Jeopardy 24: And the new Jeopardy! host is…

The Kennedys of Kennebunkport?

The Dick Van Patten Family.

"what's"

"what's"

"what's"

omfg can Matt EVER phrase the question correctly? it pisses me off. It's annoying as hell

and how embarrassing for Patrick to finish with -7400 is that a record for worst score? He lowered his head in shame at the end lol

I'm just going to copy and paste what I said in another thread, re: Levar.

He's not going to be the new Jeopardy host. He certainly wasn't the worst guest host the show has had so far (hello Dr Oz and Robin Roberts), but he was incredibly underwhelming, especially after all the hype he brought upon himself. I'm pretty sure producers will not pick him as the new host for next season and he will claim that they/viewers are racist.

He won't claim that they are racist. That will be the young, white, female SJWs who will do that.

Is that the demographic that is driving this, rather than "ignored" black Americans?

what's new jeopardy host

Yes, R7. It's the woke whites.

R4 It is indeed the lowest score on record. Previous record was $6800.

What an embarrassment for Levar after all his self promotion. He’s just terrible.

@11 I think Levar has been the best host so far. He's enthusiastic and seems more interested in the guests than others.

I felt Aaron bonded well with his guests, as did Robin, too.

Who is Kunta Kinte?

I liked Aaron Rogers and Mike Richards too.

Mike Richards deserves the job but it could become awkward if he has 2 roles as Host and EP. Does he fire himself eventually?

He'd also probably have to give up EP at WOF, too. If they give it to a white guy, it'd be Ken or Buzzy.

LeVar Burton reads the clues nicely enough and with some energy, but messed up in not ruling an answer wrong, and another contestant had to be credited back money. Plus another time, a contestant waited a long time till he called on her. He's not living up to his highly publicized attempt to try to be permanent host. Others were quite a bit better, and some were worse.

Get real R12. You know that’s not true. Did you even watch??

Since taping of the new season has started or will begin in a week or so, they've already chosen Alex’s successor by now. And since Aaron Rodgers showed up at the Green Bay Packers training camp yesterday, it’s not him, thank god. Any clues out there to show who else was rejected, and more important who the lucky winner is?

Mayim's "Call Me Kat" was picked up for a second season, so don't think she'd be available now.

Another horrible episode for Levar. I’m starting to viscerally dislike both him and the current champ. The show is nearly unwatchable with that combo.

Luckily, the Olympics is preempting Jeopardy here so we don’t have to suffer through Lemar or Levar or whatever his name is. Can’t STAND him!!!!

How can you not stand him if you have never seen him host Jeopardy?

The champ has been on long enough for me, but I like him better than James Holzhauer, monopolizing everything for weeks on end.

YES!! RIGHT!! CORRECT!!

Why does Matt start every single answer with “what’s”?

Why?

WHY???

Levar needs to channel geordie LaForge and not be himself.

Got Final, though know little about Shakespeare. Knew Ephesus as well. Saya seemed cool, Amanda not so much. Is it official that Matt is "on the spectrum"?

R26, I think it's an efficiency ploy. Just answer what every time and it's one fewer thing to think about. But, it drives me crazy. What is George Washington? No, non, nein!

It’s not even “what is,” R29, it’s always “what’s,” delivered in exactly the same monotone/cadence, with that pause before the answer. Every single time.

What’s... Europe?

What’s... Meg Ryan?

What’s... bananas?

What’s.....whats?

Maybe he'll switch to "How's" or "Why is"? I guess they'd still be acceptable since they are questions (though not necessarily questions that would make sense).

Day 4 and Levar is still terrible.

I like Bryan. And he knows how to properly phrase a question.

Levar Burton responding to Final Jeopardy answer:

..............crickets................more crickets...................players start looking at each other........”That is not correct.”

He embarrassed himself and his fans made complete asses of themselves. Levar should never step foot in that studio again.

Unless his legions of fans had more clout than they should've, that's the end of Levar!

The other black guy -- the newscaster -- was better -- not much personality, but no errors like LeVar.

LeVar was terrible. Good fing riddance!

Ken's got two shots against him.

-- He has his fans, but a sizable segment of viewers just don't like him.

-- He doesn't put contestants at ease. This is a fatal flaw for a game show host.

Is there anyone daft enough to believe that the new host will be selected on merit?

Jeopardy is produced to make money for Sony, period. And Sony will select a new host looking to who will over time add the most value to the show.

R48, agree with your 2nd point. It's not difficult to imagine Ken inwardly rolling his eyes when contestants miss questions. No matter how diplomatic he may be, you know he's exasperated.

Ken is a muppet. No Ken!!

Comparing Matt to James Holzhauer was bound to happen, but I doubt Matt will ever come close to James' record winnings.

Really enjoyed Mike, Buzzy and Mayim. Can't stand Ken.

Ken Jennings is yucky. Mike Richards is super sexy. They both ask questions well enough, and they both engage with the players nicely. But….Mike is very, very hot, while Ken is just warm milk & ipecac syrup personified.

I'd be curious to know who Tony Griffin, Merv's son, thinks should be the new permanent host.

I've been obsessed with Olympic volleyball the last week and a half so haven't been keeping up with Jeopardy! Just caught the tail end of today's episode. I see our friend Matt is still moving along like a runaway train. His is shaping up to be an epic run. I get the James Holzhauer comparisons, but Matt's game is slower and less automatic. Guys like James and Alex Jacob played like machines.

The new host is.....LeVar Burton. Fans loved him.

This quote from Burton is exactly why he will be named the host. Anyone silly enough to believe that qualifications matter will be disappointed. There has been too much publicity about the hosting gig, and producers will be forced to name Burton or face the wrath of the twitter set:

Esquire: "To have a person of color or a marginalized person standing behind that podium is good for America. It means something. It's a milestone marker on this journey toward wholeness that the great American experiment is supposed to be about."

LeVar!

Fuck the Twitter set.

Viewers are older, certainly not slaves to social media.

The “majority” of America doesn’t even watch Jeopardy!

If this turns out to happen I’ll never watch Jeopardy again. Ratings will tank and I will laugh.

I got Astor because of Waldorf. Faber was fine, but his jacket and shirt were crumply.

Relax. Sony is not going to risk destroying its valuable Jeopardy franchise by hiring LVB.

If they're conservative and risk-averse they'll go with Mike. He's a solid performer who knows the show inside out. Plus, they know him and know he's not going to go diva on them if hired.

Mayim if they want to make an inclusive gesture.

Buzzy if they want to move Jeopardy along with a different post-Alex vibe. An approach that worked for post-BB TPIR.

I don't mind LeVar. Not sure why some here are going psycho over the idea of him hosting again. I like his voice and he seems nice.

I've been OK with almost all the guest hosts except for propagandist Dr. Oz. Glad the Jeopardy execs caught hell for that choice

Matt is unwatchable with his fucking "what's" all the time. It's insane when he knows the answer is a person and he still says "what's". I just hope it's his quirk and doesn't start a new trend of contestants doing that. I'm not even grammar-obsessed but it's beyond annoying to listen to him not even try phrase the question correctly.

I’m shocked at how bad LeVar was. He was one of the worst guest hosts, period.

His clue reading was ok, but so was everyone else’s. Nothing special. The long pauses for various reasons were bad, and I hated it when he YELLED “Correct “ or “Right.” He also made mistakes on every show. I can’t watch him if he’s back as host.

Ken Jennings was good, but not warm. I like him as a person and on Twitter, but have you seen him on the ABC show called The Chase? He’s smug and condescending and insufferable. I know it’s role play, but it’s just ugly.

I've never heard of David Faber before but he did a good job as guest host. So refreshing after the week-long fiasco known as Levar.

Having the experience in front of the camera as a host/commentator certainly helps David seem more comfortable in the role.

Had no idea on Final.

Yahoo's headline:

"Jeopardy!" viewers don't know who guest host David Farber is, but they love him anyway

The U.S. Sun's headline:

"Jeopardy!" fans slam David Farber and "have no idea" who guest host is as show will announce permanent replacement "soon"

What's U. S. Sun?

R55 - that he yells? Had to take back a "ruling"? The strange giggle after an answer? That he has proclaimed himself the best choice as a "done deal" with a cult following?

I'm more and more coming around to Buzzy as a sort of "compromise" candidate.

[quote]What's U. S. Sun?

Here . . .

I posted this in the previous thread; The powers that be should name the new host under a one-year contract and extend it if he/she works out. Nothing is permanent in today's world.

The "What's" prelude to every answer by Matt is probably his way of keeping himself in the zone. I've seen contestants in the past blurt out the answer without phrasing it as a question and lose points. Also, I just saw an article about Jeopardy's official rules which simply stated that the answer had to be in the form of a question, it didn't matter how the question was worded. Also, that Matt responded on Twitter apologizing to viewers who were triggered but he wasn't going to change his strategy.

[quote]Matt responded on Twitter apologizing to viewers who were triggered but he wasn't going to change his strategy

Well, his episodes would have been taped a long while ago, so he couldn't "change" it at this point even if he wanted to.

R62, Not if he's still at it. He could be a multi week (month?) player, the way he's going.

Maybe Matt also uses "What's" because he considers his response generically to be "the answer", ignoring what the specific answer actually is. It's odd, but who can argue with his strategy?

R64, It's Matt's version of the British "We".

There’s only a week left to the season so it sounds like Matt is still there at season’s end and will be back when they start the new season.

This Matt guy is growing on me.

Faber looks and sounds the most like a conventional game show host, but he's a pro.

FJ was impossible for me.

Maybe we can do a tasteful friends takedown when Matt buys and decorates his new house...

Matt's annoying me. Smug bastard. I wanted the fat woman to win.

still can't stand Matt.

When he said today "what's MLK" I yelled at the tv.

I really hope someone comes along soon and knocks him off. There's no justification for why he can't properly phrase questions in his answers

I loved how excited Matt got about the Lord of the Rings answer. The "what" situation doesn't bother me at all. That woman's speech impediment did.

I’m not bothered by the phrasing of Matt’s answers either, and I like him a lot. Would love it if he became the biggest winner of all time, replacing James.

Really good game. Matt finally had some serious competition! Was stunned when he bet all $13,000 on the Daily Double in the second round. That was gutsy! If he'd been wrong, he likely would not have earned enough in the remaining time to win.

They keep introducing Matt as a "PhD student from New Haven, Conn." Is he studying at Yale? Has he mentioned yet where he is studying?

I guessed Philippines for Final. Only other possibility seemed to be American Samoa.

Obvious it's Yale. July 4 a clue regarding an American connection; Japan kinda made sense given the postwar occupation status.

I'm encouraged that he seems less confident with each passing game, more rattled than James H. ever got. Great that he wasn't able to smash through all of the daily doubles. I like him personally, but not this longterm blitzing though she did make it (somewhat) competitive.

Faber benefits hugely from following the shouty Burton.

I think of the Philippines as Oceania, not Asia.

Using "What's" is the like someone who has ten suits in the closet all the same color. They don't have to waste time deciding which color to wear that day.

