I would like to open this article by unequivocally stating: Congratulations to Mayim Bialik. I very much look forward to watching her host the show’s prime-time spin-off specials, and very much look forward to covering those episodes.
Many of you have very much noticed that during Season 37, I have become more and more vocal in my opposition to Mike Richards. It’s a shame, because I very much wanted him to carry on the excellent job that Harry Friedman did in his many years as Executive Producer of the show.
Unfortunately, Mike Richards has yet to seemed to grasp the ethos of the show. The tone-deaf judges’ ruling in Final Jeopardy! in only Richards’ second episode as Executive Producer was a harbinger of things to come.
The ethos of Jeopardy! is truth. People trust Jeopardy! because they believe that the show is telling the truth. People trusted Alex Trebek because they believed he told the truth. When it came out last week that Mike Richards misrepresented the reasons behind his guest host stint, and was ultimately rewarded for it, it soured me and others on Richards even further. If we can’t trust what Richards is saying, how can we trust the material he presents as host?
Moreover, the viewers needed to perceive that the selection process was fair. When overwhelming fan favorite LeVar Burton was relegated to a single week of hosting—during the Olympics at that—it was perceived by many as Richards using his influence as Executive Producer to hamstring a major competitor for the host role. And if people don’t perceive the process to be fair, they’re going to be angry. That anger is what you’re seeing spill over on social media platforms, and that anger is what we’ll be seeing in the upcoming days and months. Going back to trust: If you don’t trust Mike Richards because you think he’s already trying to hurt Burton’s chances, how are you going to trust that LeVar Burton’s guest episodes were edited fairly? (After all, if LeVar received a poor edit, it might cause his supporters to be mocked online.)
All that I and many other fans wanted was for the host replacement process to be seen as fair. And with the announcement of Mike Richards as a host today, I don’t feel that I got that.
If you’re wondering what my future plans are: I won’t stop covering the show. I will still operate this website. You’ll very much likely find more statistical analysis. I’m going to be selfish here: this is as much a vehicle for professional skill-building for me as it is a repository of show recaps and statistics. It’s clear that this show isn’t going to last forever, and I’m clearly going to need to have some marketable skills for when Sony realizes that they’ve made a mistake that’s impossible to come back from with this hire, and the show enters the annals of history. Until then, I hope you enjoy my analysis.
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I give the selection committee (Richards) a 2 thumbs up on Mayim. I concur with the steady drumbeat of naysayers on Richards. His (much, much more than others) wrong answer Mantra of: “we were looking for” is akin to fingernails across a chalkboard. Most arrogant and below Burton on my list!
Andy: Along the lines of your Dr. Oz snake oil T-shirt, you should design a comparable on that disparages Richard. I would buy it in a heartbeat.
I don’t really care for Mike Richards.My choice would be Ken.Just my opinion.
Wow! A lot to weigh in on!
Personally, i still feel ambivalent about the host choices and prefer to let time bear out these decisions. And, in all honesty, i had no clear-cut favorite among the candidates who were seriously auditioning. Quite a few of them would have done well with more repetition but, equally important, none of them would ever be Alex, and i don’t think we would want that.
Perhaps to offer some balance, it may help to remember when this iteration of Jeopardy! first began. After NBC cancelled the show in the 70’s, there was about a decade of occasional efforts to re-boot the show, but clearly none of them succeeded.
When the new version began in 1984, i myself was a little skeptical of the new reboot. Alex had hosted several other game shows up to that point, but obviously none of them succeeded and, while there was no social media at the time, i do remember some backlash over him as host because he was “not Art Fleming.” Sony even re-ran Alex’s first few shows earlier this season, and there is a vast difference between those early shows and Alex’s last shows, some of which was due to technology, but also due to Alex’s personality then, and both he and the show grew and matured with time.
For the fans who have said they will not watch while Richards is host, who are you really hurting? If viewership goes down, enough to possibly cancel the show (hard to imagine right now), it only hurts the contestants who have grown up with the show, and longed to be on for one game, and it hurts the crew who have worked for years on that show, really like a family, and a fairly functional one at that compared to other families.
