And now, here is the host of Jeopardy! … Mike Richards?
Those tuning in to the season 38 premiere of Jeopardy! on Monday may have been surprised to see Richards behind the podium, even though the show’s now former executive producer stepped away from hosting duties after one day on the job due to ever-mounting evidence of reported bad behavior. Nevertheless, Richards banked a full day as Jeopardy! host, which amounts to a week of Jeopardy! episodes—and as such, we’ll see Richards hosting the show until the end of this week. As a result, Monday’s episode had a bizarre, limbo-esque feeling, which will remain until interim host Mayim Byialik replaces Richards on Monday, September 20 for at least three weeks.
Neither Richards nor Jeopardy! acknowledged the scandal leading up to Richards’ appointment as host of Jeopardy! Monday, or the fact that Richards would be gone by the week’s end. The only acknowledgment to the changing of the guard came from longtime Jeopardy! announcer Johnny Gilbert, who informed the crowd that Alex Trebek’s widow, Jean Currivan, and his children, Matthew, Emily, and Nicky, had rededicated the Jeopardy! stage earlier that day in Trebek’s honor. “It will now forever be known the Alex Trebek stage,” Gilbert said, over video footage of Trebek’s family waving backstage.
Soon after, Gilbert introduced Richards as Jeopardy! host. Richards kept his opening remarks brief, thanking Gilbert and then turning his attention to the day’s contestants, Gabbie Kim, Amdé Mengistu, and returning champion Matt Amodio. Amodio is currently in the midst of an 18-day win streak, earning a grand total of $574,801—making him the show’s third-highest money winner during regular season play. Perhaps luckily for Richards, Amodio’s success provided talking points for the host before he quickly got on with the show: “For the first time from the Alex Trebek stage, let’s play Jeopardy!,” Richards said.
From that point on, it was business as usual for the program, although Richards seemed to want to get through the game with as little focus on himself as possible; he breezed through the “getting to know the contestants” portion of the show at an accelerated pace. In the end, Amodio ran away with his 19th win, crushing the competition to extend his grand total to $642,601. “What an incredible away to kick off the season,” Richards said at the episode’s end. “Let’s do it again tomorrow. Hope to see you then.”
Richards stepped down as host of Jeopardy on August 20th, sticking around to serve as executive producer of both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune until he was also ousted from both of those positions on August 31st. As of yet, no permanent Jeopardy! host has been announced, and guest hosts will rotate after Bialik’s stint. Until then, we’ve got four more chances to marvel at the comedy of errors that led to Richards’s one-week stint.
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