LeVar Burton talks Jeopardy!: “The fix was always in”
Burton, currently set to host the Scripps National Spelling Bee, has asserted that the "audition" process for Jeopardy! host was never a real competition
Aux News Jeopardy!
LeVar Burton has been in the news of late, as he steps up to lend decades of experience as the face of American reading to a new gig: Hosting the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Understandably, this job as MC for America’s most dramatic intellectual bloodsport has brought up questions about that other mental competition gig Burton was purportedly in the running for. And Burton has pulled no punches talking about his efforts to become Jeopardy! host, declaring that he feels like he was never given a real shot, and that “the fix was in” in regards to efforts to take his spot at the podium.
This is per a few different conversations the Roots and Star Trek actor has had recently, including with The Ringer, which did a healthy chunk of reporting on former Jeopardy! executive producer/host Mike Richards, whose long-running search for a new host in the wake of the death Alex Trebek ended up centering on… Mike Richards.
Burton (after having to be reminded multiple times what Richards’ name was—same, honestly) stated that he actually had to call the producer, who was put in charge of finding Jeopardy’s new host, twice about getting a potential guest-hosting gig/tryout for the permanent job, because Richards apparently “didn’t believe” Burton was actually passionate about the job. (This, despite the fact that Burton’s been expressing his interest in the position since way back in 2013; like the hundreds of thousands of people who signed a petition supporting him getting the job, he noted that his unique position in the American cultural landscape made him a natural fit for the gig.)
Even so: “It was not a competition to find a new host, really. Because the fix was always in.” Among other things, Burton notes that he was given only a week hosting the show (during the Olympics, which hurt ratings), as opposed to the two-week guest-host stint that most “candidates” got, which reduced his ability to get comfortable and improve after some early stiffness in the position. Plus, again: The bit where Richards functionally ended up picking himself for the job. (Richards spent exactly one day—a.k.a. five episodes—in the position before outcry and reporting about both the process and his past comments drove him out; Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik currently share the host job, with no permanent host now set.)
Anyway: LeVar Burton’s not stressing about it. He’s set to appear on the third season of Picard, he’s still working to develop a Trivial Pursuit board game, and, again: The man’s hosting the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Who needs Jeopardy!?
107 Comments
How come no one’s suggested Greg Kihn?
That is a deeeeep cut. Nicely done.
He lost
they just don’t write (jokes) like that anymore
They don’t write em like that anymore
I thought he was dead, but I guess not.
No way, he kihn not host that program!
The last thing you want in a pandemic is someone who’s kihntageous.
My only regret is that I have but one star to give for this comment.
“he’s still working to develop a Trivial Pursuit board game”The one that exists? You mean a tv version of the board game, surely.
Somebody pitching trivial pursuit to a board game company would be the funniest thing
Right but you see this one has square pieces!
Square is so Ameritrash. It’s all about the meeples now.
You mean, The Moops.
He’s trying to package the magic of the TV show back into a board game. Duh. So it’s “Trivial Pursuit: The Board Game Inspired by Trivial Pursuit: The TV Show Inspired by the Original Trivial Pursuit Board Game.”
There are different types of Trivial Pursuit board games. There’s an 80s version, a Friends version. Well, those two I know, but I’m sure there are many other kinds. Maybe it’s a Next Generation or a black history one.
Never understood America’s need to turn spelling bees into a theatrical event (more or less).
Actors memorise words all the time, difference is they make their recitation entertaining to watch.
I’ve had to explain to friends elsewhere around the globe what spelling bees even are. They don’t really exist outside of English-speaking countries, because other languages have orthographies that make sense, whereas the English language’s fucked up history led to a uniquely fucked up orthography.
China has dictionary contests, where you have to look up a word in a non-alphabetic system. It sounds both harder and less entertaining than a spelling bee, as well as a indication your written language is fairly ridiculous for the modern world.
“ harder and less entertaining” – that’s China in a nutshell.
