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I was on quite the run of watching Jeopardy recently. There is a reason for that. That reason was Matt Amodio. If you aren’t familiar with Amodio, he’s one of the best Jeopardy players ever. He ended up with the second-most wins ever and the third-most money ever. Amodio’s run began last season during the rotating guest hosts era and ended recently. He made the show appointment television to me, something I had not felt about Jeopardy in years.
I am not here to write about Amodio, though. I’m writing about somebody who spent a chunk of her time with Amodio, and will be spending a lot of time with future contestants going forward. I’m here to talk about Mayim Bialik.
Bialik was one of many guest hosts who got a run on Jeopardy, from Ken Jennings to Aaron Rodgers to LeVar Burton. Some were good, and some were LeVar Burton. I must admit I think I only caught one episode of Bialik during her guest stint. She seemed fine. Then, it was announced she and Mike Richards would share the gig, with Bialik hosting special episodes. Soon thereafter, Richards got the axe, and Bialik took over, with Jennings also being involved, though he hasn’t shown up yet.
Bialik has spent years on television, having starting acting as a kid on Blossom. She then got a doctorate and then got a gig on Big Bang Theory and now here she is. Also, she has a sitcom on FOX maybe? Was it cancelled already? Basically, Bialik can fall back on the whole “doctorate” thing to “earn” her role as a Jeopardy host, even though Alex Trebek was just a Canadian dude who had been a game show host for awhile. What Bialik didn’t necessarily have, though was hosting experience.
Maybe that’s why the first episode I saw of her was just fine. Bialik needed to find her footing, and it was maybe just a one-week lark originally, which was really a one-day lark, given that they shoot five episodes a day. Once the gig was hers, though, she could focus on it. I must say, Bialik is doing really well in the role.
I may have watched for Amodio, but Bialik was vital to the experience. She’s got presentation skills. She reads the questions well. She can handle the job of hosting a game show and all the machinations that requires, which was something that Burton, in particular, had issues with. Bialik brings energy, unlike the super-low-key Rodgers, but isn’t over the top. She can be a little funny, but she doesn’t overdo it. Also, she has some really cool outfits and a keen sense of style.
As somebody who has watched Jeopardy off-and-on for over a decade, I’m a big fan of Bialik so far. If she just became the straight-up host, that would be good with me. Now, the question is whether or not she wants the job. After all, Bialik is still an actor. She maybe has a sitcom? If she doesn’t, she might want another one. Then again, wouldn’t it be cool to be the new face of Jeopardy? To be the heir apparent to Trebek? Five, 10 years down the line people will just think of Bialik as the host of Jeopardy. That would be pretty great. She’s proven that she can handle the role with aplomb. Amodio is gone, but Bialik remains.
