Aaron Rodgers is most prepared to replace Alex Trebek

Mike Richards

Daytime Emmy Awards 2021 via Getty Images

the previous Danger! The producer who was fired one day after serving as the TV game show's new host, as a result of hateful comments he made years ago, is speaking out about his experience and revealing how some of the top potential guest hosts auditioning to replace Alex Trebek came from unexpected professional backgrounds and may have changed his tune. the offer.

Mike Richards was a game show producer, working in senior roles on shows including… The price is correct And let's make a deal, Before being tapped for a highly coveted hosting gig on the game show Danger! After beloved host Alex Trebek passed away in 2020 due to pancreatic cancer. in New interview with the people Reflecting on that time period, Richards shared some details about the many famous people who auditioned for or hosted the ever-popular late-night game show as producers sought to find a suitable replacement for Trebek, as he was being mourned backstage and among fans across the country. . .

“We could see if they liked a Katie Couric type, or maybe an Anderson Cooper, or a Mayim Bialik,” Richards says of the process that eventually led to his hiring as the new host. He shared that Couric stood out as a host who could reshape himself Danger! As fans have known her for decades.

“The show had a different look with Katie Couric,” he told the magazine. “I was so impressed with everyone's knowledge. I always wondered if this was a missed opportunity to reboot the show with her, a completely different host.”

Surprisingly, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was also at the top of his list of potential hosts for the show.

“Aaron Rodgers was definitely the most prepared,” Richards said. “I was blown away by that – the intensity with which he prepared – and he was so kind to all the staff.

But can the host Danger!a tough gig that he says requires a unique talent that Trebek certainly shares with fans every weeknight, can be split with the big responsibilities of the NFL?

“I was like, how are you going to work this out with the football schedule?” He said: You will find out!

Richards previously worked on air, climbing the career ladder in television production, including stints on the dating series. Beauty and geekand hosting a rocking New Year's Eve show in 2005 Million dollar pyramidled to his name being put forward at a high level Danger! gig. Executive producer of the popular competition program and its evening follow-up, wheel of fortune, He says he was “more surprised than anyone” when he was selected by a panel for the party in August 2021. However, the audience was not pleased.

“Everyone was so angry because it looked like I walked into a room and picked myself,” he said. the people. “That's not what happens on TV, but I get that that's how it looks.”

This anger turned into scrutiny of Richards' past and after hosting the show for a day, he was fired. The Anti-Defamation League revealed derogatory comments he made on a podcast, while it became known that he was also involved in cases of wrongful termination and discrimination of models who appeared on The price is correct. Richards said the people It has been hinted that he was personally sued for sexual harassment; This was not true and he was eventually dropped from the lawsuit.

He claims that other half-truths were written about him, as he quickly became a national pariah.

“Everyone was like, 'Oh, he's just a terrible person,'” he adds. “It was the price you pay for jumping into the zeitgeist at a completely inopportune moment.”

Richards' subsequent withdrawal from public life and television work, which he spent largely with his family (whom he says did not escape harassment) while working on new concepts for game shows, is now coming to an end as he makes a plea for open discussions of the controversial issues around The rapid cancellation of people like the one he witnessed two years ago.

“We can all disagree about a lot of things,” he said. the people. “We can disagree about politics, we can disagree about who hosts Jeopardy! We can disagree about our liking for the final Danger! an idea. And we must. “But I felt there was a rush of judgment, and a lot of people were happy when they said, 'I get you.'”

Danger! It is now hosted by Ken Jennings, the show's highest-paid American contestant. Actor Mayim Bialik, who co-hosted with Jennings after Richards' all-too-brief tenure on the platform, left the show amid the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes.