Mayim Bialik to host 'Jeopardy!' while Mike Richards is replaced

Mayim Bialik will host the weekday, syndicated version of Jeopardy! after all — at least temporarily.

After being named the host of the game show's primetime specials and spinoffs, Bialik will now fill in at the podium for Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards. On Friday, Richards stepped down just days into the job following the resurfacing of offensive comments he made in the past and workplace discrimination lawsuits he faced at The Price is Right while he was a co-executive producer there.

"Sony Pictures Television confirms that Mayim Bialik will fill in as host of the Jeopardy! syndicated program this week," Sony said in a statement to Yahoo Entertainment. "She is currently scheduled to tape three weeks of episodes (15 episodes) when production resumes this week."

(The show has traditionally taped five episodes in a single day.)

According to Sony's statement, additional guest hosts will be announced.

Meanwhile, sources told the Hollywood Reporter that Bialik was the "top choice" to host the main version of the show anyway, but she's constrained by the schedule for the upcoming season of her sitcom, Call Me Kat. She was already committed to it when Jeopardy! was ready to discuss terms. Yet the Big Bang Theory alum remains interested, especially if her show is canceled or her schedule for a future season can be adjusted.

A source tells Yahoo Entertainment of Bialik that "there's definitely more than guest hosting that could potentially happen here."

Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings is reportedly still being considered to take over the role that the late Alex Trebek had for 36 years before he died of pancreatic cancer in November 2020.

CNN reported that the decision on a host will be made by people other than Richards, specifically the chief executive for Sony Pictures Entertainment, Tony Vinciquerra, and the chairman of Global Television Studios, Ravi Ahuja.