Japan has a competition based on recognizing a set of 100 famous poems as quickly as possible:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitive_karutaMy ex-pat Japanese mom was a local karuta champion in Kyoto. It looks pretty intense in the televised competitions I’ve seen.
Quebec used to have a big dictation competition, I think the Netherlands still does… But yeah, English orthography seems to be the one that lends itself best to competitive spelling.
An actor memorizing a specific and limited set of lines is much different than a spelling bee contestant theoretically memorizing how to spell every word in the English language. Though of course that would be impossible. Rather, they learn as many as they can and use their knowledge of word construction to fill in the gaps.Not getting into whether it’s interesting or not. I don’t watch it, so I can’t really say. But comparing it to an actor memorizing lines is bizarre.
Spelling bees use lists of words (so not every word in the English language).
And the comparison to actors is not bizarre at all. They’re both memorising words for public recitation. Just actors learn how to recite for entertainment purposes, while kids learn… spelling. The effectively arbitrary way that letters are combined to make words, not via any laws of science, nature or the universe, but by human conventions which don’t even remain constant. It’s doing it in public that’s bizarre as it doesn’t happen anywhere else.
Yes, it absolutely DOES happen “anywhere else”.
You don’t watch an actor to be impressed at their memorization. Yeah, you might think “Wow, that was a long soliloquy, that’s some impressive memorization!” but hopefully you were more taken by her emotion and body movement and convincing evocation of the character.Spelling is also not about memorization, as you suggested yourself. It’s more about knowing how words are constructed, and deducing that for words you’ve never seen based on their language of origin and definition.
It’s like watching a sport, only it’s the brain you’re interested in rather than the body.
Just like watching Jeopardy!
But it’s not memorization. That’s why contestants ask questions about language of origin, root, an example of use – this is how I learned vocabulary for the SATs. For the SATs you learn how to deduce the meaning of a word from its spelling. For a spelling bee, you learn the opposite. A word of latin origin is going to be spelled different than one of germanic origin. Learning these things is genuinely interesting because then you understand why words like house and mouse have different plural forms. Learning how the language works leads to a whole new appreciation of the complexity of English.
You can study a list of words, hence the comparison to actors memorising lines – it’s rote learning. Actors memorise thousands of words, so can spelling bee entrants. Word origin can be helpful and interesting, but it’s not as practical as just learning the words.
it’s not as practical as just learning the words.Actually, it’s far, far more practical. Rote memorization has been shown to be one of the worst ways to learn anything, especially for kids. It is far more valuable and practical to learn how something works rather than just memorize a list. This is why most modern language-learning programs teach by association and real use rather than memorization. It’s also why the way kids learn math now makes math more accessible to all learners because it focuses on how math works rather than just memorizing times tables. These kids are preparing themselves to be able to spell any word any person will give them, not just one list. And the skills they build will help them have excellent reading comprehension and language skills for the rest of their lives.
Sorry, we just disagree about this.
I’ll give you that word origin can be interesting. But learning English isn’t like learning maths. English doesn’t have set rules, it has conventions that aren’t always applied. You can “learn how (English) works” and still not know how to spell many words. The only way to absolutely know how a word is spelled is to read it, hence memorisation is most practical for a competition. We’re not talking about the rest of the kids’ lives here.
If you watch Zalia Avant-Garde win the 2021 Cripp’s Seplling Bee, you will see she did not know what the winning word was. You see her try to work out origin and root. She then spells a word she has never seen before based on simple knowledge of language. That’s incredibly impressive. Languages of origin, use case and roots all have rules and conventions that do allow people to be able to deduce spelling without any knowledge of or recognition of the word. The two top kids from this year’s Bee had a speed round spell-off to determine a winner because they both missed the same number of words in the last round – something that would not happen if they were simply memorizing words. These kids do not have all the words memorized from a list. You do not appreciate or understand the very hard work they put into becoming expert spellers.
