8 | OCTOBER 28 • 2021

I

t may turn out that a lot
of Americans are devoting
more thought to the ques-
tion of who will ultimately
succeed the late Alex Trebek
as the host of Jeopardy! than
they do about far weightier
issues. When Trebek, who had
been the face of
the venerable
quiz show for 36
years, died last
year at the age
of 80, it set off
a much-bally-
hooed search for
a successor. The
competition was intense and
ultimately involved a broad
range of celebrities who aspired
to the job.
But now, after a series of
twists and turns that was the
stuff of soap operas, a tentative,
if not permanent choice has
been made — in the person
of actress Mayim Bialik —
some people seem to be ask-
ing whether it’s “kosher” for
Jeopardy! to be led by someone
so open about both her Jewish
faith and her support for the
Jewish state.
America in 2021 is a place
where antisemitism is quite

real. But it’s also a country
where Jews have been accepted
in just about every sector of
culture, industry and govern-
ment. Indeed, it may be that
the only job titles that can be
said to be off-limits to Jews
are those like, say, Catholic
Archbishop of New York,
which are reserved for believ-
ers of a different faith.
But according to a recent
feature in the New York Times,
Bialik may be too open about
her opinions about “vac-
cines” (she has said she is a
“non-vaccinating family”), a
“disputed brain supplement”
and “hot-button issues” to fit
the supposedly impartial mold
long filled by the much-loved
Trebek.
There may be some contro-
versy about her views on vac-
cines in the past (though she
and her sons, ages 12 and 15,
did get the COVID vaccine)
and about one of the products
that she has endorsed. But the
only “hot-button” issue list-
ed by the Times in the article
involved her support for Israel
and “her devotion to Judaism.”
The conceit of the piece was
that since Trebek was perceived

as being so “neutral,” Bialik
was somehow a bad fit for
the position of Jeopardy! The
implication was not only that
she had been too open about
her life and beliefs — she has
more than 1 million followers
for her “Breakdown” podcast
on YouTube and a similarly
huge following for a video blog
“Grok Nation” that she did for
many years and wrote for the
Kveller.com website — when
compared to Trebek.
But that the “neutrality” that
some seem to think is a requi-
site for the job was incompati-
ble with her open profession of
faith and Jewish identity. And
if you didn’t get the message
from the Times article, Bialik’s
willingness to be upfront about
being a proud Jew was appar-
ent in the pictures accom-
panying it in which she was
shown wearing a Star of David
necklace.

THE SEARCH FOR
TREBEK’S SUCCESSOR
After Trebek’s passing, the
search for his replacement
turned into an ongoing tele-
vision event over the course
of the ensuing months with

people like Star Trek and Roots
actor Levar Burton, Today show
personality Savannah Guthrie,
former TV news anchor Katie
Couric, Good Morning America
host and former Clinton
administration adviser George
Stephanopoulos, Green Bay
Packers quarterback Aaron
Rodgers, former Jeopardy!
champion Ken Jennings, CNN
host Anderson Cooper and
Dr. Sanjay Gupta of the same
network, all getting guest host
shots to display their talents.
In August, Jeopardy! execu-
tive producer Mike Richards
ended the suspense and chose
himself to take on Trebek’s
job while tapping Bialik to a
subsidiary position as host of
the nighttime version of the
show as well as specials. But
not long after that announce-
ment, Richards was sunk by
revelations about sexist and
other offensive comments he
had made in the past. With
Richards out of the running
and pushed out of his pro-
ducer’s job as well, Bialik was
left as the last person standing
in the competition and, at
least for now, is the full-time
Jeopardy! host. She hopes that
will turn into a permanent gig.
But those who consider the
decision about the identity of
the person who will provide
clues to the show’s contestants
— who must answer in the
form of a question — to be
akin to electing a pope or con-
firming a chief justice of the
Supreme Court are weighing
in on Bialik’s suitability with all
the viciousness and snark that
you would expect to be part of
such a solemn choice.
That means that everything
Bialik has ever said or done
is being gone through with a
fine-tooth comb. According
to left-wing CBS late-night
comedy-show host Stephen
Colbert, the only people who

opinion

Is Mayim Bialik
‘Too Jewish’ to
Be Jeopardy!
Host?

STORM SANTOS

Jonathan S.
Tobin

PURELY COMMENTARY

Mayim
Bialik