George Stephanopoulos Reportedly Wants To Host “Jeopardy!”
It’s only been two days since the world lost beloved nightly television game show icon Alex Trebek, host of Jeopardy! for 36 years, after a long battle against pancreatic cancer. Alex continued filming Jeopardy! episodes up until late last month and his final episode will air Christmas Day. And according to The Wrap, there’s already talk about who will take on the impossible task of replacing Alex, and apparently, Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos thinks he’s the right person to read clues and Daily Doubles.
A source tells The Wrap that 59-year-old George, former White House communications director for the Clinton administration and current morning TV show host, is lobbying for the gig. However, other sources claim he’s not. I’ll take This Is Confusing for $200.
Stephanopoulos’s agent Alan Berger did not respond to The Wrap’s request for comment, but a knowledgeable individual close to the Good Morning America co-host denied that he was “actively” pursuing the role. However, the highly placed person told The Wrap that Stephanopoulos has his eye on the lucrative position and that his agent was lobbying hard at ABC, where he serves as ABC News’ chief anchor and political correspondent.
Jeopardy! is distributed by CBS Television and Sony Television, but ABC owns the syndication rights. George’s position at ABC doesn’t guarantee him first crack at the job, but it can’t hurt him either. That is, if this is a job he is actively trying to get. But back in May, George appeared on The Howard Stern Show, and Howard remarked that he thought George had the “intellectual capacity” to take over for Alex Trebek, if Alex were to step away from the show. George responded, via Page Six:
“I think it would be a lot of fun, but I like what I’m doing too…It’s a great show. It’s very flattering. Big shoes to fill.” He also admitted that he watches and plays along with his two daughters and wife Ali Wentworth at home, adding they were thrilled by Stern’s suggestion.
George hasn’t said anything about this rumor. But a source at ABC spoke to The New York Post, and they shot it down, saying that “of course” George isn’t lobbying for Alex’s job, because that would be, “disrespectful” to Alex’s family.
If this rumor is true, and George really does want to host Jeopardy!, then he better be prepared for the fight of his life against the second-most iconic face in Jeopardy! history: KEN JENNINGS. It wasn’t that long ago that the part-time detectives of the internet suspected that the most decorated Jeopardy! winner was being groomed to take over for Alex (he currently serves as a consulting producer, and presents some categories). But what if producers of Jeopardy! decide to make George and Ken compete for the job on the show itself? George better hope for questions that he has direct knowledge about. Like 5 questions about Michael Strahan, or a category called, Just How Much Trouble Did Lara Spencer Get Into. But Ken would probably sweep both of those categories too.
Pic: Wenn.com