Ever since Alex Trebek passed away late last year the producers of Jeopardy have been searching
far and wide to find a suitable replacement for his role as host of the popular quiz show.
Well, the search is finally over and there will be not one but two people following in
Trebek's footsteps.
Sony Pictures Television announced Wednesday that Jeopardy executive producer Mike Richards
will take the reigns as host of the long-running syndicated daily program while actress Mayim
Bialik will host primetime and spin-off specials of the beloved game show.
While Richards will be featured as the game show's most visible personality, he will continue
to serve as the show's executive producer as well as for Wheel of Fortune.
Richards recently told the press that he was 'deeply honored' and 'incredibly humbled'
to have had the opportunity to work with Trebek and added that he felt especially 'fortune
to witness his professionalism, intensity and kindness' first-hand.
Production of Season 38 which will mark Richards's debut as host, will begin in mid-August with
new episodes slated to start airing on September 13.
Richards and Bialik were both among those that guest-hosted the program following the
death of Trebek from pancreatic cancer in November of last year.
While there has been a lot of buzz about Richards stepping into the role, not all of it has
been of the most flattering variety.
After it was initially reported that he was in talks to become the show's permanent host,
fans of the show complained on social media that he wasn't as qualified as some of the
other guest hosts that filled in temporarily after Trebek's death.
Beyond that fair -albeit subjective- bit of criticism, it appears that Richards has a
few skeletons in his closet that he probably is doing just about everything within his
power right now to keep them under wraps.
Keep watching to learn the untold truth about this man whom you probably never heard of
before until relatively recently.
Mike Richards Has A Long History Of Producing Game Shows
Even if you're not all that familiar with him, Mike Richards is not new to game show
hosting.
At one point he was most famous for hosting The CW's dating game show 'Beauty and the
Geek'.
He also served as host for 'The Weakest Link' for a stint.
Richards is a highly prolific executive producer who has worked on programs like Wheel of Fortune,
Let's Make a Deal, and Jeopardy – the latter of which he is now looking forward to hosting.
This recent development, of course, has raised more than a few eyebrows.
When Richards first guest-hosted the program in February 2021, during the second episode
taped following Alex Trebek's death, he told the press that it was a last-minute emergency
solution after the scheduled guest host suddenly flaked out.
But according to reports that emerged months later, this might not actually be the truth.
Apparently, the planned host had a minor scheduling conflict leading Richards to immediately pounce
on the opportunity to tell the staff and crew that he was going to step in and host the
show himself.
The scheduling conflict could have been easily resolved by other means but Richards seemed
especially eager to assert himself as host leading some Jeopardy staffers to be a bit
confused by his labeling of the situation as an 'emergency substitution'.
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And don't go anywhere just yet.
Keep watching to see what sort of man Mike Richards really is.
We might not know everything about him, but his past speaks volumes about his character.
Serious Allegations Of Misconduct Have Been Made Against Richards
Throughout his career, Mike Richards has been no stranger to controversy and scandals.
At one point, he was listed as a defendant in two discrimination lawsuits stemming from
his decade-long run as executive producer of The Price Is Right.
In 2011, former Price is Right model Lanisha Cole claimed that Richards as well as fellow
executive producer Adam Sandler had sexually harassed her, humiliated her in front of her
colleagues, and wrongfully fired her.
Richards got lucky and was dismissed from the suit before it was settled in 2013.
Around the same time, model Brandi Cochran sued Richards and several other producers
for harassment as well as gender discrimination.
Initially, Cochran was awarded close to $8 million in damages back in 2013, after claiming
that she was repeatedly harassed by Richards and company especially after she became pregnant,
and reportedly she was fired shortly after giving birth to said child.
The court's original decision was overturned a year later, but a settlement was eventually
reached for an undisclosed amount of monetary compensation.
A couple of other models, namely Shane Stirling, Holly Hallstrom, and Dian Parkinson, have
also claimed to have been victims of gender discrimination while on the show, but little
has come of that.
Richards responded to these serious allegations in an August 2021 staff memo where he asserted
that his comments and actions highlighted by these complaints did not reflect the reality
of who he is or how he and his staff worked together on The Price is Right.
