Mayim Bialik is stepping in as the first guest host for “Jeopardy!” amid Mike Richards‘ exit.
On Monday, Sony Pictures Television confirmed the news to ABC News — revealing Bialik is currently scheduled to tape three weeks of episodes for a total of 15 episodes — when production resumes this week.
The production company also revealed how additional guest hosts will be announced as production on the upcoming 38th season of the quiz show continues.
The “Big Bang Theory” alum, who was announced earlier this month as the new host for “Jeopardy!” following Richards’s announcement to leave “effective immediately” amid resurfaced controversial remarks.
Bialik guest-hosted “Jeopardy!” earlier this year from May 31 to June 11. Richards announced he was leaving the show in an internal note to “Jeopardy!” staff.
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“It pains me that these past incidents and comments have cast such a shadow on Jeopardy! as we look to start a new chapter,” Richards, who continues to be an executive producer of the program, began in a statement.
“It pains me that these past incidents and comments have cast such a shadow on Jeopardy! as we look to start a new chapter,” Richards, who remains an executive producer of the program, began.
He then added how he was “deeply honored” to be asked to be the permanent replacement for Alex Trebek, who died last November after a years-long battle with pancreatic cancer, but it had “become clear that moving forward as host would be too much of a distraction for our fans and not the right move for the show.”
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Richards was the second person to fill in as a guest host this season, which has featured a cast of people following the death of Alex Trebek, who hosted over 8,000 “Jeopardy!” episodes.
In February, Richards posted to his Instagram:
“I’ve been asked a lot about how I felt filling in as host of Jeopardy!…I envision this billboard of Alex outside of our studio. It’s more than two stories high and yet he was even bigger than that with his wit, charm and generosity. I thought about what he told me, “the contestants are the stars of Jeopardy!”. I thought about every great teacher who challenged me to be better,” he began.
“I thought about my first mentor Dick Clark. I was the VP of his company when I got the Beauty and the Geek hosting job. I was concerned about producing for him and hosting at the same time. He told me “I’ve done it my entire life, you’ll be great.” I thought about how much I love this game and the fact that it promotes kindness, intelligence and fair play. And as I prepared to step up to the lectern I thought, what an honor.”
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