Who better to host “Jeopardy!” on the one-year anniversary of Alex Trebek’s passing than legendary longtime champion Ken Jennings himself?
Jennings, 47, spoke to USA Today ahead of what’s bound to be an emotional episode of America’s beloved game show Monday night. He spoke about his touching relationship with Trebek, feeling “just terrified” of hosting and the state of the show itself following a summer of scandals, including the removal of ex-producer and onetime host Mike Richards.
Returning to the show for the first time since February, Jennings said he was unaware his first episode back was slated for the one-year anniversary of Trebek’s death from pancreatic cancer.
“Apparently, everyone was aware that we were going to air [this episode] on the anniversary and nobody told me,” Jennings told the publication.
“They didn’t want to put that in my head. So I was not told until after [filming the episode] that it was the Nov. 8 show,” said Jennings, adding that he even wore a pair of Trebek’s own cuff links — gifted to Jennings by his widow, Jean Currivan-Trebek.
After all, getting back behind the podium to tape in September already was not an easy task for Jennings, who said he “felt rusty.”
“It’s a very tricky job. The mechanics of hosting ‘Jeopardy!’ are daunting. There’s a lot going on at once, and Alex made it all look so easy. But I can tell you firsthand, it’s not easy,” Jennings said, mentioning he previously was “just terrified” while taping his shows that aired last February.
“I knew that [those winter shows were] going to be a very difficult task … much less the idea that you’re trying to step into the shoes of Alex Trebek, which is impossible. This time, we’re kind of a year removed or more from all that, so I’ve had every possible emotion now related to ‘Jeopardy!'”
Many of those feelings were sentimental toward the longtime legendary host, who was on Jennings’ mind during each recording.
“You can’t stand on that stage and say those things without thinking about him,” he said. “Every time I’m up there, I’m doing Alex. Not just because he perfected it, but because that’s the only way I’ve ever seen it done.”
Still, Jennings was quick to admit times have changed in the show’s post-Trebek era.
He expressed concerns for the “Jeopardy!” state of the union in the wake of “embarrassing” sexist and otherwise inappropriate commentary from Richards, the executive producer who briefly took over hosting duties this year.
“Right now, all I’m thinking about is how the show is doing, as a workplace, as a TV institution … It means a lot to people in a way that almost no other TV show does,” Jennings said.
Sounding off on the show’s carousel of trial guest hosts — including controversial Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and fan fave “Star Trek” phenom LeVar Burton — Jennings feared the influx inadvertently became a distraction from Trebek’s legacy.
“He just made it look graceful and effortless. And it didn’t seem like there was enough of that kind of talk when the hosting roundtable was going on. It was all about, ‘This host deserves it because of this,'” Jennings said.
Now, as the show yet again searches for a permanent host, Jennings is sharing the interim gig with “The Big Bang Theory” star Mayim Bialik, 45.
Though he wouldn’t object to taking the reins full time.
“If my country called upon me to host ‘Jeopardy!’ I would happily do my patriotic duty,” Jennings joked. “I would love it, but I honestly feel like, deep down, ‘Jeopardy!’ is going to be OK either way.”
That proverbial righting of the ship could also come from ambitious and sharp contestants like Matt Amodio, a Yale Ph.D. student who recently racked up $1.5 million in a 38-game winning streak.
“I was really rooting for Matt … I know firsthand, there is kind of a plateau where you just start to glide up there, and I think somebody is going to beat my record, the 74 games,” said Jennings, who won $2.5 million himself during his initial 2004 run on the show.
“I think that [record] can fall, and so I’m always very invested.”
