After Sony Pictures Television fucked up by hiring Danger! executive producer Mike Richards as the show’s new host, reaction completed allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace against Richards cost him his job. He resigned last week and said his hiring would not be “an excessive distraction” for fans of the show. Mayim Bialik intervenes as a temporary host as the show finds a new series of invited hosts and a new successor to the late Alex Trebek, even though he carries his own luggage on the podium. It used to look like this Danger! okay, champion Ken Jennings would inherit the role to previous reports on his dynamics with Trebek. (For what it’s worth, he was also our best selection for the job.) Fans have wondered why Jennings wasn’t a small person, and now we have an answer.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Jennings’ Twitter account contributed to her losing her job. In particular, a 2014 tweet: “Nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair,” was widely circulated during the pre-Jennings period. Danger! guest guest, and also resurfaced when he came to his defense Nmnibus co-host John Roderick during the last Bean Dad Fiasco. Jennings apologized on social media, but people familiar with the host selection process said so WSJ that Jennings’ image was tainted by tweets: executives a Sony reportedly chilled Jennings in response to her Twitter activity. The tweets are also said to have impacted the reactions of the focus groups on Jennings. “The succession plan began to fall apart” from there, the WSJ he writes.
Now that Jennings is no longer up and running, we’d love to know if Buzzy Cohen is still considering it. As a fellow Danger! champion who has no problematic tweet (as far as we know, anyway), it looks like a great selection.