Ever since longtime Jeopardy host Alex Trebek passed away. The long-running game show’s producers have been scrambling to find a permanent replacement for the beloved icon. Many famous candidates given the opportunity to try their hand at hosting the program in guest stints. Such frontrunners included LeVar Burton. However, the search came to a shocking ending when one of the producers that tasked with finding a replacement host gave the job to himself. That producer was Mike Richards, who has since given up the title as a result of the backlash. Join Facts Verse as new Jeopardy host Mike Richards quits after 1 day.
Just nine days after announced as the permanent replacement for recently deceased Jeopardy host Alex Trebek. Mike Richards has stepped down from the position. Mike has an executive producer on the program, and greatly involved in the search for a replacement after Alex’s passing. Given the man’s involvement, many suspicious when the news announced that he going to Jeopardy’s new permanent host. With many believing that Mike had simply given himself the position.
There’s a good deal of controversy when Mike announced as a the new host of Jeopardy. But nothing came to a head until remarks surfaced that the executive producer had made on a podcast several years prior. Before becoming the executive producer of Jeopardy. Mike had fulfilled that same role on The Price Is Right for over a decade. While working as an executive producer on The Price Is Right, Mike started a podcast called The Randumb Show. The podcast meant to give viewers some insight into what it was like to produce a game show. However, the team behind The Price Is Right has recently claimed to have not had any involvement with the production of the podcast.
In the wake of Mike’s announcement as Alex’s permanent replacement on Jeopardy. Some problematic comments that the man had made while hosting The Randumb Show brought to light. These comments decidedly sexist in nature. And served to reinforce prior allegations that had made against the game show executive producer. The revelation of these comments prompted Mike to remove all catalogued episodes of The Randumb Show from the internet. But not before the Anti-Defamation League sprung into action to call for an investigation revolving around him.
As a result of the investigation that had ordered by the Anti-Defamation League. Mike found to be unfit to continue on as the permanent host of Jeopardy. Mike asked to step down from the role. Though it appears that he will allowed to stay on as an executive producer for the time being. Mike had only filmed one day’s worth of episodes of Jeopardy before stepping down from his new position.
Mike had announced as the new permanent host of Jeopardy on August 11. He had only the executive producer of the program for a little over a year. But had given the ability to exercise a good deal of control over the process by which a replacement for Alex picked. Because of this, there’s a great deal of controversy when it announced that the man had essentially picked himself for the role. Some of the many qualified candidates that had vied for the position included television staple and Reading Rainbow alum LeVar Burton, as well as beloved Jeopardy contestant and consulting producer Ken Jennings. Join Facts Verse as new Jeopardy host Mike Richards quits after 1 day.
Beyond fans being unhappy with the announcement that Mike was to become the permanent replacement for Alex Trebek. There have also been rumors that the crew of Jeopardy has been unhappy under Mike’s leadership. Since Mike has become executive producer of the game show. The morale of the crew is said to have decreased a considerable amount. A similar phenomenon said to have occurred soon after Mike became an executive producer on The Price Is Right. According to insiders, it appears as if Mike has always viewed himself as being better than those working under him. And has always viewed his end goal as becoming host of whatever game show he is in charge of.
In addition to the disparaging comments against women that Mike had made on his podcast brought to light after his announcement as Alex Trebek’s permanent replacement. There also various lawsuits that had dug up from the time when he’s an executive producer on The Price Is Right. Apparently, Mike had a habit of treating his female workers inconsiderately. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! As well, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
One of the lawsuits that brought to light after Mike Richards announced as the new host of Jeopardy a 2010 lawsuit that had filed by a woman by the name of Brandi Cochran. The lawsuit claimed that the woman had experienced both discrimination. And harassment while working as a model on the set of The Price Is Right under the direct watchful eye of Mike, acting as executive producer. Apparently, Brandi became pregnant. When it came time to announce her pregnancy to Mike. The producer scoffed and said that he should’ve laid her off before it happened. As he had recently laid several other models off from the program and could’ve easily picked her to go instead.
In addition to the aforementioned incident, the lawsuit also expressed that Mike had made a habit of encouraging the models to wear smaller and more revealing outfits over time. Though it may not have been illegal, it showed that Mike was a man that wasn’t afraid to view women as objects in order to get ratings for his program. Given today’s political climate, behavior like this doesn’t always fly with modern audiences.
Mike hired as an executive producer on Jeopardy in May of 2020, He hired as a replacement for Harry Friedman, who had held the role for 23 years. Harry was largely responsible for Jeopardy becoming as successful as it was, and Mike had some large shoes to fill. Mike given the ability to shadow Harry for about half a year before given the job. Soon after Mike started acting as executive producer on Jeopardy, Alex Trebek passed away.
After Alex passed away, the void the longtime host left filled with various guest hosts. Behind the scenes, the producers were hard at work to find a permanent replacement for the beloved host. Heading the search was Mike himself, who hadn’t even been acting in the role of executive producer for a year at that point.
When the search for a permanent replacement for Alex Trebek began, Mike wasn’t one of the main candidates. However, the man started increasingly brought up in discussions, and soon ranked amongst the frontrunners to potentially fill the position. Many have come to speculate that Mike was doing devious things behind the scenes to help himself stand out as a potential host.
Given that Mike the one charged with trying out guest hosts to see who might make a good permanent replacement for Alex Trebek. It’s not hard to imagine how the executive producer could’ve sabotaged the operation in his favor. There are numerous ways that Mike said to have exerted his influence to guarantee himself an easy victory.
The producers made a big deal about the fact that they were using cutting-edge analytics to help determine who the best permanent replacement for Alex Trebek might be. This included audience testing, with several episodes selected for testing in front of audiences after they filmed. As it turns out, Mike the one in charge of picking out which episodes sent to the test audiences.
One potential replacement for Alex Trebek that has proved incredibly popular amongst fans is LeVar Burton. Because of this, fans shocked when LeVar given half as much time to try his hand at being a guest host in comparison to nearly every other candidate. As well, the episodes that LeVar given guest hosting duties on aired during the Summer Olympics. A time when Jeopardy notoriously always struggled in the ratings. Both of these things severely hurt LeVar’s chances of standing out as a potential permanent replacement for Alex Trebek. And many believe that Mike orchestrated things to happen this way.
Mike started working in the entertainment industry over two decades ago, in 1997. His first job was as an intern behind the scenes of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. From there, Mike proved his worth to the staff and given a full-time job as a production assistant. Eventually, Mike worked his way up to being a television host. Working on realty series such as High School Reunion and Beauty and the Geek.
In 2008, Mike auditioned to become Bob Barker’s replacement on The Price Is Right. Though the role went to Drew Carrey, Mike made enough of an impression that he was hired on as an executive producer. Over a decade later, he left and was hired on to executive produce Jeopardy.
Now that Mike is no longer going to be the permanent host of Jeopardy. It looks like fans are going to be subjected to another few rounds of guest hosts. It still remains unclear who the permanent replacement for Alex Trebek will be, though fan favorites LeVar Burton and Ken Jennings are still in the running. Hopefully, whoever ends up being given the position won’t be forced to wear too revealing of an outfit.
Many fans are likely relieved that Mike Richards has stepped down from his incredibly short-lived time as the new host of Jeopardy. Comment down below to share whether or not you’re happy to see the man relegated back to his executive producer capacity, or if you have any opinions about who the real permanent replacement for Alex Trebek should be. As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
