Ken Jennings has hosted Jeopardy! since 2021 when he and Mayim Bialik alternated as hosts. Now, fans are wondering when the highest-earning American game show contestant will return for good.
The American game show host has split hosting duties on a new full-time basis, beginning with the 39th season of Jeopardy! in July 2022.
Where is Ken Jennings?
On Jeopardy, where is Ken Jennings? Jennings and Mayim Bialik were announced as the permanent hosts for Jeopardy Season 39 in July 2022 by executive producer Michael Davies. The first half of the season, which aired from July to December 2022, was hosted by Jennings, while the second half, which aired from January to May 2023, was hosted by Bialik.
According to Deadline, the schedule was devised so that Bialik could film Jeopardy while also filming her FOX series Call Me Kat, which was canceled after three seasons in May 2023.
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Jennings hosted the game show’s inaugural Second Chance competition as well as the Tournament of Champions during Season 39, while Bialik hosted the National College Championship. She also served as the host of the first season of Celebrity Jeopardy, which aired from September 2022 to February 2023.
This timeline was confirmed by Jeopardy contestant Kathryn Kienholz, who previously told The Wisconsin Leader-Register that she won $22,000 on the game show but had to wait 120 days.
When is Ken Jennings coming back to Jeopardy?
When is Ken Jennings coming back to Jeopardy? ABC has not announced when Jennings will return to Jeopardy; however, the Twitter account @IsKenHosting reported that Jennings will produce to Jeopardy on July 3, 2023, and will host the game show until its Season 39 finale in late July 2023.
Though Mayim Bialik was scheduled to film the entire second half of Jeopardy Season 39, Deadline reported in May 2023 that she refused to host the final week of filming Jeopardy with the Writers Guild of America Strike. After Bialik left, Jennings took over as host for the final week of Season 39 filming, according to Deadline.
Jeopardy is a Writers Guild of America Show featuring WGA writers’ contributions to its questions and other show segments. According to Deadline, the questions for Jeopardy Season 39 were written ahead of the season and the writer’s strike, allowing the game show to continue filming even if the writers went on strike.
Jeopardy writers Michele Loud, Jim Rhine, and Billy Wisse explained why they were striking and the importance of writers on the game show in an interview with Variety in May 2023. “Every night, our words are on the screen,” Loud explained. “Without writers, there is no Jeopardy.”
It is just a blank blue screen without us.” According to Wisse, the strike was part of a larger fight to be “fairly compensated for the labor you give.” Rhine also chastised Jeopardy for transforming writing into a “gig economy.” “They are asking some people to work daily,” Rhine explained. “They have never tried to turn it into a gig economy before,” Wisse added. There was always a sense that the writers were involved.”
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