Newbies

Faux tweets noted that speed skater Apolo Ohno will host GSN's Minute To Win It remake, and that Today's Matt Lauer is in the running to replace Alex Trebek on Jeopardy when he retires.

Guess it's the season of the game show newbie. I don't want to sound snobbish here. After all, Bill Cullen was once just a radio announcer before somebody figured he could host a game show or two, or twenty-three. We all gotta start somewhere.

Both Lauer and Ohno are comfortable in front of the camera. And they would probably do okay in the unscripted, off-the-cuff talk which a game show host has to dispense. In a close precedent for Lauer, Meredith Vieira migrated from Today to Millionaire successfully enough. At least she kept the show going for eleven seasons.

Ohno is probably the bigger risk. Jocks tend to look notoriously ill-at-east when dragged out of their sport. But it's been a while since he was really a jock, anyway, and his IMDb page even lists a credit on Hollywood Squares. So I'm guessing he will, at a minimum, prove competent on Minute. We should see later this year.