As Alex always said, he was not the star of the show (and he made sure he was never introduced that way), the contestants and facts are the stars, look at the recent ‘stardom’ of Matt Amodio, or Ken or Brad or James (who don’t even need last names to longtime fans).
Time will tell what Mike Richards has learned from his past experiences on other game shows; we have over 35 years of Alex’s life to look at to see how he developed into a respected and beloved personality; let’s at least start by giving Mike 35 shows or 35 weeks to move in a positive direction.
And, honestly, I think we have become spoiled. Alex, and Johnny Gilbert, have set Guinness World Records for their involvement with one show. We could have equally had 30 different hosts over the last 37 years, although that seems doubtful that the show would still even be on the air by now.
Everyone who has expressed an opinion on this has done so out of passion for the show and what it represents. Everyone of the guest hosts expressed similar feelings about getting a chance to fill in for a bit, and also how much they respected Alex for how easy he made a difficult task look.
To focus solely on the personality who reads the clues, is to lose sight of the heart and soul of the show; lovers of trivia striving for the truth, and maybe having some fun along the way. Maggie Speak, who had been a producer for many years, used to tell players in the green room, to “play YOUR game” – select the clues you want, in the way that you want, and don’t necessarily try to play like the current champ, you usually don’t win that way; i think the same advice holds whoever sits at the host lectern, not just the player podiums.
Yes, i am now part of the closed set of over 17,000 people who got to play while Alex was host, but who knows, maybe there will be a new ‘product’ that i could take part in again. I remember in the early years that they had a ‘seniors’ tournament; well, enough time has passed that i would certainly love to be part of something like that again if that happens to be one of the new ‘gimmicks’ they try to introduce in the next few years.
For now, let’s see how it goes and, if it really is not working, believe me, i will speak up on that, too.
Thanks.
Agree, the show is about the contestants and the clues. Television producers control the staffing decisions, viewers can vote with their remote controls.
I liked Dr. Gupta and was surprised to really enjoy Joe Buck.
Well said. I too have a wait and see attitude, that’s hoping for the best, rather than by not giving Mike a chance and by not watching Jeopardy!, making its demise a self-fulfilling prophecy. I hope Jeopardy! succeeds, not because Mike’s my first choice (or 2nd or even third), but because of the past 1,000’s and potential 1,000’s of wonderful contestants and the continued legacy of millions of viewers. I’m NOT saying the concerns lack merit, but I think over time they will work out. I believe this is best served going forward by relatively focusing less on the host and more on the contestants and game, now that NBC has made its choice.
I and I’m sure every reader appreciates the great research and love for the show Andy puts into explaining the FJ Q’s & A’s, supplying the best game stats and analysis, and providing a forum for reader comments. To paraphrase Spock, may both Jeopardy! and The Jeopardy! Fan live long and prosper!
(This was meant in response to Marty Cunningham’s post)
Why should we give Mike Richards a chance when he completely left the fans out of it? Especially when he said we’d get to weigh in which never actually happened. If Mike Richards could care less what we think well than I don’t see why I should give him a chance at all. I refuse to reward him for bad behavior especially when the show and Alex mean so much to so many including me.
Neither one ws my first choice but I am perplexed as to why Burton is even in the discussion. In my opinion he was amongst the least excellent of all the trial hosts. And No…I’m not of the opinion he was set-up and sabotaged in some sort of elaborate corporate conspiracy.
The whole process was flawed. Some possible hosts only got one or two weeks. Ken got a 6 week tryout.
I think that they should’ve given 10 possible hosts each a 4 week tryout. 4 weeks is enough time for the host to get comfortable and establish his/her style.
Andy, thanks also for keeping this site running, especially during this last season, and for providing a forum for us to speak up about something that is so special to a large and growing fan base.
Second!
