Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings are set to continue splitting "Jeopardy!" hosting duties.
Executive producer Michael Davies confirmed Wednesday that the two have reached deals to serve as hosts of "Jeopardy!" "moving forward." The new episodes will be sticking with its two-host formula.
"The fact is, we have so much Jeopardy! to make, and so many plans for the future, that we always knew we would need multiple hosts for the franchise and we are just so grateful that Mayim and Ken stepped in and stepped up to put the show in a position to succeed," Davies said in the announcement.
He also delineated how the division of duties would work. Jennings will begin the new season in September, and host the first “Second Chance” competition and the “Tournament of Champions,” which will bring major winners Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach, Ryan Long and more back to the stage. That initial run of Jennings hosting will last through December.
Meanwhile, Bialik will host “Celebrity Jeopardy!” on ABC in prime time, and take over for Jennings in January 2023. She will also host new tournaments, and the “Jeopardy! National College Championship,” at least so long as she is able to balance her time starring on the Fox sitcom “Call Me Kat.”
“We know you value consistency, so we will not flip flop the hosts constantly and will keep you informed about the hosting schedule,” Davies continued in the announcement.
He also indicated that during “repeat season,” instead of rerunning tournaments, the show had picked six weeks of favorite episodes from the season. And if that’s not enough “Jeopardy!” for you, stay tuned for a daily three-minute highlight recap of episodes on the “Jeopardy!” website, and a weekly “Inside ‘Jeopardy!’” podcast. These new initiatives will launch this Monday.
Wednesday's news comes a month after Davies teased that fans should expect to see more than one host behind the podium.
According to Variety, Davies praised Bialik and Jennings while backstage at the 2022 Daytime Emmys, saying the two “have done incredible job hosting.”
“But with all of our plans for ‘Jeopardy!’ — which is more ‘Jeopardy!,’ not less, more versions — we’re going to need multiple hosts to represent the entire audience, to represent the entire country, in order to take this franchise forward,” he explained.
This year, “Jeopardy!” won its third consecutive Daytime Emmy for outstanding game show.
The “Big Bang Theory” actor and the former “Jeopardy!” champ took over the show’s Season 38 hosting duties after former executive producer Mike Richards stepped down as the late Alex Trebek’s replacement. Richards’ departure came last August after he apologized for multiple controversies involving past lawsuits and sexist comments made on a podcast.
Bialik has been vocal about her hosting duties and being compared to Jennings, who holds the “Jeopardy!” record for most consecutive games won and biggest winnings in regular-season play.
“Sometimes I get, ‘We don’t prefer you to Ken,” she said on her “Bialik Breakdown” podcast in June. “(They will tell you) exactly how they feel.”
Bialik had previously expressed interest in hosting the iconic show on a full-time basis. While chatting with "Entertainment Tonight" in March, she noted how she potentially could make history as the first woman to lead “Jeopardy!”
“I think being female is its own mark,” she said. “My grandparents were immigrants to this country and escaped pogroms and World War II, so for me, in two generations, to be in a position to be able to be a woman and a host in that iconic role blows my mind.”