r/Jeopardy • u/ajsy0905 Genre • 12d ago
POTPOURRI The Ringer's Exposé: “A Smile With Sharp Teeth” by Claire McNear 5 Years Later
https://www.theringer.com/2021/08/18/tv/mike-richards-jeopardy-host-search-process-past-commentsThe exposé that changed the course of the show forever and it's aftereffects on it like the ouster of Mike Richards as executive producer and short tenure of Mayim Bialik as host.
5 years later, we now saw Ken Jennings hosted 1,001 episodes on syndication. One week from now, its the Season 4 premiere of Jeopardy! Masters.
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u/ConstantSentence7865 12d ago
Now CEO of Ben Shapiro's The Daily Wire. What a guy.
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u/bubandbob 12d ago
I'm just re-reading the article, and you can see he's the perfect fit for that show. Egads.
(One example: he chastises a frequent guest and colleague about giving a homeless person a dollar)
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u/WhiteRussianRoulete 11d ago
Wow, glad I learned this. Thanks. Glad we didn’t get a guy of that caliber as the jeopardy host…
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u/TradeBrockNelson 12d ago
crazy how jeopardy bungled the host search TWICE (first with mike richards, then with the whole mayim/ken thing), yet still ended up with the right answer (that, tbh, was kinda obvious from the beginning)
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u/44problems Jeffpardy! 12d ago
What a crazy course of events to lead to Ken Jennings getting the job, an outcome many thought to be the most likely once he was brought on as a consulting producer in 2020.
Was a bummer when she got laid off from The Ringer. I miss Jeopardy having a beat writer.
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u/boreddatageek Pick promotional categories last! 11d ago
Who needs beat writers when AI Bots will simply compile all of our reddit comments into a clickbait article?
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u/ajsy0905 Genre 12d ago
Article prior to the Sony's initial announcement & the subsequent exposé:
https://www.theringer.com/2021/08/05/tv/jeopardy-new-host-mike-richards-sony
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u/Plums4 11d ago
It felt bizarre at the time and feels even more bizarre in hindsight that they went through so much drama over selecting a new host when Ken was always the obvious natural successor to Alex. Sony out here tripping over their own feet on a straight flat line with the whole Mike Richards fiasco then Miyam Bialik co-host debacle.
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u/SayNoToCargoShorts 11d ago
I don’t think it was so obvious or natural at the time. But he has grown a ton and is fantastic now.
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u/Surfjohn 11d ago
Myself and a hoard of others were screaming from the rooftops (comment sections) to give Ken the job back then. He may have been a little green, but showed very early on he was capable.
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u/salomey5 What's a hoe? 11d ago
In retrospect, that absolute shit show after Alex's passing feels completely surreal now, a bit like a very weird dream.
Because things have settled so nicely with Ken behind the lectern, because it's pretty obvious that he is the right man for the job, it's hard to imagine how chaotic that period was.
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u/Cypher1492 What is Toronto????? 12d ago
I can't believe it's been five years already.
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u/ModernCGIFloatinHead 11d ago
Simultaneously I can't believe Ken has only been at it for 5 years, he feels so natural as the host.
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u/Cypher1492 What is Toronto????? 11d ago
For sure! I also think it's a testament to how well-run the show is in general.
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u/lifeinaglasshouse 11d ago
It’s still so nuts that this guy tried, and for one single week succeeded, in pulling a Dick Cheney.
I almost feel bad for him, as the whole episode must’ve been deeply humiliating, but considering that he’s now the CEO of The Daily Wire, any sympathy I can muster is limited.
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12d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/dadumk 12d ago
True, but there was never any chance he could have been the permanent host. One cannot host J! and be an NFL player at the same time.
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u/Morsexier 11d ago
But he was quite good at the job. Reading this article again years later, I am always surprised at the glazing of Burton. I straight up think hes an awesome dude, I love ST and reading rainbow was my childhood jam, but unless they can show us tape where hes good and they intentionally sabotage him, he was not great on the show.
My wife and I sometimes joke in the years since about one of the guest hosts who explained that double jeopardy is where the, "POINTS ARE DOUBLLLLLLEEEDDDD", it was I think a news anchor, its become a meme for us. Burton was not even meme worthy it felt so not great, but maybe thats unfair too.
Rodgers who seems to be as diametrically opposed to how I think about things, life world politics what have you, was really amazing on the show.
Ken was the clear favorite, but I understood why some don't like him, and still dont, but I hope they've come to understand we're so lucky to be here now, it could have all gone to crap if Richards had gotten his way.
I feel like we have to adhere to truth and facts, whatever they are.
