Jeopardy! Megathread

[brucejoel99]

OnePoll online survey of "a nationally representative sample of 1,003 Americans" on who should be the new permanent host of Jeopardy!, conducted "in July 2021" following "the initial broadcast of Burton's debut episode on Monday, July 26:"

https://www.onepoll.us/should-the-search-for-a-new-jeopardy-host-end-with-levar-burton/

Ken Jennings: 23%
Mike Richards: 14%
LeVar Burton: 10%
Mayim Bialik: 8%
Aaron Rodgers: 5%
Katie Couric: 5%
Anderson Cooper: 5%
Dr. Oz: 4%
Robin Roberts: 3%
George Stephanopoulos: 2%
David Faber: 1%

Excluding Faber, whose result was mentioned in passing as part of the poll's press release, the results for all other hosts not in the top-10 (e.g., Buzzy Cohen, Bill Whitaker, Savannah Guthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta) just weren't reported on at all.

[brucejoel99]

Well hell, looks like the most likely candidate according to leaks of negotiations is actually Mike Richards:

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/mike-richards-jeopardy-host-alex-trebek-1235034673/

This is pretty surprising to me. I figured he was just filling in for Ken for a couple weeks, never thought a producer would step in front of the camera full-time.

He was, because Ken was scheduled to host for 8 weeks but became unavailable for the 2/22-3/5 tapings at the last-minute. Rising from "not even originally slotted to be a guest-host" to "new permanent host" is a plot-twist, to be sure.

But I guess you never should bet against someone who plays a role in hiring himself!

This is what we refer to as a "Dick Cheney," kids!

[brucejoel99]

Anderson Cooper was my favorite of the guest hosts but I could see him not wanting it.

If Trump hadn't won, then I'm 100% sure that it would've been him. The leaked emails showed that Sony wanted him & that he wanted the job. Of course, then the 45th President happened, & polarization means that they can't pick him now.

[brucejoel99]

Forgive me: I was referring to Cooper, rather than Trump in an alternate universe in which The Celebrity Apprentice was the peak of his fame. Cooper would've been a fine permanent pick but, y'know, CNN is fake news to half of America now.

Also, it turns out that Richards is 1000x more sleazy & smarmy than his being the show's Dick Cheney already served to render him: his claim of "just being a last-minute fill-in" for the 2/22-3/5 tapings was a lie, & proves that he evidently angled for this from the very beginning, all the while having pretended to play nothing more than a mere reluctant hero.

[brucejoel99]

If they were always gonna do one host for the daily syndicated program & another for prime-time tournaments, the perfect gift horses were quite literally standing right there the whole time staring at them in the mouth:

[brucejoel99]

If they were always gonna do one host for the daily syndicated program & another for prime-time tournaments, the perfect gift horses were quite literally standing right there the whole time staring at them in the mouth:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EOTEhkLUcAE_mWw?format=jpg

I heard that the job was basically Jennings' if he wanted it but he didn't, because it would require an exclusivity contract preventing him from appearing on other game shows as he often does.

Don't know where you heard that. Judging by his podcast comments & Twitter activity, Ken clearly wanted the job.

[brucejoel99]

The news has been pretty f**king grim this week, but we've now been fortunately blessed with low-stakes schadenfreude:

https://www.theringer.com/tv/2021/8/18/22631299/mike-richards-jeopardy-host-search-process-past-comments

Y'know, I didn't actually dislike him when he guest-hosted, as I thought that he did a serviceable-enough job in the role & I actually bought his lie that he was just a last-minute emergency fill-in who, although running the search for the new host, wasn't an actual contender for the permanent job. But now, though, anybody who's been paying attention to talk of this process on here surely knows by now that I've not liked the prospect of him hosting ever since it became an apparent likelihood with that Variety report. And yet still, every single piece of information that has since come about him has somehow only served to make me hate him even more than I already did. It'd honestly be amazing if it weren't infuriating.

[brucejoel99]

Our 1-week national nightmare is over!!

https://twitter.com/clairemcnear/status/1428720429615681551

[brucejoel99]

Burton sadly didn’t do a great job during his hosting week. I think Jennings and Bialik are the frontrunners at this point, assuming her hiring was for more reasons than just trying to stave off the Richards backlash.

