When Ken Jennings arrived at the \u201cJeopardy!\u201d studios in November for the first day of his audition to become the new host of the long-running quiz show, he found a gift waiting for him: a pair of Alex Trebek\u2019s cuff links, along with a handwritten note from his widow, Jean.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trebek, the \u201cJeopardy!\u201d galaxy\u2019s central star, had died of pancreatic cancer three weeks before, setting off a frenzy in Hollywood: one of the greatest jobs in television was available for the first time in 37 years.<\/p>\n
For some members of the \u201cJeopardy!\u201d crew, the cuff links validated their assumption that Mr. Jennings, a genial Utahn who rose to fame in 2004 after winning a record 74 consecutive games, had been Mr. Trebek\u2019s preferred successor. (\u201cJeopardy!\u201d producers had arranged for a phone call between Mr. Jennings and Mr. Trebek two days before he died.) But \u201cJeopardy!,\u201d while a beloved cultural icon, is also a lucrative asset of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and in the television industry, sentiment only goes so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cJeopardy!,\u201d whose first iteration began in 1964, is one of TV\u2019s last bastions of comfort food, a place where politics don\u2019t matter and the real world is easily digested in just-the-facts bites. Then its succession drama got messy. After a cattle call of guest hosts, including Anderson Cooper, Robin Roberts, Aaron Rodgers, LeVar Burton and even Dr. Mehmet Oz, the announcement of the winner sent fans into a tailspin. The new weekday host would be Mike Richards, the show\u2019s obscure executive producer and the man initially charged with finding Mr. Trebek\u2019s replacement.<\/p>\n
Mr. Richards, it seemed, did not have to look very far.<\/p>\n
Critics accused Mr. Richards of rigging the contest \u00e0 la Dick Cheney, who led the vice-presidential search for George W. Bush. Old lawsuits surfaced from Mr. Richards\u2019s previous job, at \u201cThe Price Is Right,\u201d involving his treatment of female staff members. (He denies wrongdoing.) After Sony said the \u201cBig Bang Theory\u201d actress Mayim Bialik would host the show\u2019s prime-time spinoffs, her past skepticism about vaccines recirculated. (Her team said \u201cshe is not at all an anti-vaxxer.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Under the retro, feel-good surface of \u201cJeopardy!,\u201d the succession battle is a story of television\u2019s dwindling real estate in American life and the strenuous efforts to occupy one of its remaining desirable plots.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a little like choosing a pope,\u201d Mr. Jennings said, in his first interview since the new hosts were announced. \u201cIf you don\u2019t watch \u2018Jeopardy!,\u2019 you don\u2019t understand, but people take this very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an age of atomized audiences, \u201cJeopardy!\u201d still averages 8.8 million viewers a week, according to Nielsen \u2014 not quite \u201cNCIS\u201d territory, but roughly comparable to a network evening newscast. Its audience skews older: Last year, about four viewers out of five were over age 55.<\/p>\n
And the job itself is, as any Hollywood agent would tell you, a pretty sweet gig.<\/p>\n
When the \u201cJeopardy!\u201d cast and crew gather on the Sony Pictures stage in Culver City, Calif., they film five 30-minute shows in a single day, the equivalent of one week of syndicated television. The host works roughly two days a week, two weeks a month \u2014 and toward the end of his tenure, Mr. Trebek\u2019s salary was estimated at $16.5 million. Sony would not disclose Mr. Richards\u2019s compensation, but several people familiar with internal discussions said it was significantly less.<\/p>\n
There are other perks to being the face of a show that is still watched by a broad audience on local network affiliates, a rarity as the nation divides into ever-more-partisan extremes and as traditional TV is supplanted by niche streaming services.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s appointment television, which is rare,\u201d said George Stephanopoulos, the ABC News anchor, who guest hosted for a week. \u201cIt\u2019s the kind of thing you can watch with your whole family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plus there is the reflected glow of always having the right answers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely iconic,\u201d said Rick Rosen, the TV superagent at Endeavor. \u201cEverybody knows the show and has played along with it. And it\u2019s not the type of show where you\u2019re just a genial host \u2014 there\u2019s a perception of intelligence that goes along with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike his rivals, Mr. Richards, 46, had a deep background in game shows. Born in Burbank, Calif., he started his career as a stand-up comedian and went on to host game shows like the mid-2000s concoction \u201cBeauty and the Geek.