Jeopardy! Megathread

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I was hoping for Aaron Rodgers, but I figured it wasn't happening once he suddenly went back to the Packers.

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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.

He was toxic the minute he started the birther stuff in the late 00s. But if he'd never done that and never gotten involved in politics, then ... maybe?

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Did they film any episodes with him as the "permanent" host? And if so, are those going to air?

Here's a cold take for everyone - Bialik's past comments about vaccines are more disqualifying than at least what's been publicly revealed about Richards.

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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.

"Calling a woman a slut years ago is orders of magnitude worse than being an anti-vaxxer" is a strange message to send to the Jeopardy fanbase. [Assuming there's not more to the Richards story they're keeping under wraps.]

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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.

"Calling a woman a slut years ago is orders of magnitude worse than being an anti-vaxxer" is a strange message to send to the Jeopardy fanbase. [Assuming there's not more to the Richards story they're keeping under wraps.]

Apparently Bialik also thinks babies born via C-section are not evolutionarily favored and should "pass peacefully." What an awful woman. Idc what that Richards guy said, unless he literally committed some kind of felony it's not as bad as this garbage. Truly a horrid person, and of course an ultra Zionist to boot.

https://www.mic.com/p/mayim-bialiks-history-of-science-skepticism-makes-her-a-bizarre-choice-for-jeopardy-84142273

Richards sexually harassed women on set when he produced The Price is Right and was accused of discriminating against pregnant women in employment. I don't care about the jokes on his podcast, but that stuff should be fireable. Actions should draw harsher punishments than words.

That's bad of him, but not as bad as saying I and my whole nuclear family should have been stillborn.

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Bialik and Jennings will cover hosting duties for the rest of this year, with Jennings (apparently) filling in when Bialik is unavailable.

That seems to indicate that the producers would prefer that Bialik become the permanent host. If her new show sputters out (which is a good possibility, given the fate of so many recent television series), then I wouldn't be surprised if she got that position.

The very idea that Jennings can lose the job because of the one Tweet joke about a hot person in a wheelchair, while Bialik, who believes that C-sections are bad and that those babies should just die instead, is a f***ing disgrace and shows how out of touch the Jeopardy producers are.

If you asked 100 people in a wheelchair whether Ken's Tweet or Bialik's statement is worse, they're almost all going to say hers.

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Bialik and Jennings will cover hosting duties for the rest of this year, with Jennings (apparently) filling in when Bialik is unavailable.

That seems to indicate that the producers would prefer that Bialik become the permanent host. If her new show sputters out (which is a good possibility, given the fate of so many recent television series), then I wouldn't be surprised if she got that position.

The very idea that Jennings can lose the job because of the one Tweet joke about a hot person in a wheelchair, while Bialik, who believes that C-sections are bad and that those babies should just die instead, is a f***ing disgrace and shows how out of touch the Jeopardy producers are.

If you asked 100 people in a wheelchair whether Ken's Tweet or Bialik's statement is worse, they're almost all going to say hers.

I'm not that familiar with these controversies, although I've heard that Bialik is an anti-vaxxer. Personally, I think that Jennings should get the hosting job permanently, as I think that would best reflect Trebek's wishes. But we'll see what happens.

Ken Jennings Tweeted this in 2014:

He's deleted it recently, probably as a requirement for the job. It's admittedly not a great look for him, but in the grand scheme of things not that big of a deal. He has apologized for it.

Here's a good summary of Bialik's anti-vaccine history:
https://twitter.com/Michael_Rosch/status/1438541207395840003
Basically, she's trying to distance herself from her past anti-vaxx comments and has publicly endorsed the COVID vaccine. So problematic, but at least she's moving in the right direction.

However, this is inexcusable. She needs to issue a VERY strongly worded statement condemning this and clarifying that she doesn't really believe it, but I haven't seen her give any response.


She also had a controversial NY Times op-ed after the Harvey Weinstein scandal came out that was interpreted by many as victim blaming, as she recommended that women dress more modestly and flirt less. And some people are really bothered by her financial backing of Israeli military groups.

Anyway, all that to say that the decisionmakers must just really like Bialik on a personal level, because they're ridiculously controversy-avoidant when it comes to Jennings, one of the most beloved figures in Jeopardy history, and seemingly don't care when it comes to Bialik.

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It's easy. Jennings, and Mike Richards before him are men. Bialik is a women, and Sony must think they'd be immune to criticism if they hired her (ignoring the fact there are plenty of other qualified women, like Meredith Vieria, Brooke Burns, or even Robin Roberts who could host).

Well hopefully it's not something that simple and stupid.

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I just now saw Wednesday's episode (I DVR them so my son and I can watch them together, usually a few days at a time) and I'm floored that Amy missed that Final.  It was an instaget for me and seemed like an easy one for someone with her breadth of knowledge.

Yeah, pretty surprising. I can see blanking on a country ending in H and panicking, but just knowing the 10 most populated countries in the world (or at least being able to rattle off 15 large ones that include all of the top 10) should be pretty basic for someone who can win Jeopardy! once, much less 40 times. I wonder if she was just worn out.

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I mean, would anyone be complaining if they had accepted it? Would the person who won because they didn't accept it have cried foul?

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The 2022 Tournament of Champions will have a major format change: see https://www.jeopardy.com/contestant-zone/2022/tournament-champions.  This will be interesting!

I like it. No more wildcards, gotta win every game to get to the final.