Savannah Guthrie’s ‘Jeopardy!’ Debut Follows Major ‘Today’ Milestone

Savannah Guthrie’s stint as the guest host of Jeopardy! is a major milestone in and of itself, but the journalist is also coming off a huge achievement in her day-to-day career as well! The TODAY anchor celebrated 10 years on air with the NBC News morning show on June 7, looking back on her career with her colleagues, who couldn’t help but gush over her skill and sensitivity both on- and off-camera.

Looking back on when Guthrie joined TODAY after covering, co-star and close friend Hoda Kotb remembered, “I knew I’d like her, but I didn’t know I’d love her.” Craig Melvin added of Guthrie’s reputation, “No one covers breaking news like she does,” as Al Roker noted that while she may be kind, she’s always on her game. “People underestimate Savannah, and they do so at their own peril,” he said. Melvin even called her the “Swiss Army knife of the Peacock” when it comes to her ability to handle just about anything tossed her way.

Even when the cameras stop rolling, Guthrie is a wonderful friend and compassionate colleague. “I lost my mom tragically,” Carson Daly said of his mother’s death in 2017. “One of the first phone calls I got was from Savannah, who said, ‘What do you need?’” Melvin added, “My brother just died. The kind, generous spirit, that’s who she is when the little light in the camera goes off.”

Guthrie has been impressing fans of Jeopardy! with her guest-hosting skills as well, explaining Monday on TODAY that to prepare for the role, she “watched a lot of [Alex Trebek’s] episodes. If you want to learn how to be good at something, you watch a person who is the absolute best.” She continued that the late Jeopardy! host “made it look easy,” but trying to fill his shoes certainly was not. “Once they gave me the clues, I read them over and over again and made little notes and practiced my pronunciation with mixed results, let’s just say,” she admitted.

“I knew Alex was an icon before I came here and guest-hosted Jeopardy!,” Guthrie said. “But what I didn’t know or couldn’t really feel was how much he is loved and missed in these halls. I’m more in awe of him. I’m in awe of his skill, but I’m mostly in awe of his goodness, and it’s so reflected in the people who worked with him.”