Jeopardy! has officially named late host Alex Trebek’s successors: Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik and executive producer Mike Richards. Richards will host daily syndicated programming, while Bialik will host primetime series and spinoffs.
The announcement came on the heels of allegations that Richards harassed and discriminated against models while producing The Price is Right. Multiple women who worked on the show alleged that he made inappropriate and unsupportive comments with regard to their bodies, weight, and pregnancy. The cases cited have since been settled, and Richards himself said on Monday that “the way in which my comments and actions have been characterized in these complaints does not reflect the reality of who I am or how we worked together.”
As the search for Trebek’s replacement went on, Jeopardy! fans hoped the job would go to Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton, Jeopardy! mainstay Ken Jennings, or even Anderson Cooper (he might be busy). Bialik was among a handful of celebrities who guest hosted in the interim, and is the show’s first female host since it launched in 1964.
“We are thrilled to begin the next chapter of America’s Favorite Quiz Show with Mike hosting our daily show and Mayim hosting new versios of Jeopardy!,” said Ravi Ahuja, Chairman of Global Television Studios and Corporate Development for Sony Pictures. “We took this decision incredibly seriously. A tremendous amount of work and deliberation has gone into it, perhaps more than has ever gone into the selection of hosts for a show – deservedly so because it’s Jeopardy! and we are following the incomparable Alex Trebek. A senior group of Sony Pictures Television executives pored over footage from every episode, reviewed research from multiple panels and focus groups, and got valuable input from our key partners and Jeopardy! viewers.”
