History Main / GuestHost

* ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou'' started out with Angus Deayton who, [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor after damaging news stories about himself]], was sacked from the show after the second episode of Series 24. They started replacing him with guest hosts; this was intended as a temporary fix until a regular replacement was chosen (and a kind of audition process for the job), but it proved so popular that it became a permanent element of the show.

** After Creator/TrevorNoah stepped down as host in December 2022, Creator/ComedyCentral had guest hosts serving as anchor in 2023 till they formally picked a new host, with Creator/LeslieJones, Creator/WandaSykes, Creator/DLHughley, Creator/ChelseaHandler, Creator/SarahSilverman, Creator/AlFranken, Creator/JohnLeguizamo, Creator/HasanMinhaj, Creator/KalPenn, and Creator/MarlonWayans all taking turns, along with Daily Show correspondents Roy Wood Jr., Desi Lydec, and Dulce Sloan.

** After Creator/TrevorNoah stepped down as host in December 2022, Creator/ComedyCentral had guest hosts serving as anchor in 2023 till they formally picked a new host, with Creator/LeslieJones, Creator/WandaSykes, Creator/DLHughley, Creator/ChelseaHandler, Creator/SarahSilverman, Creator/AlFranken, Creator/JohnLeguizamo, Creator/HasanMinhaj, Creator/KalPenn, and Creator/MarlonWayans all taking turns.

* The Creator/{{NBC}} talk show ''Later'' had a long string of guest hosts after the departure of Creator/GregKinnear in 1996; ''Friday Night'' host Rita Sever was the most prominent mainly because she was already there. Cynthia Garrett became permanent host on January 31, 2000, but NBC did little to promote the show and it ended in January 2001. For a year it became ''Later Presents {{Series/SCTV}}'', a slot for reruns of the 1980s sketch comedy show, before ''Last Call with Creator/CarsonDaly'' replaced it.

** During the Creator/TomBergeron-hosted revival (1998-2004), Creator/RosieODonnell hosted one round (November 1998) with Tom sitting in her square. Creator/WhoopiGoldberg followed suit in February 2000. Later on, during a Game Show Hosts week, Peter Marshall (who helmed the original ''Squares'' from 1966-1981) returned to guest host one episode while Bergeron sat on the panel.

** During the Creator/TomBergeron-hosted revival (1998-2004), Creator/RosieODonnell hosted one round with Tom sitting in her square. Later on, during a Game Show Hosts week, Peter Marshall (who helmed the original ''Squares'' from 1966-1981) returned to guest host one episode while Bergeron sat on the panel.

Most light entertainment shows (be it morning news, chat show, or quiz show) will have a host. Generally speaking, it's always the same person/s day in, day out, providing seamless links, interesting conversation, probing questions, and needed stability to the show. But what if they want to go on holiday or — heaven forbid — fall ill... What then? The show must go on, after all.

There's another version of this where a show only has guest hosts on instead of a regular.

* After ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' host Creator/AlexTrebek [[DiedDurignProduction died of pancreatic cancer in November 2020]], the producers confirmed that several guests would fill in until a successor was chosen. First up were Ken Jennings (the show's winningest contestant and consulting producer) and executive producer Mike Richards. Following them were Creator/KatieCouric, [[Series/TheDoctorOzShow Dr. Mehmet Oz]], Aaron Rodgers, Creator/AndersonCooper, [[Series/SixtyMinutes Bill Whitaker]], Buzzy Cohen (winner of the show's 2017 Tournament of Champions), Creator/MayimBialik, Creator/SavannahGuthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Creator/GeorgeStephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, David Faber, Joe Buck, and Creator/LeVarBurton. After new permanent host Mike Richards stepped down after hosting a week of episodes in September 2021, Jennings and Bialik took over as guest-co-hosts. During Alex's run, he only missed one episode, in 1985, where he swapped shows with Pat Sajak of ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' as an April Fool's joke.

* ''Series/JimmyKimmelLive'': Creator/JimmyKimmel likes to take summers off, so he has guest hosts fill in for him during the summer months.

** Since ''Series/TheDailyShowWithTrevorNoah'', the show will sometimes go on hiatus when Trevor is unavailable instead of having a guest host, for example on November 4, 2015, when he underwent an emergency appendectomy ([[TheShowMustGoOn which he returned from]] ''[[TheShowMustGoOn the very next day]]''), and in the run up to the 2016 [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Awards]] as he prepared for his stand-up special ''Lost In Translation''.

* After ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' host Creator/AlexTrebek died of pancreatic cancer in November 2020, the producers confirmed that several guests would fill in until a successor was chosen. First up were Ken Jennings (the show's winningest contestant and consulting producer) and executive producer Mike Richards. Following them were Creator/KatieCouric, [[Series/TheDoctorOzShow Dr. Mehmet Oz]], Aaron Rodgers, Creator/AndersonCooper, [[Series/SixtyMinutes Bill Whitaker]], Buzzy Cohen (winner of the show's 2017 Tournament of Champions), Creator/MayimBialik, Creator/SavannahGuthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Creator/GeorgeStephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, David Faber, Joe Buck, and Creator/LeVarBurton. After new permanent host Mike Richards stepped down after hosting a week of episodes in September 2021, Jennings and Bialik took over as guest-co-hosts. During Alex's run, he only missed one episode, in 1985, where he swapped shows with Pat Sajak of ''Wheel of Fortune'' as an April Fool's joke.

** Carson had various guest hosts over the years, although in the later years he would take one day off a week and leave it to guest hosts. Eventually, there came to be a single "permanent guest host" (Creator/JoanRivers and Creator/JayLeno both had this position), a phrase referred to by Creator/PennAndTeller as the "rare triple oxymoron".
** On May 12, 2003, Leno swapped places with Creator/KatieCouric as a publicity stunt: he co-hosted ''Series/{{Today}}'' with Matt Lauer, while she hosted ''The Tonight Show'' later that night. This marks the only time in either of Leno's two tenures as ''Tonight Show'' host that he used this trope.

** On AprilFoolsDay 1997, Trebek hosted ''Wheel'' again, with Pat and LovelyAssistant Vanna White playing for charity and Pat's wife, Lesly, in Vanna's usual role and ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' announcer Johnny Gilbert co-announcing with Charlie O'Donnell. Pat also hosted that day's ''Jeopardy!'', which was otherwise a normal episode.