Mayim Bialik To Host The Newly Announced Jeopardy! Spinoff?
Mayim Bialik’s time hosting Jeopardy! looks like it may just land her a permanent spot on the show’s upcoming spinoff.
There’s nothing better than a game show with your favorite celebrities facing off for the ultimate claim of the number one spot. First, we were given the long running Hollywood Squares, in which everyday people would work with the famous faces filling the squares to win big or go home. Since then, we’ve seen Hollywood’s most rich and famous appear on a slew of cut throat shows including Family Feud and, more recently, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune. And now, thanks to the good folks at ABC, audiences will be given the chance to see who the smartest celeb in the game is with a new Jeopardy! based spinoff titled Celebrity Jeopardy! Planning to land on the network in the fall, the announcement didn’t reveal who the host would be just yet. Of that, ABC Entertainment President, Craig Erwich said to not think too hard. Last year, it was announced that actress Mayim Bialik would host the upcoming Jeopardy! specials, which is why folks at home are questioning the hesitation behind the network announcing her inclusion.
The current questions swirling around Mayim Bialik’s takeover of Celebrity Jeopardy! seem to be a real devil’s-in-the-details situation as no one is confirming nor denying her involvement. This was further bolstered by a statement that Erwich made, commenting that it truly was about “the details of the announcement,” leading us to speculate that a deal is still being worked out with plans and maybe even scheduling up in the air. Erwich went as far as to confirm with Variety that Mayim Bialik wasn’t out of the Jeopardy! running just yet by answering “Correct” when the publication posed the question.
Following the passing of the show’s beloved host, Alex Trebek, back in November 2020, the series was led by television producer and personality Mike Richards. His time standing in the emcee’s spot would be short-lived after a slew of criticism began to fly in Richards’ direction surrounding offensive comments he allegedly made prior to his time on Jeopardy! as well as allegations of wrongful terminations and sexual harassment lawsuits that came to light while he served as an executive producer on The Price is Right. After Richards was removed, Mayim Bialik took over Jeopardy! hosting duties alongside ex-winner Ken Jennings as the network marches on to find a suitable fill in for the late Trebek.
Mayim Bialik has been a part of Hollywood since she was a child. She landed her first role back in 1991 as the titular character on NBC’s hit sitcom, Blossom, where she would find incredible success over a five season run. Bagging another hit series 15 years later, Bialik would find herself at the center of a group of pals on the NBC critically acclaimed sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. Through her work on the brainy laugh-out-loud hit, she would rake in four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. A multi-hyphenated creative, she’s also had her hand in authoring books and hosting a podcast.
And then of course, there’s Mayim Bialik’s time hosting Jeopardy! which looks like it may just land her a permanent spot on the show’s upcoming spinoff. With her ease at creating banter with the contestants and making them feel at home as well as her television background, we think Bialik is a no-brainer to lead the new show.
