“Tony has to own this screwup,” one of the guest hosts said. On Friday I picked up on a lot of sourness not just toward Richards, but toward Sony executives like Tony Vinciquerra as well. They want to know: Were the other guest hosts really set up to succeed? Were their best episodes shown to focus groups? What about the people who wanted to try out and were turned down - were qualified candidates with past game show experience turned away on purpose? “And I think he manipulated it in such a way so that he was the right choice.” This is the consensus view among the sources I spoke with. But “Mike wanted the job from the very beginning,” a source with knowledge of the tryout process said Friday. I don’t mean rigged in a literal sense, of course. Here’s my full report for Friday evening’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.” And what a disappointment for the contestants who are supposed to be the stars of the show. What a frustrating sideshow for the local TV stations that depend on the game show’s high ratings. And production will resume Monday with guest hosts. But the five episodes Richards led will still air. So production was halted on Friday morning. Richards to continue as host,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “The public response” to the story “convinced Sony that it would be impossible for Mr. Sony said Friday that “we were surprised this week to learn of Mike’s 2013/2014 podcast and the offensive language he used in the past.” So in other words, the company didn’t do basic vetting of its executive producer and host. With the help of her Ringer colleagues, she exposed a litany of offensive comments in Richards’ past - comments Sony should have uncovered before Richards was hired as executive producer. It was all due to Claire McNear, a reporter at The Ringer who is incredibly well-sourced in “Jeopardy!” land thanks to her 2020 book about the show, which is now moving up the Amazon chart. Sony execs allowed the producer-turned-host to say he “stepped down,” citing the controversy over “past incidents and comments.” But this was a corporate save-the-ship move. Richards his past behavior had imperiled the show’s reputation.” The Times’ story notes that Richards “must contend with a dispirited ‘Jeopardy!’ staff whose frustrations erupted in an emotional meeting on Thursday, where crew members told Mr. As NPR’s Linda Holmes put it: “How do you make someone the boss who didn’t meet the character requirements to be the host?”īut Richards still has the job for the time being, and any exit from the executive producer role will likely require a negotiation between his agents and Sony. My impression is that the answer is no, Richards won’t be there much longer. “They’re really missing a grand opportunity here to keep playing the Final Jeopardy music on a loop until they make a decision,” CNN producer Kristin Wilson quipped. The company has some quick decisions to make since production of the new season is underway. I’m wondering if Sony will try out some new names - folks like CNN senior legal analyst Laura Coates who were snubbed the first time around. Jennings is now a favorite to be the new host of Jeopardy, sources predict Eric McCandless/ABC/Getty Images He tweeted “Happy Friday, y’all!” right after Richards stepped aside that tweet has racked up more than 100K likes.Īnd don’t forget, “Mayim Bialik was hired to host a series of prime time ‘Jeopardy!’ specials and spinoffs,” so she is “likely now a serious contender for the full-time job,” the Los Angeles Times noted. The other name that keeps coming up is LeVar Burton. “I hate that something pure like that has to be sullied by backstage drama,” he told The New York Times on Friday. He has stayed with the show as a consulting producer as well. Jennings was said to be a finalist the first time around, and he has said all the right things in the press this month. “They have to give it to him now, don’t they?” one TV agent said. To address that final question first, most of the sources said Ken Jennings is now the hands-down favorite for the host job. The sources have the same questions I have: Why did Sony botch this so badly? Did Richards rig the host search in his favor? Will he remain the show’s executive producer? And who will take over as host? I have been talking with this year’s guest hosts, wannabe hosts, agents, TV executives and others close to the Mike Richards mess. And now Sony needs a new “Jeopardy!” host - again. The smartest game show on TV made a rookie mistake. A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter.
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