LeVar Burton has hosted this week. He isn’t my favourite guest host but he’s not doing a bad job. He seems to hestitate quite a bit after an answer.

This week a record was set for the most in the hole a contestant had been at the end of the game. I believe he was at -$7400. Of course he didn’t go on to the final Jeopardy! question.

The young fellow who has been winning all week is a PhD student. He reminds me of Lyle Lovett. He has a different way about him. I really like him.

roxsol, I thought the same thing about Matt. Lol. He is quirky. Gotta say, I'm not liking LeVar. It's like he's trying too hard or something. I can't quite figure it out. And I've read he REALLY wants the gig. Sad to say, but I hope he doesn't get it.

I was looking forward to LeVar Burton and have not been impressed. He is indeed trying too hard.

I have been weighing the performances of the various people based on how they do when they tell someone they have the wrong answer. I like Ken Jennings interestingly enough because he would have had very little experience in being told he was wrong and the producer guy whose name I cant remember. He has years of experience seeing Alec Trebek do it. There is definitely an art to making the person not look or feel like a fool.

I dont know. Once in awhile Alex would give the contestant a bit of a jab when they were wrong. He had it down perfectly, of course. Also not crazy about LeVar. I really likes the contestant who had just recovered from a brain injury. I could tell he was a bit slow on the buzzer but still did well. Yes, the producer guy did well as host and comes in with a clean slate. All the others already have a style we’ve come to,expect. I liked Anderson Cooper but I dont think he is interested.

Thanks, everyone! I'm surprised. It seemed like LeVar Burton practically had a campaign going to get the job, complete with a fan base. Does each guest host have a 2-week run? If so, I guess I won't get to see him.

Alisande, yes, each guest host got a 2 week run. He has a week to go. Is Jeopardy on an NBC network where you live?

ritamay , I read that he is on for only one week. The season ends on Aug. 13 and there will be two more guest hosts for one week apiece.

The final three hosts only get a week.

Yes, Dave Faber and Joe Buck are next.

Oh, ok. I still have the one from Friday on my DVR, so didn't get to see his goodbye. I'm not familiar with Dave Faber.

Ritamay, yes, Jeopardy is on an NBC affiliate here.

Who are Dave Faber and Joe Buck?

Joe Buck is a sportscaster and Faber is a financial journalist.

I only saw one day of LeVar. My favorites have been, in no particular order, Ken Jennings, Buzzy Cohen, Mike Richards, Mayim Byalik. And Aaron Rodgers, though I don’t think I’d like him as permanent host. Not that he would take it.

Edit to add Anderson Cooper.

I thought pretty much everyone aside from Dr. Oz and now LaVar, have done well.

LeVar is doing OK. But I don't want to see him as permanent host and I can't pinpoint why. Matt is doing GREAT! People are ragging on him on twitter because he answers questions about people with "what" is instead of "who" is, but that doesn't bother me. Ken did 74 consecutive days. I hope Matt breaks that record, And I hope Ken gets the host job!

Oh my goodness. Levar started out very uptight and by Friday he was at ease and he looked more like himself. A fan club was started by his admirers. Ken Jennings is no fun. Buzzy Cohen is. So is Katie Curic and Anderson Cooper. i think the others are out of the running.

I like the variety of guest hosts (only exception Oz), maybe they should keep doing that.

Oh, I forgot about Anderson Cooper. He did a great job, too.

Buzzy Cohen is still my top pick, but then I've always liked him. I don't know why I don't like Mike Richards. He was never offensive; nor did he do anything wrong that I know of. I think he just seemed too slick to me--too much of a game show host. (Yeah, I know . . . that's what he was supposed to be. lol) I also think I would have liked him to be a little more unique in some way.

Here's USA Today's ranking of the 14 guest hosts we've had so far:

USA Today's rankings

I'm picking Buzzy Cohen as well. I believe his personality will mesh with Alex Trebec's style and hold up the sophistication of the game with appeal to students of learning and still learning.

I loved the old game shows like To Tell the Truth. Tuxedos, beautiful gowns and smart well-known directors, newspaper people with great manners and clever too. I've Got a Secret was Classic. They are back but are of the blue jean variety and I don't learn a thing. Such programs are a waste of time for young and old.

I like Matt. He lives in New Haven and as low key as he is, he seems to have led a typical guy's life in his stories. He so often gets double jeopardy and picks the $2000 questions as often as he can. I thought they were the hardest questions but I think it's not always so. He is conservative in what he wagers in final jeopardy and has steadily climbed.

