The Bizzare Jeopardy! Drama Ends In Producer Firing

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Terry Hughes - Hi John. I know you don’t normally talk about game shows but I wanted to know if you’ve been following all the drama surrounding Jeopardy the last few weeks? I read today that the producer of the show, who was also supposed to be Alex Trebek’s replacement as host of the show, was just fired. What’s your take on the whole situation? Thank you and BOTF!

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[Lanosrep]

This was such a bizarre turn of events. It would be like Kevin Feige beginning a search for casting the Fantastic 4, and after going through dozens, if not hundreds, of candidates, he stands up and says "I think I'll play Mr Fantastic actually"

[byronkennedy]

He'd still have a job if he didn't try to grab the spotlight for himself.

[marikotrue]

In removing Michael Richards from his new position as host of Jeopardy and his older post as Executive Producer of Jeopardy the conflicts surrounding the show are still there. Someone in power or some people in power above Mr. Richards thought that this entire situation was just fine. He, she or they are still there and are still in charge.

[jdovma]

I'm surprised Rob jumped at the cancel nature of this. He talked about "abusing power" as if the lawsuits were sexual harassment suits, even thought the article specifies "discrimination" lawsuits. And respect to John for digging up the nuances. The podcast talk is crazy to be considered some kind of offense. Now people are not allowed to have opinions as to what attire looks good or whether people should be taking pictures that could embarrass them down the line? I'm not saying his takes were good ones, but wow... this is going way too far. I don't think this guy should have been Trebek's replacement, but the precedent being set here by citing these instances as reasons is really scary moving forward. Most of the people judging the people they're cancelling would never allow their own life to be put under scrutiny like that because we've all had poor moments in our lives that others can judge. Obviously there are offenses that cross lines, but we're below those at this point.

[regblkss]

Lavar is the perfect person for that job. They should beg him to do it.

[GeekdomMOVIES]

LeVar Burton or bust!

He is the only one worth hosting after Alex Trebek passed away!

[jalabi]

John is right in that Mr. Richards thought he could get away with it since they were going to keep it in-house. But John is wrong in that what Mr. Richards said on that podcast was just one of many red flags about him. Ms. Bialik also has red flags such as her anti-vaxx stance which is strange since she actually has a doctorate in neuroscience. None of this would have been a problem if they had listened to the fans. We fans of the show hope that SPE will do the right thing and install LeVar Burton as host.

[elizabethm]

Aaron Rodgers should be the new host of jeopardy.

[ajw]

It’s so dumb that they didn’t hire Ken Jennings immediately. Dude doesn’t get the job over one mildly offensive joke he made on twitter and instead they hired a guy with a litany of issues.

[alex_prizzi]

I don't understand why no one is talking about Mayim Bialik. She was sharp, witty, built rapport with the contestants... I honestly thought she was head and shoulders above pretty much every other guest host.

[greybeardcomics]

I agree with John on this one, they fished around for dirt to validate firing the guy. They really didn't have to, instead they should have just came clean with firing him with a statement "We feel that the executive producer cheated by setting up a system where he would win, we have instead gone back to LeVar Burton and given him the hosting position and fired the executive producer, this is what Alex would have wanted."

[Glurb]

I agree with John that this was more about Richards rigging the process to give himself the job. Then, when the backlash from the fans started in response to him being named the successor to Trebek, Sony realized it was a huge mistake and they used his past indiscretions as the reason for firing him. Sony needs to do what they should have done from the start - listen to the fans. The majority of them wanted LeVar Burton, who already showed vis his guest stint he's more than capable. Give him the job and as quickly as you can say "Final Jeopardy, " the Richards episode will be forgotten and Sony will quickly rebound from this PR nightmare.

[dianegoodreads]

Your take is 100% correct. No one wanted him as host and the studio needed an excuse to walk back their new host announcement.

[RonJDuncan]

Well, the drama isn't over yet - because the host issue has yet to be finalized. I'm sure that will create new drama.

[OFClips]

the thing i love about john over other movie junkies is that he does his research

[aaaapee]

levar burton should be the host of jeopardy. you need a nostalgic figure that the people can get behind to host a widely known long running series not a nobody.

[testbaby]

I was disappointed they let him go. He had the most charisma out of all the guest hosts. Most of them were boring, including Dr. Oz, Aaron Roger's and as much as I was one of the fans pushing for Lavar Burton, he just didn't have the it factor for me when he hosted.

[Mia_isabaddie]

I heard it's going to be Mayim Bialik

[prometheusfiretitan]

Shaq is actually perfect for this job. He is very smart and popular.

[WhiteWolf]

"Not Michael Richards of Seinfeld" isn't that the one who went on a racist tirade?