Former ‘Jeopardy!’ producer and host Mike Richards.Photo:Carol Kaelson/Jeopardy Productions
Carol Kaelson/Jeopardy Productions
Mike Richardscertainly knew he had big shoes to fill when he was chosen as the new permanentJeopardy!host in August 2021, replacing the lateAlex Trebek, who haddied of pancreatic cancernine months earlier.
But what hedidn’tknow was how the public would react to the news that he was taking over once it was announced — or that he’d only last one day on the job before it all came crumbling down.
“We never talked to potential hosts to replace Alex once we knew he was sick,” Richards, 48, tells PEOPLE of searching for a new host. “A conversation like that would have been so disrespectful.”
Richards, a longtime game show producer who had been brought in at the time to replace longtime producer Harry Friedman in 2020, adds: “But wehadtalked about people coming in and guest hosting if Alex got too sick, but we always knew Alex would come back until the day he decided he couldn’t.”
In fact, Trebek did continue to host the show for months despite undergoing treatments and being incredibly sick for much of the time — something that blew Richards away.
“I don’t think I will ever see anything like it again,” he says of Trebek’s strength. “I’ve never seen someone in that much pain or that ill in my life, let alone going out and pitching five perfect games a day.”
Alex Trebek on ‘Jeopardy!'.Eric McCandless via Getty Images
But eventually, Trebek did decide that he would retire from the show to be with his family and continue treatment in peace. After he died in October 2020, Richards says the show executives decided to try out guests hosts, knowing they couldn’t just replace Trebek overnight.
“I actually thought we shouldjust name a new host,” Richards says. “But when Alex passed away, it was hard on everyone.Jeopardy!fans, the country… there’s was a whole staff of people where he was the only boss they’ve ever known. He had a place in everyone’s heart, and while we all knew he was ill, his passing was very sudden, if that makes sense. It seemed to happen quickly. We were all legitimately in mourning.”
Richards says testing guests hosts would be a good way for them to understand who theJeopardy!audience was a little bit better, especially since they were considering shaking things up a little bit.
“We could find out if they liked aKatie Couric-type, or maybeAnderson Cooper, orMayim Bialik,” Richards says, adding that he assumed they’d automatically go with current hostKen Jennings.
Instead, he says, a company who specialized in focus groups was brought in to help make the decision. “ESPN sportscaster Joe Buck took to it the quickest,” Richards says, noting that hostingJeopardy!is deceptively hard. “Alex made it look easy because he was so naturally gifted.”
As for the other guest hosts, he callsRobin Robertsone of the nicest people he’d ever met, and says Couric, 67, also did an excellent job.
From left: ‘Jeopardy!’ guest hosts Katie Couric, Mayim Bialik, Aaron Rodgers and Bill Whitaker.Roy Rochlin/Getty; Rodin Eckenroth/Getty; Jason Kempin/Getty; John Lamparski/WireImage
Because Richards had had on-air experience hosting himself, like with the reality showBeauty & the Geek, New Year’s Rocking Eve in 2005 (when he worked for Dick Clark Productions), as wellMillion Dollar PyramidandDividedon GSN, he says he was thrown into the mix of guests hosts.
He says the testing group said he did well — but when he was offered the job, he couldn’t believe it.
“No one was more surprised than me,” he says. “They told me, ‘We’d like you to be the host of the syndicated version ofJeopardy!’ I paused, and said, ‘Oh wow. Thank you. What’s the media plan?’ Because I was very concerned that this was going to be scrutinized as closely as a Presidential election. There was widespread belief that whoever got the job first wouldn’t make it.”
He wasn’t wrong. “Everyone was so angry because it looked like I had gone into a room and picked myself,” he explains. “And that’s not what happens in television, but I understood that that’s what the outward appearances were.”
About two weeks later, Richards stood at the podium and began his first day on the job. “I hosted one day,” he says.
Then the anti-defamation league called for an investigation into Richards after an article on Ringer.com was published, noting that Richards had said disparaging things about marginalized communities while hosting his podcastThe Randumb Showin 2014.
Mike Richards on ‘Jeopardy!'.Carol Kaelson/Jeopardy Productions
“I told them, I’ll answer anything. I’m an open book, proud of what I’ve done. I’m proud of my track record as a boss,” he recalls. He adds, “It was insinuated that I had been personally sued for sexual harassment. I never had, but that didn’t matter.” (Richards was ultimately dropped from the suit.)
The damage was done. Richards left his position atJeopardy!,and says the fallout was both painful and frightening when it came to the hate he and his family received. He notes that it was COVID, the country was divided over everything from politics to vaccines, and that he definitely bore the brunt of many people’s anger.
Since leaving the show as both host and executive producer, Richards says he’s mostly spent time with his family. “I did spend a lot of time reflecting on everything that had happened,” he shares. “I mean, it was quite a firestorm that engulfed my family.”
As for why he’s speaking out about it now, two years after it happened, he says he’s come to terms with being canceled — and is hoping for more open discourse moving forward.
Ken Jennings hosting ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!'.Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images
Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images
“Why I am talking now is that I feel like I can be a force for good as far as having open, honest conversations,” he says. “We can all disagree about a lot of things. We can disagree about politics, we can disagree about who hosts Jeopardy!. We can disagree about liking a finalJeopardy!clue. And we should. But I felt like there was a this rush to judgment, and a lot of people got joy in saying, ‘I got you.'”
But he’s not bitter. He says he thinks Jennings is a great host, noting, “I always thought Ken was the guy.”
For now, he’s working on packaging and selling more shows, and says more than one person has told him he should write a book about what really goes on behind the scenes at game shows since he has the stories.
“If I wrote a book, it would be as a fan,” he explains of getting the chance to work with people like Dick Clark, Bob Barker, Monty Hall, Pat Sajak and of course, Trebek. “Unless it’s about those people? I’m not interested.”
Of course, he’s also still pitching game show concepts, but as for getting behind the podium again? He’s not gunning for it.
“If I pitched a show and someone asked, ‘Would you be you hosting it?’ I say, only if you think I’m the right man for the job. I don’t care if you have someone else in mind,” he says.
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Jeopardy!airs weekdays at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.
source: people.com
