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