Before being fired as not only the new permanent host of Jeopardy! but also as the game show’s executive producer and executive producer of Wheel of Fortune, the tumultuous Mike Richards shot a week’s worth of episodes for an episode that aired earlier this month, and now we get to see how he performed. Richards’ only week as host of Jeopardy! cost the game show the number one slot, which went to Family Feud, according to the latest ratings report.
Jeopardy! did, however, gain some popularity, but not because of Richards. To a large extent. The Wrap reports:
“Jeopardy!” was the only game show to grow from the same week last year. With the return of champion Matt Amodio, who continued his 18-game winning streak to start the new season, the Sony quiz show rose 2% year over year.
There was probably some viewing interest in Amodio’s week, and considerably more for the lone Richards week.
To be fair to Richards, this isn’t the first time since Alex Trebek’s passing that Jeopardy! has slipped from the top spot in the ratings. Katie Couric received the award in March, but she outperformed Richards when the show slipped behind Family Feud once more. While Richards received a 5.1 rating for his second-place finish, Couric received a 5.3 for a tough loss to the Feud.
