Jeopardy! is airing a handful of Mike Richards-hosted episodes this week, despite his previous exit and firing. Richards was an executive producer on Jeopardy! and in August was announced as the show’s new permanent host. Less than two weeks later, he stepped down from the hosting position, after the resurfacing of some sexist and insensitive comments he made during a 2013 podcast. Then, on Aug. 31, he was officially let go from his producer roles on both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.
At the time Richards was fired, he had already filmed the first five episodes of Jeopardy! Season 38 which, The Wrap reports, are airing. While it’s not necessarily explained, the reason for the episodes still airing is possibly due to gameplay rules. We can speculate that the show’s current producers would deem retaping all the episodes as unfair to the players. While it may be the fair thing for those playing the game, seeing the disgraced Richards host knowing that his tenure was very short made viewers at home feel quite awkward.
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Dead on Arrival
“Mike Richards, dead man hosting,” tweeted one viewer.
A Twitter Roast
“It’s so funny to watch this one week of Jeopardy episodes Mike Richards taped as new host before his nonsense caught up with him, and to see him out here thinking he really had it made,” wrote another Twitter user.
A Tainted Legacy
“Seeing Mike Richards on [Jeopardy!] is making my skin crawl,” tweeted another viewer.
Facing Consequences
“This lone week of Mike Richards Jeopardy episodes is already cringe AF. It’s a guy proud of where he is and uncaring about the path he carved,” pointed out another astute viewer.
Awkward
“The Mike Richards Jeopardy episodes are so awkward.Can’t wait until they’re over,” wrote another Twitter user.
Lacking Accountability
“It’s so weird to me that jeopardy has not said a single word about mike richards during the airing of his recordings this week lol,” tweeted journalist Chelsea Cirruzzo.
Missing Trebek
“Taking a perverse pleasure in this Mike Richards Jeopardy, knowing his banishment is imminent,” wrote another satisfied viewer.
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