Mayim Bialik may have benefited directly from Mike Richards’ run as full-time Jeopardy! host blowing up on the runway, but the actress hasn’t spoken publicly about the matter until Monday. In an essay she penned for Newsweek, the former Big Bang Theory star detailed her reaction to the Richards fiasco and her excitement over the opportunity to host the show full-time.
Bialik was a guest host who seemed to score well with audiences, which earned her a shot at hosting some non-syndicated prime time events and tournaments when Richards took over for the late Alex Trebek. But a series of scandals as well as questions about the selection process, which Richards himself was involved in as executive producer, ended his tenure after a brief five-game run as host.
That single day of work has already aired, and Bialik was recalled to take over as guest host alongside Ken Jennings for what’s expected to be the rest of the season while the show figures out what’s next. But in the piece, Bialik disclosed how she reacted to the news that Richards would be stepping aside after she had already started working with him to prepare for the upcoming season.
I didn’t immediately know who the other host was going to be, and after Mike Richards was announced as permanent host, a couple more weeks passed and then everything changed and Mike stepped down.
I think everyone who works with me will say that, as a person who has been acting since I was a kid, I go where I’m pointed and I do the job I’m told to do. I do what’s in front of me. I don’t really follow the news aspect of my industry too much.
Bialik said that, with a long career of acting under her belt, the controversy that was the talk of social media became an opportunity to “help” the show rather than comment on the “complexities of these situations.”
That’s how I approached what was going on. Of course I was in touch with Mike as he was my boss at that time, and I don’t wish ill on him, or anyone. But the complexity of these situations is not something that can be summed up easily. My first response, when all of this went down, was to say to the Jeopardy! team: “How can I help?” Because I am part of this family.
Bialik had a lot to say about how much winning the Jeopardy! job would mean to her, and the things that she’s worked on since her guest hosting stint. It will certainly be interesting to see how she performs in the coming weeks, and what Jeopardy! leadership will do with a second chance to pick a permanent host.
[via Newsweek]
