'Jeopardy!' Contestant Reveals Notable Change the Show Made Due to Mike Richards' Firing

By Daniel S. Levine

One of the first Jeopardy! contestants of the new season revealed a notable change the show made after he taped his appearance. Samit Sarkar, the deputy managing editor for Polygon, revealed on Twitter that he was one of the 11 contestants who appeared on the show during Mike Richards' day as "permanent" host. Since Richards was fired the day after Sarkar filmed his episode, Sarkar said he did not receive the photo he took with the now-disgraced former executive producer.

"Hey folks! You may have noticed me tweeting a lot about [Jeopardy]! in recent weeks. Well, that's only going to continue - it's not just because I've watched and loved the show forever, and I care deeply about what happens to it... it's also because I'M GOING TO BE ON IT!!!" Sarkar wrote on Sept. 7. His episode will air on Friday, Sept. 17. In a follow-up tweet, he noted that Jeopardy! contestants usually get two photos, one of themselves on the set and another with the host. Sarkar said he only received the photo of himself.

Jeopardy! has been mired in controversy all summer, following the season-long celebrity guest host tryout. On Aug. 11, Sony Pictures Television confirmed rumors that Richards, the executive producer who originally led the search to find a replacement for the late Alex Trebek, would be Trebek's replacement. Although there were controversies surrounding lawsuits from The Price is Right models, Sony was going ahead with Richards, even filming a week's worth of episodes on his first day.

However, on Aug. 20, Sony removed Richards as host after The Ringer published Richards' offensive comments from a podcast he recorded when he was an executive producer on The Price is Right. At that point, Richards was still going to be Jeopardy!'s executive producer and Mayim Bialik was announced as the first Jeopardy! celebrity guest host of the 2021-2022 season. The episodes Richards filmed as host will still air to kick off the season.

It seemed like only a matter of time until Sony also fired Richards as an executive producer. That day finally came on Aug. 31, when Sony removed him from both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. "I'm writing to let you know that Mike will no longer be serving as EP of Wheel and Jeopardy! effective immediately," Suzanne Prete, the executive vice president of business and strategy for both shows, wrote in a memo to staff. "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."

That wasn't the end of the drama involving Richards. He is reportedly preparing for a legal battle, according to journalist Matt Belloni. In a recent edition of his What I'm Hearing newsletter, Belloni reported that Richards hired attorney Bryan Freedman who is "already blaming" Sony for the situation. At this stage, Sony could pay Richards a settlement, give him another position at the studio or completely cut ties with him and risk him filing a lawsuit. Sony and Freedman did not comment on the report. 

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