Next Jeopardy! Host

[jjman920]

That said, how Sony didn't have a successor lined up before hand is just absolutely silly.

I think they did and I think they let Mike talk them out of it.

[weaklink75]

https://deadline.com/2021/08/jeopardy-mayim-bialik-fill-in-host-of-syndicated-show-mike-richards-exit-1234820114/

Sony's current plans:

-Mike's 5 taped episodes will air (I don't think they really had a choice about this)
-Mayim Bialik will then do three weeks of shows, then the plan is to go back to guest hosts.

[JohnXXVII]

I thought Mayim was a weak host, humorless, self-absorbed, with a number of annoying habits, like chuckling almost every time a contestant got a question right.

I would rather have seen Ken or Buzzy host. It is funny though, probably one of the reasons Ken and Buzzy even got the chance to host was Mike's desire to keep the guest host pool weak, so that he, Mike, would stand out even more.

Even though they did well, I think there's little chance that Ken or Buzzy will get the permanent host gig. Sony is going to go for a "celeb" with a little more name recognition among the masses. Sony is completely in the driver's seat, more concerned with optics than quality.

[Bob Zager]

I hope that Ken gets it, but I'd love to see Mark L. Walberg given a chance. He's expressed interest on his Twitter feed, but it hasn't really gotten any traction.

I, too, would've liked to have seen Walberg get a chance at guest-hosting!  I remember him moderating the high school quiz program, "Star Challenge" on cable years ago, and thought he was good at that.  Just a couple of years ago, he hosted "The Price is Right--Live" show here in my area of Detroit, and he did well with that.  I'd like to see him get a shot in the meantime.

Did the episodes with Richards hosting feature any major set changes?

Does anybody know whatever became of MARK Richards, whom I recall hosted "test" games w/potential contestants years ago.  He ran a business where he would train wannabe contestants to reach their dream.  IIRC, if anybody he trained made it onto a game show, Mark Richards would expect the contestant to pay a certain percentage of his/her winnings to him.

[TimK2003]

Allegedly, the word at Sony Pictures Studios is that Ken is the current odds-on favorite.

https://news.yahoo.com/jeopardy-host-gig-reportedly-now-122320845.html

[weaklink75]

And the Mike Richards apology tour has started-

https://deadline.com/2021/08/mike-richards-apologizes-jeopardy-staff-virtual-meeting-ravi-ahuja-sony-1234820439/

(The article says there were several staff people who thought he was going to quit as J! EP during the meeting but didn’t…I think it’s just a matter of time.)

[Unrealtor]

-Mike's 5 taped episodes will air (I don't think they really had a choice about this)

From what standpoint wouldn't they have a choice? I know it's substantially cheaper and easier to just edit out any references to Mike being permanent host, but I don't figure that either the logistics of getting the episodes out to stations or contestant agreements would stand in Sony's way if they wanted to disappear those episodes down the memory hole and bringing the challengers back later in the season. About the only thing that I could see being a major issue is if Matt Amodio's streak was broken and they got accused of playing favorites by giving him another chance.

[Jimmy Owen]

What they could do is overdub Mike with Mayim and recreate the show, excepting the contestant shots.

[SamJ93]

What they could do is overdub Mike with Mayim and recreate the show, excepting the contestant shots.

Yeah no, I don't really want Jeopardy to have the same quality of editing as an Ed Wood movie.

[Steve Gavazzi]

What they could do is overdub Mike with Mayim and recreate the show, excepting the contestant shots.

Yeah no, I don't really want Jeopardy to have the same quality of editing as an Ed Wood movie.

I'm not saying it would be a good idea, but they have kind of done something like this before -- several years ago, Alex had a bad cold, and they had him redo all the clues in post but left things like his entrances and the contestant interviews alone.  The difference between his original audio and the edits was very noticeable, but that didn't stop them from doing it.

[jjman920]

Even though they did well, I think there's little chance that Ken or Buzzy will get the permanent host gig. Sony is going to go for a "celeb" with a little more name recognition among the masses. Sony is completely in the driver's seat, more concerned with optics than quality.

While Ken isn't a massive celebrity, he is a pretty big celebrity in the context of Jeopardy. The people that are fans or have an opinion about this position more than likely have a pretty good recognition with who Ken is. I don't think Sony's problem with Mike was that he was some no name to the general public (virtually a blip compared to Ken), but that he was a poorly vetted, conflict-of-interest-riddled choice.

-Mike's 5 taped episodes will air (I don't think they really had a choice about this)

From what standpoint wouldn't they have a choice? I know it's substantially cheaper and easier to just edit out any references to Mike being permanent host, but I don't figure that either the logistics of getting the episodes out to stations or contestant agreements would stand in Sony's way if they wanted to disappear those episodes down the memory hole and bringing the challengers back later in the season. About the only thing that I could see being a major issue is if Matt Amodio's streak was broken and they got accused of playing favorites by giving him another chance.

I mean, I think that's it. Matt has to be the biggest thing. There's no clean way to handle that. Even if his streak isn't broken in the first week, it's very hard to continue winning games of Jeopardy and it wouldn't be fair to Matt if he loses somewhere else along the way and his streak and place among total winnings are shorted by five shows that never aired.

[Mr. Brown]

What they could do is overdub Mike with Mayim and recreate the show, excepting the contestant shots.

Yeah no, I don't really want Jeopardy to have the same quality of editing as an Ed Wood movie.

I'm not saying it would be a good idea, but they have kind of done something like this before -- several years ago, Alex had a bad cold, and they had him redo all the clues in post but left things like his entrances and the contestant interviews alone.  The difference between his original audio and the edits was very noticeable, but that didn't stop them from doing it.

Didn't they also do something similar for an April Fools' episode a few years back, with various hosts at the podium throughout the episode? Surely they weren't switching out after every question, right?

[BrandonFG]

Didn't they also do something similar for an April Fools' episode a few years back, with various hosts at the podium throughout the episode? Surely they weren't switching out after every question, right?

Yeah, around 2010 or so...Neil Patrick Harris and Jeff Probst made cameos. I'm surprised neither of those two were considered, although Jeff has Survivor.

[chris319]

What they could do is overdub Mike with Mayim and recreate the show, excepting the contestant shots.

Not worth the effort and expense. Just air the dang shows. I assume he didn't call any of the female  contestants a "booth slut" or other epithet during his five shows.

[Jimmy Owen]

What they could do is overdub Mike with Mayim and recreate the show, excepting the contestant shots.

Not worth the effort and expense. Just air the dang shows. I assume he didn't call any of the female  contestants a "booth slut" or other epithet during his five shows.

Agreed, but Sony did that with the movie "All the Money in the World" replacing Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer after the film had been completed. Movies and TV, of course are different animals.