So who the hell is David Farber? He’s great, whoever he is.

CNBC host since forever.

Farber was around decades ago when I was with my finance-industry ex. Filipinos are definitely Asian, not Pacific Islander.

Variety reporting Mike Richards is in negotiations for the job.

And the Levar fans are pissed.

Mike is a fresh-faced cutie, so I'll keep tuning in.

Don't they have to start taping for the new season soon? Based on his performance, I'm fine with him in the job, just surprised he'd give up both EP jobs for it.

Tiny violins 4 Levar-ites I'm afraid...

Oh, what a surprise. This whole year was just to protect him from “How dare you replace Alex?” backlash. Now, we’re used to other people hosting and he can slide right in.

What makes you think he’s going to give up his EP positions? Hosting the show is not a full time job.

Love it!!!!!

Hope it turns out to be true. He’s so attractive and very competent.

Mike Richards!

That hair transplant…girl!

Whose hair transplant?

[quote] A Sony Pictures spokesman said discussions were ongoing with several potential candidates. He would not comment specifically on Richards’ status. A source close to the situation cautioned that there’s no certainty that the sides will close a deal and that other candidates remain in the mix, although Richards is clearly the front-runner.

They’re keeping up the suspense!

I like Mike Richards because he seems nice but he doesn't have spunk.

R88. Our friend Mike…look again.

According to the site TV Line, Mike Richards is in "advance negotiations" to become permanent host.

R92, meet R80.

People on Twitter are all "you misspelled Levar Burton"

It was a job interview. He failed miserably. He doesn't get the job because he is the most well known.

Its like these people didn't even see his shows. Blaming it on the Olympics. Even if there were less people watching because of the Olympics , that's a good thing so fewer people saw that train wreck.

If it's Mike, then Sony has indeed decided to play it safe. No surprises with him and he'll be a stable, long-term host for the show. I'll certainly keep tuning in.

Nonetheless, I would have shaken things up a bit with Mayim or Buzzy, rather than hold fast to the Alex approach. But it's understandable Sony would stick to what's worked well for decades.

I liked Buzzy as well.

Mayim is not available since her show was renewed.

I’m so happy if it’s Mike!

Oh my goodness, there was a stretch there in which I thought Matt would end up playing FJ by himself. He is so dominant. Crazy that he could wager $37,000, get FJ wrong and still win the game.

He should have got it right. He knows the “Dutch” in Pennsylvania Dutch was “Deutsche” or German. Why would Philadelphia have a French newspaper? Tsk.

I prefer Mayim and Buzzy but Mike is good. I guess Ken didn't have it in the bag.

The LeVar fans are embarrassing and insufferable.

I think the folks who said French were thinking of the fact that they were our big allies who helped us win the war.

The Twitter bullies saying LeVar was "undermined" and making it a race issue are just disgusting.

Exactly what kinds of Twitter feeds are these people in besides Levar's own?

I think people were thinking of Franklin and his association with France and newspapers and Philadelphia.

today's game was fucking pathetic. The 2 opponents were quite unprepared for almost all the questions today

Matt is awful

"what's Bonet" ugh he's so annoying

if Mike Richards does take the job I don't think he'll do it for nearly as long as Alex did.

His life is game shows. Getting the Jeopardy gig for him is like Leno getting the Tonight Show.

Mike is a great choice. Didn't want to look at smug Ken or listen to Mayim's annoying giggling.

Yeah, I thought Matt might be in Final by himself as well. He's doing an amazing job. Gutsy betting $37,000.

Final was so obvious. Scratching my head wondering why they answered French. The only other choice besides German was Dutch. The French may have helped the Americans win the Revolutionary War, but they were not involved in 1776. French didn't come on board until 1778.

YEAH for Mike. He's been my top choice ever since his episodes aired. Glad the Sony execs see that too.

Someone has unearthed this 2011 incident that involved Mike Richards.

'Price Is Right' Show Model Claims Sexual Harassment and False Imprisonment Two producers named in suit, which also alleges false imprisonment.

By ANNE-MARIE DORNING September 8, 2011

Sept. 8, 2011— -- The popular television game show "The Price Is Right" has been hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit by former show model Lanisha Cole. The lawsuit includes seven complaints against two of the show's producers, including sexual harassment and false imprisonment.

Lanisha Cole, 29, one of Barker's Beauties, as show models were sometimes called after longtime show host Bob Barker, began working for the "The Price Is Right" in February 2003. Cole's lawyer, Solomon Gresen, said landing a job on the long-running game show was a "dream come true" for his client.

A show model on "The Price Is Right" interacts with the host, displays consumer items and turns numbers on the various games that have become the fabric of the show. And for six years, Cole's "dream job" seemed perfect. But that all changed in December 2009, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Show producers Adam Sandler and Michael G. Richards, no relation to the high-profile actors of the same names, and FremantleMedia North America, which produces such powerhouse shows as Fox's "American Idol" and the syndicated game show "Family Feud," are named in the suit.

Yes for Mike!!!! I’ll keep tuning in for him. Buh bye LeVar! You were the worst fill in host and never deserved the job. I’m all in with Mike.

She settled R111, and the judge dismissed Mike as a defendant. Seems like she didn’t have much of a case - someone came to her dressing room to reprimand for something, and she claimed he embarrassed her because she was "partially nude." Sounds trumped up.

Mike would really need to be a Jeckyll Hyde persona to be sexually abusive. Sounds like the suit was filed on hope of a nuisance settlement.

Right around the time of the Bob Barker suits so probably just looking to ride the coattails.

Mike can sexually harass me anytime!

I'm fine with Mike. He did a good job as host and he's decently attractive. However, I just know the crazy Levar fans are going to sabotage this before there's an official announcement. Get ready for the "Me Too" hit job. I don't think Sony will go through with it if any woman comes forward with a credible accusation. Not in these times. Not with Cuomo facing the heat in New York over this right now.

And it begins LOL. Levar is definitely behind this. Sabotaging Mike isn't going to make you the host, dude. That ship has sailed.

Levar, give it a rest. You're tarnishing your name by all this childish behavior. You did poorly in your weeklong job interview. Others did much, much better.

Go away LeVar.

R118, "Dark past" is a major exaggeration of the facts.

If LeVar wants to be on TV, he should do a Reading Rainbow 🌈 reboot or go back to acting.

Welp, another runaway game. At least the other two contestants didn't finish in the red today.

LeVar paranoia is more annoying than LeVar supporters.

Jeopardy will be fine, I'll continue to watch religiously. Richards was competent, certainly. But a real snooze-fest too. Doesn't matter.

>>I like him as a person and on Twitter, but have you seen him on the ABC show called The Chase? He’s smug and condescending and insufferable. I know it’s role play, but it’s just ugly.

It's not role play, R56. He actually is a smug and condescending person, not to mention, rather an asshole.

can't believe none of them knew Deb Haaland

Good game. Nice to see Matt getting some competition. Certainly makes for a more exciting game.

The grind of the game does seem to be getting to Matt. Seems a bit slower than on his opening games. Wonder how much longer he'll be able to go.

Had no idea on Final.

When Matt either responds incorrectly or doesn't know the correct response, he does that thing with his body like he's sinking into the floor, always with a sheepish grin on his face.

I feel what you call a sheepish grin is actually an indication of pain for him. It's obvious that he's nowhere near as flawless as Ken and James were; I think he has benefited as much from having had weak opponents, and a streak of good luck, as much as being invincible as they were.

R129, Matt is considerably younger than both Ken and James, which makes his breadth of knowledge all that more impressive.

"The grind of the game does seem to be getting to Matt."

Remember, they tape five shows per day, so Friday should be the sloggiest day.

the fact that Matt knows incredibly obscure things and sometimes misses the most obvious questions like Deb Haaland makes me wonder if he's getting fed answers. I hate that smug bastard.

Ummm... I missed Deb Haaland, too, and I'm not that shabby at answers.

R132, I had the same thought early on with Matt. I get a vibe off him like he's being fed answers somehow. I'm not saying I think this is what's going on, but it seems to me like his face and body language are waiting for an answer somehow.

Except that I often immediately know what it is they're going for, but can't think of the correct answer (name) right away. He buzzes in recognizing the idea of what they want, and so far has largely paid off.

Pffft!

As I mentioned in the previous thread, Matt quickly mastered how to effectively handle that buzzer. He doesn’t always know the right answer, but he uses the few seconds of a grace period to find the answer somewhere in the breadth of his fund of knowledge.

Compare him with some contestants who grip and smash that buzzer with their thumb repeatedly — and often unsuccessfully — for dear life.

I played a mock game of Jeopardy in college; something being put on by the Student Union.

What I found was that when I heard the question, I immediately knew the answer, and quickly buzzed in, often being the first to buzz in. Problem was, I often couldn't get the words from my brain to my moth. Sometimes it was a few second delay getting the words out of my mouth. Other times, the words simply didn't come out at all; I had brain freeze.

I see the same thing happening in Matt.

Question for fellow homos: Did I know "Don't Cry Out Loud" immediately as a 'gay' thing? Had no idea of Final as I've never read a Potter book nor seen a film.

R139, Well, Peter Allen wrote it, with Carole Bayer Sager.

I thought I was the only one who never saw a Harry Potter film or read any of the books.

Matt keeps recycling the same clothes.

R139 Turn in your gay card. Now.

It was easy if you read Potter and impossible if you did not.

It's embarrassing at this point for him, R142.

I'm just not interested in most fantasy stuff, R143. FWIW, I've never liked the movie The Wizard of Oz either (Oz books, yes).

R142 He showed up for a day or two of taping. Most guys don't travel with a wardrobe, even though Jeopardy probably warns them they should.

Besides, maybe he's decided that suit brings him luck.

I'm SO sick of Matt and his stupid "what's" annoying as fuck

his competition has been so pathetic. No one is even coming close

Contestants are told to bring five days worth of changes of clothes. I think we've seen five different shirts of Matt, but only two sports coats. But then, most guys don't have five sports coats.

Of course, now Matt has enough money to buy a few more sports coats. And given that he's had a weeklong break in between tapings -- after Levar's shows -- he's also had enough time to go buy some more sports coats. Maybe he doesn't have a female friend to help him pick out some clothes. He hasn't mentioned a girlfriend has he?

Had no idea on Final. I've seen the first two Harry Potter movies, but have never read any of the books.

After all these years, the show must have a contingency plan for long running contestants and their need for additional clothing.

I'm sure there's even a wardrobe department where contestants could borrow clothing.

It's 2021, not 1971. You can order clothes online overnight. Matt didn't bother getting any.

Sony Studios is just a few miles from Century City Mall with a Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and Macys. The Westfield Culver City mall with a Macys and a JCPenny are also just a few miles away. He could have gone there to grab something if it was important to him. Or if the show put any pressure on him to get a different sports coat. Hell, I'll bet they would send one of the show interns with him to help pick out a few more shirts and sports coats.

It's not as though Matt is getting his winnings after each show, folks. And why spend money you don't yet have on a wardrobe you might not need? Any game could be his last game.

