Mike Richards is out as the Executive Producer of Wheel/J!

Aug 29, 2021 21:15:13 GMT -5 usedletterboard said:

Matt Belloni, formerly of The Hollywood Reporter, puts out a subscriber-only scoop twice a week and has said that Sony is bracing for impact for an additional Mike Richards story that could be soon published by two separate outlets. Not sure how or if the scandal could affect his standing as EP, presumably for both shows. Spoilerized below to save space:

SPOILER: Click to show

Jeopardy! is off this week, but Sony’s Tony Vinciquerra and Ravi Ahuja will no doubt be working overtime to figure out their duel problems: Will they stand by Mike Richards as executive producer after all that’s been revealed, and who’s gonna actually host the show?

On the first issue, I’m told there’s no movement, although Sony is bracing for additional reporting on Richards’ past that is in the works via at least two media outlets. On the second, they’ve got Mayim Bialik as temporary host for at least the next two weeks of taping. She’s emerged as an intriguing possibility for the permanent gig, though there are big hurdles.

During the initial search, Sony loved Bialik, as did the focus groups, I’m told. She had an easygoing presence, intellectual bona fides via her PhD in neuroscience, and geek cred from her years on The Big Bang Theory. (That anti-vaxx stuff from her 2012 book likely wouldn’t stick; she’s already said she got the Covid vaccine.)

Just one problem: She wasn’t available. Bialik’s commitment to her Fox sitcom Call Me Kat, which begins production on its second season next month, would have required producer Warner Bros. Television to sign off on the new job, a big ask. Further complicating matters, Kat is starting late, given its premiere date in the new year, which means a compressed schedule. And even if WBTV did sign off, filming 230 episodes a year of a game show, in addition to 18 episodes of a comedy series, would have been difficult.

So Bialik agreed to host primetime specials instead, leaving the syndicated show to Richards. But now that Richards has stepped down, if Sony can’t find a suitable host, might it wait a year for Bialik to become available? Or maybe tag-team her with others this season to fit it all in her schedule, and then hand it off to her next year? Sounds like as good an option as Sony has right now.

It sounds like a lot, but if they were to go to taping 6 episodes in a day (as Wheel has for some time now), that would only be 39 days needed out of a full year.  It would be a touch harder (since they have to keep them in order), but no reason it wouldn't work (tape Mom-Mon, next time Tue-Tue and so forth).  Film special events (like tournaments) when they get to a point where it fits (when they finish a week of Fri-Fri taping) - they have a few extra spots (230 doesn't divide evenly by 6), so those could be done the standard 5 at a time/2 days in a row format.

Not sure how many days of filming are needed for the episodes of the comedy (18 x what# of days), but still seems to leave time/space to make it all fit in.  Not quite the standard format, but they could likely make it work.