Mate, I literally wrote “word origin can be helpful”.But just because it can be used on occasion if you don’t know how to spell a word, doesn’t make it more practical than memorising word spelling for a competition. Especially when you’re given a list of potential words for that very purpose. Don’t tell me what I appreciate or understand. Memorising is also hard work and not everyone can do it. I’d just rather watch a recitation of Shakespeare. Public recitation of word spelling is for the classroom, not a theatrical event.
They’re given a list of words as a study guide but the final rounds require them to spell words they are unfamiliar with, something memorization doesn’t factor into. The fact of the matter is that this is not rote memorization and I don’t know why you continue to pretend it is. Additionally, there have been several TV shows and movies with spelling bees as part of or central to the plot. They’re entertaining and theatrical. It’s a competition. I could say performing Shakespeare is boring and overrated, but that wouldn’t make it true. It would just be a shitty, dismissive opinion.
The fact of the matter is it’s a mix, as I’ve been saying. I never said “it’s only memorisation”. The final rounds can require them to spell words they’re unfamiliar with, but not always. I’m just telling you what other spelling bee entrants have said. It’s mainly memorisation with a bit of word origin knowledge needed. I don’t know why you pretend it isn’t.
Opinions are a matter of taste. Saying Shakespeare is boring and overrated is as dismissive as saying shows with spelling bees are. It’s not shitty at all. What would be shitty is saying Americans seem to have a preoccupation with teaching their kids spelling and making a major competition out of it, when they could be teaching their kids something actually useful for the world. Knowing how to spell is about as useful as having perfect pitch; it’s a neat skill and can be fun at parties but otherwise we have machines that can do it just as well if not better. But I wouldn’t say that because it would be shitty to say it to someone who clearly is quite emotionally invested in maintaining the credibility of spelling bees for some reason. 😛
As someone who went through two separate public school systems that didn’t participate in spelling bees, I can tell you it’s not such a common experience as to make it accurate to call it a country-wide “preoccupation.” What’s more accurate is to say that competitive activities like spelling bees in America come with award money and embellish a college application. Most of the kids participating and their parents are motivated to win scholarships, cash prizes and/or improve their chances of being accepted into Ivy League schools, because they very much need this assistance. That’s because education and life in this country are stupidly expensive and a spelling bee can help a kid and their family immensely. And it still pales in comparison to the money available to student athletes. Spelling bees are worthwhile.
As soon as decent money is involved it’s not just about the kids though.
Maybe spelling bees aren’t as bad as Miss America pageants (the biggest provider of scholarships to women in the world, which sounds great) but you know as well as I do that there’s always more than one side to any story.
Spelling tests don’t need to be monetised, but leave it to America to find a way.
It’s an academic competition. Kids win money or scholarships for plenty of extra curricular activities from debate to sports to volunteer work. I know you really just want to dunk on America here, but there are so many other things more worthy of mockery than insulting the academic work of literal school children. Your entire initial argument was essentially that watching professional adult actors is more entertaining than watching kids under 15 display a skill they’ve learned. Like that’s a fair comparison in any way shape or form. I’ve explained why this isn’t just about rote memorization, so you changed the conversation to be about “America is too preoccupied teaching their kids to spell their language that I think is stupid.” Then when I pointed out it wasn’t about that either, now you’re making it about how rewarding kids for academic achievement is somehow the same as giving scholarships based on physical good looks? You’re just moving the goal post because you want to feel superior. If you’re living in a country with universal healthcare, then you already won that. Quit shitting on the accomplishments of school children.
Oh boy, we got a few things to unpack here.
It’s an academic competition. Kids win money or scholarships for plenty of extra curricular activities from debate to sports to volunteer work.
Where I’m from spelling is part of the curriculum. It isn’t an extra curricular activity.
But apparently where you’re from kids win stuff for volunteer work?!… Let’s just let that sink in for a moment. I know you really just want to dunk on America here, but there are so many other things more worthy of mockery than insulting the academic work of literal school children.The topic here is American spelling bees. I’m offering a negative opinion so naturally there’ll be some “dunking” on an aspect of America here. If you want me to stop, then stop engaging me in a public forum.
