Is Ken Jennings really going to replace Alex Trebek?
You have questions — and, with Festivus not far off, some airing of grievances.
Q: I am very sorry to see that Ken Jennings will be the interim host of “Jeopardy!” Ken is smart, but he is also a smart aleck. If they choose him in the end, I will no longer be a “Jeopardy!” fan. They need to get someone who is more professional than Ken and deals with people like Alex Trebek did. Ken has himself on a pedestal and loves it.
A: The challenge of replacing the late, loved Alex Trebek has certainly been a formidable one, and the long-running game show is taking its time with the search, and with telecasts. The most recent schedule includes 10 of Trebek’s best episodes airing the weeks of Dec. 21 and 28, and the last of Trebek’s newest episodes airing the week of Jan. 4. Guest-hosted shows, which started taping on Nov. 30, will begin airing the week of Jan. 11, with Jennings the first of a planned series of guest hosts.
This should not surprise followers of the program who know Jennings as the greatest “Jeopardy!” winner of all time, as well as a consulting producer on the current season, a special category presenter and all-around “ambassador for the show.” He certainly looked as if he was being readied to follow Trebek.
But as this letter indicates, Jennings is not to everyone’s taste (or mine) as a personality, and we’ll have to see how he handles hosting. It’s best to remember what Trebek once told Vulture.com: “You have to set your ego
aside. The stars of the show are the contestants and the game itself. That’s why I’ve always insisted that I be introduced as the host and not the star. And if you want to be a good host, you have to figure a way to get the contestants to —as in the old television commercial about the military — ‘be all you can be.’ Because if they do well, the show does well. And if the show does well, by association I do well.”
Not that “Jeopardy!” is the only show with hosting issues, with this next letter added to a big pile of letters to this column with the same complaint.
Q: This season of “Dancing with the Stars” was totally destroyed for us by Tyra Banks, aka “All Mouth & Hair.” Hopefully the powers that be got the word that she was an absolute bust as a host and will never, ever consider renewing her contract.
A: Since Banks’s hiring also included her becoming an executive producer of the show, I would not expect her to depart anytime soon. But she was wrong for the show, for reasons that should be evident from Trebek’s description of a host’s job above.
Banks is a star of the show, with grand entrances and flamboyant costumes, which took some focus away from the contestants. To be sure, the mixed bag of contestants often means that some viewers do not recognize specific celebrities, so the show has tried to create continuity by showcasing the judges and the pro dancers (with Derek Hough having been promoted heavily in both categories). Elevating the host was a logical step in that thinking. But it was also a distraction in a show that already had too many distractions from the question of who could dance best.
Q: I became a huge fan of the series “Godfather of Harlem.” The acting was great and overall it was very entertaining. I was wondering if there are any plans for bringing it back for a second season and if so when.
A: The Epix drama began production of a second season in November, with telecasts planned for some time in 2021. The series will continue to be what the network calls “a collision of the criminal underworld and the civil rights movement during one of the most tumultuous times in American history” through the actions of mobster Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker, also an executive producer of the show) and the radical Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch).
Q: Most of the programs that I watch are on CBS and I have noticed there is always a CBS ORIGINAL printed at the beginning. I never noticed it until this year so just wondered about it.
A: In October, CBS announced an “updated brand identity” to clearly distinguish CBS programming in the ever more crowded media world. Part of that plan, the network said, “Content on CBS and CBSowned platforms will be tagged with ‘CBS Original,’ ‘CBS News,’ ‘CBS Sports’ or ‘CBS Presents’ to reinforce (the network’s) role as a leading creator and content provider for its platforms and many others.” You may also have noticed new uses of the famous CBS Eye, as well as music cue, all aimed at making you more aware that you are watching something from CBS.
Do you have a question or comment about entertainment past, present and future? Write to Rich Heldenfels, P.O. Box 417, Mogadore, OH 44260, or brenfels@gmail.com. Letters may be edited. Individual replies are not guaranteed.