A slight digression from the most serious news of the day. I know I can use the break.
We are moderately obsessed with Jeopardy! in my house. We are not alone. It’s the highest-rated daily or primetime show with an average of 20 million viewers a day. The entire concept of a shared experience in America is now restricted to Jeopardy!, the Super Bowl, and occasionally the World Series or the Oscars.
I do come by the obsession honestly. My mother was a two day champion in 1965, and I’ve been a follower since those early, Art Fleming-hosted, days on NBC.
The search for the guest host, which ended last week with the dual selection of executive producer, Mike Richards for the daily syndicated show, and Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik for the primetime specials, has been really interesting.
I think Joe Buck the final guest host, was really most at home and it showed. Of course he is a television sports play-by-play announcer which means that fast paced extemporaneous speaking comes naturally to him. A couple of the other television professionals were competent but felt like, well, television game show hosts, a damning attribution you could never hang on Alex Trebek.
Ken Jennings, the biggest Jeopardy! winner of all time kicked off the guest hosting. I liked him, but thought he came off as a bit above it all. He was followed by Katie Couric, who was strangely disconnected from the proceedings, and seemed about a half a step behind the whole time. Proof that it looks easy but is anything but.
Aaron Rodgers, the once and future Green Bay Packers quarterback got the most buzz. He was surprisingly adept at the job, all the more so because of his famously testy personality. More than a few women hung on his every word. And speaking of buzz, Buzzy Cohen, a successful veteran player, hosted the Tournament of Champions, and handled those duties better than Jennings, the other alum (who is now a production consultant on the show).
Bill Whitaker, the 60 Minutes stalwart, was workman-like. He did the job in the most perfunctory fashion. Kind of a fish-out-of-water stint that gave way to another TV pro, Anderson Cooper, who was acceptable; you could watch him, but your pulse never registered a change regardless of the stakes or circumstances. CNN’s medical expert, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, will stick to his primary gig as a neurosurgeon, and we should be thankful for his time on Jeopardy!, he didn’t move the needle, but reminded us that in a tense and difficult world, something fun is a relief.
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos was as cool as the other side of the pillow, and I’d have been fine had he taken the reins permanently. Fine, but not excited. His Good Morning America stablemate, Robin Roberts, was enthusiastic, but kind of like 6-Up: just a little short of the mark.
Dr. Mehmet Oz is another consummate TV professional, but again, while he checked most of the boxes, he was a little detached from the proceedings. LeVar Burton was the assumed leader in the clubhouse, but I was surprised that his presence was more deer-in-the-headlights than prepared-and-raring-to-go. Maybe it was because I have a hard time seeing him without the Geordi La Forge
visor from his Star Trek days. My bad.
Joe Buck, as mentioned above, handled the final week of guest hosts, and for my money, was the best fit after Mike Richards, who, in a pinch, stepped in for the two weeks following Ken Jenkins’ stint. Mr. Buck, by virtue of years on the hot seat as a play-by-play announcer, was far and away the most comfortable and competent, lending the necessary dramatic edge to the proceedings. Makes sense since he regularly turns the mundane in baseball and football into the must-see.
My emotional favorite was Today Show cohost Savannah Guthrie. A surprise even to me. Unlike the other TV pros, she was not too polished, and exuded a comfortable warmth and charm. Probably a little too relaxed for a high stakes game show, but refreshing nonetheless. She depressurized the whole thing, and that was a fun diversion, though not one that could stand the test of time. Of course she wasn’t about to quit her day job anyway.
As is now de rigueur in our fractious and contentious world, the inevitable tempest in a teapot erupted around Mike Richards. Wags wondered, is it a conflict of interest that the executive produce put himself in the race, and did ancient personnel issues at The Price is Right, which he helmed for a decade, disqualify him in this woke world? And speaking of, did they add Ms. Bialik due to quiet complaints about a lack of diversity?
I think we’ll all enjoy Mr. Richard’s run as the third host of Jeopardy! I’m sure my mother would approve.
©2021 Jon Sinton for Progressive Agenda LLC