\u201d He hosted and produced numerous series on the Game Show Network before auditioning to replace Bob Barker on \u201cThe Price Is Right.\u201d Drew Carey got the job, but Mr. Richards was brought on as executive producer; his successful 11-year tenure revived the wilting franchise into a hit.<\/p>\n
By \u201cJeopardy!\u201d standards, though, he was a newcomer.<\/p>\n
He started as executive producer at both \u201cJeopardy!\u201d and \u201cWheel of Fortune\u201d in May 2020, replacing Harry Friedman, who oversaw both shows for 25 years. Mr. Richards overlapped with Mr. Trebek on set for only 15 shoot days before the host stepped aside, 10 days before he died.<\/p>\n
Sony said that while Mr. Richards initially led the hunt for Mr. Trebek\u2019s replacement, he moved aside after he emerged as a candidate.<\/p>\n
But as executive producer, Mr. Richards retained a key role in selecting which appearances by each prospective host would be screened for focus groups, whose reactions weighed heavily in Sony\u2019s decision-making, according to three people familiar with the show\u2019s internal deliberations. The other supervising \u201cJeopardy!\u201d producers were excluded from that process, the people said.<\/p>\n
Asked about Mr. Richards\u2019s role, Sony referred to a memo from its TV chairman, Ravi Ahuja, who told staff that after the company began considering Mr. Richards as a potential host, \u201che was not part of\u201d the selection process. The ultimate decision was made by Tony Vinciquerra, the chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.<\/p>\n
As questions mounted, Mr. Richards sent a memo to \u201cJeopardy!\u201d staff that was distributed by Sony\u2019s publicists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe choice on this is not my decision and never has been,\u201d Mr. Richards wrote. He said the \u201cPrice Is Right\u201d litigation \u2014 which included an allegation that he made insensitive comments to a pregnant employee \u2014 \u201cdoes not reflect the reality of who I am.\u201d (Sony said it had \u201cspoken with Mike about the issues raised in these cases and our commitment to maintaining a workplace environment where our employees are respected and supported.\u201d)<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Sony announced Mr. Richards and Ms. Bialik as co-hosts, although for now, only one prime-time special featuring Ms. Bialik is scheduled. \u201cWhat started out with my 15-year-old repeating a rumor from Instagram that I should guest host the show has turned into one of the most exciting and surreal opportunities of my life!\u201d Ms. Bialik said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Mr. Jennings, who remains a consulting producer at \u201cJeopardy!,\u201d praised Mr. Richards\u2019s performance. \u201cMike was the only person up there with any game show hosting chops, and it showed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Some fans argue that a relatively bland, little-known host was always a better outcome than a celebrity. \u201cThe game is the star, and the contestants are the stars,\u201d said John Podhoretz, the editor of Commentary magazine and a 1987 quarterfinalist in the \u201cJeopardy!\u201d Tournament of Champions. \u201cThe host should be a secondary figure.\u201d<\/p>\n
For his part, Mr. Jennings agreed. \u201cWhat was great about Alex was we didn\u2019t know anything about him: He came into our homes every night and he hosted \u2018Jeopardy!,\u2019\u201d Mr. Jennings said. \u201cToday, it\u2019s very hard to find a broadcaster whose priors and opinions you know nothing about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Jennings, who guest hosted six weeks\u2019 worth of shows, said he harbored no hard feelings about the outcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew \u2018Jeopardy!\u2019 was in a spot this year, and I mostly wanted them to have a smooth transition,\u201d Mr. Jennings said. \u201cI was not going to lobby for that job in the media, ever. I was not going to plant stories about what a promising young candidate I was. I wasn\u2019t interested in doing any of that. I am a company man.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marc Tracy contributed reporting.<\/p>\n