Your entire initial argument was essentially that watching professional adult actors is more entertaining than watching kids under 15 display a skill they’ve learned. Like that’s a fair comparison in any way shape or form.
I didn’t say professional adult actors, my initial argument works for child actors and school plays too. I’ve explained why this isn’t just about rote memorization, so you changed the conversation to be about “America is too preoccupied teaching their kids to spell their language that I think is stupid.” Then when I pointed out it wasn’t about that either, now you’re making it about how rewarding kids for academic achievement is somehow the same as giving scholarships based on physical good looks? You’re just moving the goal post because you want to feel superior.
And I agreed with you. I then added a tongue-in-cheek observation that you responded to. I then added another aspect to this conversation, which you evidently don’t know much about (Miss America pageants are certainly not just about “physical good looks”.)Our conversation has been going for days. Naturally it will change and evolve over time. We’ve both made some good points, but if there’s anyone here displaying “wanting to feel superior” it’s not me. I haven’t been calling your opinions “shit”.
If you’re living in a country with universal healthcare, then you already won that. Quit shitting on the accomplishments of school children. Now who’s moving goal posts.
Quit replying to people if you don’t want to have potentially opposing opinions written back.
But apparently where you’re from kids win stuff for volunteer work?!… Let’s just let that sink in for a moment.Now I want to know where you’re from that kids are never recognized in some way for going above and beyond for their community.
Yeah, that’s the thing to focus on. /s
You focused on it in a list that included debate and sports, and in a manner that suggests it is absurd or untoward in some way to recognize children for volunteer work. I’ve read about kids in the news in other countries for doing volunteer work and being rewarded in some way for it. Just didn’t seem so odd to me.
Ugh, volunteer literally means work without pay. At most you get something nice to put on a resume. Anything else and it undermines the point of volunteering and you won’t change my mind on that so there’s really nothing else to discuss.
Scholarships and awards for community service do not in any way undermine the point of volunteering. It happens a lot in many countries. You sure do have a lot of things on your list of things kids shouldn’t be recognized for.
“I volunteer to help people” vs “I volunteer to get a reward”. There’s a difference.
This is the weirdest take I’ve ever heard on the internet.
Sure, and caber tossing doesn’t happen outside of Scotland, and Russia makes a big deal out of chess, and the Dominion keeps trying to convince people cricket is a real game and not a golf-esque way of taking afternoon tea and ruining it with unnecessary feats of semi-athleticism.I can’t quibble that a spelling bee is both weird and rather uniquely American, but I would argue it’s not any more outlandish than, say, Eurovision.
Spelling bees use lists of words (so not every word in the English language).I don’t think that’s true? Certainly not a list that the contestants know and can memorize ahead of time.As the other commenter said, it’s not about memorizing every word. It’s about learning how words with different origins and in different contexts are constructed.
Look it up. I read there are lists of words for different age groups published by Scripps, who sponsors the national spelling bees.
These lists are generally the words used in spelling bees, so studying them is paramount.
This is from the FAQs on the Scripps website: “Remember, although spelling bees begin with words from the study guide, they often end with words you haven’t studied.”So, yes, there is a list, but not all the words they use in the bee are on the list.
You really have no clue how hard top level spelling bee’s are clearly. Celebrities memorize lines that are given to them weeks or months in advance, and some don’t even memorize them. Bee contestants are not given any type of list of words they may have to spell. They aren’t memorizing lines. They are given random words and have to use their knowledge of entomology to figure it out in their heads on the spot in front of millions of people. The list of chosen words is just what the host is given to call out. The contestants aren’t given that list and have no idea what words could be asked. I’m not saying its much fun to watch, but I guarantee those 10 year olds could destroy you in a spelling competition.
So, not a spelling bee and not theatrical, but other than THAT, most countries have game shows and several of them have general knowledge quizzing on TV in many forms.But we get it, you’re a cunt.
