Jeopardy producer Mike Richards anticipated to interchange Alex Trebek as host

Sources with data of the method say it’s successfully a accomplished deal, although it might not be introduced till later in August.

Selection reported Wednesday that “Richards is clearly the front-runner” and is in “superior negotiations” to helm the present.

Richards has ample TV internet hosting expertise along with his producing credit. Nonetheless, phrase of his front-runner standing prompted many quips in regards to the head of the search committee choosing himself for the coveted put up. Hank Stuever, the Washington Publish’s former TV critic, called it “The Dick Cheney method: We searched excessive and low and it was ME all alongside!”

In the end the choice was made by Tony Vinciquerra, chairman and CEO of Sony Photos Leisure, in line with a supply with data of the matter. Sony’s tv division produces “Jeopardy!” in addition to “Wheel of Fortune.”

The 2 sport exhibits are among the many hottest and longest-lasting applications on broadcast TV, lifting up the native stations the place they air within the evenings. So when “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek died final yr on the age of 80, Sony was below super strain to forged an interesting successor. After Trebek’s ultimate episodes, an A-list forged of visitor hosts stuffed in, leaving viewers with the distinct impression of an audition course of.

“We aren’t in search of a three-year host, we’re in search of a 10-year or a 20-year host,” Richards, 46, stated in an interview with B+C/Multichannel Information again in Could. “Stability is without doubt one of the present’s strengths, so we have to think about who’s obtained a 20-year horizon and who can concentrate on the present and make it nice over that point.”

Richards was the second visitor host, after “Jeopardy!” all-time nice Ken Jennings, on account of what he described as a Covid fluke: At a time when Covid-19 circumstances had been on the rise in Los Angeles, “people had been understandably a bit of reticent to shoot,” so he instructed viewers he was stepping in for 2 weeks to fill the void.

After Richards stuffed in, family names like Aaron Rodgers and Katie Couric took turns behind the lectern, together with two CNN journalists, Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The guest-host course of remains to be underway this week with CNBC’s David Faber. The ultimate visitor, Joe Buck of Fox Sports activities, will host subsequent week.

Richards stated in Could that “by the top of July or early August, we may have a everlasting host in place.”

The calendar is an element as a result of Sony will begin to tape the brand new season of “Jeopardy!” within the coming weeks forward of a September premiere.

However Sony could also be reluctant to formally title a brand new everlasting host whereas the on-air tryouts are ongoing.

A Sony spokesperson declined to touch upon negotiations aside from to say that conversations with potential hosts are ongoing.

The sources who spoke with CNN Enterprise stated Sony wished “Jeopardy!” to be the first job for the everlasting host, as an alternative of recruiting somebody who already has one or two different roles.

Jennings was one of many different finalists, so to talk, in line with one of many sources.

Richard has hosted sport exhibits equivalent to “The Pyramid” for GSN and actuality exhibits like “Magnificence and the Geek” for The CW. He joined “The Worth Is Proper” in 2008 as a co-executive producer.

Claire McNear, creator of the definitive “Jeopardy!” historical past “Solutions within the Type of Questions,” stated on Twitter that “it will be fascinating to see how the fan base responds — this season was positioned as a reside audition with Richards himself saying they had been listening to followers, so it is inevitably an odd place for individuals who vocally supported different hosts.”

Again in Could, Richards stated he consulted with Michael Gelman, the manager producer of “Dwell with Kelly and Ryan,” in regards to the expertise of changing a number of an iconic TV present.

Richards stated Gelman suggested him that “whoever you choose will get beat up, it does not matter who it’s, in order that particular person must be resilient.”

“That was what occurred to Drew Carey on ‘The Worth Is Proper,'” Richards stated. “He obtained destroyed for years after which in some unspecified time in the future, everybody appeared up and was like, ‘Oh Drew Carey, I actually like that man.’ That is precisely what is going to occur right here.”