Who Will Replace Mike Richards As The New Host For Jeopardy?
After a months-long process of auditioning candidates to take over as the host of "Jeopardy" following the death of Alex Trebek, the show landed on a name. "Jeopardy" executive producer Mike Richards was announced as the new host of the syndicated show (to the disappointment of some fans), with "The Big Bang Theory" star Mayim Bialik tapped to host the show's primetime and spin-off series.
However, those plans now appear to be at least partially scrapped. After a flurry of controversies, Richards announced that he's stepping down from his new position.
"As I mentioned last week, I was deeply honored to be asked to host the syndicated show ..." Richards wrote in his August 20 statement. "However, over the last several days it has become clear that moving forward as host would be too much of a distraction for our fans and not the right move for the show."
With Richards stepping down, that leaves the $1000 clue left unaddressed: Who will take over as host? No announcement has been made at the time of writing, but let's take a look at some of the people who are no doubt in the running.
There are several potential candidates who could take over for Mike Richards
When discussing who might replace Richards as the next syndicated "Jeopardy" host, we should first look at Mayim Bialik. She is already slated to host the show's primetime content and it seems like it could be a given to have her take over the syndicated show, as well. However, Bialik is already headlining another show at the moment, her Fox sitcom "Call Me Kat," which has a second season on the horizon. Taking on the bulk of the hosting responsibilities may not be possible given her other acting commitments, but she's still a name to keep in mind.
The other most obvious option to consider is Ken Jennings. As the current record holder for the longest winning streak in the show's history with a whopping 74 consecutive victories, Jennings' name has long been bandied about as a possible replacement for Trebek. Jennings' trial run was the highest rated of any of the possible replacements and The New York Times reports that some at "Jeopardy" believed Jennings to be Trebek's preferred choice to take over the role.
Another prominent name on the list is LeVar Burton, who some considered to be the fan-favorite for the job. Burton's run netted the lowest ratings of any of the guest-hosts "Jeopardy" tried out. However, as pointed out in CinemaBlend, his tenure came toward the end of the show's cavalcade of guest-host trials, which had been experiencing a consistent ebb in ratings before Burton came on. His episodes also aired during the Tokyo Olympic Games, which may have affected his ratings. Now that Richards is gone, could Burton get another shot?
And another name that could be in the mix is NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whose run as a guest-host was the third highest in the ratings behind Jennings and Richards (via The Wrap). Ultimately, though, we will have to wait for that answer to be put up on the board to see who nabs the job.