Mike Richards ended his just-launched run as host of the syndicated Jeopardy after news surfaced of demeaning comments about women, the homeless and others that Richards had made on a 2013-14 podcast. He announced his exit in an internal memo and said the search for a new host will begin again, with guest hosts returning to continue production for the new season.
The newly appointed Jeopardy host disparaged women’s weight, called one model a “booth slut” and repeatedly praised “the average white-guy host.”
The decades-old game show, TV comfort food for many, has been rocked by drama over who would replace the late Alex Trebek.
Exclusives
The search for new permanent host of Jeopardy is officially over. The show’s executive producer Mike Richards has been named the new permanent host of the the venerable syndicated game show,, succeeding the late Alex Trebek. Additionally, Sony Pictures Television announced that The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik will host Jeopardy’s primetime and spinoff series, including the upcoming Jeopardy National College Championship set to air on ABC next year.
Mike Richards is in advanced negotiations to become permanent host of “Jeopardy!” But in what has become a familiar pattern for public figures, older incidents of questionable actions from his past quickly became a hot topic of conversation on social media.
The search for new permanent host of Jeopardy has come to an end. The show’s executive producer Mike Richards is finalizing a deal to succeed the late Alex Trebek as host of the venerable syndicated game show. No one would comment but Richards, who emerged as a frontrunner early in the search, was quietly appointed as the host a couple of weeks ago with the deal now in final negotiations. Sony Pictures Television is expected to make an official announcement in the next few days.
When the day came to tape the first of LeVar Burton’s week’s share of episodes as one of a succession of guest hosts, the show’s pace and the challenge of following in Alex Trebek’s much-admired footsteps threw Burton off stride. It made for a rough start to the five back-to-back tapings that begin airing Monday, said the veteran actor known for Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Reading Rainbow. He turned for advice to wife Stephanie Cozart Burton, who as his makeup artist was on hand to play coach during a production break.
The Good Doctor ties Savannah Guthrie for the lowest guest host rating; Ken Jennings still tops.
“Jeopardy is a cultural touchstone, and for a Black man to occupy that podium is significant.”
Think of Sony Pictures Television as clutching the rose, and Mayim Bialik, Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric and Jeopardy champs Ken Jennings and Buzzy Cohen among the suitors so far, with more to come including Robin Roberts, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and LeVar Burton. Sony has “the most robust team of people I have ever seen looking at this and analyzing it in a very cerebral way,” said Executive Producer Mike Richards. “It’s a real change from the way casting has traditionally been done on television.”
The Jeopardy announcer worked with late host Alex Trebek for 37 years and was reluctant to continue after losing his admired colleague. But others with the show urged him to consider his role as a comforting touchstone for viewers who also were in mourning.
Following Alex Trebek’s death, a parade of replacements seem to be battling for the soul of the game — and the state of knowledge itself.
Kelly Donohue, the Jeopardy contestant whose on-air hand signal has been misinterpreted as his endorsement of white supremacy, has posted a lengthy statement on Facebook unequivocally condemning racism and reasserting his explanation that the three-fingered gesture was simply meant to denote his third win.
A group of former Jeopardy contestants on Wednesday posted an open letter to the syndicated game show over a hand gesture used by returning champion Kelly Donohue on Tuesday’s show that has been widely condemned as a symbol of white supremacy.
Jeopardy today announced the final guest hosts for Season 37: George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, LeVar Burton and David Faber. As previously announced, Joe Buck is also part of this final batch.
Fox Sports announcer Joe Buck is taking his talents from the world of sports to game show television as a Jeopardy guest host, a source familiar with the matter tells Variety. Buck is set to be the show’s second sports-affiliated guest host, following Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ stint that ran from April 5 to 16.
Jeopardy all-star and 2017 Tournament of Champions winner Buzzy Cohen is set to take to the podium as guest host of the quiz competition show’s upcoming 10-day tournament. This year’s Tournament of Champions will take place May 17-28, with 15 previous contestants coming back to compete for a $250,000 purse.
Jeopardy was short on guest hosts after Ken Jennings’ stint expired, so a chief showrunner had to take charge. Executive Producer Mike Richards stepped in Monday to serve as host of the quiz program, kicking off the broadcast by introducing himself and explaining to viewers at home why there wasn’t a more well-known face on their TV sets. COVID fears was the short answer.
The final five-time champion of Jeopardy while Alex Trebek was still host died unexpectedly last week, according to a statement from his mother. Brayden Smith, of Las Vegas, was 24 years old when he died on Feb. 5. The family did not release the cause of death.
The next round of Jeopardy guest hosts has been announced, and it includes Dr. Oz, Anderson Cooper, Savannah Guthrie and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. For each guest host’s appearance, a donation will be made to a charity of their choice equal to the cumulative winnings of the contestants on their respective episodes.
The show announced Wednesday that Katie Couric, the journalist and former Today host, will become the first woman ever to host the show. Others on tap are Mayim Bialik, Aaron Rodgers and journalist Bill Whitaker.
The show is currently using a series of interim hosts to replace Alex Trebek, who died of cancer on Nov. 8. That process began when record-holding contestant Ken Jennings made his debut on an episode that aired Monday.
On Monday, former Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings debuted as the show’s first post-Alex Trebek guest host. Jennings paid tribute to Trebek just after he walked out on stage. “Sharing this stage with Alex Trebek was one of the greatest honors of my life,” he said.
The same producer who helped Drew Carey succeed Bob Barker on The Price Is Right is now working on the Jeopardy succession.
The 90-second montage, set to Hugh Jackman singing the Peter Allen song Once Before I Go, is a lighthearted and laughter-filled remembrance showing Trebek’s changing look through his 36 years as host, with moustache and without, with black hair and with grey, with suits from several decades.
Stirr, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s over-the-top service, is exclusively streaming the late Alex Trebek’s last episodes as host of Jeopardy. The episodes are available on demand in markets where Sinclair stations air the syndicated show. And they will only be available until five more episodes air. At that point, the new episodes will be available on demand.
Johnny Gilbert, 92, started on the game show with Trebek in 1984. Now, he must imagine a Jeopardy without his longtime colleague.
