And An Update on Guest Hosts
Congratulations to Hawthorne native Pasquale Palumbo, who appeared on Jeopardy and won an episode on April 8. Palumbo, 45, attended White Plains High School and is a former coach of the White Plains HS football team.
Palumbo talked football with the guest host of Jeopardy, Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Palumbo joked that he and Rogers shared a football connection. “I both played and coached high school football at White Plains High. My head coach Mark Santa-Donato was coached by Ralph Friedgen Sr., who was coached by Colonel Red Blake up at West Point who had Vince Lombardi on his coaching staff at the time.”
Palumbo won $6,799 on his first night and lost on his second night, but all of Westchester and his friends from WPHS congratulated him on social media. On that show, all three contestants got the final question incorrect. The Question? Name two of the three national capitals in South America that have more than 10 million people.
Palumbo was supposed to play on Jeopardy in 2020 but COVID cancelled most travel across the country. And the legendary host Alex Trebek passed away in November of 2020, and another scheduled appearance was delayed because of a snowstorm in New York.
Finally, the show that Jeopardy lovers watched on April 8 was taped on February 17. Palumbo said that it was a surreal experience. He is currently the vice president of the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce and an insurance agent, and has been watching Jeopardy since the 1980’s.
For more than a decade, Palumbo has been trying to get on Jeopardy. An audition in 2019 in New York City, and then an 18 month wait resulted in his 2021 appearance.
Besides getting married and having children, Palulmbo said that Jeopardy was his greatest experience, which is a great answer for any married Jeopardy fan with kids.
On the April 8 show, all three of the contestants got the final question wrong, which was to name two of the three national capitals in South America whose metro areas have more than 10 million people. Buenos Aires, Argentina, Lima, Peru, and Bogotá, Colombia were the correct answer. Palumbo didn’t bet it all and ended up winning.
Editor’s Note: We know that a lot of Jeopardy lovers read our papers or online. So here’s my Jeopardy update post Alex, who will never be replaced and was a true TV legend. Alex had the foresight to try and make sure that the show continued after his death, which we should al be grateful for.
Guest hosts so far:
Ken Jennings: Jennings served as a consultant for Jeopardy during Alex’s final months. So in our view, Ken knows what Alex wanted the show to do in his absence. In his weeks as guest host, we found Ken to be comfortable and highly qualified to be the next regular host. In our view, he is the front runner to replace Alex.
Mike Richards: Richards, who served as the Executive Producer of Jeopardy with Alex and continues in that role, was a capable host.
Katie Couric: We found Couric to be her usual, bubbly, warm and inviting self on camera as she was for so many years on the Today Show.
Dr. Oz: We found Dr. Mehnet Oz to also do an above average job as host, while his detractors attacked him on social media for being arrogant.
Aaron Rodgers: So far Rodgers has been a calm, comforting host, who has tried to drop in a joke here and there. We also find Rodgers to be a suitable host. And even though he is in an argument with his NFL team the Packers, we believe that he will return to football and an estimated $25M+ salary instead of being the permanent host.
After Rodgers, its CNN News host Anderson Cooper, NBC Today show host Savannah Guthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Bill Whitaker and Mayim Bialik will be guest hosts.
So far, Jeopardy has continued to be an interesting show to watch after a days work and supper. Its family friendly and a tradition for many of us. My bottom line is that I’m so happy that it resembles the same show that Alex led for decades and that it will continue.
My 19 year old daughter now enjoys the tradition of Jeopardy.
One interesting tidbit on the guest hosts. A petition with more than 200,000 names for actor LeVar Burton has been collected. Burton tweeted that he hopes that “the powers that be are listening to the online petition.”
Burton has hosted the PBS children’s series Reading Rainbow for 23 years. We say give him a chance!
