'Jeopardy' Fans Are Fuming After Hearing Mike Richards Will Likely Be The New Host
Many Jeopardy! fans are feeling disappointed after hearing the latest update on the search for a new permanent host.
On Wednesday, Variety dropped a bombshell report that indicated Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards is in "advanced negotiations" with Sony Pictures Television to become Alex Trebek's successor.
After discovering the report online, many took to Twitter to share their thoughts.
Many Jeopardy! fans are feeling disappointed after hearing the latest update on the search for a new permanent host.
On Wednesday, Variety dropped a bombshell report that indicated Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards is in "advanced negotiations" with Sony Pictures Television to become Alex Trebek's successor. A Sony Pictures spokesperson told the outlet that discussions were still ongoing "with several potential candidates" and failed to offer a comment on Mike's place in the running — in other words, nothing is set in stone at the moment.
After discovering the report online, many took to Twitter to share their thoughts. Immediately, it became clear that some viewers were rooting for other guest hosts, such as Reading Rainbow star LeVar Burton or The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik, to take Alex's place. "Levar Burton was given 1 week, instead of the 2 weeks every other guest host had. And, his week was during the Olympics, so preempted in a lot of places. This choice is disappointing but not surprising," one fan wrote on Twitter. "It should be [Jeopardy! champion] Ken Jennings or Mayim Bialik," another said.
LeVar in particular has gained a lot of support online. As an enthusiastic supporter of Alex and Jeopardy! his entire life, LeVar once told Entertainment Weekly, "I don't believe there is anyone out there who is better suited for this job than me."
Apart from being upset that LeVar might not get the job, others seemed particularly peeved that Mike himself was seemingly involved with the permanent host search all along. He told The Wall Street Journal’s podcast The Journal back in April that a decision was going to be made based on all sorts of metrics, including ratings and social media reactions.
"You want to make an informed decision," Mike said on The Journal at the time. "We want to go at this with real analytics and real testing and not just go, ‘Hey, how about this guy?’ which is kind of how a lot of these decisions have been made historically."
To be clear again, neither Sony Pictures Television nor Mike himself have confirmed anything, which means a permanent host has not officially been named yet. Also, it's important to note that within the Variety report, a "source close to the situation" warned that there's no certainty Mike and Sony will close a deal. Right now, all we can do is wait and see.
Before coming on to Jeopardy!, Mike worked on several reality shows and game shows, including Beauty and the Geek, The Price Is Right and Let's Make a Deal.
The show's current guest host, Squawk on the Street cohost David Faber, finishes up his stint at the lectern this week. Fox Sports commentator Joe Buck will follow David and is believed to be the final guest host before Jeopardy! announces the new permanent host.
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