Jeopardy spirals into more scandal as Mike Richards is fired
Culver City, California – Things are continuing their downhill spiral for Jeopardy and its now ousted executive producer Mike Richards.
The scandal surrounding Jeopardy's coveted host position has been taken one step further.
The TV show's host pick Mike Richards has now been fired from his position as executive producer of both the trivia show and Wheel of Fortune, Sony announced in a memo to its staff on Tuesday.
As the game show searched for a successor to beloved host Alex Trebek for more than half a year, it settled on a choice in August that reeked of promoting from within: naming its own executive producer Richards as its regular daily host, with actor Mayim Bialik taking the reins for primetime specials.
Days after, Richards' dark past came to light in the form of a podcast he hosted, where he made repeated derogatory remarks, and past lawsuits that accused him of sexism.
He soon stepped down from the Jeopardy hosting post, saying his scandal had created "too much of a distraction for our fans and [is] not the right move for the show."
On Tuesday, Suzanne Prete, executive vice president of business and strategy for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, announced the company's decision to cut ties with Richards for good.
"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," she wrote. "That clearly has not happened."
Twitter fans sound off on the continuing host debacle
What was Sony thinking?
The move to pass Richards the torch has left a stain on the wholesome American classic.
Concerns remain over why Sony Pictures Television had blatantly promoted from within, when multiple women and candidates of color were popular choices among fans.
It also begs the question as to how producers did not know about the past complaints against Richards, or if they did, why those weren't taken into consideration.
Former Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings is reportedly now a front-runner to take over as host. He was given a consulting producer role last month, yet the champ with the longest winning streak has his own history of "insensitive" tweets, for which he has apologized.
Many fans are still hoping actor-TV host LeVar Burton will succeed the throne. Or, a pick that Trebek himself mentioned, CNN analyst Laura Coates.
Michael Davies, a veteran game show producer from production company Embassy Row, will be replacing Richards behind-the-scenes on an interim basis. He was an original creator of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Jeopardy's 38th season will premiere on September 13 with Richards hosting the first week of shows, which he taped on his first day of filming before stepping down.
Mayim Balik will then serve as a fill-in host until the show names a permanent successor – again.
Cover photo: Collage. IMAGO / Everett Collection & Screenshot/Instagram/mrichtv