‘Jeopardy!’ Contestants Get Candid About Colin Jost as ‘Pop Culture’ Host

Is Colin Jost the right fit for Pop Culture Jeopardy!? The players and show’s executive producers have been weighing in.

The show’s first ever champion team, The Personality Hires, consisting of Emily Hogg, Zach Gozlan, and Miranda Onnen, sat down with Michael Davies and Sarah Whitcomb-Foss on a special episode of the Inside Jeopardy! Podcast on March 18. For their win, they took home $300,000, a trophy, and the title of Pop Culture Jeopardy! Champions.

The PCJ winners all appeared on the syndicated version of the game show before winning the spinoff. Hogg competed on regular Jeopardy! on March 11, 2021. Gozlan was on the original series on February 3, 2022. Onnen was on the game show on December 19, 2022.

The players discussed their gameplay, the name they almost chose, and how they felt after their win. They also had nothing but love for PCJ host Colin Jost.

“From the frontlines, what’s the review?” Whitcomb-Foss asked the group about Jost.

“Great,” Hogg said. “Two thumbs up.”

“I was skeptical because hosting this is a little different than Weekend Update, which we all know he is fabulous at. After the first episode, we were like he’s a natural. He’s great. You can tell he really loves what he’s doing. He got a little emotional at the finale.”

Davies chimed in and said that he didn’t want anyone not in the Jeopardy! world to host PCJ. “And then, Amazon said, ‘What about Colin Jost?’ And I have been working with Colin for a while, developing another show, and I’ve been so blown away by him. He would actually be great,” he said.

“I knew what a fan he is of Jeopardy! And he knows the show inside and out. I think that is one of the things that makes him such a good host. He is passionate. He really cares. He was nervous for all of you that you were getting to play for all of this money.”

Onnen said one of the most important things about being a Jeopardy! host is making the contestants feel comfortable, and Jost did just that. “He was an absolute natural, interacting with us, and making us feel relaxed enough to have fun and participate. I think the looser style of Jeopardy! made him perfect for that. 10 out of 10. No notes. A+,” she said.

Pop Culture Jeopardy! has not yet been officially renewed for Season 2, so it is not clear if more players will get to experience Jost’s hosting skills. The first season is streaming now.

Also during the podcast, the winners revealed what they would do with the money they got from the show. Onnen bought furniture for her apartment.

“The night we won, I logged on and spent more money than I’m comfortable admitting out loud on a replica of this sweater of Princess Diana’s,” Hogg shared.

“I’ve earmarked a large sum of money for ‘something very stupid’ and am giving myself three years to figure out what that is before going to an arcade and buying 5,000 of those one-ticket plastic spider rings. I haven’t done any REALLY big purchase yet, but after we got back I finally bought a poster from one of the first shows I went to that I’d had my eye on for a long time,” Gozlan said.