No doubt you have all been waiting breathlessly to know how I feel.
When I last wrote, my preference for host was executive producer Mike Richards. I thought he did the best job, with Aaron Rodgers and Robin Roberts as runners-up.
(Apparently my preference is for people in the "R" section of the phone book.)
Then things started coming out about Richards' time at The Price Is Right.
At first glance that wasn't exactly not a concern, but it could be plausible to cast more of the blame on Adam Sandler (no, not that one).
The next thing that I read was an NPR piece that I thought was very balanced, acknowledging that Richards certainly wasn't just hiring himself with no input, but that it should have been handled better, with more openness:
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/13/1027426388/jeopardy-host-mike-richards
You can make mistakes when you are trying to figure out how to handle a transition without it automatically being calculating. Therefore, the worst note there was the growing unlikeliness that Richards never dreamed of being host, as he'd said. Let's say you realize that the process is going to look crooked; the immediate response needs to be more honesty, not less.
Here's the article that really changed my mind:
It's disillusioning, but it is better to know.
Wanting the models on The Price Is Right to look more like they are going out on dates or wear bikinis more often (which is somewhat contradictory, because you rarely wear bikinis on dates) sounds not great, but not automatically terrible.
When the podcast history shows quote after quote focusing on image and appearance that is strongly biased in terms of women needed to look sexy at all times, that is pretty incriminating.
Richard's started to sound like Ken Jennings but with the emphasis more on sexism instead of racism.
In addition, with more information about the control he had over the guest hosts and the episode screenings... okay more disclosure does make it seem much more likely that the process was manipulated. It makes me wonder how much of LeVar Burton's awkwardness was Richards' sabotage.
(Also, it shows that Richards' claim that he was only hosting because the needs required it was an additional lie, as they could have made Jennings' schedule work.)
So, that is all very disappointing. Yes, I still think Richards was the smoothest of the hosts, but it doesn't compensate for the other things.
Something else disturbing from that article was a change on how contestants would be allowed to dress. Finding clothes to wear on air is stressful, and you have enough to worry about. It does not ruin the show if some people wear jeans or other casual attire. That attempt at change just emphasizes his superficiality.
There was actually something that hit harder, but it would be easy to miss.
Much of my trust in the casting process was based on the crew overall. I had no idea that Maggie Speak and John Lauderdale had retired. They had been there for years, so they had certainly earned it and I hope it wasn't pushed.
Mike Richards was relatively new in his role. With more time I think he could have come around and been shaped by the show or moved out as a bad fit. With the pandemic moving many crew members to home and Alex's death, this is a really critical moment for the show. Honestly I don't want Richards even as executive producer, let alone as the host.
Without knowing what will happen now, but knowing that there will be more guest hosts I hope that we do get a chance to hear from the people Alex had indicated: Alex Faust, Ben Mankiewicz, and Laura Coates.
I still think that the parade of guest hosts and charity contributions was a beautiful remembrance of Alex.
Let's not drop the ball now.
Related posts:
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2021/07/jeopardy-guest-hosts.html
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