Seems like I read somewhere that Sony doesn't pay out till something like three months after the broadcast, and that with Fed and Cal taxes, a winner nets a bit more than half his gross winnings.

[quote]Seems like I read somewhere that Sony doesn't pay out till something like three months after the broadcast,

That makes sense. Even though contestants are told to keep the results of their games a secret until they air (so as not to spoil the surprise of the broadcast game), it would be a dead give away that they won big if they suddenly were driving a new car or bought a house a few days after the taping.

Rob Belushi would be fine. He seems perpetually merry.

R155, That little guy is kinda cute. His show is a bore, but he sure gives it his all.

Does anyway know how old Matt is?

His name, Matt Amodio, sounds like that of an 80s pop star.

Matt is 30 . . .

I'm calling it now. Joe Buck is going to suck and will be awful as fuck. What the fuck were they thinking? Fox Sports sportscaster guest hosting Jeopardy? Really, these producers are fucking stupid. No wonder they are dealing with a shit storm over Mike Richards. Terrible judgement.

I think Joe Buck might surprise us. He's a play by play sportscaster. You have to be quick and on your toes constantly for that kind of job. I think that skillset suits being a Jeopardy! host as well.

no one is worse than propagandist Dr. Oz so glad the show caught hell for that pick and we won't see him on there again

Apparently not as ridiculous as having a current football player as host, R159.

What were his qualifications?

R160 is correct.

Buck seems a bit drippy, but for a week it's not the end of the world.

[quote] Besides, there is no detail regarding Matt’s past or present girlfriend or wife. We can assume that he is single as of now and really focused on making his professional career.

That’s not the only assumption you’re making, Toots.

There's now a Facebook campaign to invite 1985 Jeopardy! champion Chuck Forrest to guest host.

[quote]His name, Matt Amodio, sounds like that of an 80s pop star.

R157 That's better than what I think it sounds like: Matt Imodium. How much teasing has he taken about this?

Isn't it a bit late to be adding guest hosts... unless they're continuing this in September?

Chuck F. has been OK by me from what I've seen of him before, but not that special. Brad should host if he does.

I'd like to see Gilbert Gottfried host.

One would expect James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter to have had to turn at guest hosting since Ken Jennings did. Those three are the all time top winners of the game.

However, I do not get the impression that James has the temperament to be a host. Don't get the sense that he would be calm and patient with contestants. I imagine James would come back with some sarcastic and nasty response to contestants, which could really ruin the tone of the game (which is why he's so good for The Chase where nastiness and sarcasm are part of the job requirement).

While I suspect Brad would have a somewhat better temperament than James, I really don't get calm, reassuring host vibes off of him either.

The question is, were James and/or Brad invited to be a guest host but turned it down. Or did the show just bypass them altogether and never extended an invitation.

James would balk at the idea of dressing like a grownup. He didn't even wear Business Casual all that time, but flat-out casual. Brad, on the other hand, likes dressing up it seems; moreover, he can be quite outgoing. I'm going to assume that he wasn't available during the taping timeframe. He's young enough that he could, theoretically, be in the running again later in life?

r168!!!!!

LOL!!

Bring back Eddie to guest host! He was awesome and would really be fun to have.

Who is Eddie? My brain is overloaded with guest hosts but I don't remember an Eddie...

isn't this the last week until the new season?

Looks like it r174. Next week, reruns of “Around the World With Alex” from last December are airing.

R165, The Chuck Forrest Facebook campaign was initiated by his brother.

Now that the Olympics are over, I can give Jeopardy my full attention, but this is the last week :-)

When does the next season premiere?

Monday after Labor Day, R177. In theory at least as they need to get a move on with finalizing new host. Unless they're going to have Temps back for September. Interesting that Richards said there are plural active candidates.

I could hosht.

Who is this Joe Buck guy? He’s creepy lol.

Ugh, Joe Buck's braying donkey voice is just as bad as I thought it would be. At least it’s only for one week.

Told you all. I knew Buck was gonna suck.

You guys don't want him inside you... deeply?

Got Final, after a tedious half hour of watching the host fawn over Matt.

I thought Mike Richards was just adequate, in the middle of the pack. He wouldn’t ruin the show but could they find a more obscure, boring person to host the show? LeVar was disappointing. As anxious as he was to be host, and with his Reading Rainbow bona fides I was expecting more. I’d probably pick Buzzy or maybe Mayim.

[quote] I thought Mike Richards was just adequate, in the middle of the pack. He wouldn’t ruin the show but could they find a more obscure, boring person to host the show?

That’s probably what they said about Alex Trebek when he started.

Joe was great. I don’t know what the hell you people were watching. He was upbeat and nice.

My god that man is a beast!

Those poor contestants just stood there helplessly for the most part.

My paisana did horribly. 😖

I thought Adely penguins. Never mind my last name resembles the correct answer. Felt stupid. ☺️😣

I want Mike Richards inside me. Quite deeply!

I think Matt bought a new sweater. I guessed Magellan because of the strait and the date, but have never heard of that penguin. I'd never heard of this Joe Buck either, but he was good.

Joe Buck was totally fine. I thought he had a good rapport with the contestants during the interview, and he read the clues as well as anyone.

Joe Buck is a slick sportscaster and he did fine tonight, but I have to wonder how many times he's actually watched Jeopardy!.

The runaways get boring day after day. Eventually, Matt will slip up and some one day wonder will take him out.

Buck comes on too strong. You could practically hear him yelling "Touchdown!" when Matt scored a tough one.

The other contestants the past few days look a little intimidated. Not really fun to watch.

Matt is at the arrogant stage. There was no need for him to wager so much money in final jeopardy and he didn't even care that he got it wrong.

Yes, Matt spent some of his winnings on a new sweater. Big spender!

These runaway games are indeed boring. Feel sorry for those having to go up against him on nights like Monday's game. But wow! Matt bet $34,000 on final. Gutsy.

Never heard of Joe Buck but he did a good job.

Had no idea on Final. Only penguin I've ever heard of is Emperor.

There were enough clues in FJ — 16th century, first men from Europe, southern South America — to make an educated guess.

Hello.

Mrs Tommy Benitez has been named the new host of Jeopardy!

It might be spelled as " penguin," but it's pronounced " pengwings." Just ask Benedict Cumberbatch.

Joe Buck continues to suck. Also, Matt was sloppy tonight. Probably why his final jeopardy bet was so conservative.

Am I the only one who sees him as fawning over Matt? The challengers ought to know more answers, if I know at least 70% of the ones Matt gets.

Joe is excited about the contestants’ knowledge.

JFC, why does everybody shit on Buck??

Has he personally offended you in some way? Get over it already.

I’ll say it again, Joe is excited and impressed watching this guy win. We all are.

I know he should be neutral. But as a fan of the show this is good stuff. His games have moved at a rapid pace, it adds to the exciting atmosphere.

He’s only there for another 3 days. Calm the fuck down about Joe already.

R200 I think it's just one person shitting on Joe Buck. I think JB is perfectly fine as a guest host.

Well, I’ve been reading some newsy sites all day and everyone has a story about how Twitter is shitting on Joe.

Even James H said something, apparently.

Got fed up, honestly. 😊🙃

R202 Here's the tweet from James. He was dissing Joe Buck as a sportcaster.

Considering James is a professional gambler and sports better, I'm guessing he's watched a lot of JB calling games. He wasn't specifically calling out JB on his Jeopardy hosting prowess.

Different viewers have different reactions to the same host. As far as presentation skills go, I feel Dr. Oz did a better job than Joe Buck as host; on the other hand, I think Buck is incredibly hot eye candy, something I can't quite say for Oz.

NO to propagandist Dr. Oz and Matt superfan Joe Buck

Joe seems to be doing a decent job as host. Only 3 more days of him.

I feel sorry for the contestants Matt is steamrolling over. Some waited years to get on the show only to have to go up against him. Must be a huge letdown to finally get on the show only to have to face him. Was glad that Silpah (sp?) at least got a few chances to buzz in.

Had no idea on Final.

Thank you for finding that, R203.

Ken Jennings (yawn) is America's choice after Levar (whose support is political/representative, not personal, I assume).

Ha!!!

It was neither, R208!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

It will be Mike Richards, thank goodness.

It’s both Mike and Mayim!

After the death of longtime “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, the game show has decided that it will take not one — but two — people to fill his shoes.

The show announced on Wednesday that Mike Richards, a television executive, will become the show’s regular host, and Mayim Bialik, an actress and neuroscientist, will take over the role for special prime time and spinoff episodes, which include a new college championship tournament set to air next year on ABC. The move puts an end to months of speculation on who will replace Trebek, who had been hosting the show for 36 years when he died of pancreatic cancer.

Bialik, who is known for her roles in the sitcoms “The Big Bang Theory” and “Blossom,” will be the first woman to be a permanent host of “Jeopardy!”

As the show’s executive producer, Richards already has one of the top roles on the program and has been involved in strategizing how to keep the show going past the Trebek era.

For more than seven months, “Jeopardy!” has tested out over a dozen guest hosts, including Richards and Bialik. Some of the hosts were established television personalities who seemed unlikely to take on the permanent hosting role, such as Anderson Cooper and Katie Couric. Others, like LeVar Burton and Ken Jennings, seemed to be auditioning for the job as they presented clues and bantered with contestants onstage.

“A senior group of Sony Pictures Television executives pored over footage from every episode, reviewed research from multiple panels and focus groups, and got valuable input from our key partners and ‘Jeopardy!’ viewers,” Ravi Ahuja, a Sony executive, said in a news release.

When Variety magazine published a story last week saying that Richards was the top candidate for the job, there were decidedly mixed reactions; some on social media expressed disappointment that an executive with influence over the succession battle would end up being the winner. (Some made comparisons to Dick Cheney, who was tasked with vetting possible running mates for George W. Bush in 2000, only to take the job himself and become vice president.)

In an email to “Jeopardy!” staff that the show released to the media earlier this week, Richards wrote that he was “humbled and deeply honored” when he was asked if he would consider hosting the show.

“The choice on this is not my decision and never has been,” Richards wrote. “Alex always believed the game itself and the contestants are the most important aspects of the show.”

Episodes for the new season, the show’s 38th, will start on Sept. 13.

A rather strange way to do it. Could it be that she's interested in full-time after she wraps up her commitment for this year?

[quote] “The choice on this is not my decision and never has been,” Richards wrote

What a coincidence that the choice just happened to be the EP. What are the odds?

Ugh, have no intention of watching prime time stuff.

Just give me the syndicated version.

They were both fine. Don't know why I was certain they had designated Ken as the heir--maybe because he was the first of the guest hosts and he was on for 6 weeks...

I think Joe Buck is doing a perfectly fine job.

Great choice! I love Mike!!! Welcome.

Meghan McCain posted that it should have gone to Levar Burton because everyone on the planet wanted him.

Which planet?

Eh. Happy about Mayim. Maybe she’ll eventually take over the whole thing. I find Mike Richards bland and slightly creepy.