That’s why I’m writing a play about a spelling bee.
The fix might have always been in, but he was not good.You can say anything you want about Mike Richards being in charge of the search for the position he was eventually nominated to do, but he didn’t multiple times tell contestants their answers were correct when their answers were wrong.I really wanted LeVar to be the host, but there’s no way you can say his audition wasn’t the among the worst of all those guest hosts.
he was definitely super shaky but he also only got half as much time as every other host to acclimate – it was only one week (5 games) which means it was literally just one day hosting, which is crazybut then again as we know now… it wasn’t an audition. it was just killing time and hopefully grabbing some attention online
Wrong, there were several other guest hosts who also got one-week stints: George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, David Faber and Joe Buck.
Wrong, there were several other guest hosts who also got one-week stints: George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, David Faber and Joe Buck. ALL of whom were markedly better than Burton.
Agreed…and this is coming from someone who typically can’t stand Joe Buck!
Same here, but I actually came out of Buck’s stint thinking he’d be a really good host. What he brought from the sports broadcasting worked well – he saw the show as an active competition, not just a series of questions, so he was aware of scores, of the rhythms of a contestant on a hot streak, or coming from behind, and conveyed that energy making the match more fun to watch.
I was so disappointed to hear Joe Buck was hosting….except he turned out to be great. Wow, what an unexpectedly fun stint. Don’t know if I would’ve had enjoyed it permanently, but his cadence and enthusiasm was a great shake-up compared to everyone else.
Except David Faber came right after, also got only one week, and absolutely knocked it out of the park.
Well, as others said, incorrect, as others only had one week (one day). And, even if you only look at the first week/day, he was among the worst.
You guys always like to pretend like LeVar wouldn’t have quickly improved.
Of course it was never a competition. It was a publicity stunt straight from the start. Hence why more veteran game show hosts like Brooke Burns or Meredith Viera were never invited to be guest hosts. Hell, the fact that it was a “tryout” at all was all pure fan speculation. The show itself did not mention it whatsoever. It was basically similar to when a talk show host goes on vacation and somebody else hosts for a few weeks, except this was over an entire season.
And even if it was an actual, serious tryout, I doubt Burton would have gotten the gig anyway.
BTW, remember when his obsessive fans vowed that Jeopardy’s ratings would tank if Burton wasn’t the host?
EDIT: If we wanna get technical, Mayim is the sole host, with Ken guesting every few weeks. This will likely change next season, but as of now, that’s how it is.
It wasn’t purely fan speculation. That’s how it was covered by the media, with the show’s producers and PR people being fully aware of that and never even trying to issue a correction. They cultivated the “tryout” speculation without ever actually saying the word out loud to avoid legal repercussions. It was just as sneaky and underhanded as you’d expect from a producer who was planning on giving himself a coveted job he didn’t deserve.
Pretty sure “fan speculation” and “the media” are the exact same thing nowadays.
What’s sad is there are no real game show hosts anymore, just celebrities. A host was a professional broadcaster. So the whole search was just kinda dumb and random anyway, and the fact that Richards chose himself was the cherry on top.I’ll agree it’s nuts Brooke Burns wasn’t given a shot – I definitely pre-judged her and was really impressed with her chops in her hosting gigs.I hope Ken becomes permanent host – he’s settled in and has a nice calming energy. Mayim still feels like she’s forcing it to me.
Not having a proper host is one of the reasons Card Sharks’ revival sucked so much. The format was also bad, but Joel McHale was the wrong person to host. That’s not to say celebrities aren’t universally bad, though. Michael Strahan has been great on Pyramid and Craig Ferguson was excellent on both Celebrity Name Game and The Hustler. Many think he’d be great on Match Game and I agree.Given that Ken has left both The Chase and Master Minds, odds are good he is going to be the permanent host next season.
Right about that. The Weakest Link revival with Jane Lynch is really a travesty. She is really just doing a mediocre Anne Robinson impression. And, complete sidebar, for the love of God can we stop putting Ken Jeong on celebrity panels.
