I miss a lot of Jeopardy clues, but there are a few that I should always be able to get. For example, yesterday’s Final Jeopardy. Ken Jennings asked the contestants, “In 1976 ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was replaced at No. 1 on the U.K. Charts by this Europop song whose title is heard in Queen’s lyrics.”
Matt Amodio had a remarkable winning streak on Jeopardy, but, sadly, it came to an end yesterday.
“I always wanted to be a Jeopardy champion, and I accomplished that,” Amodio said. “l know going into every bar trivia game that I plaI’mhat I’m going to come in with a little intimidation factor. But also, I just like the badge that it represents. As somebody who prioritizes knowledge and knowing things, this is really a good one to have following me ever” where.”
He lasted 38 games, two seasons, several host changes, answered more questions than a kid does in a school year and won a whopping $1,518,601.
Where does he land in Jeopardy’s GOAT list? Amodio is second in the all-time consecutive wins after Ken Jennings and third in earnings behind Jennings and James Holzhauer. That is admirable, to say the least.
Even though his daily competing days are over, he will be back for the next Tournament of Champions.
Congrats to Amodio. When the crap was hitting the fan behind the scenes of the game show, he gave us a reason to watch.
Jeopardy has chosen stability and named two temporary hosts for the rest of 2021. They are Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings.
Bialik is currently taping episodes until November 5th, Jennings will go next, and they will switch out as their schedules allow. Bialik was already attached to do the second season of Call Me Kat for Fox when all of this started to happen.
I can’t blame the game show’s decision. After all, they lost their permanent host, who was also their EP, in less than two weeks. The viewers need normalcy since they are still grieving Alex Trebek’s death. More importantly, so does the crew.
Are you happy with their choice? I still want to see Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo and Neil deGrasse Tyson get an audition.
Three weeks ago, Mike Richards was on top of the World. He beat out several celebrities to be named the host of Jeopardy. Unfortunately for him, as quickly as he was given the job, it was taken away from him.
Past derogatory comments he made came back to haunt him. Because of that, he was said to have stepped down from the job, but Sony let him keep his Executive Producer position at Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.
That is until now. According to Variety, the staff of both shows got a letter from Suzanne Prete, EVP, Business and Strategy, informing them of his termination.
I’m writing to let you know that Mike will no longer be serving as EP of Wheel and Jeopardy! effective immediately. We had hoped that when Mike stepped down from the host position at Jeopardy! it would have minimized the disruption and internal difficulties we have all experienced these last few weeks. That clearly has not happened.
Michael Davies from Embassy Row has agreed to help with production on an interim basis until further notice. Michael and I will work together with all of you in the weeks ahead to ensure that production remains on schedule and we do not miss a beat as we head into the new season.
I know this has been a challenging time for the entire team, and I want to thank you all for your cooperation and professionalism over these last few weeks. As Ravi mentioned last week, I will be more involved in the day-to-day on our shows moving forward and I am looking forward to working closely with all of you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything.
Sounds like the staff finally felt free to tell management what they really thought of their boss.
I wonder who Sony will hire first, a host or an EP. It is going to be hard for the staff because they are without their two most important people and everything is in flux. Plus, dealing with the egos and inexperience of the guest hosts is going to be so much harder without a boss to reign them in.
Personally, I think they should have cancelled Jeopardy after Alex Trebek’s death. He was the show as much as the trivia answers. Without it, it is just not the same.
Alex Trebek hosted Jeopardy for 36 years, and the most controversial thing about him was when he shaved his mustache.
Mike Richards, who got the job last week, didn’t even last 36 hours as the host of the game show before stepping down due to things he said on his podcast around 2013. Richards began taping new episodes yesterday and announced this morning that he will not be continuing on in front of the camera.
He wrote in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, “Dear Team,
“It pains me that these past incidents and comments have cast such a shadow on Jeopardy! as we look to start a new chapter.
“As I mentioned last week, I was deeply honored to be asked to host the syndicated show and was thrilled by the opportunity to expand my role. However, over the last several days it has become clear that moving forward as host would be too much of a distraction for our fans and not the right move for the show.
As such, I will be stepping down as host effective immediately. As a result, we will be canceling production today. SPT will now resume the search for a permanent syndicated host. In the meantime, we will be bringing back guest hosts to continue production for the new season, details of which will be announced next week.
I want to apologize to each of you for the unwanted negative attention that has come to Jeopardy! over the last few weeks and for the confusion and delays this is now causing. I know I have a lot of work to do to regain your trust and confidence.”
Meanwhile, Sony Pictures Television wrote this, “We support Mike’s decision to step down as host. We were surprised this week to learn of Mike’s 2013/2014 podcast and the offensive language he used in the past. We have spoken with him about our concerns and our expectations moving forward.
‘Mike has been with us for the last two years and has led the Jeopardy! team through the most challenging time the show has ever experienced. It is our hope that as EP he will continue to do so with professionalism and respect.”
It will be interesting to see what they are going to do with yesterday’s episodes because of Matt Amodio’s winning streak. They can’t just scrap whatever they filmed.
Now that they are going back to guest hosts, I hope they get Neil deGrasse Tyson, Rivers Cuomo, and Weird Al Yankovic to try out. Who do you want to see get the job?
Oh, and you LeVar Burton fans didn’t watch his episodes. Because of that, his were the lowest-rated episodes. Therefore, I don’t think he will be offered the gig. Sorry.
It will be interesting to see who they eventually settle on. Because nowadays no one is safe from a controversial past…
