Hosts for two of daytime and access’ most popular strips have been named, according to reports, but the production companies behind each aren’t confirming yet.
Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik are expected to continue to share hosting duties on the Sony Pictures Television-produced Jeopardy! through this coming season, while Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump staffer, is said to be joining ABC’s The View as the panel’s conservative co-host. Griffin served as Trump’s director of strategic communications.
“We do not have a co-host announcement to make at this time. Stay tuned,” said a spokesperson for The View after reports of Griffin’s appointment emerged from Variety and other publications. Griffin was a regular visitor to The View last season after the departure of Meghan McCain.
Sony also was not confirming reports that Jennings and Bialik have re-signed for season 39 of the popular access game show.
Jennings, Jeopardy!’s most-winning contestant of all time, has been co-hosting Jeopardy! with Bialik since last September. Jennings first guest-hosted in January 2021 after the death of iconic host Alex Trebek of pancreatic cancer in November 2020. Bialik, star of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory and Fox’s Call Me Kat, did her first guest-hosting stint later that year.
In August 2021, Jeopardy! Executive Producer Mike Richards was named host, but that did not last long after reports emerged of Richards making statements considered to be misogynistic on a podcast he co-hosted. Richards also had been named a defendant in a discrimination lawsuit that was eventually settled against FremantleMedia North America and The Price Is Right while he was an executive producer on that show.
After Richards was dismissed from his hosting job as well as from his post as executive producer of both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, Jennings and Bialik stepped in. Michael Davies, who created and executive produced Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, also came on board as interim executive producer.
Davies, whose production company, Embassy Row, was bought by Sony in 2009, was named permanent executive producer of Jeopardy! in April. Jennings and Bialik have switched back and forth as Jeopardy! hosts -- and as Bialik’s production schedule on the just-renewed Call Me Kat allows -- ever since.
Sony also plans to debut Celebrity Jeopardy! on ABC later this year, with Bialik as host.
The View generally operates with a rotating panel of hosts, but should Griffin be made official, she’ll be joining Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro for the show’s 26th season starting in September. ■
