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It will be very interesting to see who replaces him. Very big shoes to fill. But whoever does it should be his or her own man or woman. No need to try to BE Alex Trebek.
I don't think Ken Jennings will be the replacement. Being a good contestant doesn't automatically make you a good host.
But more importantly, Jennings has had a few controversies since the start of his notoriety. I think the first and last ones mentioned below would be enough to doom his chances. You usually don't get to be a game show host after making fun of people in wheelchairs or of elderly women mourning the death of a son. He brings in Trump for a gratuitous insult as well with the MAGA comment.
From Wikipedia:
Controversies
Some of Jennings' tweets have been the subject of controversy. On September 22, 2014, he received criticism after tweeting, "Nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair."
On November 10, 2015, Jennings was criticized after he tweeted a joke about the death of Daniel Fleetwood, a lifelong Star Wars fan who died of cancer. Fleetwood's dying wish was to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, fearing he likely would not live to see the film when it opened in theaters in December 2015. An online campaign was started on his behalf and his wish was granted only days before he died. Jennings said, "It can't be a good sign that every fan who has seen the new Star Wars movie died shortly thereafter."
Jennings again faced controversy when on May 31, 2017, he tweeted a joke involving Barron Trump, the youngest child of U.S. President Donald Trump. According to TMZ, after 11-year-old Barron Trump saw an image of Kathy Griffin holding a bloody Trump mask, he believed it was real and screamed. Jennings wrote, "Barron Trump saw a very long necktie on a heap of expired deli meat in a dumpster. He thought it was his dad & his little heart is breaking." After the tweet garnered controversy, Jennings said, "The joke doesn't mock Barron. It mocks using him for political cover."
In August 2018, Jennings was criticized for his description of an elderly woman tweeting about her deceased son. When she tweeted about her son's love for the 1980s television character ALF, Jennings responded with "This awful MAGA grandma is my favorite person on Twitter."
One thing about Alex Trebek is that he was never controversial and never political. I think Jennings, as popular as he is to fans of the show, now has too much baggage to be considered for the host role.
That has never slowed down other shows. Some, particularly on VICE, FSTV and other fringe channels, seem to go out of their way to find controversial hosts. Occasionally interesting programming, but hosts with no class whatsoever.
Any tv host would do well to emulate Alex Trebek. The man was class personified.
Jeopardy is not a fringe show, and it isn't shown on fringe TV stations. It's shown on local affiliates of major networks, not TruTV, and it's mostly shown at the dinner hour. Much of its audience is older people, particularly women, and they're not going to be attracted by "controversial" or even "edgy" hosts. In fact, they'd be turned off. The next host of Jeopardy will be a Tom Kennedy or a Bill Cullen type person. Friendly, endearing, somewhat bland, and not a hint of controversy in his background.
Bergeron, Bob Saget or Alfonso Ribeiro could all pull off "Jeopardy" but gotta remember they're heavily identified with AFV and would have to shake that off. I like AFV, but I much prefer TruTV Top Funniest.
Stephanopoulos would never be be able to keep his politics out of it.