Although people don’t really think of him as “game show host” after the years on Survivor, Jeff Probst (also former host of Rock & Roll Jeopardy!) to me is one of those that fits the mold of “professional” host. Pretty sure Sony couldn’t compete with Survivor money for his salary, but he would have been a natural fit.
I’ve disliked the direction of Jeopardy in general ever since they started the special celebrity Daily Doubles and whatnot. It undermined its timeless and classy veneer. I also am not crazy about fan campaigns and trying to guilt your way into a gig, so the situation with LeVar always rubbed me the wrong way.
Brooke Burns has hosted several game shows and has a Daytime Emmy nomination for one of them. I hate it when incredibly beautiful people are ALSO really talented.
If we wanna get technical, Mayim is the sole host, with Ken guesting every few weeks. This will likely change next season, but as of now, that’s how it is.I remember when the Jennings/Bialik duo was first announced, it was presented as Jennings being the main host for “regular” Jeopardy episodes and Bialik would be hosting the tournaments and some primetime specials, but as someone who watches the show regularly, yeah, what you’re saying seems to be true now. I’ve seen a lot more Mayim than Ken over the last couple months or so. Mayim has gotten a little better I’d say, but Ken is very much preferable for me.
That was the announcement when it was still Richards. I don’t remember them saying what the structure would be once he got the boot, but they put in Mayim for several weeks before Ken started doing it.Ken has said he’ll be away for a few months but back by the end of the season. As of now, he has still hosted more episodes this season than Mayim has, not counting the college tournament.
The easiest way to tell is by the opening. Johnny Gilbert says “The host of Jeopardy!” when introducing Mayim. When Ken walks out, he says “Hosting Jeopardy” instead.
I bet the terminology that Johnny Gilbert uses to announce them was actually a request by Ken, wanting to request the institution of Jeopardy! and Alex Trebek, the true host of the show. Mayim “Antivaxx-brainpills-victim blaming-I have a PhD have you heard?” Bialik isn’t exactly a respectful person. And wants it to be all about her all the time.
I’ve seen a lot more Mayim than Ken over the last couple months or so
With the exception of her recent hosting the last few weeks, I was thinking the opposite. I felt like Mayim would host for like 2 weeks and Ken would be there like a month. At the very least it seemed like he covered near the entirety of Mattea and Amy’s runs.I don’t really have any stats backing this up or anything. Just struck me as weird as Ken being *a* host despite it seeming like he’s always on.
By the end of this week, Ken will have hosted one hundred episodes this season, Mayim will have hosted eighty-five. That includes the Professors’ Tournament, which was part of regular Daytime Jeopardy!, but not the college tournament, which was a separate ABC primetime special.With seven weeks remaining, I expect they’ll end up roughly equal.
I bet with Celebrity Jeopardy happening they’ll settle on Mayim for the celebs and Ken for the nerds, which sounds fine.
Burton is right that there was foul play, but also, Burton was not very good during his guest stint. Easily the most disappointing.
Yeah. The process was rigged, but when you’ve campaigned for a job as long and hard as Burton did, there’s no excuse not to knock your tryout out of the park. It was a short stint buried where people were least likely to see it, but I’m thinking that Richards breathed a sigh of relief when Burton wasn’t great in that opportunity.
You’re probably over-estimating the number of people who watch the Olympics.
Yeah he kinda lost me when he blamed someone other than himself for his performance
As a lifelong Star Trek fan, I wanted him to do well. But he’d probably be fine after a month or so of hosting, even with the rocky performance he put in. I wasn’t thrilled with Ken Jennings’ start, but by the end of his six-week run he’d improved considerably. Likewise, I wasn’t particularly enthused with Mayim Bialik’s initial two weeks, but she’s perfectly fine now. If Levar Burton had started hosting at the beginning of this season, we’d all probably be happy with the job he was doing currently.
