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Mayim Bialik, Ken Jennings To Host 'Jeopardy!' Through End Of Year

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – "The Big Bang Theory" star Mayim Bialik and "Jeopardy!" champion Ken Jennings will share hosting duties for the embattled gameshow through at least the end of the year.

Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings
Undated photos of Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings. (Getty Images)

"Jeopardy!" made the announcement Thursday on its Twitter account.

"Not sure if you've heard but @missmayim and @kenjennings are hosting me until the end of the year," the show's producers wrote. "Everyone on the staff is supralunar."

This comes after the controversy surrounding Mike Richards, who in early August was named the new permanent host of "Jeopardy!", but was then forced to step down from the post just weeks later over because of past comments and behavior. He was later fired from his post as executive producer of the show.

On Aug. 11, Sony Pictures Television announced that Richards would begin the 38th season of the show as the full-time host, while Bialik would host the show's prime time and spinoff series.

However, less than two weeks later, Richards announced he was stepping down.

The comments that sank Richards came on podcasts in 2013 and 2104. According to The Ringer, Richards made disparaging remarks about women, little people, the mentally disabled and Jews during episodes of the "The Randumb Show."

In addition, discrimination lawsuits filed by women who worked on "The Price is Right" -- where Richards was executive producer from 2008 to 2018 -- had recently resurfaced. Richards came on as executive producer of Jeopardy! in 2019.

Longtime host Alex Trebek passed away last November after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. Trebek had been the face of "Jeopardy!" for 35 years and more than 18,000 episodes.

Since his passing, the show has tested several guest hosts, including the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Katie Couric, Bill Whitaker, Anderson Cooper, Savannah Guthrie, Sanjay Gupta, LeVar Burton, George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, Joe Buck, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Buzzy Cohen and David Faber.

The 47-year-old Jennings has the record for the most consecutive wins on "Jeopardy!", with 74.

The 45-year-old Bialik is best known for her portrayal of Amy Farrah Fowler on the "Big Bang Theory" and Blossom Russo on the hit 1990s show "Blossom." She also has a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA.

(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)

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