[quote]Meghan McCain posted that it should have gone to Levar Burton because everyone on the planet wanted him.

Just another example of how out of touch with the world that Meghan is.

When he answered "intersect" weren't they specifically looking for the noun intersection? I had heard of mangosteens. Final was a giveaway.

I'll laugh if Matt closes out the season losing.

The category was 3-syllable verbs, R222.

No one knew apricots?

Matt's answer of "Xiopeng" for "Deng Xiopeng" would be the equivalent of "George" for "George Washington."

Thanks, R223. I had no idea of the apricot answer; the short A version is off my radar.

Matt will have a long time to rest during the summer hiatus.

I was trying to decide between Ethiopia and Ghana for FJ. I have no idea what either of their flags look like so I'm glad one of my guesses turned out to be correct.

Matt was a bit shaky in this game.

yeah Ethiopia was the only African nation that was never made into a colony by the Europeans so I knew the answer

My first instinct for Final was Ethiopia, but then I started second guessing myself and decided it was Liberia.

The lesson is to trust my first instinct.

I thought Mussolini had colonized Ethiopia.

occupied but not colonized

R229, Haile Selassie was the correct FJ response just a few weeks ago.

The flag part made Ethiopia the answer they wanted, though the "occupied" bit makes that a murky clue.

R232 A distinction without a difference?

I think the colors were the give away... all the Rastafarian imagery and products - clothes, flags, backpacks, knit hats holding the voluminous dreads - all the colors of the flag of Ethiopia. I thought it was an easy FJ.

As the clue pointed out, those colors have become “pan-African”

I have a friend posting that he won't watch Jeopardy now because Levar Burton wasn't picked. I'm like. If your choice for host (who was horrible by the way) didn't get picked and now you're boycotting, you weren't really much of a fan anyway.

And in terms of final jeopardy, I was thinking Egypt but wasn't sure of the colors. And then thought there must have been another country deep in the heart of the country that wasn't a colony - Mali or Gabon or something. Totally forgot about Ethiopia.

Egypt was a colony of The Ottomans and Britain.

R238 Ha, and of Alexander the Great.

Didn’t the clue say it was the oldest country in Africa? Ethiopia is mentioned in the Bible. I guessed Ethiopia.

Ghana's flag has the same pan-African colors.

The clue said oldest independent country, R240.

Matt must be exhausted, as evidenced by Wednesday night's game.

I doubt if his reign will be as long as James Holzhauer's.

Aren’t they about to get a few weeks of a break? If he can make it to that, he might be able to continue on for a while after the new season starts.

There are folks on the jeopardy reddit who are unhappy with the selection of host(s) and will stop watching the show when Matt's run ends. Weird.

The challengers couldn't come up with Jaws, even the old lady who was definitely around when the movie came out; they deserved to lose.

"Graveyard of the Atlantic" was [italic]incredibly[/italic] obvious to me!

Wasn't a big fan of the clear frame glasses Buck wore yesterday, although that style seems to meet with great disapproval in general at this site, but the blue ones took a lot of getting used to.

Yeah, I was certain that Ruth would have known Jaws. The answer seemed so obvious — especially since the category was “Blockbusters” and the clue mentioned Moby Dick. Now, hmmmm, what blockbuster movie does that sound like???

I didn’t get FJ. Either.

I’m glad Joe said it wasn’t about who was behind the podium but about the three people as contestants.

[quote]There are folks on the jeopardy reddit who are unhappy with the selection of host(s) and will stop watching the show when Matt's run ends. Weird.

Probably the people mad that Levar Burton didn't get the job. Frankly, I wonder how many were regular watchers of Jeopardy anyway and weren't just fans of Burton through Star Trek and/or Reading Rainbow.

I needed roughly half of the FJ tune before Jaws popped into my head as a “large sea creature”-related blockbuster from the 70s/80s, but then it seemed so obvious. I was also surprised that not only did Ruth miss it, but that she and the other guy completely whiffed on even coming up with an intelligent guess.

I like Matt and I hope he sticks around long enough to displace James Holes-hour (sp?) from his place as second most winningest contestant.

Buck looked sharp tonight.

" Frankly, I wonder how many were regular watchers of Jeopardy anyway and weren't just fans of Burton through Star Trek and/or Reading Rainbow."

I'm sure most are white SJW women who are upset that a white male got the job. They couldn't care less about LeVar, except for the fact that he is black.

Tonight Joe Buck hit his stride and hosted Jeopardy as if he was calling a Patriots-Cowboys game.

I found FJ to be incredibly easy.

And I totally agree that Ruth is old enough to recall that "Jaws" was a huge best selling book in 1974 and a blockbuster movie in 1975.

After her gutsy, successful DD bet, I thought she might be the one to take down Matt.

She'll be kicking herself over FJ for years.

I read the book Jaws in 1974. I did get FJ.

I immediately guessed Jaws but thought it was too easy and that I'd be wrong. I too was shocked Ruth didn't think of it

I'm ready for Matt to lose...

I bought the book Jaws in the airport in the 70s before a flight to Hawaii. I was terrified during the trip and could barely step into the water when I arrived.

[quote]I'm ready for Matt to lose...

R256 I want him to go on forever.

Didn't Ruth make a strategic error in her FJ wager? Going up against a top player like Matt, she should have fairly assumed that if she could answer it correctly, so could he. A FJ she but not Matt could answer would be improbable. So her only shot at winning would have been a very hard FJ that neither could answer. In which case her winning wager would have been -0-.

Yes, Final was super easy.

Was really rooting for Ruth, especially after her $9,000 Daily Double bet. Was certain she had the Final answer. When they panned across the contestants during the Final Jeopardy theme, she seemed so calm. Well, looks can be deceiving.

Meanwhile, Matt looked especially panicked during the pan across the contestants during Final. And he got it. Again, looks are deceiving.

Matt's getting good use of the blue sweater he bought before this week's taping day. Already worn it twice. Will we see it tomorrow? And , if he wins tomorrow, will he have purchased an entirely new wardrobe by the time tapings resume next week after a break of several months?

R260, To me, Matt's sweater is more green than blue.

It's blue, cerulean blue, and it's been chosen for Matt by the people in this room, from a pile of stuff.

I was hoping that there might be a question which Ruth would know, and he might not, by virtue of her age. It's what we got, but with the opposite results it seems.

R262, Cerulean blue is much brighter, Miranda dear.

Matt goes into next season!!

Was disappointed to learn that Mayim was an anti-vaxxer.... but then dug a little deeper and found that, no, that's not the case. She's been vaccinated for COVID and her kids have all the usual vaccines. A lesson, again, how complete access to all information, true and false, can spread both truth and lies equally well. Don't believe everything you click on.

You have yet to learn that her opinion is the only one that matters, r264.

They wanted Mayim!

I didn't get the Lost Tribes of Israel Daily Double, which was the turning point in the game. I struck out on FJ too: well done, Matt.

Joe Buck's bromance with Matt >>> Joe Buck's bromance with Ratso Rizzo

At least Nicolle made the game competitive, but God was she annoying.

I could only come up with Tubman and Anthony for FJ.

I had no idea of the 12 tribes of Israel nor final either.

damn. Nicolle really gave Matt an early run for his money but then fizzled out after betting $5000 on double jeopardy and getting it wrong

R266 definitely didn't believe she'd be anti-vax either. She seems too smart and reasonable so I'm glad that rumor isn't true

Wow! Go Nicole! You gave Matt a run for his money.

I liked her, although her perkiness would have gotten annoying if she's been on for multiple games.

I had no idea on Lost Tribes of Israel.

I guessed Tubman and Anthony for Final. Figured Sacagawea might be the third.

Well, Matt will have had several months to rest up and buy a new wardrobe before he begins taping next week. Wonder if he'll still have his mojo.

With repeats for the next four weeks, I guess this Jeopardy thread will be very quiet during that time. Look forward to chatting with all of you again when new games begin again on Sept. 13.

My guess was "two of the 12 tribes of Israel"... not "Lost Tribes"... I would guess that would have been accepted. Not even sure why "Lost" is a descriptor...it's a description by latter day writers, certainly not concurrent to the time described in the question.

I guessed Harriet Tubman and Harriet Beecher Stowe for final. Both wrong.

Nicole was great and had a fantastic attitude but it would have gotten annoying if she had won more games.

R275, Not Harriet Nelson?

Actually R277, Harriet Nelson did cross my mind along with Harriet the Spy. However, since neither one of these ladies was a 19th Century American Woman as the category indicated, I had to rule them out ...........

I was surprised Nicole didn't get that one. A lesbian should know this. The statue's had a lot of media coverage. All the controversy about Anthony and Stanton being racists, etc.

There was a lot of media coverage, and I still couldn't remember any of the three.

R280, But, are you a lesbian?

I could only remember two (Anthony and Truth). It’s like they wrote the question for me.

I can't remember.

Nicolle seemed as if someone told her, "You're not pretty, but you have personality. Let it shine!" I found her incredibly annoying.

She would've been fine for dethroning him, and then losing after another game or two.

I still can't believe I blanked on "Jaws".

They closed the season with a lezzy!

It's a pity the guardian didn't open this article up for comments. I'm not anti levar Burton at all. He was a part of my favorite TV show of all time, star trek: the next generation. But from what I saw, he wasn't a particularly good jeopardy host. And I noticed an article on why Burton didn't get a TV show hosting gig, pretty much doesn't even address his performance.

I'm not entirely sure of the hosts selected but it is nowt to do with Burton being unfairly passed over.

It doesn't sound like the writer of that Guardian piece even watched Levar's shows. No mention of his performance during his week at all, let alone trying to make excuses for how bad it was.

Comes across as just another They Should Have Picked A Black Host essay like several others have written.

[quote]They closed the season with a lezzy!

As long as they didn't open the new season with that lezzy, I'm fine.

Oh for fuck’s sake. Burton was a TERRIBLE host and he didn’t get the job. Be over it already.

That Guardian article is as loony as any of the squawking from the worst Burton fans -

[quote] LeVar Burton is an embodiment of the zeitgeist. He represents the growing popularity of science fiction and Afrofuturism – a tradition of bringing Black people and Black culture into the science fiction genre – with his role as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge in the hit show Star Trek: The Next Generation.

This qualifies him to host Jeopardy?

R292 Yeah I can understand the coordinated push for "more representation" through an institution like Jeopardy. But "Afrofuturism" is a little bit of a stretch.

Well, they can’t just say “Having a Black man host Jeopardy! will be good for the Blacks.”

R294 Then they should have nominated Neil DeGrasse Tyson as their token. He would have been waaaay better than LeVar.

Why did the host have to be black? why are balks getting ALL of the minority opportunities?

I thought LeVar would be good but he wasn't. He took too long to confirm whether answers were right or not.

He had to look to the judges to tell him.

R298, And even then, he would still screw up.

Ha!!

They reported that the Nielsen ratings for his week was the lowest of them all! 😂🤣

I'm watching the current three week "break" in Jeopardy. I don't know how old this episode is, but Ken Jennings is on as reigning champ and he looks SO young! Alex is gorgeous. He was a beautiful man.

