What is: “A shared spotlight?”
“Jeopardy!” fans and participants will get a double serving of hosts, with both Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings set to share hosting duties for the trivia show’s upcoming 39th season. According to Deadline, Jennings and Bialik are working toward a deal to split the hosting role.
Representatives for producer Sony Pictures Television declined to comment.
Neither Bialik nor Jennings is a stranger to the “Jeopardy!” stage. Both served as hosts throughout the most recent season. The “Big Bang Theory” star and the “Jeopardy!” champion rotated hosting duties with other popular names including fan favorite LeVar Burton, Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos.
Former “Jeopardy!” executive producer Mike Richards also had filled in as host, before he exited the series after his previous problematic remarks about women, Jewish people and little people came to light.
Together, Bialik and Jennings will fill the shoes left by beloved, longtime “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, who died in November 2020 from pancreatic cancer. He was 80.
At this point, Bialik — who holds a PhD in neuroscience — is a “Jeopardy!” hosting vet. In addition to her Season 38 duties, the “Call Me Kat” star hosted the show’s first Professors Tournament in December 2021 and most likely will return to host “Celebrity Jeopardy!”
Jennings is a 74-time “Jeopardy!” champ who returned to the series as a consulting producer in September 2020, just months before Trebek died.