‘Jeopardy!’ Watchers Weigh in on George Stephanopoulos’ Run as Guest Host

Jeopardy! is still in the midst of trying out guest hosts for the daily syndicated program, and George Stephanopoulos is one of the latest to get a chance at the gig. The ABC personality guest-hosted July 12-16, giving him only one week compared to the two-week stints enjoyed by Aaron Rodgers and Anderson Cooper, among others. His appearance led into Robin Roberts’ run (July 19-23), which just wrapped up ahead of LeVar Burton’s July 26-30 stint.

Stephanopoulos has long been vying for the job of Alex Trebek‘s successor, but how did he do once he got the shot? Critics and casual fans alike have weighed in on Stephanopoulos’ chances of being the permanent Jeopardy! host. Scroll through to read some of the reactions to his guest-hosting stint.

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“Stephanopoulos is a smooth, clean, comforting guy to do a quick five episodes,” USA Today’s Kelly Lawler wrote. “Of all the newscasters (besides Cooper) to try the job, Stephanopoulos is the most relaxed and poised of the bunch. Watching him, it feels less like he’s reading from a script than having a conversation with the contestants. Stephanopoulos has a grandfatherly, paternal demeanor that makes him comforting without becoming a snooze.”

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“The ABC anchor did a workmanlike job behind the lectern,” The Federalist‘s Christopher Jacobs wrote. “Stephanopoulos kept the contestants appraised of their scores, ruled definitively when a contestant mispronounced the title of a book, and seemed at ease interviewing the players about their hobbies and interests. For some unknown reason, he also used his glasses as a prop, taking them off and waving them in his hand when he knew the camera was on him.

“Like most of the other guest hosts, Stephanopoulos included more monologues than Alex Trebek. Between talking about the honor of hosting Jeopardy!, praising the late host Trebek, and plugging their charities, the guests seem not only to spend more time talking, but more time talking about themselves, which Trebek rarely did. Viewers anxious to test their trivia knowledge, or simply watch the contestants compete, might find themselves muttering at their televisions: Get on with it already!”

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As fan as fans’ thoughts, one wrote, “George Stephanopoulos is doing well as the Jeopardy host. He has that same smarmy, know-it-all attitude that Alex had.”

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“I hadn’t watched Jeopardy! in a while, finally getting to see George Stephanopoulos. He’s got a lot of enthusiasm and I like his readings of the clues,” a second Jeopardy! fan wrote. “One of the few guest hosts I could see actually doing this so far.”

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“I love George Stephanopoulos but not sure I like him as host for Jeopardy,” a more negative fan tweeted. A second naysayer wrote, “I think George Stephanopoulos is my least favorite jeopardy guest host so far and that’s saying a lot.”

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“He’s doing a perfectly fine job but I find George Stephanopoulos really annoying for some reason as Jeopardy host when I don’t find him so in his normal TV work,” another person wrote. Will Stephanopoulos become full-time Jeopardy! host? Only time will tell. In the meantime, stay tuned to PopCulture.com for all the latest Jeopardy! updates.