Who might replace Alex Trebek as 'Jeopardy!' host?

When Alex Trebek — who died Sunday aged 80 after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer — was asked who should replace him as host of "Jeopardy!," he had a standard go-to line: "Someone younger. Someone brighter. Someone funnier. Betty White." (For the record, White turns 99 on Jan. 17.)

Nevertheless, there has been replacement speculation for years, some of which was fed by Trebek himself, most notably in a widely cited interview with TMZ from 2018 when he floated two names — both surprises, as much to the named pair as to "Jeopardy!" fans.

One was Alex Faust, a 31-year-old Brooklyn native and play-by-play voice for the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. The other was CNN senior legal analyst Laura Coates, 40, who responded at the time, via Twitter, with "Incredibly honored & humbled [Trebek] 1) knows who I am 2) thinks I’d be a great host of my fave game show ever that I grew up watching w/ my family & still watch w/ my own kids (who saw him say this & now think I’m a genius)."

Coates and Faust could not be reached for comment.

"Jeopardy!" syndicator Sony said in a statement Sunday that it will not name a successor "at this time." The last edition that Trebek taped will air on Christmas Day, Sony added.

In his memoir, "The Answer Is … Reflections on My Life," published in July, Trebek wrote: "You could replace me as the host of the show with anybody and it would likely be just as popular. Hell, after thirty-six years with me, it might even be more popular," while later declaring, "It doesn’t matter who’s the host … There are other hosts out there who can do equally as good a job as me. I think Jeopardy! can go on forever."

Neither Faust nor Coates was mentioned in its pages, but Trebek did devote several pages to Ken Jennings, the winner of 2020's "Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time."

"When I think of Ken," he wrote, "I think of a quality human being. Extremely bright — that goes without saying. Someone who’s not out to impress you. Somebody I can be very simpatico with because I think we’re the same type of person. We’re comfortable in our own skin and comfortable in dealing with other people and don’t feel we have to go out and impress or make a mark. He’s somebody I genuinely liked as a contestant on the program."

After Jennings' championship run ended in 2004 — Jennings had won 74 consecutive games, and was finally defeated by Nancy Zerg — Trebek wrote that "I remember thinking, 'Ken’s gone. My buddy. My pal. 'This was getting to be The Ken and Alex Show … We got to know each other and feel comfortable with each other. [David] Letterman joked about us taking out a license and moving to Massachusetts and getting married."

Jennings, 46, a former computer programmer, joined the show as consulting producer over the summer, prompting speculation that the off-screen role was the first step of a succession plan.

Jennings tweeted Sunday, "Alex wasn’t just the best ever at what he did. He was also a lovely and deeply decent man, and I’m grateful for every minute I got to spend with him."

Separately, the show's executive producer, Mike Richards, said at the outset of Monday's program, Trebek "loved this show and everything it stood for." Richards, visibly emotional, then said, "We will air his final 35 episodes as they were shot. That's what he wanted. On behalf of everyone at 'Jeopardy,' thank you, Alex."

At the end of the program, after the show’s credits, the screen faded to black, with white graphical text that read: "Dedicated to Alex Trebek/Forever in our Hearts/Always our Inspiration."