'Jeopardy!' Fans Lash Out After Mayim Bialik Resumes Hosting

A number of Jeopardy! fans have voiced their objection to Mayim Bialik resuming hosting duties, as Ken Jennings takes a break from the primetime show.

All-time Jeopardy! champ Jennings has hosted the syndicated quiz show since its 38th season, while Bialik has presented the tournaments. The pair have, on occasion, switched places on the main show and specials.

They were officially announced as the show's permanent hosts before the start of the current season 39 last year, following the death of popular long-time presenter Alex Trebek in November 2020.

Jennings' most recent block of pre-recorded shows came to an end in April, with Bialik stepping up to the lectern from this week onward. Jennings will be seen hosting the Jeopardy! Masters competition from May 8.

The switch around has prompted a number of Jeopardy! fans to take to Twitter to express their disapproval of Bialik's return to the primetime broadcast.

"Mayim Bialik is back on #Jeopardy," tweeted one viewer, alongside a face with rolling eyes emoji. "I might mute the program and just read the answers."

"Tuned in and then out," commented another. "No Ken, no Jeopardy! Sorry, Mayim Bialik is just intolerable. See you in September if she's the host [for] the remainder of the season. Hard pass."

"Mayim Bialik is so not good at hosting Jeopardy!" said one viewer, while another pleaded: "Please bring Ken Jennings back. Mayim Bialik is awful."

"Can't believe we're stuck with Mayim Bialik the rest of the this season. So bad," another detractor complained.

Comparing the host switch to the ongoing Bud Light furor, another chimed in: "Dylan Mulvaney is to Bud Light what Mayim Bialik is to Jeopardy."

"Oh great, Mayim Bialik is back hosting #jeopardy," said another, who clarified their feelings on the matter with the addition of a GIF of a man with his thumb down.

Despite the wave of disapproval, a number of other Jeopardy! fans expressed joy at seeing Call Me Kat star Bialik back on the show.

"Mayim Bialik is hosting today, I missed her," tweeted one fan of the show.

Adding a string of celebratory emojis to illustrate their elation, another viewer wrote: "YAY!!! Mayim Bialik is backkkk! So happy."

Another responded to the backlash by quote-tweeting a post they shared back in March that read: "No amount of whining or complaining will change the fact that Mayim is just as much the host of Jeopardy! as Ken is."

Adding a fresh caption to the post this week, the Jeopardy! fan wrote: "Now that Mayim Bialik is hosting syndicated Jeopardy for the rest of this season."

During an appearance on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast in August, Bialik and Jennings spoke with fellow host Sarah Whitcomb Foss about how they deal with online backlash from fans of the quiz show.

"We're still people, so I can't say that when you hear things that are constructive criticism that you don't start thinking a little bit too much about it," Bialik said. "But, I don't know, I kind of take everybody's opinion both with a grain of salt and also believe everybody has a right to their opinion."

For Jennings, the negative reaction came early, when he saw some people were "sick of him" in the earlier stages of his run as a Jeopardy! contestant in 2004. Jennings holds the record of the show's longest win streak at 74.

"Even as a contestant, I remember being shocked at how free—it was the early days of the internet, but people were still very much like, 'Oh, I'm sick of this guy already.' And I'm like, 'Oh, there's like three more months [of me]... This guy's gonna have a bad summer!' I just kind of had to dissociate.

"You know what? Jeopardy! has got such a big, diverse audience. You're not going to be able to please everybody every night. But I think that's the virtue of having a couple hosts. You know, it's a big, diverse audience and maybe that helps broaden the tent. It's a matter of taste hosting style."

Last June, Bialik opened up about being on the receiving end of harsh comments from some Jeopardy! fans before being announced as a permanent host.

Speaking with Justin Long on an episode of her podcast, Mayim Bialik's Breakdown, the TV personality revealed that viewers often compared her to Jennings.

Actor and comedian Long broached the subject when he asked Bialik if she was ever made aware that she was favored over Jennings by Jeopardy! fans.

"Sometimes," Bialik responded, adding: "Sometimes I get, 'We don't prefer you to Ken.'"

Noting how celebrities are often seen, Long said: "Isn't that wild—well, it's probably the only profession that I can think of, or maybe politicians—where people will tell you deeply insulting things but with a big smile?"

"[People will tell you] exactly how they feel," Bialik said in response. "Like, 'I saw you in a magazine. I was very confused. You looked pretty.' I get that a lot."