Mayim Bialik Out As Syndicated Jeopardy Host

[jjman920]

Finding out in the This is Jeopardy podcast that Ken was set to take over for Alex on the show *before* he died entrenched my position that Ken was the gameplan from the start and should've hosted the rest of Season 37 by himself. I think he should've been the sole host after Season 38, so while I'm sad for Mayim, I do think that this is best for the show. I don't dislike Mayim and didn't think she was terrible by any means. I just think that from the standpoint of watching Alex do it in person for years and being able to relate to the contestant's experience better, Ken's the better fit for the show.

[alfonzos]

I like her as host. It's a shame to see her go.

[Chuck Sutton]

Finding out in the This is Jeopardy podcast that Ken was set to take over for Alex on the show *before* he died entrenched my position that Ken was the gameplan from the start

I think someone on this podcast is trying to cover over embarrassing history.

Mike Richard's plan was always to hire Mike Richards.

[jjman920]

Finding out in the This is Jeopardy podcast that Ken was set to take over for Alex on the show *before* he died entrenched my position that Ken was the gameplan from the start

I think someone on this podcast is trying to cover over embarrassing history.

Mike Richard's plan was always to hire Mike Richards.

Maybe in the long term, but in this case it's true that Ken was being lined up to take over for Alex while he was alive. After Alex taped what ended up being his last show, he had planned on having a surgery that was going to sideline him for a while, so Ken was tapped to take his place temporarily. Although Alex's daughter says that after leaving the studio that last day, Alex indicated that he was probably done for good. They were in the studio the Sunday Alex died preparing to do rehearsal games for Ken when the news of Alex's passing came. Which explains why they were prepared to film a message in studio to tack onto the episode airing the following day.

[inturnaround]

Claire McNear’s new post in The Ringer is the most deeply reported story of this whole story. Her being on the J! beat put her in the right spot to report on it.

She confirms that both Ken and Mayim are SAG-AFTRA and their hosting duties were under the unstruck Network Code contract, meaning that Wil Wheaton’s swipe at Ken being a scab were just flat out wrong. He, like Alex before him, was simply following what SAG-AFTRA advised, to honor their contract.

McNear does contradict other reporting that says Bialik was disliked by the crew.

https://www.theringer.com/tv/2023/12/27/24015707/mayim-bialik-jeopardy-main-host-history-ken-jennings-writers-strike