And now for your (maybe) Final Jeopardy answer:
The oh so surprising — and disappointing — choice to succeed Alex Trebek on the venerable game show.
And the question …
Who is Mike Richards?
“Um, no, really, who IS Mike Richards?” we ask with a pained and baffled expression on our face.
On Wednesday, Variety reported that Richards, the game show’s executive producer, is in “advanced negotiations” to fill the slot left empty after Trebek’s death in November 2020. The report goes on to say that others are “still in the mix,” but Richards has emerged as the “clear front-runner.”
Sorry, but this development strikes us as a great big snore. Or as a headline on Yahoo.com more delicately put it — “underwhelming.”
So let’s get this straight: You spend the entire 37th season of the show welcoming 16 different people (including Richards) to serve as fill-ins. It was a fun, colorful parade that featured pro athletes (Aaron Rodgers), TV stars (Mayim Bialik, etc.), the iconic “Jeopardy!” GOAT (Ken Jennings), a fan-campaign favorite (LeVar Burton) and all kinds of other celebrities.
They took turns giving us tantalizing glimpses into future possibilities — into what the hosting role could become, and, in some cases, what some fresh-look diversity could bring.
And the best you can do is the in-house white dude?
So lame.
What, did all those bigger, more exciting names all back out at the last minute? Could Sony just not afford them?
Or was his whole thing rigged from the start?
For the record, Richards is currently ranked fifth — fifth! — in our latest “Jeopardy!” fan poll behind Jennings, Bialik, Burton and Rodgers.
Now, don’t get us wrong. Richards obviously knows his way around the game and he did a decent job during his two-week audition. But as Yahoo’s Daniel D’Addario accurately assesses things, other hosts were more “compelling” and did a “more effective job at bringing out contestants’ personalities than did Richards, who could be somewhat abrupt.”
Of course, if Richards does, indeed, get the coveted spot at the podium, he may grow into the job and we may grow to like him. Who knows? Someday he could be as beloved as Trebek was. (OK, that a reach). And someday, we might have a difficult time even recalling all the celebrities who came through the revolving “Jeopardy!” door.
But for right now, we feel a little cheated, and the whole audition process suddenly feels truly disingenuous. Were we led to believe that some of our favorites had a legitimate shot at winning the job when they really didn’t?
Only the folks at Sony — and maybe Richards — know that answer.
