Mike Richards (television personality)
Michael Richards (born July 5, 1975[1]) is a former American television producer, game show host, and television personality. He was most notably the executive producer of the American television game shows Let's Make a Deal and The Price Is Right from 2009 to 2019, and of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune from 2020 to 2021. Richards has also hosted other television series including High School Reunion, Beauty and the Geek, Pyramid, and Divided, and was executive producer of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2020.
Mike Richards
July 5, 1975
- Television personality
- Producer
1997–2021
Executive producer of Let's Make a Deal and The Price Is Right (2009–2019)
Executive producer of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! (2020–2021)
Stephanie Richards
2
In August 2021, Richards briefly succeeded Alex Trebek as host of the daily syndicated version of Jeopardy! after Trebek's death in 2020. However, Richards resigned as host later that month due to criticism over offensive comments that he made on The Randumb Show podcast, as well as wrongful termination and sexual harassment lawsuits from models during his time as the executive producer of The Price Is Right. Richards hosted only a week's worth of episodes, which aired in September 2021 as part of the show's 38th season.[2][3]
Early life[edit]
Richards was born in Burbank, California, and attended Pepperdine University.[1]
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Richards began his career in college where he created, wrote, produced, and hosted a weekly late-night comedy talk show called The Randumb Show at Pepperdine University. The show featured celebrity guests including Kim Fields, Casey Kasem, and Anson Williams.[1] Richards went on to intern for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Between 1996 and 2003, he regularly performed stand-up comedy in Los Angeles.[4]
Richards was the second host of Beauty and the Geek and produced numerous game shows, including Weakest Link.[5] He later hosted seasons of High School Reunion on The WB.[6]
During his early career, Richards was vice president of development and current programs for Dick Clark Productions.[1] He hosted the daily movie news show Dailies for three years and served as a correspondent for the American Music Awards and the 2005 Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.[7]
CBS: The Price Is Right and Let's Make a Deal[edit]
From 2009 to 2019, Richards was the executive producer of The Price Is Right and Let's Make a Deal.[8] He was also a candidate to host The Price Is Right in 2007 before Drew Carey was chosen.[9] In interviews of those two shows, Richards was described as "exclusionary and dismissive of longtime show employees"; he fired announcer Rich Fields and held on-air auditions, similar to the ones he later used on Jeopardy!, to hire George Gray as Fields's replacement. Additionally, Richards dismissed longtime producer Roger Dobkowitz, who was also longtime friend of Bob Barker.[10] Richards often neglected Deal and was frequently absent from day-to-day operations. A post-producer was fired after sarcastically making an introduction that drew attention to Richards' absences.[4]
Beginning in 2013, Richards hosted a podcast, The Randumb Show, which was promoted as a look at the production of Price. The Ringer reported that he "repeatedly used offensive language and disparaged women's bodies."[4] In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League criticized Richards' disparaging stereotyping of women, Jews, Asians, and the disabled on the podcast and called for an investigation,[11] after which he apologized for the material and took the podcast offline.[4][12]
Richards was the subject of two wrongful termination lawsuits from models on The Price Is Right; one lawsuit was by Brandi Cochran, who alleged that CBS and FremantleMedia discriminated against her by firing her after she became pregnant with twins,[13] and another was by Lanisha Cole, who claimed that Richards and fellow producer Adam Sandler (not to be confused with actor and comedian Adam Sandler) berated her in front of her peers and wrongfully terminated her.[3][14] The Hollywood Reporter stated that Richards made a disparaging comment about Cochran's pregnancy at a 2008 party,[13] and that Richards claimed she was fired because he thought that she "would not take us to great."[2]
Sony Pictures Television: Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy![edit]
Richards left both Price and Deal in 2019 and joined Sony Pictures Television,[17] where he was assigned to the ABC primetime return of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as an executive producer alongside host Jimmy Kimmel and Michael Davies for the nine-episode first season of the show during the 2019–20 season.[18] Richards also served as the executive producer for the 2021 GSN revival series of Chain Reaction.[19][20] For the 2020–21 season, he succeeded Harry Friedman as executive producer of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy![21]
After Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek died on November 8, 2020, Richards appeared at the start of the November 9 episode to pay tribute to him.[22] Richards later filled in for two weeks as a guest host of the show, with his first episode airing on February 22, 2021.[23] On August 4, it was reported that Richards had entered "advanced negotiations" to become the permanent host, though with other candidates still in contention.[24][25] After that announcement, a lawsuit filed against Richards and others during his tenure as the executive producer of The Price Is Right resurfaced, causing controversy.[25][26][27] On August 11, it was announced that Richards would succeed Trebek as host of the daily show, with Jeopardy! guest host Mayim Bialik hosting future prime-time specials and spinoffs.[28][29] However, on August 20, it was announced that Richards would step down after offensive comments he had made in the past emerged.[30][4] The five episodes Richards filmed the previous day, the show's first day of production on the new season,[31] aired in September to kick off the show's 38th season.[32]
Richards initially remained executive producer of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! after resigning as host, with the backing of Sony Pictures and the head of its television division, Ravi Ahuja.[33] However, on August 31, 2021, a week and a half after Richards resigned as permanent host, he was fired as executive producer of both shows. Michael Davies from Embassy Row served as interim executive producer for Jeopardy! following Richards's departure,[34][nb 1] and on April 14, 2022, was announced to be taking the role full-time.[36] On March 23, 2022, it was announced that Bellamie Blackstone would take over the executive producer role for Wheel of Fortune.[35] Bialik and Ken Jennings were eventually chosen as co-hosts for the syndicated version of Jeopardy! on July 27, 2022.[37]