According to TMZ, we now know why Sony went the way they did when they decided on two hosts instead of one. It turns out that Mayim Bialik was the frontrunner since March when she guest hosted for two weeks. The only reason why she couldn’t commit full time to Jeopardy was because of her other commitments (i.e., Call me Kat on FOX, her podcast, etc). That’s why per TMZ, they decided to go with two hosts (Richards with the Regular version, and Bialik for the specials on ABC (i.e., the National College Championship in January). Sony executive Ravi Ahuja said in that TMZ report, when he said “we knew early on that we wanted to divide the hosting responsibilities.”, I have to believe that’s spin out of Sony right there.
I don’t believe a word of that report, for the record.
It’s the same spin as “I just had to fill in so the show must go on” and then finding out later that it wasn’t true.
As a we saw on a recent clue: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Isn’t TMZ the same outlet where Richards pretty blatantly planted pieces about what an amazing overnight sensation he was, and how he totally should get the permanent job?
I’m not inclined to assume TMZ has much credibility at all here, when it comes to this issue.
I remember Mike Richards from the Pyramid revival and he was awful.
Also we don’t need to reward someone who was alleged to perpetuate a toxic work environment and sexual harassment when he produced The Price Is Right.
I just can’t watch his smarmy disengaged delivery. Bye bye Jeopardy!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
The high ratings Jeopardy! always deserved will go down the drain quickly. What a pity! The “producers” of Jeopardy! have brought it on themselves. Perhaps the allegations about Richards & the investigation will end his career?
Let’s hope. Now with the news he will be both executive produce and host we may get that wish sooner than later. What I don’t understand is why they didn’t (with Alex while he was still with us) decide who would carry on the show instead of this goat rodeo that followed. I feel like Ellen has taken over Jeopardy! and I am not happy.
Burton did not impress. And all the polls I ever saw all had Ken Jennings as the fav … he was my first choice, too.
Is there a theory about why Ken Jennings didn’t get the host position? Did he not want it? Did he get offered it, but turned it down? Did he ask for too much money, and Sony balked? Did Sony decide that his past mistakes were too great? Did Sony actually think he wasn’t the best choice?
If you answer that question, here is another. Is Jennings still affiliated with the show in an official capacity? Or has he be goned?
I thought it was odd having the show’s producer as a guest host. He was stiff and a bit overbearing. And why bother having people such as Joe Buck, Aaron Rodgers and Savannah Guthrie for ‘tryouts’ since the show said that Jeopardy should be the new host’s sole job? Ken Jennings, Mayim Bialik and Levar Burton were excellent hosts. And it seemed that Buzzy Cohen was a better host than he was a contestant. Will Richards remove himself from the executive staff? I’ll continue to watch the show but it remains to be seen if I’ll enjoy it.
After what we’re learning now, I’d take Dr. Oz over Mike Richards.
I thought Miike Richards was a good pick for jeopardy host until I read the article in the Ringer. I am now disappointed as I believe he has a real character flaw. Of course no one is perfect but out of the heart the mouth will really speak. Thank you…
This Mike Richard’s story gets worse and worse.
On his podcast Richard’s called his cohost a “booth slut” and “booth ho”, asked her to show him her “boob” pictures on her phone, made insensitive comments about Jewish people and disparaged poor people and those on unemoyment and food stamps.
He gave some flimsy non-apology but is this the legacy we want left behind of Alex Trebek.
No way can I continue to watch the show when his hosting begins.
Jeopardy is ruined.
I’ve known Mike to be a creep since the Brandi Cochran lawsuit. The more I hear about him in the news, the more convinced I am that Sony never really looked into his troubled past. I never would have dreamed that this would be the direction Jeopardy! would take post-Alex.
Additionally, Alex Trebek suggested that either Laura Coates or Alex Faust would be great as his replacement. They weren’t given a ‘tryout’ or a mention. What a shame and a sham.
And now Richards has resigned: https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/mike-richards-jeopardy-host-fired-1235045394/