Is Jeopardy! EP Mike Richards about to become permanent host?
According to a new report from Variety, the show executive producer, who guest-hosted earlier this year, is currently in “advanced negotiations” to become the full-time host following the run of guest hosts that we are in this summer. A source from Sony Pictures TV would not comment on Richards’ official status to the site, but noted that there are discussions still ongoing with a number of candidates.
Based on the current reporting it does sound as though Richards is the current frontrunner, but we’ve come to know over the years that being a frontrunner is no guarantee.
So why choose Richards? He has less notoriety than almost any other guest host this year, though we do have a personal connection to him — he presided over Beauty and the Geek more than a decade ago. The appeal among the Sony brass may come down to his hosting experience, familiarity with the show, and positive reviews he received from Jeopardy! fans when he hosted.
If we were to take a quick look at the entire list of candidates, we’d say that Ken Jennings, Richards, LeVar Burton, and Mayim Bialik all made the strongest cases over the past several months. Of the group, both Jennings and Bialik have other gigs that could make hosting complicated, but with Ken in particular, we feel like things would work out with The Case. Burton, meanwhile, has been the fan favorite for months, but we worried about his odds of getting the gig after his hosting gig was scheduled directly opposite the Olympics — it did not even air in select markets in its typical timeslot.
Do you think that Mike Richards should become the full-time Jeopardy! host?
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