Dear Gossips,
Since it was announced last week that Sony Pictures Television would be expanding the Jeopardy! Universe and launching Pop Culture Jeopardy! to stream exclusively on Amazon Prime, in addition to people registering their teams and taking the online test, there’s been speculation about who the host might be.
None of that speculation involves my desperate ass, not surprisingly, since I’m just a thirsty D-list Canadian television presenter who’s only been working on Canada’s longest-running entertainment news show for almost two decades and co-hosted a daily live Canadian talk show for ten years, in addition to editing a pop culture website since 2003, am regularly asked to comment on or mentioned by pop culture by major publications and outlets around the world including but not limited to the New York Times, CNN, the Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The Cut, The Guardian, The LA Times, and more … but WHO’S COUNTING?! Not me! But yes me! Pick me!
Anyway, Jeopardy! fans have been speculating who the host might be. Apparently Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik are not expected to be possibilities but it could be Katie Nolan who was a runner-up on Celebrity Jeopardy! last year and used to be a reporter on ESPN; she has maintained close ties to the show and retweeted the announcement last week. Other former champions who’ve been mentioned are Sam Buttrey and Buzzy Cohen. But also so many people were so hoping that LeVar Burton would eventually be the host of Jeopardy! when they were trying to fill the spot after Alex Trebek passed away that his name is coming up too, although he’s already hosting another trivia show.
OK but back to me, since I’m so shamelessly horny for this job – as I’ve been saying for years, game show hosting has been my dream job forever. I wonder if they’ve already locked this up, confirmed a host, and whether it’s only a matter of time before they’re announced. And how will they announce? The upfront, usually, is where they make these announcements but they may not have wanted the host announcement to overshadow the show launch announcement last week. Given the Jeopardy! filming schedule, which can be as much as three months in advance, it would be challenging to have the new host be introduced on an episode of Jeopardy! because the show doesn’t go out live.
If I were on the PR team I’d pitch this to PEOPLE and have them do it similarly to how they do their Sexiest Man Alive reveal every year. You start with the anticipation a couple of weeks ahead of time, you let people know when the cover issue is coming out, and the night before, you have them on Colbert or Kimmel for the big moment. It is, after all, Pop Culture Jeopardy!, it totally tracks with the vibe of the game.
See? I’m already giving away ideas for free! If I’m too small-time and insignificant to be the host, hire me as a producer, Jeopardy! PICK MEEEEEEEEEE!
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
