Who is 'the host of Jeopardy!'?, part 2

200 // Setting aside any debate over the merits of Mike Richards’ character, this whole hosting kerfuffle has saved Jeopardy! from a wrong decision on host. Richards is not bad as a game show host — I liked him as host of GSN’s brief and surprisingly good revival of Pyramid in 2012 — but he is not The One. I do not condone the trend of random actors and third-tier comics getting game show hosting gigs, and this is a situation that needs something more, a bit of heft, like when Regis Philbin became host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

400 // Mayim Bialik seems to be an acceptable answer. Some stuff has come out about strange things she has said but, thus far, not enough to get her canceled. Her turn as host was very solid, and she would only get better. So why isn’t she making it happen? A sitcom that no one knows about?

600 // Everybody loves LeVar Burton, but his performance did not look like The One. On a side note, I wanted him to stroll out onstage wearing his Star Trek visor.

800 // I had never seen or heard of David Faber, but I thought he did a smashing job. Smooth, engaging and in control, like a classic game show overseer. 

1000 // Ken Jennings would also make sense — he’s now in the DNA of the show and seems to be generally well-liked — but he has the disadvantage of having Tweeted.

Daily Double // As I’ve said before, there was already a very solid audition in the can from Jeff Probst, who nailed it as host of Rock & Roll Jeopardy! (1998-2001). And that completes my shortlist — Probst, Faber, Jennings and Bialik.

Final Jeopardy! // How appropriate that all this drama unfolds as the show gets one of its biggest champions of all time, Matt Amodio, who will resume his reign of terror when the new season opens Sept. 13.