‘Jeopardy!’ Mega-Champ James Holzhauer Is Pouring Gasoline On The Show’s Host Dumpster Fire

LeVar Burton’s “happy Friday, y’all” wasn’t in response to Mike Richards losing the Jeopardy! host gig, but James Holzhauer’s tweet sure was.

“I was really looking forward to the season premiere where after an exhaustive 61-clue search for the next Jeopardy champion, the show looks past the three obvious candidates and declares Mike Richards the winner,” the Jeopardy! legend, who had a 32-episode winning streak on the syndicated game show (making him the third highest-grossing contestant of all-time), wrote on Twitter. Ken Jennings, the other household name among former-Jeopardy! contestants, has yet to weigh in. But it’s surely coming.

This isn’t the first time that Holzhauer has commented on the search to replace Alex Trebek. Following the announcement that Richards and The Big Bang Theory‘s Mayim Bialik would split the hosting duties, he tweeted, “Also new for next season: contestants can submit two Final Jeopardy responses in case the first one causes public backlash.” It’s unclear who his “three obvious candidates” are, but it’s probably fan favorite Burton, Aaron Rodgers, and “Weird Al” Yankovic from the “I Lost on Jeopardy” music video.

Richards stepped down (a.k.a. quit) as Jeopardy! host after offensive comments he made on a podcast several years ago resurfaced in an article on The Ringer. “We support Mike’s decision to step down as host,” Sony Pictures Entertainment said in a statement. “We were surprised this week to learn of Mike’s 2013/2014 podcast and the offensive language he used in the past. We have spoken with him about our concerns and our expectations moving forward.” Richards will remain an executive producer.

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