Jeopardy is finally ready to hire someone new after they spent the last few months speculating on who could replace Alex Trebek. Mike Richards, the executive producer of the show, has been having advanced negotiations with Sony Pictures Television to take over as the host for the game show- which figures in the heritage of the country. The 46-year-old became a part of the production just the previous year and has reportedly impressed the giant entertainment company with his guest-hosting avenue in February.
Mike Richards Set To Be The New Host of Jeopardy?
Sony, on its part, has declined to comment to The Post about the selection of a Jeopardy host. Nevertheless, the studios did tell Variety that it has been having talks with several potential candidates- but no comment was passed on who they were. Richards has also been a part of the series ‘Divided’ and ‘The Pyramid’ which also had a few other guest hosts like Anderson Cooper, Mayim Bialik, Katie Couric, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Bill Whitaker, Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Savannah Guthrie, Aaron Rodgers, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
As the most famous player of the game, Ken Jennings has also guest-hosted the show- and has grossed over $2.52 million in regular gameplay. Back in 2004, the player had scored the most consecutive wins in a 74-game streak.
Although Jeopardy had invited LeVar Burton to host the show, the show yielded a not-so-stellar record with the lowest-scoring contestant ever. Dr. Oz was the host to have the lowest ratings during his week-long tenure. Richards could be the next host of this long-running game show- as he has produced close to 4000 hours of game shows throughout his career- being a part of ‘The Price is Right’, ‘Let’s Make a Deal’, and ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ The producer was also applauded for his tribute to Trebek when news came of his passing.
Alex Trebek has been the most famous host of Jeopardy, as he has hosted over 8,200 episodes of the game show since 1984. The host died on the 8th of November at the age of 80 after he battled pancreatic cancer for quite a number of years.