Mayim Bialik Faces Uphill Battle Against 'Jeopardy!' Critics

A quick scan of social-media comments would suggest Jeopardy! co-host Mayim Bialik is deeply unliked by the public and has a fight on her hands to win them over.

But the reality of her popularity seems far removed from what armchair critics are saying online, according to a Newsweek poll. Its findings were backed by Jeopardy! experts, who said social media can become an echo chamber of criticism and, in some cases, misogyny.

Bialik and her co-star, Ken Jennings, were named the new permanent hosts of Jeopardy! after show veteran Alex Trebek died of pancreatic cancer in 2020. He had presented the show for 37 seasons from 1984 until his death.

Comments on Twitter such as "give Mayim the boot," or multiple threads on Reddit asking "what's up with people hating on Mayim Bialik?" give the impression that she barely has any fans compared with Jennings.

This sentiment isn't shared by the show's audience. Jennings only just managed to pip Bialik as preferred presenter in a survey of 1,500 representative Americans conducted on July 6 by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek.

Respondents were asked, "Which of the following individuals would you prefer to see host Jeopardy!?"

Jennings scored 35 percent, just ahead of Bialik on 30 percent. Twenty-one percent of people said they didn't know, while 14 percent didn't even care. Newsweek has contacted Bialik's representatives by email for comment.

Andy Saunders has been a devotee of the show since the 1980s and runs The Jeopardy! Fan website. He told Newsweek that Bialik is doing a great job and was always likely to face intense criticism in her first few months.

"Mayim is a very strong host of the show; she's certainly as strong as Alex Trebek was when he first started. And Alex was subject to innumerable comparisons to Art Fleming [original host from 1964 to 1979] in the fall of 1984 and the spring of 1985," he said.

"The fact that both Ken and Mayim have received Emmy nominations for [outstanding host for a game show] speaks volumes about how strong of a job both are doing." Saunders added.

The idea that Bialik and Jennings are both doing well is reflected in the ratings. Jeopardy!'s executive producer, Michael Davies, said there was no difference in ratings depending on who was hosting the show.

"We read data from everywhere," he told Vulture in May, adding with regard to ratings, "when Ken is hosting and Mayim is hosting, there's zero difference. It's exactly the same and that's the broadest part of the audience."

Saunders said the "zero difference" in ratings showed that "Jeopardy! fans are overall happy with either host and people are still happy to tune in for the material and the competition."

Nevertheless, it is apparent that Mayim faces a tough challenge in winning over her most vehement critics online.

Robert Thompson told Newsweek that there was a lot of nuance and legacy at play when it came to judging Bialik's popularity. He is the director at the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University and a trustee professor of television and popular culture.

First, Thompson said, people were more likely to take to social media to complain, which is "more noticeable and people do it with more energy," rather than write positive feedback.

Secondly, Jennings provides a "comfort" to long-time viewers because he "is about as close as you can get to Alex Trebek." Jennings became a legend in the Jeopardy! world after becoming the game's longest-running champion, winning 74 nights in a row in 2004.

"Alex spoke very highly of him and he almost did everything he could to pass the baton to him, so there is this a real sense that Ken Jennings is Alex Trebek 2.0," Thompson said.

But Thompson was also realistic that, even in 2023, an "inherent generic sexism" existed in "some of these legacy format game shows."

Thompson pointed to late-night TV, which is dominated by men such as Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, as an example of how long-running legacy shows rarely have women fronting them.

"Samantha Bee and Joan Rivers didn't last too long on late-night TV," Thompson added. "Game-show hosts still tend to be men, and you certainly read a lot of misogynistic comments about Mayim."

There is also the fact that Bialik's career is long and diverse. She got her big break on teen show Blossom and later played a scientist on The Big Bang Theory, which could "dilute" her brand.

"Ken Jennings has got nothing on him but the smell of Jeopardy!," Thompson said. "[Don't] downplay the gender thing, though, because that's always humming loudly in the background."