“Jeopardy!” is a long-running classic American television show developed by Merv Griffin in 1964. Categorized as a quiz show, it features a unique format wherein the answers are given first while the contestants have to guess the question it pertains to. Three contestants, including the reigning champion, have to compete in three rounds in order to win the title and jackpot prize. Art Fleming hosted the first version of “Jeopardy!” from 1964 to 1975 aired on NBC. In 1984, Alex Trebek hosted the show and ultimately became its face for 37 seasons amounting to 8,200 episodes. Trebek hosted the show until his death from pancreatic cancer in 2020.
To continue the classic game show, a variety of guest hosts had to be brought in for the latter half of the 37th season. This mostly ranged from celebrity guest hosts including Ken Jennings, Mike Richards, Katie Couric, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Aaron Rodgers, Anderson Cooper, Bill Whitaker, Buzzy Cohen, Mayim Bialik, Savannah Guthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, George Stephanopolous, Robin Roberts, LeVar Burton, David Faber, and Joe Buck. With the classic reputation of “Jeopardy!” and the grief over Alex Trebek’s death, finding the perfect host for was deemed to be difficult. The late Jeopardy host Trebek left a challenging role to fill as he was its icon for decades—earning over eight Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host. He was also recognized as having the most number of nominations for the award, with over 32 nominations.
With the current generation and digital age, replacing the host for the game show has been treated as if it was a trial by the media. Watchers and die-hard fans had their opinion for each guest host, which made it even more complicated to find the ideal replacement. Eventually, it was decided for Mike Richards to host the current 38th season, which premiered on September 13, 2021. He was also the executive producer of the show—making it fitting for him to host it as he was already familiar with its ins and outs along with the fact that he has the general knowledge of its behind-the-scenes production.
Aside from being the executive producer of “Jeopardy!”’s from 2020 to 2021, Richards was the executive producer for “Wheel of Fortune”, “Weakest Link”, “The Price is Right”, and “Let’s Make a Deal.” He also hosted “Beauty and the Geek” and “The Pyramid” along with other numerous game shows. Seems to be a real success story for working hard to achieve his goals. Unfortunately, despite the background and expertise of Richards in the hosting and production aspect, his limited star power appeared questionable for the show’s critics.
Mike Richards wasn’t a novelty, unlike the known celebrities who guest-hosted on “Jeopardy!” His insiderness with the show contributed to his strengths as its host—he had a natural dialogue with the contestants and could play along with any kind of banter. Apart from being less recognized, critics also focused on his previous hosting on the podcast, “The Randumb Show”, and condemned him for his “jokes”. Even after apologizing and agreeing to sensitivity training, the seemingly relentless attacks by a small group of vocal critics ended his run at both host and executive producer of the gameshow. Whether you thought he did a good job or not, he made the contestants the star, as it should be. What is another win for the woke masses? Is that your final answer? I guess.
Jeopardy needed a host that could maintain the mark of Alex Trebek. I really think that Mike Richards is the perfect fit
Mike Richards holds a great amount of wisdom when it comes to a show’s production. He would have been the ideal host.
I’ll truly miss Mike Richards. He was great to watch basing on his previous episodes
I heard that he was most likely Jeopardy’s new permanent host. How come it turned out like this? Can’t he be given a second chance?
Mike Richards’ short-lived hosting on Jeopardy was noteworthy altogether. I hope people could remember him for his efforts and not his mistakes
Mike Richards is awesome. It’s so sad that we have to say goodbye to him so early