It's strange seeing the contestants standing so close to each other.

Tonight's episode with young Ken was already shown this year. There are so many years of Jeopardy, I don't understand why they need to repeat a repeat.

I didn't see it. Ken has... ummmm... not aged well.

Alex on the ice was hot! Wouldn't have recognized him!

These episodes were first repeated during the two weeks around Christmas as a showcase of some of Alex's best episodes over the decades.

[quote] Tonight's episode with young Ken was already shown this year. There are so many years of Jeopardy, I don't understand why they need to repeat a repeat.

As you may have heard, I’m a Jeopardy consulting producer now.

NY Times examines the Jeopardy host situation.

Here's the text of the NY Times story. Part 1

When Ken Jennings arrived at the “Jeopardy!” studios in November for the first day of his audition to become the new host of the long-running quiz show, he found a gift waiting for him: a pair of Alex Trebek’s cuff links, along with a handwritten note from his widow, Jean.

Mr. Trebek, the “Jeopardy!” galaxy’s central star, had died of pancreatic cancer three weeks before, setting off a frenzy in Hollywood: one of the greatest jobs in television was available for the first time in 37 years.

For some members of the “Jeopardy!” crew, the cuff links validated their assumption that Mr. Jennings, a genial Utahn who rose to fame in 2004 after winning a record 74 consecutive games, had been Mr. Trebek’s preferred successor. (“Jeopardy!” producers had arranged for a phone call between Mr. Jennings and Mr. Trebek two days before he died.) But “Jeopardy!,” while a beloved cultural icon, is also a lucrative asset of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and in the television industry, sentiment only goes so far.

“Jeopardy!,” whose first iteration began in 1964, is one of TV’s last bastions of comfort food, a place where politics don’t matter and the real world is easily digested in just-the-facts bites. Then its succession drama got messy. After a cattle call of guest hosts, including Anderson Cooper, Robin Roberts, Aaron Rodgers, LeVar Burton and even Dr. Mehmet Oz, the announcement of the winner sent fans into a tailspin. The new weekday host would be Mike Richards, the show’s obscure executive producer and the man initially charged with finding Mr. Trebek’s replacement.

Mr. Richards, it seemed, did not have to look very far.

Critics accused Mr. Richards of rigging the contest à la Dick Cheney, who led the vice-presidential search for George W. Bush. Old lawsuits surfaced from Mr. Richards’s previous job, at “The Price Is Right,” involving his treatment of female staff members. (He denies wrongdoing.) After Sony said the “Big Bang Theory” actress Mayim Bialik would host the show’s prime-time spinoffs, her past skepticism about vaccines recirculated. (Her team said “she is not at all an anti-vaxxer.”)

Under the retro, feel-good surface of “Jeopardy!,” the succession battle is a story of television’s dwindling real estate in American life and the strenuous efforts to occupy one of its remaining desirable plots.

“It is a little like choosing a pope,” Mr. Jennings said, in his first interview since the new hosts were announced. “If you don’t watch ‘Jeopardy!,’ you don’t understand, but people take this very seriously.”

Part 2

In an age of atomized audiences, “Jeopardy!” still averages 8.8 million viewers a week, according to Nielsen — not quite “NCIS” territory, but roughly comparable to a network evening newscast. Its audience skews older: Last year, about four viewers out of five were over age 55.

And the job itself is, as any Hollywood agent would tell you, a pretty sweet gig.

When the “Jeopardy!” cast and crew gather on the Sony Pictures stage in Culver City, Calif., they film five 30-minute shows in a single day, the equivalent of one week of syndicated television. The host works roughly two days a week, two weeks a month — and toward the end of his tenure, Mr. Trebek’s salary was estimated at $16.5 million. Sony would not disclose Mr. Richards’s compensation, but several people familiar with internal discussions said it was significantly less.

There are other perks to being the face of a show that is still watched by a broad audience on local network affiliates, a rarity as the nation divides into ever-more-partisan extremes and as traditional TV is supplanted by niche streaming services.

“It’s appointment television, which is rare,” said George Stephanopoulos, the ABC News anchor, who guest hosted for a week. “It’s the kind of thing you can watch with your whole family.”

Plus there is the reflected glow of always having the right answers.

“It’s absolutely iconic,” said Rick Rosen, the TV superagent at Endeavor. “Everybody knows the show and has played along with it. And it’s not the type of show where you’re just a genial host — there’s a perception of intelligence that goes along with it.”

Unlike his rivals, Mr. Richards, 46, had a deep background in game shows. Born in Burbank, Calif., he started his career as a stand-up comedian and went on to host game shows like the mid-2000s concoction “Beauty and the Geek.” He hosted and produced numerous series on the Game Show Network before auditioning to replace Bob Barker on “The Price Is Right.” Drew Carey got the job, but Mr. Richards was brought on as executive producer; his successful 11-year tenure revived the wilting franchise into a hit.

By “Jeopardy!” standards, though, he was a newcomer.

He started as executive producer at both “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” in May 2020, replacing Harry Friedman, who oversaw both shows for 25 years. Mr. Richards overlapped with Mr. Trebek on set for only 15 shoot days before the host stepped aside, 10 days before he died.

Sony said that while Mr. Richards initially led the hunt for Mr. Trebek’s replacement, he moved aside after he emerged as a candidate.

But as executive producer, Mr. Richards retained a key role in selecting which appearances by each prospective host would be screened for focus groups, whose reactions weighed heavily in Sony’s decision-making, according to three people familiar with the show’s internal deliberations. The other supervising “Jeopardy!” producers were excluded from that process, the people said.

Asked about Mr. Richards’s role, Sony referred to a memo from its TV chairman, Ravi Ahuja, who told staff that after the company began considering Mr. Richards as a potential host, “he was not part of” the selection process. The ultimate decision was made by Tony Vinciquerra, the chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

As questions mounted, Mr. Richards sent a memo to “Jeopardy!” staff that was distributed by Sony’s publicists.

“The choice on this is not my decision and never has been,” Mr. Richards wrote. He said the “Price Is Right” litigation — which included an allegation that he made insensitive comments to a pregnant employee — “does not reflect the reality of who I am.” (Sony said it had “spoken with Mike about the issues raised in these cases and our commitment to maintaining a workplace environment where our employees are respected and supported.”)

Part 3

On Wednesday, Sony announced Mr. Richards and Ms. Bialik as co-hosts, although for now, only one prime-time special featuring Ms. Bialik is scheduled. “What started out with my 15-year-old repeating a rumor from Instagram that I should guest host the show has turned into one of the most exciting and surreal opportunities of my life!” Ms. Bialik said in a statement.

Some fans argue that a relatively bland, little-known host was always a better outcome than a celebrity. “The game is the star, and the contestants are the stars,” said John Podhoretz, the editor of Commentary magazine and a 1987 quarterfinalist in the “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions. “The host should be a secondary figure.”

For his part, Mr. Jennings agreed. “What was great about Alex was we didn’t know anything about him: He came into our homes every night and he hosted ‘Jeopardy!,’” Mr. Jennings said. “Today, it’s very hard to find a broadcaster whose priors and opinions you know nothing about.”

Mr. Jennings, who guest hosted six weeks’ worth of shows, said he harbored no hard feelings about the outcome.

“I knew ‘Jeopardy!’ was in a spot this year, and I mostly wanted them to have a smooth transition,” Mr. Jennings said. “I was not going to lobby for that job in the media, ever. I was not going to plant stories about what a promising young candidate I was. I wasn’t interested in doing any of that. I am a company man.”

Mr. Jennings, who remains a consulting producer at “Jeopardy!,” praised Mr. Richards’s performance. “Mike was the only person up there with any game show hosting chops, and it showed,” he said.

"They reported that the Nielsen ratings for his week was the lowest of them all!"

Didn't it conflict with The Olympics?

The Olympics had the lowest Nielsen ratings ever so probably not much of a factor.

In my area, syndicated Jeopardy airs on NBC, so the Olympics caused the network to move Jeopardy to another time, which people may not have bothered finding.

R284, Nicolle reminded me of pre-weight loss Ross Mathews.

Uh oh

I repeat my opinion that he's a placeholder while she works out her series stuff this year.

R315, Did he also steal another kid's lunch money in the 5th grade?

If you dig deep enough, you'll find negative offenses on everyone.

Alex Trebek was no boy scout. Check out on BUZZR when he hosted "Concentration" in the 1980s/1990s and the multiple sexist remarks he got away with to the delight of the audience.

[quote]I repeat my opinion that he's a placeholder while she works out her series stuff this year.

You may be right r316 given these new sexist comments that have come to light.

R276: Nicole, "The Happy Lesbian".

I don’t think that he majority of the guest hosts were auditioning for the job. Most are already happily employed. I thought Mike Richards always had the best shot because he’s hosted.

Ken and Buzzy had a lot more experience on the set though.

What will the Levar fanatics come up with next, a Mike Richards sex tape?

I wish they would re-air different episodes during the hiatus. I've seen all of these already during the last hiatus. So lame.

R320, I read an interview with Sanjay Gupta where he said that the Jeopardy people called him about doing a guest host week. He did not pursue it. I would think that's the case with most except for Burton, and I think Joe Buck asked for a chance too, didn't he?

[quote] I read an interview with Sanjay Gupta where he said that the Jeopardy people called him about doing a guest host week. He did not pursue it.

Huh? He did 2 weeks as guest host.

OK, R325, that was my mistake. My point was that they called him, he didn't call them.

Here's the interview at the link.

[quote]"One day earlier this year, in the midst of all the darkness surrounding the pandemic, I received a wonderful phone call. It was from Barry Nugent, a "Jeopardy!" executive, asking with a little chuckle if I wanted to guest host the show."

R324 You are a true gentleman.

[quote]What will the Levar fanatics come up with next, a Mike Richards sex tape?

If only!!!

The powers that be on Jeopardy better not even think about changing hosts.

How fucking convenient that all this information is being brought forward now. He has probably always been under serious consideration but once it was announced all this information starts popping up.

I don’t care what he’s said before. He seems really suited for the job.

I honestly don’t know who was polled and where they got those results but if you saw Burton’s shows, you would not even consider him as host.

I won’t watch if that Bialik bitch takes over now or later.

Here's the Ringer article with lots of details about the controversial podcast as well as more behind the scenes info on how Mike Richards got the job.

It's an extremely long piece, but has lots of fascinating info if you are a true Jeopardy fan.

SPOILER ALERT: Mike doesn't come off looking too good in this piece.

He really is rather awful, isn't he.

I don’t care who takes out this creepy douche. Just someone do it.

R332 Yes, LVB playing Wizard of Oz pulling madly at the levers trying to oust Mike is getting on everyone's nerves.

LVB will never happen.

#TeamMike

I liked Mike the best of all the guest hosts. It felt very natural having him behind the podium and he came across as natural and relaxed during the contestant chat (not at all the stiff, humorless executive I was imagining).

