'Jeopardy!' Welcomes New Guest Host Mike Richards After Ken Jennings Wraps Up Run

CULVER CITY, Calif. (CBS) -- A new guest host is taking the reins on "Jeopardy!" Executive producer Mike Richards is stepping in for two weeks starting Monday now that former champion Ken Jennings has completed his six-week interim stint.

"Thanks for watching, thanks for your patience with a tough learning curve...and, as always, thank you Alex," Jennings tweeted, paying tribute to the legendary late host Alex Trebek.

Richards said in a video shared by the show on social media that it was a "last minute" decision to have him serve as a guest host, but he's honored to do it.

"'Jeopardy!' is an incredibly important american institution. It's about making people that are smart the most important people in the room," Richards said. "I just think it's so important to keep that going and to continue Alex's legacy."

Following Richards, Jeopardy! has a string of celebrity guest hosts lined up. They are Katie Couric, Aaron Rodgers, Bill Whitaker, Mayim Bialik, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Anderson Cooper, Savannah Guthrie and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

"Jeopardy!" says there are still additional guest hosts to come, which will be announced at a later date.

"Jeopardy!" airs weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on WBZ-TV.