been a pause while the judges ruled, and that was edited out. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/598 "2021-07-30T19:06:20Z")
Then why aren’t they editing it out with the guest hosts? Also ISTM the camera stays on the contestant with no cutaways. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/599 "2021-07-31T13:47:39Z")
Game shows are taped live; the tape runs for thirty minutes. Editing and re-taping is very expensive, several thousand dollars per minute due to union wages and overtime minimums. That is money gone from the production company’s profit. You might occasionally see a notice at the end of the show that “Certain outcomes not related to …” did not effect the final score. This has to do with FCC regulations from the game show scandals of the 1950s. This applies to ‘real’ game shows where real prizes are won, not to ‘reality’ game shows where the host / producer decides who wins. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/600 "2021-07-31T13:58:33Z")
Assuming this is a reply to me, then why would they have edited it out with Alex? ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/601 "2021-07-31T15:42:42Z")
Since it is so expensive they only edit a game when something has gone very wrong in a way that can’t be easily and/or quickly corrected … somebody fell down on stage, a fire alarm went off, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/602 "2021-07-31T15:48:42Z")
Which is why, contra Dewey\_Finn, I don’t think they ever edited those rulings. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460/603 "2021-07-31T15:56:22Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > Editing and re-taping is very expensive, several thousand dollars per minute due to union wages and overtime minimums. Do you think this is 1959. There is no “tape”. You can edit digital in less time than it takes to type this. And “overtime”? They record five shows a day. They have the rest of the week to edit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460.md?page=29) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-next-host-of-jeopardy/925460.md?page=31)