Mike Richards Controversy Ends as He Loses 3 Jobs

Mike Richards will no longer be the Executive Producer of Jeopardy! He will no longer be the Executive Producer of Wheel of Fortune either. That’s on top of already losing the hosting position for the regular Jeopardy! games that he was accused of manipulating his way into.

Per the New York Post, Suzanne Prete, Sony Pictures Television Sr. VP, sent this statement out to the staffs of “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” today.

Dear Team,

I’m writing to let you know that Mike will no longer be serving as EP of Wheel and Jeopardy! effective immediately. 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.

Michael Davies from Embassy Row has agreed to help with production on an interim basis until further notice. Michael and I will work together with all of you in the weeks ahead to ensure that production remains on schedule and we do not miss a beat as we head into the new season.

I know this has been a challenging time for the entire team, and I want to thank you all for your cooperation and professionalism over these last few weeks. As Ravi mentioned last week, I will be more involved in the day-to-day on our shows moving forward and I am looking forward to working closely with all of you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything.

Sincerely,
Suzanne

As those who have been following this controversy know, the backlash against Mike Richards getting the spot to take over for Alex Trebek began before it was even officially announced. Initially, The Price Is Right discrimination lawsuits from 2010 and 2011, as well as allegations that Richards used his position as Executive Producer to get the gig over more qualified guest hosts, were put forward to disqualify him. Later, crass and vulgar podcasts from 2013 and 2014 that previously passed for humor were found online and exposed in a report by The Ringer. That was more than enough to bury Mike Richards and he stepped down from the hosting spot the next day. The negative publicity continued to snowball and it was only a matter of how long it would be before he was forced out of the Executive Producer job.

At this point, I can’t tell under what exact circumstances Richards lost the EP positions on both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Some reports just say he is out; others say he was fired. Personally, however, I don’t believe Alex Trebek himself would have been happy with the way this whole thing played out. Talking about politics in his memoir, Alex Trebek said “Thanks in great part to twenty-four hour cable news and social media, modern politics pits us against one another. It forces us to choose a side and has convinced us that our side is right and the other side is wrong. If you don’t agree with me, you are my enemy. There is no room for compromise. That’s unfortunate. Because most of the great accomplishments of the world have not been made by people who were certain.” He further indicated that he didn’t think people who are so sure they are right are to be trusted.

Whether you think what has happened with Mike Richards was right or not, at this point, there are other problems on the horizon going forward. What we are waiting for is the return of Matt Amodio on September 13th. The first week of new episodes in Season 38 were taped with Mike Richards before he stepped down from that gig. I doubt if anyone will want to bet that big media reporting on those shows won’t overshadow Matt’s games.

There’s also a movement afoot to get rid of Mayim Bialik, even as she steps up to host the show temporarily. I also think that big media will do its best to stir that pot and keep the page views coming.

Over here on Fikkle Fame, I am going to concentrate on the games and the clues and the info I find online that I love to share with my readers. I hope that Alex Trebek would be pleased with that.