Inside the downfall of Jeopardy! producer Mike Richards' short stint as host after Alex Trebek died

The epic downfall of executive producer Mike Richards as host of Jeopardy! for a one day is unprecedented and will forever part of the show's lore. After longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek's retirement from the show and subsequent death in 2020, executives were scrambling to find a suitable successor.

The show tried out a rotation of guest hosts that included Katie Couric and Anderson Cooper before the role was announced to be taken over by Richards on August 11, 2021. Richards would host the daily syndicated show , while Mayim Balik would take over hosting the show's spin-offs and primetime specials.

His run on the show would be short-lived, to say the least , as Richards would only end up shooting five episodes over the course of a single day.

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Fans saw Richards' appointment as unfair and believed him to be unqualified for the role; certainly less qualified than the talented and beloved actors and presenters that served as guests hosts during the interim. Richards was mostly unknown, mostly working behind the scenes as a producer of the show.

About a week after he was announced as Trebek's replacement, a bombshell report by The Ringer derailed his appointment as the show's emcee and led to his eventual firing as executive producer of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. The report detailed offensive comments Richards made on his podcast, The Randumb Show, where he also claimed to be bad at trivia, which is ironic considering the role he was taking on as host of America's favorite game show.

The report also shed light on several controversies and shady dealings during his time working on The Price is Right, including accusations of discrimination and harassment against a pregnant employee and sleazy behavior. Inappropriate conduct reportedly included dictating that the models who worked on his show wear short skirts and bikinis, among many other allegations. Richards tried to do some damage control by sending out a statement to the staff at Jeopardy!, but unfortunately, the harm was already done, and there was no coming back for him.

Fans of the show were right to question his appointment as Trebek's successor, and his ousting was a sort of vindication for them. At the end of the day, Richards' stint as the host of Jeopardy! was as short-lived as his downfall was swift.

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