Mike Richards leaving Fremantle, moving to Sony

Could Sony be grooming him to succeed Harry Friedman, who started in game shows in 1971, when Harry decides to retire? MIke would probably make more sense to be used for WOF than Jeopardy, however.

I highly doubt it. Have you watched Price the past few years? It's a lot better than what it was ten years ago.

It's also unfair to blame everything that went on over at Television City on Mike, either. Fremantle micromanages everything, as evidenced by the fact that their CEO is listed as an executive producer of every one of their productions (including Price). If anything, Mike is perhaps the person to inject a new life into Wheel after the show's been stale as fuck over the past several years.

I'll say that Price is absolutely nothing like how it was in the 70s and 80s. It has the same format (6 games, 2 Showcase Showdowns, 2 Showcases), but the set has certainly been modernized, and there is a clear push for technology. And frankly, I feel like that's a good thing. I don't really think Dream Car Week and Kids' Week is "going back to the old fashioned way."



From what I've seen on Divided, I'd say he's an okay host. Not a spectacular one, but an alright one. However, I guarantee you he's not going to be the next host of Wheel. If anything, he'd be the host of Jeopardy! instead of this show, since it would be a bit rough trying to replace two different hosts with such a short timespan. Even then, this blurb in the article seems to lead me to think he's not becoming a host:






I don't think that is a reason to bash Mike Richards. That would be a reason to bash Sony, and even then, hiring a seasoned game show veteran doesn't feel that conservative to me. Really, it's way too early to assume if this is a good or bad thing for Wheel, so I'm not going to make a judgment call just yet. My gut says that Sony must have hired Mike Richards instead of "random people off the streets" in order to improve the quality of the show, in order to get more viewers/advertisers.

Just to clarify, Mike's new job at Sony will be developing and producing new shows, according to the article. He is "joining their roster", not replacing anyone. We don't know if this position will put him anywhere near having any say in production at Wheel or any other existing show. He won't even be at Sony yet when Season 37 of Wheel starts taping in July.


Sony should have showed Harry the door after the way he treated Wheel during Season 36, especially towards the end and including the 7000th show. He needs a serious lesson from Mike Richards on how to do milestone episodes, and how to actually do cross-promo between sister shows. Wheel's ratings likely will never be at or above Jeopardy!'s again until Alex is gone, if anything.

Also, don't forget that Mike Richards stole the concept of Big Money Week from Wheel and made it ten times better, making Wheel's look like an absolute joke in recent years. Dream Car Week was also a thing on Wheel before Price.

Not really related to anything, but "Season 37" kinda gives me a shiver given how that same numbered season went for Price.


Well, for one thing Mike's Big Money Weeks actually have increased stakes involved...


From what I've read, they did show Friedman the door. They agreed it looked nice, then went back to work.