Jeopardy! fans like myself don’t like to think back to just a few years ago when the best game show of all time chose to replace Alex Trebek with more than one host. Those were dark days, and Ken Jennings has since settled into the role quite nicely of leading both Jeopardy! and Celebrity Jeopardy!. So how does he feel about Colin Jost as the host of Pop Culture Jeopardy!? The SNL Weekend Update anchor revealed the four-word, all-caps warning he supposedly received.
Colin Jost was picked over Ken Jennings — and Mayim Bialik, too, for that matter — to host Pop Culture Jeopardy!, whose second season is set to premiere May 11 on the 2026 TV schedule. While answering audience questions during a recent taping, Jost was asked if he and Jennings hang out, and I’m cracking up over this response:
Colin Jost looked legitimately interested in golfing with one of Jeopardy!’s biggest winners before he was informed that Ken Jennings does not golf. He said the two have not yet met in person but that they have texted. He said:
We haven’t physically met yet, but we were texting. I texted him yesterday that I was taking over his dressing room again, and he texted me, all caps, ‘DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING!’ So, it’s great. We have a really great relationship.
I honestly can’t tell if this was an actual text exchange between Colin Jost and Ken Jennings, or if Jost is making a joke. It seems like the kind of thing the SNL writer might say in jest, but Jennings has quite the comedic edge himself, and this seems on-brand enough from the Jeopardy! GOAT to be real.
- Jeopardy!: Weekdays (check local listings), next day on Hulu and Peacock.
- Celebrity Jeopardy!: 8 p.m. ET May 8 (final quarterfinal game) and May 12-15 (semifinals and finals) on ABC, next day on Hulu.
- Pop Culture Jeopardy!: Weekdays from May 11 to June 5 on Netflix.
Either way, they may not be hanging out, “stunting on hoes” at bar trivia, but Ken Jennings seems to have only positive things to say about the Pop Culture Jeopardy! host. He even thinks Colin Jost would do well on Celebrity Jeopardy! — given his Harvard education and how successful comedians have been on the show — if he were allowed to compete (hosts are banned from taking part in future games).
I’m thrilled to see the longtime Saturday Night Live writer returning for the spinoff — which, unlike last season, can only be streamed with a Netflix subscription. Colin Jost crushes as the Pop Culture Jeopardy! host, but that doesn’t mean Ken Jennings’ job is at risk. Rumors circulated in the early days of the pop culture quiz show that not only was Jennings upset he’d been passed over as host, but that Jost could be good enough to take over as the one true host of all Jeopardy! formats.
I don’t believe a word of it, and I think they’re both perfect in their respective lanes. Whether they’re fighting over space in the dressing room, though, I guess I can’t be so sure.
