Photo-Illustration: Vulture. Photos: ABC
We make decisions that should be made permanent for $800 please. Track king Ken Jennings will take over Mayim Bialik’s Jeopardy! Vulture can confirm the hosting duties for the rest of Season 39, because Bialik refused to tape her remaining episodes in solidarity with the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike. Limit date first reported the news, which noted that this was the most high-profile case of a game show affected by the strike to date. Jennings will pick up four additional days behind the podium, which is the equivalent of 20 new Jeopardy! episodes for viewers. Since July 2022, Bialik and Jennings have served as dual hosts of the venerable game show, with the duo splitting duties during the regular season of play as well as additional tournaments. Jennings, for example, currently hosts the Jeopardy! Masters Tournament, which airs on ABC as an intellectual battle royale of the six most recent megachampions. She told us last year that she really wanted the “dream job” after Alex Trebek’s death, but seemed a little skeptical that it would also be Bialik’s dream career move. (Until its cancellation this month, she had fronted the Fox sitcom Call Me Kat for three seasons.) Yes, we agree.
