Last night we got our first look at Jeopardy without Alex Trebek and it was…different. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it took some getting used to.

For the next fews weeks Jeopardy will be auditioning several candidates to take over hosting duties, and first up was Ken Jennings. Ken needs no introduction at this point and for a long time I believed he was the heir apparent to the Jeopardy throne but after watching last night, I’m not so sure.

Ken did a solid job. His opening remarks about Alex were sincere and touching. They were also very brief and then it was right into the game. Ken kept the pace of the show moving at a good clip and even offered some off-the-cuff remarks that showed how closely he was paying attention to Alex all these years.

As a diehard Jeopardy fan myself, I watched last night with through a bit of a critical lens and the my biggest compliant about Ken was his voice. Not his tone or manner which were perfectly acceptable. His actual voice just isn’t as soothing or gentle as Alex’s.

There are lots of names being thrown around as potential full time hosts, everyone from Meredith Vieira to Anderson Cooper (keep dreaming) to fan favourite LeVar Burton. However, no matter who gets the gig, it will forever be Alex’s show.