Ken Jennings Compares Guest-Hosting Jeopardy! to an Alien Abduction

Ken Jennings talked about his "nerve racking" experience as the first guest host of Jeopardy! after the late Alex Trebek's final episodes air this week. 

"Those are huge shoes to step into," Jennings said today on Live with Kelly and Ryan. "He did that job so gracefully and so perfectly for so long that you don't want to see anybody else in it. It's an honor to be asked, don't get me wrong, but man, it's a very stressful one."

As one of the most renowned Jeopardy! champions ever, he now has a unique perspective on what it's like to play the game and to host the game. 

"I did notice, on my first day of guest-hosting, it reminded me a lot of my first day of trying to play Jeopardy! back in 2004, because it's just so overwhelming that your brain can't even keep up," he explained. "At the end of the day, you've done five shows and you're like 'what just happened to me?' It's almost like an alien abduction. Hosting is like that, too. I almost think it was more pressure, because the contestants don't have to worry about trying to look smooth or polished on air. You can kind of rely on the host to run the show, but the host has to do it all. The host is playing referee and he's the play-by-play guy in the booth and he's doing color commentary, and it's just a lot to handle at once. Alex made it look so easy and smooth and effortless, but that's just because he was so good at it."

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Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.