As Jeopardy Fans Celebrate Ken Jennings' Early Return As Host, A Recent Champ Defended Mayim Bialik Against Haters

Following the conclusion of the Jeopardy! Masters tournament, fans of the classic game show have only traditional episodes to look forward to for the foreseeable future, with the next Tournament of Champions likely not happening until the fall. And soon, viewers will see G.O.A.T Ken Jennings return to the lectern a bit earlier than planned, with Mayim Bialik having stepped back from hosting duties due to the WGA writers strike. He’ll reportedly be back in position very soon, which set off a new round of fans pledging fealty to the part-time host at Bialik’s expense, which was balanced in part by a recent champ speaking up in defense of the Big Bang Theory vet.

When Ken Jennings Will Make His Early Return

Back in May, in the days after the writers strike started to completely change up the entertainment industry, Mayim Bialik shocked viewers by bowing out of her shared hosting duties with Jennings, saying she’d be out for the remainder of the season, barring any major changes. Those haven’t happened, and with the strike indeed still going strong, viewers can reportedly expect to see one of Jeopardy!’s winningest players back as ringleader for syndicated episodes on Monday, July 3, according to the Is Ken Hosting? Twitter page. He’ll be holding the fort down until the Season 39 finale, which is set for Friday, July 28.

The comments of that post are speckled with opinionated fans razzing on Bialik in favor of Jennings (even though some were initially angry at Jennings for appearing opportunistic by choosing to bounce back as host instead of also showing solidarity with writers). Here are a few of the comments that more or less echo what a lot of other fans post about the show on a daily basis.

• I had to stop watching until Ken is back. - @deeflowers13

• The show is so much better when he hosts . . . - @elenderman

• I can start watching Jeopardy again. Yay! Can’t watch her - @deb6305

• GREAT! I can watch 25 glorious days of new episodes with the fabulous Ken Jennings (who should be the permanent FULL-TIME host!) I've been on a "not watching Jeopardy" but will eagerly return July 3! - @OriginalLinnie

One doesn't have to look very hard to find other fans celebrating Ken Jennings while shading Mayim Bialik. One of the bigger issues that viewers have with her is the pause she takes after contestants answer, at which point she's confirming with judges that answers are either correct or incorrect. Her laughter and general mirth also regularly get called out for disrupting the game's flow.

Former Champ Defends Mayim Bialik From Online Haters

While some fans obviously get wildly negative with opinions about the Call Me Kat star's hosting attributes, others are quick to come to the actress and podcast host's defense. And recent champ Holly Hassel can be counted among them, as she talked with The Sun about seeing all the Bialik-directed rudeness on display. In her words:

I think Mayim is an excellent host. I read Reddit and Twitter. I think so much of it is mean-spirited and misogynistic. I think she’s very poised and self-assured and confident, and I love that she brings lightheartedness to it. She seems like she’s having a blast every time she’s hosting.

Hassel specifically talked about people taking issue with Bialik's pauses and laughter, saying the game show shouldn't shy away from showing that everyone invovled is having fun. If the hosts are enjoying themselves, that shouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, should it?

The single-day winner, who surprisingly dethroned six-day champ Suresh Krishnan, said she thinks viewers are continuing to bring the same expectations that they did when Alex Trebek was hosting, even though things have changed. In her words:

People have expectations that are not actually aligned with what the skills are to do the job well. The way you have to do it is historically ‘be serious and authoritative' - I think she’s serious in her own way. She takes joy where she can and I really like that, I respect it.

By all means, Mayim Bialik could be far more unprofessional as a Jeopardy! host, and fans would no doubt be extremely quick to call her out for it. But until she starts fake-tackling people like Pat Sajak, hopefully the hateful comments can start to subside at least a little during the summer months as Jennings wraps up the season. And then hopefully the writers strike can get resolved in the meantime, so that the game show's writers can comfortably and confidently return to work.