(NEXSTAR) – Feel free to buzz in when you think you know the correct response.
Since debuting nearly 60 years ago on NBC, “Jeopardy!” has been helmed by five different hosts, each with their own gentle way of admonishing contestants for failing to phrase their response in the form of a question. But some hosts have lasted a bit longer than others — with one leaving his mustachioed impression on multiple generations of viewers.
Before Alex Trebek, however, every iteration of “Jeopardy!” had been presented by original host Art Fleming.
Art Fleming
Fleming, a TV actor and radio announcer, was chosen to host the original version of “Jeopardy!” in 1964. He stayed with the program through its cancellation in 1975, and years later hosted an iteration known as “The All-New Jeopardy!” that aired between 1978 and 1979.
Fleming once told Bob Costas that the producers asked him to come back when they were developing the current iteration, though he turned down the offer. After the show came back in 1984 with Trebek as host, Fleming was also a critic of the new rules regarding gameplay, feeling that the new show had become too easy. He also once told Sports Illustrated that the quiz show, which was originally taped in New York City, suffered form moving production to California where there was “no mental stimulation.”
“It’s a different show. It’s still one of the best shows — game shows — on television,” Fleming told Costas during an interview on “Later With Bob Costas” in the early ‘90s, before adding that Alex Trebek was doing “a very fine job” as host.
Alex Trebek
Alex Trebek had hosted more than half a dozen game shows on U.S. and Canadian television before being selected to host the revival of “Jeopardy!” in 1984. (Merv Griffin ultimately gave Trebek the job on a recommendation from Lucille Ball, according to the Associated Press.) He eventually became the show’s longest-serving host, having appeared in more than 8,200 episodes over 37 seasons, and taping the last of his appearances in the weeks before his death in Nov. 2020.
During that time, Trebek earned eight Daytime Emmy Awards and broke the Guinness World Record for hosting the most episodes of any single game show.
When asked how he might like to be remembered, Trebek told the Television Academy in 2007 that he’d like to be looked at as “a decent guy who did his best to help the contestants perform at their best.”
“If you do that properly, the viewers will look on you as a good guy,” he said. “And if that’s the way they remember me down the line, [I’m] perfectly happy with that.”
Mike Richards
After a lengthy parade of guests hosts (a few of whom were really gunning for the job), Mike Richards — a “Jeopardy!” executive producer — succeeded Trebek as the host of the show in 2021. But he stepped down only nine days later amid controversy over previous misogynistic comments he had made on a podcast, and after resurfaced allegations of bias against models working on “The Price Is Right” (where he was also an executive producer), the Hollywood Reporter reported at the time.
“Over the last several days it has become clear that moving forward as host would be too much of a distraction for our fans and not the right move for the show,” Richards wrote in a memo to “Jeopardy!” staffers in Aug. 2021, announcing his departure.
Sony, which produces the show, confirmed later in August that Richards was no longer an EP on “Jeopardy!”, either.
Mayim Bialik
When Richards was announced as the show’s new host in Aug. 2021, the producers of “Jeopardy!” revealed that Mayim Bialik, primarily known for “Blossom” and “The Big Bang Theory,” would be hosting the show’s tournaments and special primetime events.
When Richards left later that month, Bialik and “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings were chosen to split hosting duties for the syndicated show. But in Dec. 2023, Bialik said on Instagram that Sony decided not to have her back for the 39th season.
“I am incredibly honored to have been nominated for a primetime Emmy for hosting this year and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the Jeopardy! family,” she wrote, in part.
Michael Davies, one of the show’s producers, later said during a panel with the Television Critics Association that the show decided on Ken Jennings as the sole host for purposes of “consistency.”
He did not, however, rule out Bialik returning for special events in the future.
Ken Jennings
Ken Jennings, a “Jeopardy!” champion who captivated viewers during his record-setting 74-game winning streak in 2004, was hired as a consulting producer on the show in 2020, only a few months before Trebek’s passing. He was also chosen to fill in for Trebek, should Trebek’s battle with cancer keep him from performing his duties as host, he told Vulture in 2022.
A few weeks after Trebek’s death, Jennings was instead announced as the first in a series of guest hosts. Then, after Richards stepped down in Aug. 21, Jennings taped the rest of the 38th season along with Bialik.
Upon being named the sole host of the syndicated show in Dec. 2023, Jennings told the Hollywood Reporter that Bialik’s exit caught him “off guard,” but he was nonetheless excited to host the show for as long as he’s able.
“I just feel extremely lucky to have even been considered for this job, as a non-broadcaster,” he said.