Opinion | Catherine Ramen: How the 'Jeopardy!' host search betrayed the show's most basic principles. - NBCNewsTHINK
The slate of guest hosts had been overflowing with diverse, star-studded talent, including Savannah Guthrie of NBC’s “TODAY” show, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Robin Roberts of “Good Morning America” on ABC. Even before the allegations about Richards' past behavior came to light, many younger fans were disappointed that another white man was going to replace Trebek, especially one with little pedigree or experience in front of the camera.
More than that, however, the appearance of a sham audition and self-coronation flies in the face of one of the show's most foundational features: meritocracy. More than most game shows, winning on “Jeopardy!” has a true component of skill. “Jeopardy!” contestants have to pass a test to even be considered. And once you make it to the stage, it’s not enough to merely know the answer: You have to be able to recall them quickly to ring in before your opponents.
Like many contestants, I crammed trivia questions to be prepared ahead of time. I ran through lists of state flowers and longest rivers, although very rarely do the things you study actually come up in a game. The show itself goes by so quickly — until everything slows down and you zero in on a clue that can win or lose the game for you.
For “Jeopardy!” fans and participants like me, the fact that Richards didn’t seem to make it to prime time by dint of his own work and talent while the cameras were rolling would have eventually doomed his time as host, even without his checkered past. “Jeopardy!” fans prize the fact that the best players manage to rise to the top, and the rotating replacement hosts made it look like the producers wanted the same feeling in how they found their next face of the program.
“Jeopardy!” will have a lot of work to do to rebuild trust with its fans and, of course, to find a new host. For now the show is returning to the rotating guest host format. Bialik has her own sitcom and is probably not available to take over full-time hosting. While Burton remains a fan favorite, his ratings were.
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