Jeopardy!is returning to TV on September 14th with brand-new episodes. Additionally, the show has added the “Greatest of All Time” champion Ken Jennings as a consulting producer. Alex Trebek is back for hosting duties for the highly anticipated season 37 of the long-running game show. Trebek has been publicly fighting Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which he announced nearly 2 years ago. The iconic host is doing well and looks forward to delivering the first new episodes ofJeopardy!since June when they ran out of new material.
Just like everybody else,Alex Trebekhas been stuck indoors. However, he’s ready to return to work onJeopardy!season 37. “I feel good, and I feel excited because once againJeopardy!has demonstrated that it’s at the forefront of television programming,” Trebek said. “I believe we are the first quiz show to come back on the air in the COVID-19 era. On a personal level, I’m excited because it gets me out of the house. It gives me something to do on a regular basis, and I was missing that.” This should be welcome news toJeopardy!fans who were wondering what the future held.
Alex Trebek is joining forces with fan-favorite contestantKen Jennings. Jennings has joinedJeopardy!as a consulting producer, which will find him presenting his own special video categories, developing new projects, assisting with contestant outreach, and serving as a general ambassador for the show. Jennings' first special video category will be introduced in the 2nd new episode of season 37, which airs on September 15th. He had this to say about his new role.
“Though I’ve played my last round ofJeopardy!as a contestant, I’m delighted to have the opportunity to remain involved with my favorite show. I’m still in on all the action, but I don’t have to worry about phrasing things in the form of a question anymore.”
Jeopardy!had to make some changes to their production to follow new safety protocols, due to thecurrent public health crisis. Contestants will now be six feet apart from each other, while also be considerably further from host Alex Trebek. Plus, all of the casting is being done remotely from here on out, adding to the safety on the set.
As for how the new casting process works, prospective contestants can go online to take theJeopardy!Anytime Test. From there, winners will be chosen at random and then selected to move on to the next hurdle, which is a round of the game played over Zoom. The testing site warns that the test will take approximately 15 minutes and reveals that players will have 15 seconds to answer the 50 clues. While it has never been easier to get a shot onJeopardy!, it also seems like it is pretty demanding. If you’d like to try out for season 37, head over tothe official Jeopardy! websiteto take the test.
