DANGER! Producers have not ruled out replacing Ken Jennings with Saturday Night Live star Colin Jost as main host, a studio source told The US Sun.
Colin, 42, has been named host of the new Pop Culture Jeopardy! about Amazon Prime this week, giving Ken, 50, some sudden competition.
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Ken, the GOAT contestant who won a record 74 consecutive games, became the permanent host of Jeopardy! After Mayim Bialik was fired in December.
Ken is now the official and sole host of the late night or syndicated show and has directed every special since then.
However, his newfound status as the franchise’s sole frontman did not last long.
Colin was chosen to present the streaming-only Pop Culture spinoff, which goes into production this month; release date to be confirmed.
Read more about Ken Jennings
Ken has adapted well to his role hosting the syndicated show and is looking to channel Alex Trebek and do it for the long haul.
However, a high-level Sony source stated that the former champion should be cautious now that Colin has joined Jeopardy! universe.
They said Colin could completely take over Jeopardy!, including the syndicated show and specials, not because of Ken’s mistakes – but if the fan base or ratings turned against him.
‘KEEPING OPTIONS OPEN’
“Knowing the leadership at Sony Pictures TV, the last reason they would fire Ken Jennings would be because of on-air mistakes,” the source explained.
“It’s not a live show; it’s recorded well in advance, and so mistakes are as much, if not more, the responsibility of the producer and writers as they are Ken’s.”
“Instead, the only real reason to replace Ken is if ratings have plummeted, and that hasn’t happened yet,” they added.
“The show is holding steady.”
The US Sun previously reported that Ken does not have a long-term contract for his $4 million hosting job, a sign that his position is not set in stone.
“Of course Ken wants to do this for the next twenty years, but he will have to be comfortable with only being renewed one or two years at a time for the foreseeable future.
“Sony is keeping him in the presenter role but also keeping his options open.”
The source added that if Jeopardy! were “100 percent” sold on Ken, he would be named permanent host of all specials like Celebrity Jeopardy!, which did not happen.
Ken is just the official host of the syndicated show and Celebrity Jeopardy! It was recently renovated without a host attached.
“Yes, if they really had 100% confidence in Ken, they would hire him for their primetime and celebrity editions, which they decidedly did not do.
“But Ken is still finding his groove in the syndicated version of the show and Sony is letting him become the de facto face of the franchise – for now.”
Danger! Universe
Danger! it first aired in 1964 until 1975. Then, the nighttime version began in 1974. Since then, many spinoffs of the game show have emerged. Here they are all:
Danger! – (syndicated) 1974 to present, weekdays on ABC at 7pm ET.
Tournament of Champions – 1984 to present, features the top champions who have appeared on the show since the last tournament.
Second Chance Tournament – 2022 to Present features hand-selected non-winners from the previous season, where the prize is entry into the Champions Wildcard.
Champions Wildcard – 2023 to present, features all one-, two-, and three-day champions from the previous season that are eligible for entry into the Tournament of Champions.
Danger! Invitational Tournament (distribution) – from 2023 to the present, features big names from the past invited by producers to compete for a place in the Masters.
Danger! Masters (primetime) – from 2023 to present, features the six Jeopardy! champions competing against each other.
Celebrity Danger! (Primetime) – From 1992 to the present, celebrities compete against each other to raise money for charity.
Pop Culture Jeopardy (streaming) – from 2024 to present, will feature teams of three in charge of pop culture trivia on Amazon Prime, hosted by Colin Jost, air date TBD
Danger! eliminated specialized tournaments, such as University Tournaments, Children’s Week and Teacher’s Tournament, to move towards a more sporting model, with the Masters being the top of the Jeopardy pyramid.
Other versions of Jeopardy! have also failed over the years, such as Sports Jeopardy!.
TOURNAMENT SEASON EXPLAINED
Ken was recently nominated for his second Emmy for Outstanding Game Show Host, and many fans felt the nomination was due in part to how he handled the most recent season.
