Mike Richards Is Officially Out As Executive Producer Of “Jeopardy!”
If you told me six months ago that the search for the new Jeopardy! host would be messier than the latest season of The Real Housewives of New York, I’d have said, “Quit your lies, nerd.” But you would have been right! Sony Pictures Television screwed the pooch, with lots of help from their golden boy, Mike Richards. Last Monday the suits at Sony announced that Mike would remain Jeopardy!’s executive producer, just a week after he stepped down as the new host in the wake of his gross podcast comments and discrimination lawsuit controversies. Surprise, surprise, Sony’s decision to keep disgraced Mike in charge behind the scenes was wildly unpopular, and this morning they finally informed Jeopardy! staff members that Mike was dunzo. Now we wait for Mike to reveal all the juicy dirt he had on Sony’s top executives. Blackmail had to be the reason they kept investing in him.
The official “Mike is gone!” email to staff came from Suzanne Prete, EVP, Business and Strategy. It reads (via The Hollywood Reporter):
I’m writing to let you know that Mike will no longer be serving as EP of Wheel and Jeopardy! effective immediately. We had hoped that when Mike stepped down from the host position at Jeopardy! it would have minimized the disruption and internal difficulties we have all experienced these last few weeks. That clearly has not happened.
Michael Davies from Embassy Row has agreed to help with production on an interim basis until further notice. Michael and I will work together with all of you in the weeks ahead to ensure that production remains on schedule and we do not miss a beat as we head into the new season.
I know this has been a challenging time for the entire team, and I want to thank you all for your cooperation and professionalism over these last few weeks. As Ravi mentioned last week, I will be more involved in the day-to-day on our shows moving forward and I am looking forward to working closely with all of you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything.
Mike signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television in September 2019, just a month after he was hired to replace executive producer Harry Friedman, who’d been in charge of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! for 25 years. The status of Mike’s contract is under discussion. I’m sure he’ll be fine.
So Michael Davies and Suzanne Prete will hold down the fort behind the scenes, and Mayim Bialik will host (for now). Insiders are reporting that Sony doesn’t want another “lengthy round of guest hosts”; they want a permanent replacement ASAP. Mayim may be a frontrunner, but producers would have to work around her filming schedule for the Fox sitcom, Call Me Kat. Another possible solution might be hiring Mayim as a permanent daytime host, and having a couple of regular backup hosts for when she has a schedule conflict. The Hollywood Reporter says that the backups could be former contestants/fan faves Ken Jennings (who was allegedly a replacement host frontrunner until his old tweets resurfaced) and Buzzy Cohen (great name for a line of vibrators).
But let’s take a moment to pour one out for Mike Richards. Here’s a bunch of his old hosting footage if you didn’t see him on Jeopardy! and are curious what Jeopardy! lost out on:
Wow. He could have broken the wheel.
Pic: YouTube