Joe Buck Is Reportedly Going To Guest Host Jeopardy This Summer With A Chance To Become The Permanent Host
NY Post- Joe Buck will be a guest host on “Jeopardy!” putting him in contention for the coveted permanent job, The Post has learned. Buck’s episodes are expected to air at some point in the mid-summer, according to sources. Guest hosts have done one- or two-week stints. No word yet on how long Buck will be on. The tryout will not impact Buck’s schedule as the voice of MLB and the NFL on Fox.
OK, so there are two different parts of this story that make me feel two very different ways as a longtime Jeopardy fan.
1. Joe Buck guest hosting Jeopardy makes perfect sense. Love him or hate him, there is no denying the dude is a master at his crafts. He has the experience, the pedigree, and the voice that is like velvet mixed with peanut butter.
The biggest knock on Joe Buck for years is that he just had this air of unlikability about him. I'm not sure if it was because he let off an air of arrogance or because he clutched his pearls in horror because Randy Moss once FAKE MOONED a bunch of people in Lambeau. But it was most certainly a very real thing and a big reason why everyone loved that Artie Lange absolutely roasted him on the first episode of his own show.
Then Buck became likable after going on Pardon My Take like countless other celebrities, started yoinking Man Cards, and became extremely more likable and relatable. It's gotten to the point I have almost forgiven him for calling the greatest football play I will ever see in my lifetime like it was a pitch and catch in a preseason game.
*sighhhhh*
Anyway, a guy with Joe Buck's resume, announcing chops, and name value deserves a shot to getting on The Show That Trebek Built if fucking Dr. Oz got a shot.
2. Joe Buck permanently hosting Jeopardy would be a disaster. My simpleton brain associates his voice with big football and baseball games, which is fine. But I can't have that voice in my house for a half hour every single weeknight. I need that wind down time after the kids eat dinner and are going to bed to be just that. I can't have the vibes of a big time sports showdown taking place every single night. And then when that voice is on my TV during a playoff baseball game or the NFL On Fox Game Of The Week, I am going to feel like it's just a random Tuesday night where three nerds who know nothing about sports are battling in trivia by answering in the form of a question.
My brain is already holding on by a thread after the last year as is. Joe Buck confusing it every single day of the week, especially in October when he's hopping between sports along with pre-taped Jeopard shows, would finally do me in. So I have to give a thumbs down to him as the permanent host since I need a separation between super freak giants engaging in athletic competition and pencil neck geeks engaging in mental competition, no matter how great a nightly giant Joe Buck head tweet by Big Cat would be.
None of this truly matters anyway because the job remains LeVar Burton's to lose in my mind, even if Jeopardy refuses to have him on for one reason of another. But I feel like if we keep putting this song into the world, sooner or later the powers that be have to give him a shot.