I don’t doubt for a second that Burton, if hired, would’ve eventually been great. Sadly, Burton’s right in that he never seems to have been under serious consideration for the job, regardless of how he performed. Richards created a Dick Cheney candidate search committee.
There was no foul play because there was no competition.
If you’d have told me before I watched them both that I would have preferred Joe Buck over Levar Burton for host of Jeopardy!, I’d have said you were crazy. But here we are.
Joe Buck has rehabbed his reputation quite a bit over the years. I think his dad’s shadow and him growing up some has helped immensely. He started super- young on the national sportscasts and can call games so much better now. He also has a sense of humor about himself which helps.
I love Levar, but he came off more like the host of a children’s television show host than anything else.
“he’s still working to develop a Trivial Pursuit board game…”Just wait until you hear my pitch for a Scrabble board game! I think Pictionary might have potential as well…
Forget it, Burton. It’s Jeopardy Town…
Why the fuck anyone in our society cares who hosts a boring ass game show is beyond me.
Just come out and say it was all about racism, you know you want to.
The fix might have been in, but LeVar (whom is a great guy and was someone I was super glad to meet at GalaxyCon Richmond back in February of 2020) just wasn’t a very good host on his Jeopardy! episodes.I also don’t think Mayim Bialik was much better than him, but I guess the non-Richards behind the scenes crew disagree.
There was no fix because there were no auditions. The producers gathered a group of people to fill in BECAUSE THE HOST DIED. Nobody affiliated with Jeopardy EVER said that the guest hosts were auditioning for anything, people just assumed it was an audition process for some reason.
They’re making a 3rd season of Picard? It ended well. They should stop while they’re ahead.
Mike Richards was the most polished host and provided the best hope for continuity from the Trebek era. This is especially true where game content editing is concerned, which has been shabby. Every word out of Bialek’s mouth sounds rehearsed, even when it clearly isn’t.
The search for a new host by Mike Richards – and his declaration that he was the perfect choice – always reminds me of Dick Cheney’s search for a VP during George W. Bush’s 2000 election campaign. Bill Maher did a great bit on it, back when he was sane (or saner):“George W. Bush went to Dick Cheney and said ‘I need you to find me a Vice President.’ And Cheney said ‘Sure, I’ll get you a list of potential names.’ And a few months later Cheney came back and said ‘Ok, I looked around, and the best candidate to be your Vice President … is me.’ And Bush said ‘Ok.’”
I had to do a bunch of recordings in Navajo once, and we auditioned all these people and ran their auditions by a lady who was some kind of Navajo language expert. And she rejected every one of the talents as being inauthentic, including a winner of the Miss Navajo Nation pageant.
Eventually, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, the woman declared that the only person qualified for the job was herself.
And while we’re on the subject, why wasn’t Wayne Gretzky chosen to take a penalty shot in the 98 Olympics?
If by “the fix” he means not being very good at hosting Jeopardy! then yes, I concur.
Bitter bitch or what? Kind of starting to truly dislike him now. Enough, dude. Let it go. The bottom line: HE SUCKED. He was, in fact, one of the worst. I know – he’s black, so… So nothing. He was atrocious and oh, please, this nonsense about needing more time to get the hang of it. Jennings took the podium like a pro. He started out excellent and within a few weeks, does Alex Trebek proud. He’s the perfect host. LeVar should stick to kiddie shows and spelling bees and go back to being a nice guy instead of this whining, annoying man-child. You didn’t get the job, dude. Get over it.
Well duh! The guy in charge of hiring a new host hired himself. This was like The Office episode where Dwight set up The Hay King contest just to give the crown to himself.
C’mon, Burton, move on. You still sound so bitter about it! The vast majority of the population has likely applied for a job they weren’t going to get for whatever reason.And is this sarcasm? “America’s most dramatic intellectual bloodsport”
Don’t know what Levar was thinkin’ of
I guess he just wasn’t too bright
Well, I sure hope he does better
Next weekend on The Price Is Right-ight-ightHe lost on Jeopardy…baby…
he kinda stunk at it