"Variety" reports he will be the new "Jeopardy!" host, taking over for Alex Trebek, who died in November.
It's a good choice. It's a safe choice. Richards knows game shows. He's produced several, including "The Price is Right." Richards hosted an absolutely awful "Pyramid" revival on GSN several years ago. Richards was fine, but they managed to find the dumbest celebrities-- ever.
One thing we've learned from the year of try outs is that hosting a game show isn't as easy looks, even one that is fairly cut and dried, like "Jeopardy!"
Everone's sentimental favorite, LeVar Burton was merely okay, seeming rather unsure and tentative most of the time. Mayim Bialek could have handled it. The same with Roberts, Stephanpoulos and the rest of the newsies. "Jeopardy"" champion Ken Jennings also did a passable job, but they all have something in common. They all lacked that little spark that turns average in to good.
By the way, it's always a kick to get a Final Jeopardy question right when all three contestants get it wrong. It happened the other night on a Declaration of Independence question. The clip is on YouTube. I nailed it!
