Posted in: ABC, Preview, TV | Tagged: Alex Trebek, jeopardy, Ken Jennings, Mayim Bialik, Mike Richards, opinion

Jeopardy! Puts Band-Aid on 2021: Ken Jennings, Mayim Bialik Hosting

Published Thu, 16 Sep 2021 11:20:10 -0500

Two things have already surprised us about 2021. First, the amount of coverage we've given the long-running game show Jeopardy!. Probably more in the past year or so than the entire time that Bleeding Cool's been around. Second, just how badly everyone and their mother seemed to cluster-f**k the process to find someone to replace the late Alex Trebek as host. We're talking a "Spinal Tap"-honoring "11" on a ten-point cluster-f**k scale. From a guest host "audition" process that appears to have been more than a bit shady from the start to the appointment of someone with so many skeletons in his closet he couldn't keep the door closed, this entire thing seemed like it was done on purpose to get back at their marketing and public relations teams. And don't get us started on LeVar Burton not getting the gig, we've gone down that road before.

So on Thursday, the producers and studio announced that previous guest host and bigtime Jeopardy! winner Ken Jennings as well as The Big Bang Theory star & current Jeopardy! prime time/special host Mayim Bialik will be hosting the game show for the remainder of 2021. The news comes as the episodes that ousted Jeopardy! and The Price Is Right executive producer Mike Richards filmed to kick off the new season in what he thought would be his long tenure as host. Over the next month, a combination of insensitive statements on a podcast coming to light combined with past involvement in The Price Is Right-related lawsuits would lead to his being fired from the show. Bialik was originally announced as hosting special editions of Jeopardy! when Richards was first announced as the permanent host of the syndicated run. Michael Davies, executive producer on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, assumed interim production duties from Richards (who was also fired from another long-running series, Wheel of Fortune).