There’s been a lot of negative press for so many of the celebrities who have been guest hosting Jeopardy ever since Alex Trebek’s final shows aired in January. I myself have been doing more than a little piling on myself in this column.
However, before we judge them too harshly, I think that is worth remembering that anybody, no matter how good or qualified they might be, would no doubt undergo harsh criticism for simply being guilty of not being Alex Trebek. There is a great irony to this because I have no doubt when the new incarnation of Jeopardy premiered in 1984; there were millions of older viewers thinking that no one could replace Art Fleming, the original host of Jeopardy in the sixties of seventies. I have no doubt that it was probably three or four years before the most die-hard fan of the show was willing to grudgingly admit Alex was doing a decent job. How can anybody, no matter how skilled or charming, hope to achieve that kind of record in a mere two weeks? It’s frankly unfair, particularly as I’m relatively sure none of the people guest hosting are considering making the job permanent (especially since most of them have day jobs already.) They are doing because they, like all of us, loved Alex and want to pay tribute to him as the show that he made an institution.
That being said, there might be a way to satisfy even the most rigid of Jeopardy lovers, and in a way, the show will be acknowledging that next month. On May 17, Jeopardy will hold is usually annual Tournament of Champions. It will no doubt be a bittersweet affair, not only because it is the first one since Alex has passed away, but because the last five day champion to qualify before he died, Brayden Smith, who won just under $118,000 in five games died earlier this year. (Even more tragically, he died from complications from surgery at the far too young age of twenty-three.) But guest hosting this event will be someone is very familiar with how the show works from the other side of the podium. And no, it’s not Ken Jennings.
Buzzy Cohen, who won the 2017 Tournament of Champions, is one of the most brilliant and entertaining players in the show’s history. He won $164,600 in 9 games in his original appearance and demonstrated a great deal of knowledge and a great sense of humor. After winning three of his games in runaways, when it came down to Final Jeopardy, he wrote down: “What is you ain’t rid of me yet, Trebek?” a response that if it wasn’t stolen from SNL’s parodies of the show in the late 90s certainly should have been. Looking and dressing a lot like Harold Lloyd (a resemblance Ken Jennings himself would point out); he would eventually engage in a memorable Tournament final with fellow champions Austin Rogers and Alan Lin. (You can catch their antics on YouTube without having to look that hard.)
In February of 2019 Buzzy made a memorable return to Jeopardy in the All-Star Tournament, a unique event that featured 18 of the most memorable Jeopardy players from the past twenty years participating as members of a team. Buzzy served as a team captain and did well in every function, choosing the right teammates and being competitive. (Ken Jennings and Austin Rogers were also captains.) Everything worked well until one critical clue which would cost his team a spot in the finals. But it was a lot of fun. There was a lot of good natured back and forth from a lot of the players, and some good natured dumping on Buzzy. Alan Lin said his goal was ‘to utterly crush Buzzy Cohen.” Brad Rutter, after Buzzy mentioned putting him and Ken ‘out to pasture’, said ‘Buzzy’s a fraud.” Buzzy’s response: “They hate me ‘cause they ain’t me.”
Because of this Buzzy Cohen is definitely qualified to host a Jeopardy Tournament of Champions. Which makes me think, maybe the show shouldn’t be looking without for a replacement host, but rather from within. Jennings is considered a lead contender to host the series when they finally settle on a permanent replacement but despite his presence and history with the series, many consider him too bland for the role. Cohen is not, and one could consider his presence on the tournament an audition.
The fact is there are many Jeopardy winners over the past thirty years who I think are as qualified as some of the guest hosts and certainly have the personality for it. Some of them have worked for game shows; some of them write for them. And some of them have the personality and presence that are as good as Trebek’s, if that is not blasphemy.
In the next few days, I will follow this article up with a list of some of the former champions who I believe could do the show proud if they were just given the chance. I don’t know what the odds are of their being considered or even if they’d want the job (some of them might well want to retain their eligibility for playing in future tournaments). But considering some of the choices we’ve seen over the last few months, it’s hard to imagine them doing a worse job.
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