Mike Richards Has A Couple Of Emmy's On His Mantle
Not to mistake him for actor Michael Richards who has taken home multiple Emmys for his
portrayal of Kramer on the iconic comedy series Seinfeld, producer-turned-Jeopardy host Mike
Richards also has a few Emmy wins to his name.
As executive producer, he shares his nominations and wins with everyone else that was on the
production team of the shows he worked on.
For Jeopardy, The Price is Right, as well as Let's Make A Deal which he also co-created,
Richards has been nominated for a total of 17 Daytime Emmys of which he won four all
in the Outstanding Game Show category.
While he's no Kramer, that's still a pretty impressive feat.
While giving his acceptance speech for his latest Emmy win for Jeopardy in June 2021,
Richards dedicated the award to the late Alex Trebek while sharing how his death impacted
everyone involved in the production program.
He described Trebek as a 'legend' and added that it was his belief that Jeopardy was far
more than just a game show.
Richards Love For Jeopardy!
Took Root When He Was A Child
Mike Richards always dreamed of being a contestant on Jeopardy.
He revealed via the show's YouTube channel that when he was a child, his mother bought
him subscriptions to both the Wall Street Journal and Encyclopedia Britannica so that
he could prepare himself to one day be on the show.
But lo and behold, now he's not only going to get to participate in its behind-the-scenes
production, but he'll also get the chance to host his beloved show.
In 2021, in an interview with Parade, Richards detailed what it was that drew him to and
kept him fascinated by Jeopardy.
For one thing, he has always had a deep love and appreciation for Alex Trebek.
He explained that when he was a kid back when Trebek had that infamous mustache, his voice
sounded especially appealing and familiar to him.
Richards went on to share another more practical way that the show was meaningful to him.
He explained that he has always been and still is 'blown away' by the contestants.
Watching them made him want to be smart.
As a child, he would do his best to figure out the clues, but of course, that was no
easy task
Richards Is A Lover Of The Great Outdoors
Seeing as Mike Richards isn't nearly as famous as his predecessor, Alex Trebek, we had a
difficult time finding out a whole lot about who he is as a person.
It was an especially tricky task to undertake considering how the majority of Richards's
posts on social media have to do with promoting the various shows that he's worked on.
That being said, after digging down deep and looking for any shred of evidence that we
could find that might tell us a thing or two about what makes him tick, we were able to
pick out one or two non-work related photos that he's shared that give us at least some
idea of what we're working with.
A couple of posts on Richards's Instagram account feature the executive producer on
a boat.
One of these shared back in August 2014, is captioned with 'I'm on a boat' which we can
only assume is a reference to the Lonely Island song.
Richards has also shared a few photos from a ranch including one of a serene firepit
and a child, which we infer is probably his son, riding a horse in the background.
Although he doesn't publicly share much about his family life, we do know that he has two
sons with his wife Stephanie Richards.
Mike Richards might be a Hollywood big-wig, but judging by his family's love of the great
outdoors, it's fairly clear that he enjoys the simple things in life when he isn't producing
and hosting game shows.
Richards Created His First Show In College
Mike Richards might be a television and game show elite these days, but everyone has to
start somewhere.
For him, his first foray into the world of television production was with The Randumb
Show, a weekly late-night comedy talk show that he created, produced, and hosted while
attending Pepperdine University.
Richards would invite campus 'stars' on to the show and interview them – and a few
of them ended up becoming actual stars, including Kim Field of The Facts of Life, Happy Days'
Anson Williams, and Casey Kasem.
Richards did the show for two years and produced 44 episodes.
It marked the beginning of his lifelong love affair with TV.
He would often sleep at the TV station so that he could devote all of his time and energy
into producing the shows.
He built the sets, handled all of the lighting, booked the guests, and loved every minute
of it.
After finishing college, Richards landed his first real television job working as an intern
for Jay Leno.
He later scored a Production Assistant job on Leno's popular late-night talk show and
the rest is, as they say, history.
So what do you think?
Does Mike Richards have what it takes to be the next host of Jeopardy or do you think
that Sony Pictures Television should have picked somebody else for the job?
Let us know in the comments section below.
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