Am aware it's unlikely, but I personally still thought Burton could have the highest ceiling if he gets used to the role despite the bad week. I agree those two are probably the main competitors at this point.

Yes, I think he really does have potential and if he’s invited back to guest host and prepared well this time (which IIRC he didn’t last time by his own admission) he could do really well.

Maybe they’ll bring on Jimmy and Sarah from the show, who’ve done some behind-the-scenes extra interviews for the YouTube channel and read categories before.

They also alternate hosting the on-set prep games so they certainly have some experience "hosting"!

[brucejoel99]

Hopefully it isn't Bialik

If that TMZ report about Sony wanting her for the daily syndicated version but not being able to get her availability-wise due to her sitcom is true, then I can't see her getting it, since this situation hasn't actually changed her availability sitcom-wise. I imagine it'll have to be Ken, given his in-studio presence, his "controversies" being nothing compared to Richards', those reports of him being Alex's preferred successor (leaning into which could be great PR for Sony after this whole sh*tshow), & his frank professionalism through all of this in spite of having been screwed over & treated like sh*t by Mike.

[brucejoel99]

Mayim Bialik to be first guest host of new weekday Jeopardy! episodes.

I'd put money on her becoming the permanent host at this point.

I really wouldn't, just because this situation hasn't actually served to change her availability with regards to her Fox sitcom, which was why they weren't able to go with her for the permanent job in the first place. I'd presume that it's Ken, not just for the reasons that I've previously discussed here in this thread, but because the recent reports indicated that it's him too.

[brucejoel99]

If it wasn't already a given, per TVLine:

According to sources, Bialik's Call Me Kat duties preclude her from succeeding Richards as full-time host.

[brucejoel99]

Richards is now out as executive producer of both Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

Hallelujah, praise the lord!

[brucejoel99]

The 1st S38 promo has dropped online, featuring a glimpse at the show's new, blue background set, in addition to the obligatory "Matt Amodio returns" hype, with no host-allusions whatsoever, literally just showing an empty-lectern shot lol

[brucejoel99]

Contestants who taped during Mike's week weren't sent their customary photo-with-the-host:

https://twitter.com/SamitSarkar/status/1435315233082552323

[brucejoel99]

Contestants who taped during Mike's week weren't sent their customary photo-with-the-host:

https://twitter.com/SamitSarkar/status/1435315233082552323

This implies that Matt's run continues through the week, or there would be more than 11 contestants (one returning champion plus two newcomers each day).

Nope, there are always 11 contestants in any given week: 2 new contestants each day regardless of who won the day before, & the returning champion, who isn't counted again for that week because they already counted for the week in their 1st appearance. The only exceptions are when nobody is eligible or able to return in the next episode, or in the since-eliminated-by-rule-changes co-champs of yesteryear. In any event, Matt could lose on Mon. or go on to win 75 games of his own, & there'd still be 11 weekly contestants.

[brucejoel99]

This is admittedly moreso Jeopardy!-adjacent news rather than J! news in & of itself, but at least Richards managed to get something right on his way out: he's bringing Merv's iconic Wheel theme, "Changing Keys," back after 21 years off the air.

[brucejoel99]

New ad implying that Matt won some games at Mike's taping, because they probably wouldn't be putting a hype ad that primes #ChasingJames to become a legit thing out if he's just gonna lose on Mon. or Tues. The ad also serves as the first confirmation that Johnny Gilbert will indeed be back for S38 - & thank god for that! - after a June AP article in which he said that he wasn't yet sure whether or not he'd be back came out:

[brucejoel99]

The first promo for S38 featuring Mike in any way has now dropped. Granted, it's literally just his voice in the background, but that still counts as something, I guess. In any event, though, they must really not want people remembering that Mike is, well, a thing, given that they delayed it 'til premiere day itself.

Rumor has it that former Tournament of Champions winner Buzzy Cohen might be in contention for the permanent hosting gig: https://www.newsweek.com/buzzy-cohen-emerges-unlikely-jeopardy-host-frontrunner-1627790

I think he’d be good, but I don’t see how it’s not Mayim Bialik at this point, or maybe an outside chance for Jennings.