Season 40, which aired in July, was filled with filler tournaments because of the WGA strike, making it difficult to navigate as viewers.
The source explained why there were so many tournaments, but that the move didn’t reflect badly on Ken.
“They are participating in tournaments because they get rankings, just like returning champions.
“It’s a tactic to keep numbers stable when free-to-air TV viewership is declining; advertisers love them, and that tends to stifle viewers’ complaints.
“The franchise in general is not ‘in danger’ because it still makes money on television and is a special kind of moneymaker because it reliably generates spin-offs and merchandise on a global scale.
“Jeopardy! is going somewhere because the economics are so powerful and have been the cornerstone of Sony TV’s profitability for a long time.”
‘MASSIVE VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE’
Still, the source noted that Jeopardy! the franchise moved away from Ken by hiring Colin to anchor its pop culture spin-off and also explained the reasoning.
“It really seems like a huge vote of no confidence in Ken hiring Colin Jost, but there are other factors involved in this move.
“For one, the top executives at Sony Pictures TV right now are actually veterans who worked at NBC and go back to the 2000s with Colin and his team.
“In some ways, he’s much better known to these executives than Ken is – they really know what Colin is capable of when you let him do what he wants.
“But time is also a factor: Along with this Jeopardy! gig, Colin is hosting some of the Olympics coverage this summer and is clearly stepping away from his SNL duties.
“He wasn’t even available for this kind of work a year ago.
“Does this mean he’s gunning for Ken’s job? Let’s see how he does later this year.
“Meanwhile, hiring Colin gives Sony a lot of leverage over Ken and, tactically, he would be wise to launch a charm offensive and try to win back the support of the show’s fans.
“If Colin does really well hosting his shows and the audience moves further away from Ken, all bets are off.”
The 41st season of Jeopardy! with Ken as host premieres on September 9, 2024.
DANGER! HOST JOST
On Wednesday, Colin Jost was announced as host of the game show’s new spinoff, Pop Culture Jeopardy!.
The Saturday Night Live star will host the first version of the iconic quiz show exclusively on streaming, not cable.
Jost, who was in Tahiti covering the Olympics for NBC, will helm the tournament-style series, which is separate from all other Jeopardy! productions.
Jost simply said of the news, “What it is: I’m excited.”
While Pop Culture Jeopardy! is certainly its own animal, it’s not as separate from the main program as it might seem on paper.
The spinoff is executive produced by the showrunner of Jeopardy! Michael Davieswho chose Ken as host.
It will also be recorded at Sony Pictures Studios, where all other shows are recorded.
“Colin’s sharp wit and intelligence epitomizes Pop Culture Jeopardy!” said Suzanne Prete, president of game shows at Sony, in a statement.
“He is smart and fast, like our competitors, and we know he will be able to keep up with them as he makes this new series his own. We couldn’t be happier to have him join us on this new journey.”
“We are thrilled to welcome the multi-talented Colin Jost as host of Pop Culture Jeopardy!,” added Lauren Anderson, head of brand and content innovation at Amazon MGM Studios.
“Colin’s wry affability and pop culture fluency make him uniquely qualified as the perfect host for this new iteration of the beloved franchise.”
WHAT IS IT: DANGER OF POP CULTURE?
Amazon Prime Video brought a new take on Jeopardy! which will be broadcast exclusively on the platform in May.
The spinoff will be called Pop Culture Jeopardy! and will feature three major changes to the classic format.
Instead of answering general knowledge questions like in the standard edition of the game show, contestants will answer questions about pop culture topics like music, movies, sports, TV and more.
Additionally, the show will only be broadcast instead of broadcast on TV like the late night show.
Finally, there will not be three individual contestants competing against each other. Instead, there will be three teams of three people.
Jeopardy.com described it this way: “Contestants, playing in teams of three, will need to be experts in categories from Alternative Rock to The Avengers, Broadway to MMA, Gen Z to Zendaya.
“They compete in a tournament-style event for the grand prize and bragging rights.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
