Vulture takes a look at how Sony mishandled Jeopardy's legacy
Here, how Sony tarnished #Jeopardy! and stained Alex Trebek’s legacy, reported by @TVMoJoe https://t.co/VdCNi6wOpP
- Vulture (@vulture) August 24, 2021
• The never-ending Jeopardy saga was updated once again today, with a new report by Vulture that takes a look at Sony's role in the hiring of Mike Richards
• The author of the piece declares that in an industry where drama like this is usually enjoyed and celebrated privately, "there is no pleasure being derived from watching Alex Trebek’s legacy trashed in real time by the sleaziest host-replacement process since Jay Leno conspired with NBC to screw over Conan O’Brien."
• Apparently the author one had a meeting with a Sony TV chairman who told the author that he had a list on hand for potential Jeopardy replacement hosts. The list was regularly updated, and was on hand in order to make sure that any transition would happen as smoothly as possible. That chairman would later leave the studio in 2016.
• The new Sony TV chairman would later hire Mike Richards in June of 2019 and two months later Richards would be named Jeopardy's new executive producer, replacing longtime producer Harry Friedman. In the article, Friedman denies that he was pushed out of his job by Richards or anyone at Sony and instead decided to retire in the wake of his own health issues.
• With Friedman retiring and several staffers working remotely during the pandemic, Richards was able to take advantage of a power vacuum at the show and decided to head up the replacement committee, and not so subtly decided to throw his hat into the ring. A pivotal moment came in November 2020 after Trebek's death, when Richards decided that he was the right person to acknowledge his passing on air instead of leaving this tribute up to a more familiar face like Ken Jennings. An industry observer is quoted as saying, "When does the fucking exec producer of a show do the tribute as opposed to someone people know?"
• The article posits that the behind the scenes mess is causing harm to the show's legacy and brand. Cory Anotado, founder of the must-read game-show industry website BuzzerBlog is quoted as saying, “Jeopardy! has always been on its surface a meritocracy in its format - the best person generally wins and until the past couple weeks, everyone assumed the people on the other side of the cameras were playing with the same morals. It hurt to see the keys to a well-loved pastime like Jeopardy! passed off to the host of Beauty and the Geek, the man who admitted he doesn’t have a mind for trivia.”
• Though several industry insiders are speculating that Richards will be replaced as executive producer soon, but Sony seems firm in their decision to stick by him.
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