Anyway, today’s the day!

Bialik literally can't take the job unless she leaves Call me Kat, or it gets cancelled.

Bialik can take the job if Sony & Call Me Kat's production company, WB, were to reach a deal schedule-wise on simultaneously sharing her, & TMZ has reported that such negotiations are currently taking place.

[brucejoel99]

S38 has premiered! Now, I don't wanna spoil the game's result as it relates to Matt's streak for anybody who wants to watch the game but has yet to do so, so I'll just limit this post to the production side of things. For one thing, I believe that this episode has broken the record for the show's shortest turn-around between the taping & airing of an episode: just 3-&-a-1/2 weeks between Aug. 19th & Sept. 13th. (Normally, episodes are taped about 2-3 months ahead of their air-date.)

Now, for the information that you've all really been waiting for: they didn't re-tape Johnny's introduction of Mike as "the host of Jeopardy!," but they clearly edited out a braggadocious "I'm so 'humbled' & 'honored' to succeed Alex" speech on Mike's part: specifically, there was an awkwardly abrupt cut between Mike thanking Johnny, the camera turning to Johnny for a sec (fun fact: the camera turning to Johnny was actually real, in that he was actually in the studio at the taping of this episode for the first time since production was initially down-sized at the onset of the pandemic 18 months ago, having since undertaken his recording duties remotely from home; however, he was only there for the dedication of the taping stage as "The Alex Trebek Stage" earlier in the day, & returned home before the taping for tomorrow's episode commenced), followed by Mike just immediately jumping into a hype-up of Matt's streak while obviously standing in a position which he couldn't have naturally been standing in after having thanked Johnny seemingly just a second prior.

Other production notes: the new intro retains a clip of Alex &, for the first time in the modern show's history, Art Fleming as a nice touch & nod to the show's history; the unchaged-since-2008 theme song has been slightly re-arranged (it's not a new new version like the previous version was in 2008, but it's not the same version either; they basically added more synthesized horns while completely removing any trace of the saxophone); there's a new, blue set (although this had previously been revealed in the advertising for this season); the Final Jeopardy category is now shown on screen along with the clue for the duration of the "Think" music (something which the fan-base has been begging for for years now); & Clue Crew members Jimmy & Sarah have been promoted to Stage Manager (basically, the deputy E.P., & the de-facto E.P. for this particular taping whenever the cameras were rolling since the de-jure E.P. at the time was a bit pre-occupied behind the lectern) & Associate Director, respectively, but don't worry: they'll still be doing remote Clew Crue segments!

[brucejoel99]

Completely unrelated to the saga underlying the existence of this thread, but I just got notified that I passed Jeopardy!'s online test the last time that I took it & that I've been invited to their Zoom audition stage. So psyched!!

[brucejoel99]

Completely unrelated to the saga underlying the existence of this thread, but I just got notified that I passed Jeopardy!'s online test the last time that I took it & that I've been invited to their Zoom audition stage. So psyched!!

Congrats

Thank you!!

[brucejoel99]

Interesting. Ken's bio didn't list him as "host" 'til today, & it's not referring to him as "interim host" even though that's what Sony said earlier today that he is through the end of the year. (Mayim's did already say host, but that's because she was already signed-on to host the primetime specials.) His bio also didn't designate him as an "interim host" - let alone as "host" - during his initial 6-wk run either, & not for nothing, but Pat Sajak was just made "consulting producer" over on Wheel too.

[brucejoel99]

I can't believe that Matt missed the Monday Final Jeopardy, which seemed ridiculously easy -- and that the second-place contestant also missed it on one of the rare days when Matt didn't have a lock going in!  I guess to have such a long run you need to be lucky as well as good; Ken Jennings had a couple of similar lucky escapes during his streak.

Absurdly good streaks like Ken's, James Holzhauer's, Matt's, & Julia Collins' are obviously down to a lot of skill, but also a lot of luck as well. A streak of 20+ games is just an incredibly unlikely occurrence & would be hard for any player to do.

[brucejoel99]

Matt won his 32nd game today, tying James' winning streak. Tomorrow, he'll be vying for 2nd all-time in games won.