Riding out the bulk of quarantine in the Studio City, Calif., mansion he’s lived in for three decades, he was raring to return to the studio when conditions allowed.
And while he was more than up to the challenge, should he have felt it time to call it quits, he was ready to cede control. “All you need is a competent host to help keep things moving,” he told Vulture, noting that the perfect person would be “personable, bright, have a sense of humor. My recommendation is Betty White.” (Others he has floated include CNN’s Laura Coates and Los Angeles Kings announcer Alex Faust.)
His only request, he said, was to go out on his own terms.
“I will tell the director, ‘Time the show so that I have 30 seconds at the end.’ Because when Ken Jennings lost after 74 wins in a row, I had a tear in my eye and no time for a good-bye. So all I want on my last show is 30 seconds, and I’ll do what Johnny Carson did: ‘Hey, folks, thank you. Been a good run and all good things must come to an end.’ Then I’ll move on.”
