What is "Exhausted?"

I swear this will be the last thing I write, good or bad, about the future of Jeopardy.

I'm not exactly blogging on a daily basis about game shows, but I'm bored with the ongoing saga that is the Jeopardy host search. 

I wrote about names being floated as a potential new host more than two years ago. I was satisfied with the choice of a game show executive and occasional emcee, Mike Richards, being chosen as the new host. Disappointed, I was, but satisfied. 

And then 36 hours after I recorded a podcast, during which I endorsed the choice of Richards, despite some scrutiny of his past, it all went drastically wrong for Richards. And here we are. 

Nobody cares what I think when it comes to who's next, but here I am, nonetheless. 

I no longer care. I'll watch it, or I won't. Either way, it just doesn't matter to me any more. 

I didn't care for the parade of guest hosts on Jeopardy, and I wasn't offended by it. I read way too many articles the past several months about which host was the best, who might be in the running or why a few fans of the show were dying to see LeVar Burton host the game. It was amusing. 

I'm officially bored with the stories, speculation and questionable reporting about what will happen next. 

I grew up watching game shows, in an era where they may have been a dozen being produced on a consistent basis for daytime and syndicated television viewing. I watch game shows for a good game, or a fun game. I don't watch because of who the emcee is. I liked some emcees more than others, but I can't recall ever ignoring a game show because I had no appreciation or respect for the host. 

Today's weird world of televised entertainment has changed all that. So be it. I'm one viewer, nobody needs me. 

Jeopardy is an established game show. It has ascended to some sort of god-like status that I never imagined in 1984. The host is no longer just an emcee. Somehow the host is now a deity. I guess I've been in denial of that. 

All I want is an emcee for the game. Somebody competent and personable. Viewers today must look at the hosts of game shows as entertainers. Too often we see comedians hosting shows, not emcees. You can be both. You can be one, and learn to be the other. But all I want is an emcee. I'm weird. 

I won't boycott Jeopardy if Mayim Bialik is the new, full-time host. And I'm sure she'd love the job if it is offered. 

Allegedly she had been the first choice of the Sony honchos in charge of Jeopardy, but it wasn't going to work with her latest sitcom obligations. I'd wager $2,000 she'd dump that sitcom as fast as possible if it meant she could land the Jeopardy gig outright, rather than the prime time specials and future projects she has been offered thus far. Jeopardy has the potential to be a long-term gig, and it's unlikely any sitcom role she has or will be offered will ever offer the potential of job security the Jeopardy gig promises. 

The renewed search for a new host suggested early on that it was Ken Jennings' job to lose. I think he would have been the first choice previously if it weren't for the fact he's periodically both unfunny and offensive on Twitter. Articles of the past week suggest that's the case.

I've read plenty of handicapping of what Jeopardy might do next, after it airs one week of shows that Richards hosted, and three fill-in weeks featuring Bialik. Some opinions, not surprisingly, lobby for Bialik. Some say Burton should now get the gig. 

Both were OK during their run. I barely sampled Burton's efforts during the week he was a guest host. In both cases, I was reminded I was watching an actor hosting a game show. I don't want to watch an actor host a game show. I want to watch an emcee.

Hire an emcee for the gig. Jennings doesn't fit the mold, but he's not an actor. He's still a better choice than Bialik or Burton. 

When the decision is finally made, and we move on as a country, I'll watch, or I won't. Either way, I am done caring about who the next host is, because I'm not the viewer Jeopardy is worried about. I'm a guy who wants to watch a good game show, and that's not the audience the honchos at Sony are catering to. 

I'll let people know I like, or don't like, the next host, and leave it at that.