Alex Trebek on who will succeed him as 'Jeopardy' host: 'It's probably going to be a woman'

It's hard for us to imagine anyone but Alex Trebek hosting "Jeopardy," but Trebek's been imagining it himself.

Although Trebek, 78, has signed on to continue hosting at least through 2022, he's given real consideration to his potential successor after 35 years on the air. And he's pretty confident that it won't be a Trebek mini-me.

“It’s probably going to be a woman, somebody younger, somebody bright, somebody personable, somebody with a great sense of humor,” he said this week at the 92nd Street Y.

A few options he'd give a thumbs-up? CNN legal analyst Laura Coates is one of his top picks, and he's also a fan of Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz and LA Kings announcer Alex Faust.

Trebek has brought up Faust before, saying on Fox News' "OBJECTified" in July 2018 that he's passed the suggestion along to executives.

"I mentioned to our producer not so long ago that the fellow that does play-by-play for the Los Angeles Kings, they should consider him,” Trebek said at the time.

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Trebek has spoken candidly about his eventual retirement, recently confirming that once he does step away from "Jeopardy," he won't then kick off a brand-new career.

"People have been wondering if I was going to retire for years, but if I wanted to really try something new, it would be acting," he said. "Do I want to be in that kind of grind? Obviously I don't, since I haven't done anything about it. I have a simple philosophy about things like this: If you really wanted it, you would have done something about trying to get it."

Trebek has hosted "Jeopardy" since the show in its current format debuted in 1984.