Mike Richards is the executive producer of Jeopardy, and after longtime host Alex Trebek's death he did a brief stint as its host alongside actual celebrities, appealing to audiences with a creditable if smarmy performance. When he was named Trebek's replacement, though, it looked rather as if he had given himself the job. Then the lawsuits were remembered. Then the old podcast was found, what with all the jokes about women's bodies and Jewish noses. And so Mike Richards will not, after all, become the new host of Jeopardy.
Just over a week after being announced as the new host of the syndicated version of "Jeopardy!," Mike Richards is stepping down "effective immediately" amid resurfaced controversial remarks.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Does this mean Mayim Bialik gets the gig? Her naming as a occasional co-host was obviously a "beard" to cover Richards' manouvering himself the job, but she'd be great. Ken Jennings was said to be Trebek's own preference, though he explicitly proposed Laura Coates. Maybe it is time for fan favorite LeVar Burton to move in for the kill!
One of the odd things about this imbroglio are the stories saying Richards was the fans' favorite. The fawning this nobody got from entertainment-tier bloggers and media stank. Whatever momentum was gathered in all that was surely doomed to end up halted when pros (Claire McNear and her colleagues, in this case) started digging through dirt with shit like this in it:
"Ix-nay on the ose-nay, She's not an ew-Jay."
UPDATE: A statement from Richards:
