'Big Bang' Actress Bialik One of Two New 'Jeopardy!' Hosts

Mayim Bialik. (AFP)
Mayim Bialik. (AFP)
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'Big Bang' Actress Bialik One of Two New 'Jeopardy!' Hosts

Mayim Bialik. (AFP)
Mayim Bialik. (AFP)

"The Big Bang Theory" actress Mayim Bialik has been named as one of two new hosts of the long-running US television game show "Jeopardy!", replacing the award-winning presenter Alex Trebek, who died of cancer last year.

Bialik will share hosting duties with the show's executive producer Mike Richards, producers announced Wednesday, after a prolonged search for Trebek's successors.

Richards will helm daily syndicated episodes when the show embarks on season 38 next month, while Bialik will take charge of special primetime events and spin-offs, including a new collegiate championship, Sony Pictures Television said.

The 45-year-old Bialik, who played geeky neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler on the hugely successful "The Big Bang Theory" -- and has her own PhD in the same field -- said she was "thrilled" with the news.

"What started out with my 15-year-old repeating a rumor from Instagram that I should guest host the show has turned into one of the most exciting and surreal opportunities of my life!" she said.

"Jeopardy!" has been running in one form or another on US television since 1964, scooping up a bevy of awards over the decades.

In a twist on the quiz show format, contestants are given answers, to which they must provide the question.

Trebek, a Canadian by birth, became synonymous with the program over his 36 years as host, and his death after a battle with pancreatic cancer provoked an outpouring of emotion from contestants and fans

Finding a replacement was always going to be a challenge for producers, who ran through a series of guest presenters this year, including Bialik and Richards, in the wake of Trebek's death in November 2020.

That group included celebrity journalists Katie Couric, Anderson Cooper and George Stephanopoulos, as well as Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and sports commentator Joe Buck.

The final decision came after months of speculation about who would take charge -- and months of heated debate among the show's most loyal fans.

The appointment of Richards, 46, has sparked controversy in some circles, not least because of renewed media attention on employment discrimination lawsuits filed by women when he was executive producer of "The Price is Right."

In an internal memo obtained by CNN, Richards defended himself, saying "the way in which my comments and actions have been characterized in these complaints does not reflect the reality of who I am or how we worked together on 'The Price is Right'."



Spielberg, De Niro, Freeman Praise Francis Ford Coppola as He Accepts the AFI Life Achievement Award

Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, right, accepts the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award from presenters George Lucas, left, and Steven Spielberg on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, right, accepts the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award from presenters George Lucas, left, and Steven Spielberg on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
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Spielberg, De Niro, Freeman Praise Francis Ford Coppola as He Accepts the AFI Life Achievement Award

Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, right, accepts the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award from presenters George Lucas, left, and Steven Spielberg on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, right, accepts the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award from presenters George Lucas, left, and Steven Spielberg on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Steven Spielberg proclaimed “The Godfather” the “greatest American film ever made,” Robert De Niro teasingly bemoaned being cast in the sequel and not the original and Harrison Ford fought back tears reflecting on his role in the 1974 film, “The Conversation.”
At the center of it all was Francis Ford Coppola, who on Saturday received the AFI Life Achievement Award at a ceremony at Dolby Theatre that brought together legendary stars from a seemingly bygone era of cinema,
A founding AFI trustee, Coppola’s recognition from the organization was a kind of full circle moment for the “Apocalypse Now” director.
“When I was a kid there was the Oscars and that was it. Now they’re going to have an award show for the best award show,” the 86-year-old said on the red carpet ahead of the show. “But this is a little different because it’s a personal recognition of the people that you’ve known all your life and your colleagues over many years, so it’s like a homecoming in a way.”
“You, sir, are peerless. You have taken what came before and redefined the canon of American film,” Spielberg said.
Coppola sat between Spielberg and George Lucas, as actors and fellow filmmakers like Spike Lee, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino and Morgan Freeman took turns gushing over the Oscar winner.
“Dreamer of dreams on a dime, teller of tales that cost and lost millions. But tonight, (expletive) the bankers and the bank,” Freeman said to laughs and cheers.
Lucas, Coppola’s longtime friend and colleague, presented him with the award. The pair have known each other for decades and cofounded their own production company, American Zoetrope, in 1969.
“You rounded up a bunch of young film students, gathered us together. We moved to San Francisco, hoping to beat the system. And we did. Like the filmmakers from the dawn of the art form, we had no rules. We wrote them, and you were holding the pen,” Lucas said.
Coppola was mostly stoic throughout the ceremony as Hollywood sang his praises — until he accepted the award at the end of the night. He beamed as he approached the stage and thanked the room, which was filled with some of his family members as well as multigenerational A-listers.
“Now I understand here, this place that created me, my home, isn’t really a place at all, but you — friends, colleagues, teachers, playmates, family, neighbors, all the beautiful faces are welcoming me back,” he said. “I am and will always be nothing more than one of you.”
Coppola was the 50th recipient of the award first handed out to John Ford in 1973.
Guests were served wine from the Francis Ford Coppola Winery and after dinner — true to his Italian heritage — a trio of cannolis. Actors who have worked with Coppola painted a unified picture of him as a director, reminiscing on how they were invited to participate and educated about film in a way that empowered them.
“He’s very professorial. He talks about history and things and even older movies in the scene he’s inspired by,” said “The Godfather III” star Andy Garcia. “You go into working with him in a movie, and you go in seeking an associate’s degree and you would walk out with a master’s.”
Coppola last year released his long-in development “Megalopolis,” a Roman epic set in a modern New York. The film drew mixed reviews from critics and flopped with audiences. Coppola, though, has maintained he was compelled to make “Megalopolis” as an artist, not as a businessman. He self-financed the film.
“For a year in our culture when the importance of the arts is minimized, and our industry is seemingly out in the open that the only metric to judge a film’s success is by how much money it makes, I hang on to individuals like Francis for inspiration, who live through their convictions,” said Adam Driver, who starred in the film.
Last year’s AFI honoree was Nicole Kidman. Other recent recipients include John Williams, Mel Brooks, Denzel Washington and Julie Andrews.