Once I saw Mike's 2 week turn as guest host, he was always my top choice. I said so on several occasions in these Jeopardy threads. After Mike, my top choices, in no particular order, were Mayim, Buzzy and David Farber. I could also live with Ken Jennings as host.

These newest revelations about Mike are disturbing. It's certainly lessened my fondness of him a bit to know he has said and done sexist things. And the optics behind how he got the job also don't look good.

But I still think he can be a good host. We'll find out starting Sept. 13.

As someone said earlier, Mike likely only has a one year contract. If the ratings tank or if the backlash is too severe, they'll likely move Mayim behind the podium starting Sept. 2022.

Yikes! Now the Anti Defamation League is gunning for Mike Richards.

[quote]If the ratings tank or if the backlash is too severe, they'll likely move Mayim behind the podium starting Sept. 2022.

Yeah, they're not going to wait for the ratings to tank to move him out of there.

As I said before, in another thread, a long time ago -- the closer we get to him being on the show, the more will come out. People like him just don't do one thing and leave it at that.

So far, yes. There was more than just the Price is Right lawsuits.

I'm more than sure they're waiting for him to get on air before the real gritty stuff starts leaking out. That is when articles will get the most traction.

For Christ's sake, it's just a game show.

Sony will take the ADL call for an investigation seriously. Or, at least pretend to.

So strange that there seems to have been no significant vetting process in choosing a new host.

I mean Jeopardy! Is an institution at this point and whoever is hired will be the new face of the show and the brand.

Wouldn't TPTB do a thorough background check on any potential candidates to ensure there are no buried scandals and controversies?

This is a lax oversight on the part of the producers that could have really negative consequences on the show moving forward.

And now, he’s out.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such PC bullshit!!!!

Don’t give a fuck what he’s said before. He was a really good host.

You'd think he was Weinstein or Cosby from the over reaction. So sad.

Waiting for dirt on LVB to emerge.

Clearly he’s damaged the brand for whatever reason, whether is the sexual harassment allegations, the latest comments or the Cheney-ism. Best to start again.

Just not Levar Burton. He was horrible.

I liked the CNBC guy. Or Mayim but she may not want the full time gig.

Gone as stated above!

So will we ever see the games that were taped yesterday? Or will the episodes be junked? If Matt Amodio made it through all 5 games yesterday, will they just pick up in September with a guest host, as if the Mike Richards episodes didn’t happen? And if he lost, what will they say about him being gone on the first guest-hosted show? So many questions.

A: Mike Richards

Q: WHAT IS the only Jeopardy host whose contract ended before it began?

What’s Mike Richards?

As I mentioned on one of the other gazillion Jeopardy threads ... If Richards had to bow out due to past statements, that'll leave Ken Jennings out because of his past tweets. (which have already been on news, so they're not new.) Mayim must not be available for the syndicated shows, otherwise they'd expand her roll. Interesting that they're bringing in more guest hosts. Wonder if Buzzy has any skeletons in his closet, or if he's just not available.

I do wonder how many of the previous guest hosts were approached again. I don't blame Jeopardy for keeping quiet on that, otherwise Burton would be blabbing about being asked, or worse NOT being asked and his fans would flip out

This is beyond ridiculous. There was no need for him to forfeit the hosting job.

Shame on SONY for caving in to PC.

Well, that’s that.

R345 There were no "sexual harassment allegations" against him. That's the sort of LVB-ite lie that helped lead to this.

For the record, he was upset a staffer was leaving because of pregnancy and said rude things.

[quote]Mayim must not be available for the syndicated shows, otherwise they'd expand her roll.

If Ryan Seacrest can do "Kelly & Ryan" every morning in NYC while still hosting "American Idol" (In L.A.), it would be just as easy for "Jeopardy" producers to figure out a taping schedule that would work with Mayim's sitcom schedule.

If it weren’t for the controversy over his role in the selection process, I don’t think he would have been cancelled.

DL Mike Richards stans in RUINS!

he's out. I thought he was decent as a host but it was off-putting to begin with that he was a producer so his selection felt rigged

throw in these past scandals and yup he's got to go

I'll "Oh Dear" myself on that one, R354.

oops

LeVar's fans got rid of Mike, but that doesn't mean LeVar will get the job.

Mike Richards is still the EP. It's unlikely that LeVar and Mike would work well together after all this brouhaha that LeVar and his fans caused.

[quote]LeVar's fans got rid of Mike,

OH.

MY.

GOD.

LeVar will be named host.

The Levarnatics won't be satisfied until Mike Richards is removed as EP.

R360, Over my dead body.

How about giving Brad Rutter a chance to guest host? He won more than Buzzy.

Brad Rutter is probably not interested.

Michael Richards first, then Mike Richards next, please watch out for the reputation of our Mary Richards!

I'm going to say that I think it's the fact that Brad Rutter can't handle the fact that he would at some point have to admit he's gay to a national audience.

Alex never had to say what sexual positions he preferred though. Why would it matter about Brad? Plus, Brad's on some other show with two other past champions. Brad's kind of cute, too.

The text of Mike's memo to staff stepping down as host is at the bottom of this story.

He concludes the memo by saying this:

[quote]I want to apologize to each of you for the unwanted negative attention that has come to Jeopardy! over the last few weeks and for the confusion and delays this is now causing. I know I have a lot of work to do to regain your trust and confidence.

This mess has kind of tarnished the show for me. If LaVar gets anywhere near the show, I won’t watch.

R369, A month ago I would have disagreed with you, but not after this.

If Levar's in, I'm out.

I don’t want LeVar Burton anywhere near the show. He was a truly dreadful host. If his supporters had any hand in taking out Mike Richards, thank you very much. Greatly appreciate it. But, that doesn’t mean the job now falls to LeVar. Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. Sony should announce plans ASAP about how they intend to move forward from here.

And Sony should give Richards some other job, where he has nothing to do with Jeopardy.

Keep LeVar away from Jeopardy!

Who says they're giving it to Levar? I wish Aaron hadn't re-signed for more football.

I'll have a Nutter Butter Rutter, please!

Brad Rutter makes me all hard.

I am convinced that the overwhelming majority of people who are saying to just give the job to LeVar Burton, are not watchers of the show. Frustrating.

I wonder where they're going to find these hosts at short notice? Ken and Buzzy again (to start)?

LeVar did get paid to play Kunte Kinte, Star Trek and to be on Reading Rainbow all those years? POCs Steve Harvey and Wayne Brady have been hosting game shows last number of years. So, why all this entitlement from LeVar?

R376 Aaron Rodgers is so greedy and annoying. He thinks he’s entitled to everything.

LeVar has an extremely high hurdle to overcome, which he won’t be able to do, in order to claim some kind of racial inequity among game show hosts. Anthony Anderson, Wayne Brady, Steve Harvey, and Michael Strahan all say — “not so fast.”

also Anthony Anderson's Mama!

Packers lost today. Aaron is signaling that he still wants to be host.

Ugh Sony. They totally bungled this process. This is such a bad look for the Jeopardy brand.

R382 No he isn't! He was just answering a question about his stint as guest host and how much he enjoyed it. The rest of the interview was all about how his head is now in the game for the season.

[quote]I am convinced that the overwhelming majority of people who are saying to just give the job to LeVar Burton, are not watchers of the show. Frustrating.

Last year when Jeopardy did their Greatest of All Time specials they were averaging about 15.4 million viewers an episode.

Alex's final episode drew about 14 million viewers. His final week drew about 6.6 million viewers. The show, at the moment, floats between 6 million and 5 million viewers

The show has been on since 1964.

It's silly to assume that just because people don't agree with your choice that means that they haven't watched it at some point, consistently or semi-consistently.

I enjoy the show and can't imagine giving it up because of a crappy host. If someone is exceptionally awful, the ratings will go down and a new host will be named.

R385 is a LeVard.

R387, I prefer the term Levarnatic.

Annoying Nicolle just did a reddit AMA.

I like her. I read some of her reddit comments and she seems humble, kind and funny. I wouldn't have minded if she dethroned Matt.

Nicolle is a happy lezzy!

But she says her dream host is Buzzy, not Robin...

^ Robin never works a full week on GMA. She’d never add Jeopardy to her schedule. I think all the lezzies know that. They’re in some kind of secret circle.

Aaron can barely read...no way.

R393 - Robin wouldn't have to work a full week to host Jeopardy because a week's worth of episodes are shot in one day.

They say it's likely Ken now...

Sorry, I think LeVar is going to be forced on the public.

Is his past squeaky clean?

R398, I seriously doubt that flaming queen is squeaky clean.

R395 Don’t be so stupid! My point is that Robin can’t ever work a full week at GMA because she’s lazy and wants time off. You think she’s gonna fly from NYC to LA to tape Jeopardy episodes? Not likely. I’m well aware they tape multiple episodes of Jeopardy a day. Robin is too lazy to take that on. She wants to work as little as possible. She’s not going to add on a cross country job.

I don't think she's interested either. Yet again, I'm sticking to my guns that Mayim is a done deal, behind the scenes, for September 2022, they're trying to "fake" their way through the weeknight episodes until then, MR wasn't intended as permanent.

Unless Ken Jennings has something dark in his past, my money is still on him - at least for a year. The idea of 'permanent' isn't going to happen for quite awhile.

Robin's had cancer. She probably doesn't want to be too stressed out, isn't good for her health

There is something off putting about smug Ken and I think the Jeopardy folks know that. It looked good on paper but didn't fully translate to the stage. I doubt after being rejected first time around for these reasons, that he will be reconsidered.

I don't mind Ken. I will keep watching if it's him. I'm not gonna watch that ugly hag.

New York(CNN Business) Mayim Bialik will be the first guest host of the weekday edition of "Jeopardy!" in the wake of Mike Richards' abrupt departure from the job.

Bialik will host the episodes that are taped this week, sources familiar with the matter told CNN Business. Since the game show typically tapes a week's worth of episodes on a single day, this means she will host three weeks of "Jeopardy!"

Sony, the show's producer, confirmed the news after this story was first published, and said that "additional guest hosts will be announced" as it moves forward with production of the new season, which will premiere in mid-September.

No idea if Uproxx is considered a reputable site or not, but this is interesting. I can understand Jennings being at this ceremony, but why Buzzy? Why not James and Brad? Makes me wonder if Buzzy isn't still being considered. (I'd be fine with that, I thought he did great.)

[quote] ... Thursday was the official start of taping for Season 38 of the show, with Richards getting in his first games as full-time host. But things on set were tense, and reportedly a meeting where grievances were aired about Richards’ behavior and controversies occurred to kick off a very strange day on set. But a ceremony to honor Trebek before the taping began also brought in a number of other guest hosts, including Jeopardy! GOAT (and presumptive pick of Trebek to take over) Ken Jennings. Which made things awkward on set to say the least. A group of “Jeopardy!” loyalists had gathered for a ceremony to rename the show’s studio after Mr. Trebek, including Mr. Trebek’s widow, his children and Anthony Vinciquerra, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s chief executive. Mr. Richards and Ms. Bialik were there, along with two of the other contenders for the hosting job, the former contestants Buzzy Cohen and Ken Jennings, according to three people familiar with the incident, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Afterward, the people said, Mr. Cohen and Mr. Jennings had expected to attend Mr. Richards’s debut taping. Instead, they were escorted from the sound stage to a nearby green room, where they watched the taping over a closed feed. They were told that Mr. Richards was too nervous to have them in the studio, the people said. One of the people likened it to inviting Joe DiMaggio back to Yankee Stadium and then not letting him in the dugout. According to the story, Sony said it was coronavirus mitigation protocols that limited the number of people that could be in the studio for the taping. But it’s yet another instance of odd interactions that have come with Richards’ ascent to control of the show after he was named an executive producer shortly before Trebek’s death.

