Savannah Guthrie has been a host and reporter for the Today Show for 10 years, but her recent appearance as host of Jeopardy! has been an opportunity that has been unique for the journalist/attorney.
Guthrie is the 10th person to host the show since the passing of Alex Trebek last November.
“Honestly, hosting ‘Jeopardy!’ is the thing I think people are most excited about, and I am, too,” Guthrie said in an interview with Jeopardy! producers. “I know I could never be a contestant because I’m not very good at trivia, so this was the closest I was ever going to get to the Jeopardy! stage. So I had to jump at the chance.”
Even though Guthrie had a great time as host, she is not interested in being the permanent replacement for Trebek. She wants to continue her role on the Today Show going forward.
“It’s a really hard job, and getting here did not make me any less nervous,” she said. “The more I knew about what was required, the more nervous I was.”
Guthrie explained that the most difficult part of hosting the show was how quickly it takes place.
“It’s not live, but the game portion of it is essentially (so that) there are no do-overs,” she said on USA Today. “You have to keep the game going — it goes really fast. And I knew that if I flubbed, if I accidentally blurted out an answer, or didn’t read the clue quite correctly, I could mess up the whole game. And there are contestants who have been waiting their whole lives to be there. So I felt like, ‘All right, there’s really no room for error.’”
In order to prepare for the show, she watched hours of video of Alex Trebek as host and discovered how he would handle certain situations on the show.
“I really admire how much excellence he brought to it. Even though he did it decade after decade after decade, it seems to me he never slacked off, it never got easy for him,” she said. “He always brought his A-game, and that’s the spirit I was trying to emulate.”
She will be appearing as host from June 14-25. Her charity of choice, The Bowery Mission, is matching the amount of winnings from each show to provide opportunities for their clients.
“It’s about sharing God’s love,” she said. “It’s on a mission. It is feeding the hungry. It’s about helping the poor, people who are in their lowest moments.”
She also incorporated Trebek’s vision of the show being all about the contestants. “This show is about them. It’s not about the host — it’s about the game. And so I really tried to keep my focus there, and show them a lot of love and enthusiasm and cheer for them when they won.”
Guthrie is a versatile professional in the field of communications. Although it can be difficult for some to make contributions to multiple television programs, she seems to do so effortlessly. She is a well-known TV personality that shines every time she makes a television contribution. Viewers over the next couple of weeks will be impressed by the poise and the originality that she hosts America’s favorite game show with.