Ken Jennings Explained Why Having Two ‘Jeopardy!’ Hosts Is Good For The Show

There’s plenty of Jeopardy! for fans to absorb these days, and trivia fans are loving the return to new episodes after the traditional summer break. Season 39 is well underway this fall, and with it comes new episodes of the syndicated game show along with a Celebrity tournament hosted by Mayim Bialik.

The show, of course, officially has two hosts in Bialik and Jeopardy! GOAT Ken Jennings. And in a joint interview with Good Morning America, the two talked about the new season and the added wrinkles of having two different people at the helm of the same show. Jennings and Bialik say they have settled into co-hosting duties nicely, with Bialik noting that it “it doesn’t really feel different” this year despite their roles being official.

In fact, Jennings said there’s an underrated positive to officially having two hosts. Via ABC News and GMA:

“One of the nice things about having two hosts is the focus is a little less on who is the iconic host of ‘Jeopardy!’ And it’s really more about ‘Jeopardy!’ as a game,” Jennings said. “Some nights it’s gonna be me. Some nights it’s gonna be Mayim. But it’s always ‘Jeopardy!'”

Of course, that hasn’t stopped superfans from comparing and contrasting their performances. But the quote does speak to something late host Alex Trebek often said about Jeopardy! itself: the focus should be on the contestants, not who is actually hosting. And while the drama around who will host — and how that got decided in the first place — was great for generating buzz about the show, it was far from positive at times. As Bialik noted in the interview, both hosts are on the same page about what the show should be about: the people actually giving answers in the form of questions.

“I think for both of us, we feel like we’re really ushering in what Alex facilitated so beautifully, which is, again, highlighting contestants and the show that people know and love,” Bialik said. “I think for me and Ken, we do love the purity and the fun ‘Jeopardy!’ has been and will continue to be.”

That unified approach is welcome news to fans who want to focus more on the game than who is running it. The full interview has some fun moments from the new season, as well as some mistakes the two have made. But so far, everything seems to be going smoothly in the Alex Trebek Studio. Which is certainly a big change after a very tumultuous year or so on set.

[via ABC News]