Brad Rutter's on that show "The Chase" -- I think he's rather cute and he had champion cred for "Jeopardy".

Mike Richards has only been exec producer for 2 years -- they did the show without him all those years; why is he still there after all this shit? Pay off his contract, or negotiate him out down with all his negative press damaging the show.

So, like... did Mike actually tape episodes later trashed?

No bloody way would James agree to dress like a grown-up! Brad, for his own reasons, seems uninterested.

Looks like they managed to get Mayim to sub temporarily to calm people down until they can find a new regular host.

that means I won't be watching.

so who are you, dramedy, who only cares about himself anyway?

Thanks for the clarification that we'll get his episodes first, then abruptly shift to her. Wonder if Matt will stick around long enough to pick her up as yet another host he's worked with?

I think that they taped a week’s worth of shows that first and only day that Richards was there.

That's standard practice -- to tape 5 shows in one day. But they can't very well junk any shows that Mike Richards taped since Matt Amodio is still champ, at least on the first show. Going forward, who know? But it looks like Mayim is stepping in for now, while they continue to line up guest hosts and find a new regular host. How is Richards still executive producer and still having a say in who gets the spot after all his Eve Harrington actions have ben uncovered though?

If they're going to pick some new guest hosts, I'd like to see Neil Degrasse Tyson, and Josh Groban as hosts.

I'd like to see Patti LuPone, while we're at it.

Where's John Charles Daly when we need him?

I'm still confused . . . Will viewers see new episodes in September hosted by the elusive Mike Richards?

Marlee Matlin

Yes, R419 - he leads off the week after Labor Day (Sept 13) and then disappears.

R420,

[quote]At the time of his exit, Richards had already taped multiple episodes, which will air as scheduled to maintain continuity with the contestants who won on those episodes.

Then Maiyum takes over until they can arrange more guest hosts.

Danke R421 and R422

Does anyone else feel that way too.much is being made of Alex's death?

Yes, he was a beloved personality, but enough already.

When Dorothy Kilgallen died suddenly, WML? addressed her death with a single show and it was never mentioned again

And I don’t recall any drawn out tributes for Allen Ludden and he had hosted "Password" for 20 years. They just continued the show with Tom Kennedy and then Bert Convy.

R424, sort of.

On one hand, take away the Mike Richards controversy and there wasn't as much hullabaloo about it.

On the other hand, Alex hosted Jeopardy for 37 years. The show has been on even longer. It's a staple. It has better ratings than any other TV game show and generations of people have watched it.

This has gotten so fucking weird. This nonsense, beginning with Ken’s awkward ‘baby goat’ hosting immediately after Alex Trebek’s death to the parade of bizarre hosts has been uncomfortable for the viewers. We, the viewers, are the customers. I don’t care how ‘they’ (the hosts) feel or if a race or nationality feels they should’ve been part of the decision process. Come on, do they want millions of viewers or not? This became an ugly, uncomfortable spectacle that unfolded in real time. It’s embarrassing at the very least.

If this was fucking ‘Family Feud,’ I’d say, who gives a fuck? But this is ‘Jeopardy.’ This is an elevated, if not a rarefied version of the game show format. This ridiculous ‘Survivor’ race to be host has tarnished the brand and Alex’s legacy sadly.

Tonight's show (from 12/2820) Alex pronounces Don Juan as "Don Ju-ahn"...WTF? Maybe he was being funny?

[quote]We, the viewers, are the customers.

No, actually, we are the product. Jeopardy, like all network, local, and syndicated TV shows, sells us to advertisers to make money.

This guest hosting plan to audition potential new hosts has turned out to be a bad idea given all the fall out between LeVar and his fanatics and Mike Richards' past behavior/comments.

We know that Alex considered Ken Jennings as their heir apparent. And Ken did host the first six weeks after Alex's final shows.

I wonder if Mike Richards is the one who came up with the guest hosting plan as a way to insert himself into the mix as a potential permanent host.

I wonder if they'd had a different Executive Producer, if they would have just given the permanent job to Ken and never gone this guest host route.

R427 - that piece of literature is pronounced Don Joo-an. Nothing to do with the oversexed lothario Don Wan.

R424 R425 Yes, it's notable how much has been made of his passing. But (unlike Dorothy Killgallen, not to mention the more equivalent Monty Hall, Allen Ludden, or especially Bob Barker) no one was 1) on for that long 2) was dying in front of our eyes for a while and 3) hosted a show that has such wide appeal, is not based on "luck", rather a true "quiz show" format. That coupled with his passing representative of a kind of innocence and bipartisan unity that simply no longer exists.

The DL Jeopardy thread should be quiet at this time of the year... guess not, eh?

R431, Kilgallen had been on WML? for 15 years and her death was front page news, yet WML? devoted just the following Sunday's show in tribute.

Allen Ludden continued to host PASSWORD until his cancer made him too weak to do so after 20 years of hosting. No tribute shows or over the top memorials were devoted to him.

And they were both on prime time network shows.

Monty Hall was long retired and off the air when he died and Bob Barker is still alive.

Alex Trebek reinvented himself and became almost a grandfather figure as the years went by.

Far from how he was in the past. If you look at the Concentration shows on YouTube he hosted 30 years ago, the sexist, misogynistic remarks he made on a regular basis would make him a candidate for cancelling today.

I suspect that some of the “deification” of Trebek by the show is the result of Mike Richards’ intervention. It is creepy and over-the-top, but certainly fits with his style. I think he wanted to show everyone that he was Trebek’s No. 1 fan, and therefore th appropriate successor.

Having every show dedicated to Alex is beginning to seem excessive. They should stop that at the one-year mark.

Let's not forget that Kilgallen was hardly "beloved." Most of us were more than happy to see her go.

[quote]And they were both on prime time network shows.

That version of WML went off in 1967. That version of Password went off in 1967. The ABC version ran from 71-75. Monty's stint as host of Let's Make a Deal was over in 1986.

Trebek began hosting Jeopardy in 1984.

I couldn't tell you who hosted Jeopardy before Alex because at my age, to me, he has always been on the show.

I think the real difference for Alex wasn't just length but the simple fact that there aren't a whole lot of game shows on these days. Yes, you have Prime Time reboots that pop up occasionally and then new ones that occur then go off in a season or two. Jeopardy, The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune are the last of a dying breed. I have no doubt if Pat or Vanna passed during the run of the show (God forbid) there would be a big deal about them too. Bob Barker never got that treatment since Bob simply retired.

R435, Actually, Password resurfaced on NBC in 1979 with Allen Ludden hosting until he died in 1981.

"Password Plus and Super Password are American TV game shows that aired separately between 1979 and 1989. Both shows were revivals of Password, which originally ran from 1961 to 1975 in various incarnations."

R435, When Pat Sajak required emergency abdominal surgery last year and Vanna stepped in as host, it was a relatively major news story fueled by the Vanna aspect.

I agree that it would have been an even bigger news story had he died, but nothing like the idolatry that Alex Trebek has been receiving.

Wasn't Hugh Downs the Concentration host a hundred years ago? And I remember Mike Wallace being a game show host.

R438, Yes, and Alex Trebek hosted the Concentration 1980s/1990s reboot while also hosting Jeopardy!.

I'm loving this hiatus with Alex reruns. Tonight he was giving clues from the Galapags Islands from 2020.

They're reruns of reruns because they were originally on this past December or January.

Me likee cutie Jove!

Report on an Jeopardy all staff meeting on Monday.

Why in the hell is Mike Richards still there?? He’s a disgrace. If he had an ounce of class or self-respect he would have stepped aside as EP as well. But it was clear from the get-go that he had neither.

good grief.

it's still a free country, isn't it?

Public radio news show The TakeAway did a segment on Mike Richards and Jeopardy today.

Click on the link below, then the find the Jeopardy segment on the home page, which aired Aug. 24.

We know too much.

I know they say any publicity is good publicity, but this host selection cluster fuck has permanently tainted the Jeopardy! brand.

The taint of Mike Richards! Pix, please.

Kareen Abdul Jabbar offers some insights into the host selection process.

He makes some very good points and doesn't mention Levar Burton at all.

He nails that the honchos opted for the "easy" way out in rubber-stamping Richards... the guy who had said (paraphrased) that trivia stuff didn't interest him much.

R450 Thanks, Good article.

R452, Who wrote it for him?

Abdul-Jabbar is one of the more thoughtful and articulate athletes. A UCLA graduate, a best-selling author of several books, US cultural ambassador, Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee.

R453 Who wrote your post? Your babushka?

R454, Big deal. Nearly all of those credentials can be applied to Ellen.

Ellen graduated from UCLA?

Ellen graduated from UCLA with honors? Ellen has a record of being one of the most thoughtful and articulate athletes in our country's history?

I am guessing you also believe the world is flat.

R457, Parts of it are.

New York Times talks to reporter Claire McNear who broke the story on Mike Richards.

For some the NYTimes story is behind a paywall. Here is the text of the first of it:

Two days before the journalist Claire McNear published her book, which was billed as a “definitive history” of “Jeopardy!,” its beloved host, Alex Trebek, died of pancreatic cancer, thrusting the game show into a period of uncertainty unlike any its staff had ever seen.

McNear’s 2020 book, “Answers in the Form of Questions,” had argued that “Jeopardy!,” a television staple that first premiered in 1964, was on the precipice of significant change, with some key figures who had helped shape the show for decades stepping back.

But the loss of Trebek in November raised a new existential question for the show: Could “Jeopardy!” continue to be a success without its trusted, even-keeled captain, who had been its face for more than 36 years?

For McNear, one of the most critical chapters in the show’s history had just begun.

Nine months later, McNear’s report for The Ringer on the man who had been chosen to succeed Trebek — the show’s executive producer, Mike Richards — would change the course of that history.

McNear had listened to all 41 episodes of a podcast that Richards had recorded in 2013 and 2014, when he was executive producer on “The Price Is Right,” and discovered that he had made a number of offensive and sexist comments, including asking two young women who worked on the podcast whether they had ever taken nude photos, and referring to a stereotype about Jews and large noses.

Days after the story was published, Richards, 46, resigned from his role as host, saying that the show did not need the distraction. Sony, which produces the show, said he would remain as executive producer. (Mayim Bialik, the sitcom star who had been tapped to host prime-time “Jeopardy!” specials, will temporarily take over weeknight hosting duties.)

