Ken Jennings is reportedly not very happy about Colin Jost becoming the host of Pop Culture Jeopardy! After the newest Jeopardy! spinoff was announced, it was a question of who would be hosting. One would think that Jennings, who currently hosts the original series and Celebrity Jeopardy! would once again step up to the plate. Or perhaps Mayim Bialik, who was fired from Jeopardy! but allegedly hoped to host the new series.
However, Saturday Night Live‘s Jost was instead announced to host the Prime Video spinoff, and Jennings is quite upset. “It’s open knowledge in Jeopardy! circles that Ken feels slighted by this,” a source told Closer. “And to be fair, he does have a right to feel insecure because it’s a clear indication that the bosses want to broaden their options and add some much-needed pizazz to the franchise. At the end of the day, Ken’s the undisputed GOAT as far as being the top contestant, and it goes a long way that he was a firm favorite with Alex Trebek.”
“There’s only so much room for sentiment when it comes to cold, hard ratings numbers, and with Ryan Seacrest’s arrival at Wheel of Fortune, plus Drew Carey and Steve Harvey still killing it [on The Price Is Right and Family Feud, respectively], there’s a lot of pressure and scrutiny on Ken right now,” the source explained. “Now, if Colin comes in and knocks it out the park — which he’s highly likely to do — this could spell the writing on the wall,” the source says. “Ken knows it, and of course he’s petrified.”
It wouldn’t be surprising if Ken Jennings really is upset about Colin Jost hosting, especially since he’s been holding down the Jeopardy! fort. However, it should be fun to see Jost on the new series. While he isn’t a stranger to hosting, it should be interesting to see how he does with the series. It’s certainly a new area for him and the rest of the viewers. The new series will see teams of three battling it out with their pop culture knowledge, with categories including a range of topics from music to comics to television to movies to entertainment and much more. As of now, a premiere date has not been revealed, but the wait will surely be worth it. At least fans can still look forward to episodes of the other Jeopardy! series for the time being.