Question: Do you believe these contestants are blessed with a photographic memory? Does anyone is this group have it?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta! He was well received as an alternative reporter on the covid virus. But he showed a different side of him when working with contestants. Much like a parent who shows no encouragement when a child doesn't know his homework, he seemed disappointed in wrong answers. Very deliberate in the tone of his voice. i will guess he was raised this way. I think his appearance might have hurt him.

Maggie, I never thought about the possibility of the contestants having a photographic memory, but I doubt it. Isn't it rare? I really don't know. But I think it might be more of a curse than a blessing.

Allisande, i did a little research. You are right. Photographic Memories are rare. I have used that term over the years to describe people with very good memories for some reason. Not because they can take a snapshot of every thing the have seen and learned.

There are many theories why some people have better memories than others.

i have friends who went through law school without much effort besides comprehension, for instance, because they can cite cases in detail. There are so many other examples where the useful combo of comprehension and memory make prople smart. Not wise but smart.

Pulling up information quickly is a great gift in my opinion. I wonder how Matt, our current player, is so quick. Travel and reading help but I can't remember the directions off a microwaveable so must dig the box out perhaps twice. Thanks for helping me.

Whoever the guy was who hosted last night was GREAT!

David Faber who I think reports on finance. He did do a good job! Or will be interesting to see today if he corrects the contestants in the form of a question.

I'll have to look up David Faber. Maybe he's on cable or ABC, which would explain why I never heard of him.

I wish I could see this Matt you've been talking about! Maybe in reruns. Or maybe he'll keep winning past the Olympics.

Alisande, are they airing Jeopardy in a late-night time slot where you are? I think they did it here when some daytime events were pre-empting it.

Bpath, that's interesting! It would be even more interesting if I could stay awake past 11:00 p.m. lol But I'll definitely check it out--thanks!

I know what you mean! Here it is on at 3:30 in the afternoon. It is so easy to miss it, especially when the kids were getting out of school at 3:30 or now when I decide I'm going to watch it, sit down, and nap from the contestant chats through the end of double Jeopardy. At least it's not on the same channel airing the Olympics.

I record J. skip the commercials.

Type Jeopardy into Youtube. Matt is on there. Enjoy.

I caught most of it today with David Faber hosting. He corrected how he corrects incorrect reaponses (whew, that was hard to type). And I think he’s a natural. I hope he lets a little more personality show the rest of the week, that will be a contributing factor,

How did Matt do tonight? I missed it because I was too lazy to get off the porch sofa and go in to watch it.

I have a backlog of episodes to watch, but I'm disappointed that I don't feel comfortable with LeVar Burton. I was really rooting for him, because it seemed like he had the right qualifications for the job.

Matt is part James and part Arthur. He’s a money machine.

I was familiar with David Faber before this week. I have to say I only watched last night and I was really impressed with him. He is polished, professional, gracious, etc etc and the main skill I observed was that everything seemed seamless. He does not get in the way of anything and the game just flows. I knew he was capable and bright and all but didn't expect him to be so good.

I too was impressed with the new guy. He is the best so far in my estimation and I wasnt expecting that at all.

Completely unfamiliar with David Faber, I looked him up on YouTube. His cohorts on CNBC seem sincerely fond of him, and excited about his excellent performance on Jeopardy. I don't know anything about CNBC either . . . is it likely he'd accept the Jeopardy job if offered?

As much as I enjoyed Buzzy and Mayim and Anderson and Ken, David Ferber just feels right.

I just saw this on Twitter:

@Variety

Mike Richards in Advanced Negotiations to Become Permanent Host of ‘Jeopardy!’ (EXCLUSIVE)

https://t.co/N9BkwH5vOM?amp=1

Well, I'm sure being Jeopardy's executive producer gives him an edge. Not to mention all those other game shows he hosted and/or produced. But Jeopardy is different.

I know several of you liked him a lot, so I suppose I'll adjust . . . :-)

I'm fine with Mike Richards. Before Alex Trebek began hosting Jeopardy! he had hosted several other game shows, like High Rollers, Classic Concentration, and To Tell the Truth. Mike's resume isn't much different.

I really wouldn't expect any of the journalists would want to be a permanent game show host, not even a prestigious game show.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Trebek