'Jeopardy!' Hosts Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik Score Emmy Nominations

"Jeopardy!" fans were pleased with the nominations for not only the game show but for co-hosts Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik.

On Wednesday, July 12, the game show scored three Emmy nominations, which caused great excitement among fans.

On Tuesday, the 2023 Emmy nominations were announced. “Jeopardy!” was selected for Outstanding Game Show while Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik were both nominated for Outstanding Host For A Game Show. Regardless, they face some stiff competition.

Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik are facing off again Steve Harvey from “Family Feud,” Keke Palmer from “Password” and Pat Sajak from “Wheel of Fortune.” Given that Sajak is retiring from the game show after decades, some fans think that he might scoop up the Emmy against the new two novice hosts, who only took over the show after the death of longtime host Alex Trebek in 2020.

It’s worth noting that Steve Harvey won the Emmy in 2022. Meanwhile, ABC’s “Jeopardy!” is facing stiff competition from ABC’s “Family Feud,” CBS’ “The Price Is Right,” NBC’s “That’s My Jam,” and ABC’s “Wheel of Fortune.”

In a June 2023 interview with the New Yorker promoting his new book, “100 Places To See After You Die,” the trivia guru opened up about what he felt was the hardest part of hosting the award-winning game show.

“It’s the speed of it,” Ken explained. “It’s hard to overstate how fast it moves and the mechanics of what the host has to do sixty-one times a show: read the clue flawlessly, call on the right contestant, adjudicate their response correctly. And then it all repeats.”

“It’s a very hard job, and Alex made it look easy,” he continued. “So it’s kind of a no-win thing—the only other person we’ve seen do it looked incredibly confident and graceful for thirty-seven years, and we all loved him.”

He went on to say that he is not alone in deciding whether or not a contestant gives the right answer. “There’s a table of judges that I can appeal to. But, in practice, Alex made a lot of those calls on the fly, just because he knew the game and knew it had to keep moving,” he said. “And you’re also in a tough position.”

Ken continued, “You’re the referee of the game, kind of managing the players, but you’re also managing the studio audience and the home audience. You’re the stadium announcer, and you’re the play-by-play guy in the booth. You’re trying to do it all.”

“And really the way to do it, it turns out, is just to play the game as if you were a contestant. I’m kind of playing along in my head, like, Oh, I know this one! Let’s see if they know it. Hey, they do, great! We did it! We get to go again! And I don’t know if that’s the right—it’s definitely not Alex’s energy, but nobody can do what he did,” he added.

Ken Jennings has the longest "Jeopardy!" winning streak in the history of the game show after winning 74 games in 2004. While behind the podium, he tries his best to support the contestants because he knows how nerve-wracking it can feel to be behind the podium.

“I’m always thinking, How can I make the contestants feel—I don’t know about comfortable, but at least not panicky? Because I’ve been there, and I know it’s tough,” he said. “I see the handshaking when they’re trying to wager.”

“And they know it’s a weighty moment,” he admitted, recognizing that the final round is one of the “hardest parts” of the game. “The good thing is, you can take an afternoon and do some online research and break down how to wager Final Jeopardy.” He went on to say, “If you can know four or five cases, and if you can train your brain to do that flowchart, you can be ready. That said, it’s a crucible, and people do it wrong sometimes."

In addition to regular gameplay, Ken Jennings also hosted the "Jeopardy! Masters" spin-off. Mayim Bialik has hosted the spin-off "Celebrity Jeopardy!".