CULVER CITY, Calif. (CNS) — Episodes of "Jeopardy!'' hosted by George Stephanopoulos will begin airing tonight, a job he said was "very different'' than anchoring "Good Morning America."
“On ‘Good Morning America’ it's two hours of live TV every day. You're going to make mistakes,'' Stephanopoulos said in an interview posted on the “Jeopardy” website. “Part of the job is making that into an opportunity, recovering from it.
“Here on ‘Jeopardy!’ (there's) no margin for error. You have to be perfect. That's what the viewers expect. That's what they deserve.”
Stephanopoulos called hosting the legendary quiz show “a stressful job but an incredible amount of fun.”
Contestant winnings during his weeklong tenure will be matched by the game show and donated No Kid Hungry, a campaign of the nonprofit organization Share Our Strength.
“They have a very simple goal — they want to make sure every kid in America doesn't go to bed hungry, doesn't wake up hungry,” Stephanopoulos said. “It's not only a simple goal, it's a goal that can be met.”
A contribution of $231,059 was made to Odyssey Atlanta, a summer educational enrichment program for Atlanta Public Schools students as a match of contestants' winnings during Dr. Sanjay Gupta's two-week stint as guest host, which concluded Friday.
“I am thrilled and humbled by this donation to @OdysseyAtlanta,” Gupta tweeted. “It will help so many and such a fitting tribute to Alex.
“As my time comes to an end, I wanted to say again — what an honor to guest host a fortnight of @Jeopardy! It was truly a gift.”
“Jeopardy!” has donated $1,894,020 to its guest hosts' charities of choice. The amount is determined by the cumulative winnings of the contestants during their weeks as host.
The show also matched the $250,000 grand prize for the 2021 “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions and donated that amount to the Hope of the Valley Trebek Center for the Homeless at the former site of the Skateland roller rink in Northridge.
The purchase of the rink was financed in part by a $500,000 donation from the late “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek and his wife Jean.
“Jeopardy!” has turned to guest hosts to fill the role held by Trebek since its syndicated revival began in 1984. Trebek died Nov. 8 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 80.
Stephanopoulos' fellow “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts will follow him as guest host, with her episodes airing July 19-23.
“Our goal has been to present a wide variety of guest hosts with different skill sets and backgrounds on our path to finding a permanent host,” executive producer Mike Richards said.
“Our passionate fans are telling us what they like and we are listening. All of the guest hosts have brought individualism, energy and an authentic love of our show to each of their episodes.”