Jennings suggested following the example of the late Alex Trebek.
“The big thing about ‘Jeopardy’ is the game itself,” Jennings said. “If you look at Alex, he had this light touch where he would do, you know, sometimes as little as possible.
“It would get out of the spotlight and put the players very generously. And I found that the more you could do that, the ‘Jeopardy’ is running on its own.”
Finally, Jennings said, “You almost won’t know what it’s like until you’re in that chair.”
“I think the main piece of advice is that less means more,” he told Cooper.
Jennings said Trebek was really talented in making the show about competitors.
“It’s hard to imagine anyone in the show doing this, insisting that he not be considered the star of ‘Jeopardy!'” He said. “The game was a star,” he always said.
“You don’t want to make a glorious impression,” Jennings said, “but the longer you can host, it shows how people remember Alex doing it, the kinder the audience will be.”
Trebek died in November after battling pancreatic cancer. He had hosted “Jeopardy!” since 1984, when this invigorating version of the questionnaire first began.
Jennings holds the record for most consecutive games won at age 74. He was the first in a series of guest hosts after Trebek’s death.