In an interview, McNear, 32, who writes about sports and culture for The Ringer, discussed her personal relationship to “Jeopardy!,” the impact of her reporting and the show’s future. The conversation has been edited and condensed.

Every “Jeopardy!” fan has their own early memories of the show and a story of what drew them to it. Why did this show become so important to you?

I was never one of those superfans who would watch every single night and know all the statistics and the pantheon of all the greatest players. I had watched it with my parents growing up, but I was not one of those hard-core people. It wasn’t until my fiancé and I moved in together, about five years ago, that we got cable — it was the first time I had cable since I was a little kid. And I remember having this light-bulb moment: “Oh my God, we can record ‘Jeopardy!’ every night.” And because of my day job, I started getting to write about it.

Two weeks ago, the big hosting announcement dropped: Richards had been chosen. Knowing what you knew about him at the time, what was your reaction to the decision?

As I had started to write about “Jeopardy!” more and watch it more seriously, I learned more about the world. I met the fans; I met the people who make the show. And I kept hearing things from people close to the show: that the host-search process might not have been as aboveboard as the way that it was being described publicly, and a number of staff members had fairly grave concerns about him. I wanted to know more about his past and his genesis as a television personality because he had been really open about the fact that, in addition to producing, he wanted to host.

Second part of text of McNear interview.

What led you to his podcast?

He has talked about it in interviews but also, literally, it’s listed — or at least it was — in his official Jeopardy.com bio, that he hosted a comedy news show as a college student called “The Randumb Show.” And I tried to find as much as I could about that show, but it was all taped in the ’90s. It did lead me to the podcast with the exact same name, which is the one that he hosted as the executive producer of “The Price Is Right.”

So you’re sitting there listening to these episodes. At what point do you start to become unsettled by his comments?

It became extremely clear to me very quickly that those things were kind of dotted throughout the episode: He uses sexist language; he uses ableist language; he uses ugly slurs and stereotypes. There’s a lot of stuff that we did not transcribe in the story that is in there and paints this broader picture of what “The Price Is Right” was like as a workplace. And he was the co-executive producer at the time — he was the boss, and he was mostly just talking to his employees.

How long did it take to listen to all 41 episodes?

What I will say is it was not a terribly glamorous reporting process. I live in Washington, D.C., and there was one point a couple weeks ago where my air-conditioning broke overnight. And so I spent the whole next day sitting in my living room with an ice pack on my stomach, listening to Mike Richards’s podcast episodes. It was not like what they show in the movies.

You wrote in your book that when Trebek first started as host in 1984, fans were actually wary of him following Art Fleming’s run. Do you think fans would accept any new host of “Jeopardy!” with enthusiasm right now?

I think Sony was always going to be in a difficult place because it’s not going to be Alex Trebek. Fleming was this sort of genial, affable, friendly guy who was very upfront about not knowing the answers to any of the clues and he was just happy to be there and he needed the sheet in front of him. And then of course, Alex Trebek cultivated this image that he could probably beat all the contestants on any given night. He was this very erudite figure who got all his pronunciations just so. There were fans that didn’t like that at first because they loved the Art Fleming version of the show. I think that does speak to the fact that “Jeopardy!” fans might struggle with a new host — any host — but there’s certainly a history of people coming to admire even a very different host of “Jeopardy!”

Trebek always said that it’s the game, not him, that kept viewers coming back. With all you’ve seen over the past eight months, do you think that’s proving to be true?

It’s important to note that as much as there has been all this change at “Jeopardy!,” there are also a lot of things that are exactly the same as they have been for years. A lot of the people who work there have been there for decades and spent their entire professional life making “Jeopardy!”

The “Jeopardy!” machinery is mostly intact and unchanged. But I think there is a great amount of sadness and fear among “Jeopardy!” fans and among the “Jeopardy!” staff that this whole episode with Mike Richards has damaged this universal appeal that it’s had for all these decades, that it was this totally neutral space that was not partisan. It was never flashy; it was never trying to get in the headlines or be the thing that you debated over dinner. And now it very much is, and it’s possible that when they do bring in a permanent host, people will talk about it a bunch at the beginning, and then it will just kind of settle back down to being the same old “Jeopardy!” But it’s possible that it’s lost that sheen of being unimpeachable.

Another NY Times story on Jeopardy.

Any time a white man gets a high profile job, you can bet that the #MeToo crowd will be scouring everything to try to find something with which to cancel him. They'd never do it to a "person of color," lest they be accused of being racist, which is much worse than being sexist.

R463 Bill Cosby. Chris Brown. A.J. Calloway. Neil de Grasse Tyson. Jamie Foxx. Morgan Freeman. Noel Fischer. Junot Diaz. Seal. Tavis Smiley. Russell Simons. John Conyers. Dr. Willie Parker. Etc. Etc.

In short, STFU.

Asking two young women if they have ever taken nude photos is hardly offensive to this generation. Pretty much all of them have.

And a Jewish big nose joke is lame, not offensive.

What's going on today? Buzzy is the host and we're still on Tournament of Champions? I thought we were going back to regular programing...

Oh, I forgot exactly how much I despise the insufferable and annoying Ryan — and how delighted I am that we only have to endure him in contests like this.

Buzzy is really good; hire him!

R468, You just know there's a smoking body under those duds.

Reruns until Sept 13. Re-airing Tournament of Champions.

Buzzy

Buzzy

Buzzy

We demand Buzzy be made permanent host!!!!

The Tournament of Champions might be worth watching again just to see that arrogant Ryan lose the game and have a breakdown on camera.

It's going to be awkward when the new season begins on September 13th.

I'm sure Mike Richards will be heralded as the new permanent host with fanfare and Matt will continue his winning streak.

Then, Mike Richards will suddenly be gone and replaced.

Yes, saw Ryan on the rerun and hated him even more. "I'm an American historian!" Tiresome.

[quote] The Tournament of Champions might be worth watching again just to see that arrogant Ryan lose the game and have a breakdown on camera.

Will you actually point and laugh (as the saying goes)?

Yet, he told us that women wouldn't leave him alone, until he got a girlfriend, R474.

Richards OUT as EP.

Would love to know the amount of his buyout. What did Sharon Osbourne get, $10 million?

"Sony has fired Mike Richards as the executive producer of “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune.” Michael Davies, the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” executive producer whose Embassy Row shingle is based at Sony, will take over production duties in the interim.

The news was announced by Suzanne Prete, executive vice president, business and strategy, “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!” in a memo to staff. Prete said she would be also be taking a more active day-to-day role on the shows moving forward.

Richards’ exit comes a little more than a week after he was forced to step down as “Jeopardy!” host, just nine days after he was tapped to succeed the legendary Alex Trebek as the face of the beloved quiz show."

Yep, Richards out as Executive Producer effective immediately. (12:30 pm EST)

I think he was pretty scummy and am glad he's not permanent host.... but lord, what a roller-coaster these months have been for him. EP organizing the search, being a candidate, being chosen, then doxxed out of the position, and then being fired from the original job. Sad.

I'm not so sure they bought him out, or at least not for much by Hollywood standards. He might've had to sue them to get a lot, with their claiming they let him go for cause.

But "cause" is information about him before his hire that social media focused on? Is that "cause" in performance, if something came out before his hire? Perhaps there was some review of past history that he signed off on, and that he lied to Sony? It's hard to think how the termination of his contract over media response to his past wouldn't be something subject to suit. I mean he didn't harass anyone, he was just crass.

Glad that he’s gone. He was damaged goods. It would have been more shocking if they had left him there.

Of course, if he hadn’t gone for the hosting job, no one would have ever looked into those old podcasts.

🤷‍♂️

This whole situation stinks to high heaven.

So now he loses his other job?

Is everybody now going to be looking at what they said 5, 10, 15 years ago???

Woe be unto him that ruined this mans life. Karma is a total bitch.

At least there’s the satisfaction that Levar Burton will never again step foot on the Jeopardy soundstage.

I'm very much a free speech, anti-PC "cancel" guy, but Rogers himself deserved what he got. I'm willing to give Ken Jennings a pass on his remarks.

Ken's tweets show that this smug fancy pantaloon-wearing Mormon is an asshole. He will never be the host.

I wonder if there's a certain irony in how the whole search, with guest hosts seemingly "auditioning" for the spot, opened up much more scrutiny. If Rogers as EP thought this was great way to generate interest... and the design of it eventually got him fired as EP. They probably should have carefully and privately done some testing of names and just picked someone. At this point anyone will be overly scrutinized and who knows... should have just picked Jennings (or someone) and announced it and gone on with the show.

I think the series of guest hosts was a good idea. It’s a buffer between Alex and his successor. A palate-cleanser, if you will.

Mike Richards must be kicking himself over and over again for not deleting those Randumb podcasts. Not only did he lose the hosting job, now he's lost his EP job because of those podcasts.

Wonder if journalist Claire McNear has hired a body guard? She's the one who listened to all 41 episodes of Randumb to write the story exposing Mike.

How does a 46 year old man resurrect his career after being publicly humiliated?

Maybe Howard Stern will put out the welcome mat for Mike.

When you're worth several million, does it matter?

I hadn't noticed Nabir's CSL before - - there may be a reason the sports teams are so fond of him?

[quote]How does a 46 year old man resurrect his career after being publicly humiliated?

elder porn

Isn't "finocchio" Italian for feygelah?

Forget how much I disliked Jennifer.

Yes, that is CORRECT, Mister Cocoa @ r495! Finocchio, IS the Italian word for either Fennel or Fag!

Did you point and laugh as Ryan cried on national television?

Seeing him again, I'm convinced he's in denial about being gay.

Seeing that Buzzy seems to be a popular choice these days among viewers, I'd have to agree after seeing his hosting again.

A lot to take these next two nights knowing Jennifer doesn't win.

Nabir being a wide guy . . .

Yes, R498!!

Buzzy is gaining steam and followers lately.

Maybe there is a reason they ran the tournament again. They want to see what kind of reaction he gets this time around.

He was my early favorite.

[quote]Nabir being a wide guy . . .

Two hours later and I'm just realizing I said "wide guy " instead of "wise guy" @ R499.

I was confused as I thought it had to do with a "wide stance"?

I’m pretty fly for a wide guy.

Only two more days until Matt returns!

Is there a schedule yet for hosts beyond MR's aborted debut?

With a new season starting on Monday, it's time to start a new Jeopardy thread .

Jeopardy #25 linked below.

See you there.

Mayim is interim host until they replace Mike.

Oh, god, no 😠😠😡😡

R505 Thanks, Johnny! Tonight (Monday) should be interesting...

Curious to see if Mike's opening on Monday was reshot and inserted into the originally taped show.

It looks like just spliced out whatever he said.

Easy final jeopardy. Of course it was Tolkien. I missed it.

Can't stand the midgit with the lisp.

Midget, dammit.

I think Dolly Parton is the only answer now.

Reminder: the daily Jeopardy discussion has moved to Jeopardy #25 thread, linked below.

I didn't really notice the lisp, but aware now since it's been pointed out in these threads.