What about Johnny Gilbert??

[ssetta]

I know there’s obviously been a lot of attention on Alex Trebek lately because of his cancer, and it’s completely understandable, but my question is ... What about Johnny Gilbert?? Do you people have any idea how old he is? I think he’s gotta be like 95 or so, the same age as Bob Barker. I’m even more amazed that he’s still at every taping announcing live, because I know that Don Pardo wasn’t. So I guess I’m wondering if Johnny will continue to do Jeopardy! If Alex retires or dies.

[PatrickRox80]

Johnny turned 95 a few months ago and he sounds like he's still in fairly good health. You can hear the withering in his voice for the past couple of seasons, though. If for some reason Johnny can't make it to the studio, someone on the Clue Crew fills in for him while taping and his voice is dubbed over in post.

Unlike Charlie O'Donnell's death which was sudden, I'm sure Sony has planned in advance on what to do if Johnny can't announce anymore.

[Chief-O]

I do question Johnny's attendance record in recent seasons (at least, this season and the previous one). He's "live" on the Thursday and Friday shows (and they usually get great shots of him on the Thursday shows' intros), but he's relatively subdued during Mon-Wed shows. Furthermore, his announcing area seems to disappear on Mon-Wed shows.

Unlike Charlie O'Donnell's death which was sudden, I'm sure Sony has planned in advance on what to do if Johnny can't announce anymore.

I seriously think Jim Thornton may be brought over from "Wheel"; in fact I think he'd work quite well on J! once Johnny calls quits (or otherwise).

[pricefan18]

I do question Johnny's attendance record in recent seasons (at least, this season and the previous one). He's "live" on the Thursday and Friday shows (and they usually get great shots of him on the Thursday shows' intros), but he's relatively subdued during Mon-Wed shows. Furthermore, his announcing area seems to disappear on Mon-Wed shows.

That's because he really isn't present for those earlier shows. This has been mentioned over on the jeopardy subreddit. For them, Sarah from the Clue Crew will do them live and then Johnny redubs them later. So your ears (and eyes for that matter) aren't deceiving you, he really isn't at those shows. He just comes in for the final two they tape. I would almost wonder actually if the idea at least now is for Sarah maybe to assume that role after Johnny either passes or can't do it anymore, but that's only a guess obviously.

Regardless though, it's amazing to me that he has lasted as long as he has in the role. And he doesn't really even look or sound his age at all IMO. It's quite a remarkable run that will be hard to equal to say the least.

It's also as a sidenote really interesting to me, that for two different shows (one being the original Price, and the other being of course Jeopardy when it returned in 84), Johnny ended up succeeding Don Pardo in the announcing role. That's another thing I am not sure you'll ever see again, where the same person takes over the job of the same other person on more than one occasion. It seems like the odds of that occurring would be low, although I could be wrong on that.

[Axl]

I would almost wonder actually if the idea at least now is for Sarah maybe to assume that role after Johnny either passes or can't do it anymore, but that's only a guess obviously.

Given that a member of the Clue Crew was the announcer on Sports Jeopardy! and they tend to be the designated fill-ins for anything J!-related when Alex or Johnny is not available, I think it's almost a certainty that one of them will end up being the full-time announcer after Johnny.

I strongly suspect Johnny will stop doing the show whenever Alex does.  He said in an interview several years ago that he was "semi-retired" and had no interest in any more work other than Jeopardy!  He clearly enjoys being on the show and working with Alex, but it seems doubtful he would have much interest in being part of a new regime.

[pricefan18]

Given that a member of the Clue Crew was the announcer on Sports Jeopardy! and they tend to be the designated fill-ins for anything J!-related when Alex or Johnny is not available, I think it's almost a certainty that one of them will end up being the full-time announcer after Johnny.

I strongly suspect Johnny will stop doing the show whenever Alex does.  He said in an interview several years ago that he was "semi-retired" and had no interest in any more work other than Jeopardy!  He clearly enjoys being on the show and working with Alex, but it seems doubtful he would have much interest in being part of a new regime.

I hadn't heard that but makes sense. I could see the show wanting to go in another direction to separate eras anyway, but at that age it would make sense Johnny would wanna step back when Alex left.

Wasn't Sarah the one who did Sports Jeopardy? Or was that someone else? I thought it was.

[JayC]

Wasn't Sarah the one who did Sports Jeopardy? Or was that someone else? I thought it was.

Kelly Miyahara was the announcer on Sports Jeopardy.

[priceguy]

It's also as a sidenote really interesting to me, that for two different shows (one being the original Price, and the other being of course Jeopardy when it returned in 84), Johnny ended up succeeding Don Pardo in the announcing role. That's another thing I am not sure you'll ever see again, where the same person takes over the job of the same other person on more than one occasion. It seems like the odds of that occurring would be low, although I could be wrong on that.

Odds are probably low, but it has happened before. Alan Kalter replaced Bill Wendell twice. First as announcer for To Tell The Truth. Then again, years later, as David Letterman's announcer for the Late Show.

[pricefan18]

Odds are probably low, but it has happened before. Alan Kalter replaced Bill Wendell twice. First as announcer for To Tell The Truth. Then again, years later, as David Letterman's announcer for the Late Show.

Interesting, nice catch. The only other one I can think of specifically game show related only is Gene Wood succeeding Johnny Olson on Match Game and on Body Language. You could say he technically succeeded him on Price also but.....since he wasn't the permanent replacement in end I'm not sure that counts exactly.