New 'Jeopardy!' season begins with ousted host Mike Richards, viewers react

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Despite his very public exit from "Jeopardy!," Mike Richards served as host on Monday for the premiere episode of the popular game show's 38th season.

Richards, 46, was famously named as the show’s permanent host this summer after an exhaustive search for Alex Trebek’s replacement.

It wasn’t long, however, until scandal arose, and comments Richards previously made during a podcast – as well as accusations of poor workplace conduct – took headlines by storm.

After a few weeks, Richards stepped down as host but was set to remain an executive producer on the show – a position which he filled before being cast. However, continued backlash forced Sony and Richards to part ways completely, and he will no longer serve as either host or executive producer.

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Mike Richards filmed several episodes as host of Jeopardy!' before stepping down. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

"Not looking forward to seeing Mike Richards host tonight’s Jeopardy," said one fan on Twitter. "But ya know what would make up for it? An announcement before the show that they hired [Buzzy Cohen as host]."

"Hate-watching the premiere of #MikeRichards as the new host of #jeopardy," said another. "Is it just me or does Johnny Gilbert sound very underwhelmed introducing him?"

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"Awkward seeing Mike Richards coming out to host #Jeopardy. No crawl or disclaimer," a third wrote. "Thought there could be creative editing to work around eps he did. Take a deep breath, he's only there a week."

Added a fourth: "Glad @Jeopardy replaced Mike Richards for his off show behavior…but he was [an] awkward host anyways and should not have been chosen even if he didn’t have other issues."

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Richards had pre-taped five episodes of "Jeopardy!" before stepping down as host – which equates to about a day's worth of filming, according to Today.

There are no retakes or re-shoots in the world of game shows, as any kind of re-do would allow for a different result to occur, and in a high-stakes game like "Jeopardy!," that simply isn’t an option.

Richards will appear in five episodes – which will likely all air sequentially this week – before the show is once again without a permanent captain.

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Mayim Bialik, 45, will serve as guest host for a string of episodes, but what will happen after that remains unclear.

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Also unclear is who may become the third permanent host of "Jeopardy!," with the "Call Me Kat" actress, who is set to host the show’s spin-off events, a favorite to take on the job.