Levar Burton to be the next host of Jeopardy?

[CRM-114]

Mike Richards is the safe choice and admittedly not my favorite (I really liked Mayim Bialik), but he has a number of things going for him:

1. Intimate familiarity with how the show works.
2. Previous game show hosting experience.
3. He would fulfill what had been one of the producers’ expressed desires for a potential host, that they would treat the hosting job as “job one”.

I have not yet been able to find any information about how LeVar’s shows did ratings-wise, but the announcement is coming so immediately after his stint makes me think his ratings probably weren’t much of a factor in the decision, although Richards’ shows did almost as well as Ken Jennings’ shows in the ratings. Frankly, if they’ve been in negotiations, this has been going on for a while and things were starting to firm up.

 

[Gepard]

Variety is now saying that Mike Richards (the executive producer) is in talks for the permanent hosting job.

^sauce

Bleargh. No thanks. I mean, he wasn't horrible, but he had a kind of slick, used car salesman feel to him that I thought was off-putting.

Really surprising. I was sure Jennings was the sure thing, and the "guest host" lineup was just a formality.

 

[CRM-114]

Really surprising. I was sure Jennings was the sure thing, and the "guest host" lineup was just a formality.

E! Online is reporting that Mike Richards was pretty much the only choice. No one else was being seriously considered at all.
https://www.eonline.com/news/129649...nearly-over-as-front-runner-prepares-for-role

 

[cardinal biggles]

There's an article at Broadcasting+Cable's NextTV website that gives a rundown on the ratings for each host — broken out by week — though numbers for LeVar's week haven't been published yet. I turned it into a graph:



You can see where it starts to slide after Ken Jennings and Mike Richards finished their respective runs, then it picks up again for Aaron Rodgers (likely the curiosity over whether a quarterback could host a game show), then slides again before leveling out over the run of Bill Whitaker, Buzzy Cohen, and Mayim Bialik. Also interesting, Bialik and Savannah Guthrie both managed to improve their ratings in their second week, whereas Couric, Oz, Cooper, and Gupta all saw notable declines as their tenure ground on. I wouldn't be surprised if LeVar pushed the ratings back up around where Aaron Rodgers had them, if not to Ken & Mike levels just because there was so much grassroots support for him getting on the schedule.

edit: If that article CRM-114 posted is correct, then none of this matters, Richards was going to get it anyway.

 

[CRM-114]

edit: If that article CRM-114 posted is correct, then none of this matters, Richards was going to get it anyway.

When I learned from that article that Richards had only been hired last year, I thought, “OK, he’s always been the first choice.”

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^sauce

Bleargh. No thanks. I mean, he wasn't horrible, but he had a kind of slick, used car salesman feel to him that I thought was off-putting.

Sorta like every 1970's and 1980's game show host? Maybe they want that retro vibe

Some garish set colors, fake wood trim and a few potted plants and there they are.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

You know, if the producers decide to go the guest host route for the tournaments like celebrity, teen and college, then I have no problem with Richards as the permanent host. It would help to change things up a bit.

 

[Smiley]

I'm not thrilled with the choice, but the rollout makes sense. Anyone picked right after Trebek's death would be compared unfavorably to him, no matter how good they did. The rotating guest hosts keeps people interested, raises money for charity, gives time for the high emotions to pass, and has the audience comparing the choice to the whole herd, which makes Richards more palatable overall.

 

[Dar70]

Richard's is a younger guy. They want someone who will be there a long time like Trebek most likely. I think he is a good choice actually. Has gameshow/hosting experience.

 

[CRM-114]

In the last few days, I've started to frequent JBoard, a Jeopardy! mesage board to gauge how the diehard fans reacted to LeVar's hosting stint.

That board has currently crashed.

EDIT: The JBoard is back online, and surprisingly quiet about the hosting decision.

 

[Jim Klag]

To all the folks who say Mike Richards is too "game showy" let me remind you that Alex Trebek hosted several old fashioned game shows before moving on to Jeopardy! Obviously, this career startup does not automatically disqualify anyone from being Jeopardy! host.

 

[Aragorn]

On a website that only reports on TV, the LeVar Burton brigade was out in full force supporting him no matter what, flooding the polls and comment sections, gushing about how he was easily the best guest host ever after that first show where he struggled.

 

[Non Sync]

I really like Mike Richards. I thought it felt like a natural performance. Granted, he had probably always had an edge given his role in the show, but he came across as more at ease than everyone else, including Ken Jennings.

 

[cardinal biggles]

The Daily Beast has put together a greatest hits collection of lawsuits filed by former The Price Is Right models during Richards' tenure as EP. None of it's anything new or hidden, but given our cultural lack of long-term memory, it's helpful to have a refresher, and the suits don't paint him in a good light.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Richard's is a younger guy. They want someone who will be there a long time like Trebek most likely. I think he is a good choice actually. Has gameshow/hosting experience.

I rather have someone who is good and someone who people are actually interested in hosting the show, than someone who will be around for a long time.

The Daily Beast has put together a greatest hits collection of lawsuits filed by former The Price Is Right models during Richards' tenure as EP. None of it's anything new or hidden, but given our cultural lack of long-term memory, it's helpful to have a refresher, and the suits don't paint him in a good light.

Yeah, I saw a couple of those pop up on Twitter...and that's it. So all of that will be quietly forgotten because white male in the industry. Some things never change.

 

[cardinal biggles]

There's no way Sony couldn't have known about this when they hired him. So I'm guessing they just didn't give a shit?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Indeed. Just like most of these companies don't care until there's a large enough of public outcry (and sometimes even then...).

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Will the ratings for the remaining guest hosts be impacted by the viewers knowing who the potential new host is, or will they still tune in out of curiosity?

 

[cardinal biggles]

David Faber was already halfway through his week before the news about Richards got out. But Nielsen ratings for syndicated shows that air multiple nights a week are averaged over the course of the week, so there's no way to tell if he was doing well and then ratings dipped after the news broke. As for Joe Buck, he can piss in the ocean for all I care.

 

[Jim Klag]

David Faber was already halfway through his week before the news about Richards got out. But Nielsen ratings for syndicated shows that air multiple nights a week are averaged over the course of the week, so there's no way to tell if he was doing well and then ratings dipped after the news broke. As for Joe Buck, he can piss in the ocean for all I care.

Joe sucks. Joe is pretty sure his poop don't stink. I see him as a bad male version of Brooke Burns ( The Chase and Masterminds) whose contract must have had a requirement that she had to speak for at least 55 out of every 60 seconds.