Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik Set to Compete for Outstanding Game Show Host at the 2023 Emmys

Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik split hosting duties on Jeopardy, and now, they’re sharing another honor: Emmy Award nominations. The two hosts have each been nominated in the 2023 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host, as announced earlier this morning.

The category, which was previously part of the Daytime Emmys until 2023, also includes nominees Steve Harvey, who hosts Family Feud; Keke Palmer, who hosts Password; and Pat Sajak, who hosts Wheel of Fortune.

Jeopardy was also nominated for Outstanding Game Show, a category the show has previously won 19 times. It has received the most Daytime Emmy Award nominations and wins of any syndicated game show.

This could be the first of many Emmy nods for the co-hosts, who took over the podium in 2021 after Jeopardy icon Alex Trebek passed away. Trebek earned eight Daytime Emmy Awards throughout his career.

While Bialik was previously nominated for an Emmy four times while starring on The Big Bang Theory, Jennings’ just secured his first Emmy nomination today.

Although Jennings and Bialik are getting equal love from the Emmys, they don’t have such fair treatment from their Jeopardy fan base. Despite the fact that the co-hosts switch off on hosting the syndicated game show and share duties, fans have started picking favorites.

When Jennings recently filled in for Bialik on Jeopardy, fans on Twitter swiftly made their thoughts on her style of hosting loud and clear.

This backlash has continued even after Jeopardy producer Michael Davies came forward and defended both of the new hosts in May.

“Alex made it his own, but it wasn’t his own the first couple of years. A lot of what happened on Jeopardy! came from him possessing this job for so long,” he said.

He maintained that he continues to “back both of them,” explaining, “One of the biggest things is the ratings of the show. When Ken is hosting and Mayim is hosting, there’s zero difference. It’s exactly the same and that’s the broadest part of the audience.”

But receiving such recognition from the Television Academy shows the criticisms they’ve received are largely fan conjecture.

Tune into the 2023 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony Sept. 18.