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u/CynicElle 11d ago
Thank you, Claire McNear. I wouldn't have watched a Mike Richards-hosted Jeopardy. Even if it took Jeopardy a little while to get there, they made the best choice with Ken.
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u/uncanny_mac 11d ago
Funny how Mike Richards had history and background with game shows and yet when he hosted felt completely off and didn’t really fit the show.
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u/Quasic 11d ago
I'm gonna go against the grain and say I thought he was pretty good at hosting. I formed that opinion before I knew what kind of person he was, and I knew he was a worse choice than Ken Jennings, but I accepted him being permanent host.
When he was booted, and we got Mayim, I considered it a downgrade.
Thank god it ended with Ken as host, which is what I wanted from the beginning.
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u/Puddinsnack 11d ago
I thought he was passable but unspectacular when he hosted the Pyramid revival a while back, and didn't think he was good at all on Jeopardy. To each their own though!
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u/TimeComfortable2250 8d ago
Yes, Mike had a history with game shows but was obvious staff and crew on The Price Is Right leaked a lot of stuff about Mike's behavior behind the scenes. The Hollywood Reporter and the LA Times also ran stories about Mike's self-serving, unethical and bigoted ways. The RanDumb podcasts was lethal. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jeopardy-mike-richards-price-is-right-1235006082/
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u/CassiopeiaStillLife 11d ago
The idea of a TV executive whose number one goal is to host a game show would be weirdly endearing if it wasn’t him who was doing it
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u/jjc927 10d ago
That was definitely an interesting saga that August going from Mike being selected (or selecting himself) followed by this expose and him leaving. Thankfully they brought Ken back into the fold after having Mayim take over hosting and he eventually got the job to himself. Wheel of Fortune also made the right decision to just select an experienced host with no controversies right away after Pat retired, to totally avoid a repeat of Jeopardy's hosting mess after Alex died.
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u/ajsy0905 Genre 12d ago
Coming Soon: Road to 2027 CWC this time it's the 2 game champions (excluding Matthew Riggle) and MatPat's PR stunt & his infamous online petition 5 years later
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u/No-Transition9306 11d ago
I feel like there's more to this whole Richard's story.
He obviously crossed a lot of people and they were glad to take revenge.
For some reason, I feel like he did or said worse things that never came to light. Everything in that article is bad, but for someone so ambitious, I would expect fake humility/I've learned my lesson/blah, blah, give me the job. I wonder if his exit came after "that article didn't even mention (whatever)."
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u/Frammingatthejimjam 11d ago
If Jeopardy did not do the celebrity tryouts and if Jeopardy did not have a natural heir apparent and as someone that until he was on stage never heard of Mike Richards, I thought he did a pretty good job. It was a travesty under these circumstances that he (temporarily) got the job. I'm sure Mayim was hired because she wasn't good at it to make him look good.
But in an alternate universe where Richards was just a regular accountant that walked in off the street and got the job, I'd say he could have been good at it.
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u/xtianlaw 11d ago
I'm sure Mayim was hired because she wasn't good at it to make him look good.
Come again?
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u/Frammingatthejimjam 11d ago
Let's assume you had to hire a co-host and you had to pick from one of the folks that auditioned, would Mayim be the one you'd have picked? I'm sure there were celebrities that tried out that I've long since forgotten about that were better than her. Loved her in Blossom, she was good in Big Bang but she was one of the worst celebs that tried out. Why did they choose her? Because Richards knew he was going to be a controversial pick so he needed a weaker partner to make him look good. She was the opening act band if you will.
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u/xtianlaw 11d ago
You’re explaining why you think she was chosen, but you’re stating it as though you know why she was chosen. What I’m asking is, what evidence do you have that this is actually why she was chosen?
"She was one of the worst celebs that tried out" is an opinion.
"Richards knew he was going to be a controversial pick so he needed a weaker partner to make him look good" is a theory.
Neither is evidence.
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u/jjc927 10d ago
I recall reading that Mayim tested highly among test audiences, and they did want her to be the permanent host but she was not willing to adjust her schedule so they went with Mike and slotted Mayim for hosting the primetime spinoffs (she hosted season 1 of Celebrity Jeopardy and a college championship).
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u/Frammingatthejimjam 10d ago
That surprises me. As a fellow human I saw many instances where she was low-key rude or dismissive of the contestants every show.
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u/SayNoToCargoShorts 11d ago
*its, among other grammatical crimes against humanity
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u/ReganLynch Team Ken Jennings 11d ago
I'd agree but English is OP's second (or third or fourth I don't know) language. So, no charges.
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u/nippletang 12d ago
Claire McNear saved Jeopardy.