What Are Five Bad Moves You Can Make When Picking A Game Show Host?

Plus: 'CODA,' more 'Ted Lasso,' and 'What IF?'

View this email online by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when they debuted the trailer for a revisiting of history that will not be fun to revisit. It was the week when some performers asserted themselves about requiring vaccinations to keep people safe, and others lost work over vaccine refusal. And it was the week when Britney Spears' father agreed to step down from his conservatorship. Opening Argument: What Are Five Bad Moves You Can Make When Picking A Game Show Host? Let me say first that I don't have opinions about whether Mike Richards, who was recently announced as the new host of Jeopardy! (if you've heard there are two new hosts, understand that's not really the case -- more on that in a moment), will be a good host. I haven't been terribly interested in post-Trebek Jeopardy!, and didn't closely follow the weeks in which there were guest hosts like Aaron Rodgers, Robin Roberts, LeVar Burton, and others. So I'm entirely willing to give all the benefit of the doubt to them that he did a good job guest-hosting and will be a good permanent host.  But I did follow this closely as a sort of public relations story, the tale of trying to manage the expectations of a lot of passionate fans. So why does it feel so much like they mangled this process?  1. Hiring the boss as the host requires extra care, and they didn't take any.  Richards has hosting experience -- he hosted Beauty and the Geek, an oddball WB/CW show, and he's hosted a couple of small-potato shows. But his big credentials are in producing, and that's what was highlighted when he was brought in as the executive producer of Jeopardy! in 2020. He's executive produced much bigger shows than he's hosted, particularly including The Price Is Right.  And there's no getting around the fact that when a guy comes in as the production boss of a show and what do you know? -- he's the host a year later, you have to be careful to avoid the appearance of a sort of a sham process, where the guy essentially hired himself. Don't get me wrong: Nobody who understands TV would think that he could hire himself with no input from anyone else, particularly the executives at Sony Pictures Television. But he talked like he was running the search as recently as April. You can't blame people for thinking it's weird.  2. It doesn't seem like he's been entirely candid.  Richards claimed that his own guest-hosting stint was sort of an accident, an emergency "who me?" thing. But The Ringer has reported that this might not be so; that in fact, some sources say he capitalized on a small logistical issue to put himself on the schedule. Moreover, in the statement he made after he was announced as the new host, Richards said, "Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined being chosen to step into a role of this magnitude." This from a guy who also threw his hat in the ring to replace Bob Barker on The Price Is Right who came to Jeopardy! when it was going to need a new host. Who's going to believe he never thought about it? He could have just said, "I've been a producer more than I've been a host and I've always dreamed of a job like this, and while I asked to be considered, I stepped back from the selection process to avoid influencing it as much as possible." Pretending that this is not something he ever could have imagined just seems ... unconvincing.  3. The two-hosts thing is silly and, again, disingenuous.  The announcement of Richards was disguised as an announcement of two hosts who would share responsibilities: he would do the "daily syndicated show," and actor Mayim Bialik, who had been one of the guest hosts, would do primetime specials and spin-offs. The accurate description of this arrangement is that Richards is hosting the show, and Bialik is hosting some other stuff. The job to succeed Trebek? It went to Richards. Not two people. Richards. And the more they put out these sort of sketchy statements, the more it makes it seem like they don't want to talk about what really happened.  4. Beware of making it seem like you are doing something you are not doing.  When you run a bunch of guest hosts through what you imply are tryouts and then you pick the boss who oversaw their auditions, it can make it seem like the whole thing was kind of a joke. Again, this has nothing to do with whether Richards is a good host or not -- from what I've heard from people who followed more closely than I did, he got quite a good response.  But if you think there's any chance you're going to pick the guy who's in charge of the show, making it seem like you're doing a kind of open call just gives people more time to develop preferences for other people you will then seem like you openly rejected. It gives them more time to get frustrated that you audition at least some hosts of color, at least some women, but then you pick one of the lowest-profile people involved, who happens to be the white guy in charge. Again, it's not necessarily the wrong choice, but it's awfully awkward. Writer Melanie McFarland has laid out some of the reasons why they might have done it this way, and why it might have been -- as she puts it -- for show. 5. This guy? Taking for granted that Richards is good at hosting Jeopardy!, there's another problem that resurfaced in the last couple of weeks: two lawsuits from his time at The Price Is Right in which models suggested that the environment at the show was hostile to them. Richards addressed these issues with a fairly limited "this isn't who I am" and "I would never be disrespectful"-type statement, but looking at this entirely cynically: He's not a star, and they had lots of other options, so why take on all this baggage at a time when so much of television is trying so hard to at least create the impression that it takes this stuff seriously? Newsletter continues after sponsor message We Recommend: It’s not as if there aren’t enough baking shows out there, but if you’re looking for a fresh one that does show off some impressive work, you might like Netflix’s Bake Squad. Hosted by Christina Tosi of Milk Bar, it asks the same four professional bakers in each episode to create an epic dessert for a special occasion. It doesn’t have the emotional pull of the warmest competitive shows, but it does show you how some of the experts in the field might do some of the wild things you’ll see on display elsewhere.  There’s been a lot of talk about Jennifer Senior’s piece in The Atlantic about the McIlvaine family and their complicated path of grief in the 20 years since their son died on 9/11. It’s the kind of story that you might hesitate to read, because it’s obviously very painful, but it’s also rendered with a great deal of compassion and detail.  The great audio producer, editor and reporter Stephanie Foo wrote this week for Curbed about becoming a volunteer to care for nature in New York City. It’s a great piece, curious and vibrant and needed. Sad news from the NPR family this week as we learned that longtime host Neal Conan, whom I knew from his work hosting Talk of the Nation, had died. Do take a minute for Robert Siegel’s lovely remembrance. What We Did This Week: Apple TV+ On Monday's show, Glen and Aisha and I talked to our great friend Gene Demby about the HBO series The White Lotus.  On Tuesday's show, Glen and Aisha chatted about the new film Annette. On Wednesday's show, we ran an encore episode in which I talked about nonfiction audiobooks with our pal Kat Chow -- who will soon have one of her own, for her memoir Seeing Ghosts.  On Thursday's show, your four regular hosts -- me, Aisha, Stephen and Glen -- chatted about the Apple TV+ show Schmigadoon! On Friday's show, Stephen and I were delighted to be joined by Jarrett Hill and Tre'vell Anderson of the podcast FANTI, to talk about the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect.  I wrote about the process of watching all the sports in the Tokyo Olympics this year, and I really need to talk to you about water polo.  I wrote about the new film CODA, which I really love, and which I forgive for all its corny energy, because it's also really smart.  And, of course, I've got a Ted Lasso recap for you, and it's a good episode (again).  Glen wrote about the big reveal regarding Robin (of "Batman and"), and of course, he's exactly the right person to do so.  Glen also wrote about the Netflix series Brand New Cherry Flavor.  Glen also-also wrote about What If?, which can only make me ask ... what if Glen were really busy? And Stephen wrote about the Flock of Dimes Tiny Desk (Home) Concert. What's Making Us Happy! Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: What's Making Tre’vell Happy: The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete What's Making Jarrett Happy: The work of T.D. Jakes What's Making Stephen Happy: Big Thief, 'Little Things' What's Making Linda Happy:Priya Krishna, "Why Do American Grocery Stores Still Have An Ethnic Aisle?" Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: pchh@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. 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