TV Talk: Greenfield woman competes on ‘Jeopardy!’ during Mike Richards’ brief tenure as host

Gabbie Kim, a mother of two and birth doula from Greenfield, will compete on Monday’s 38th season premiere of “Jeopardy!” (7 p.m., WPXI-TV). And what a week to appear on the show.

Not only is she up against Matt Amodio — who’s on an 18-episode winning streak that netted him $574,801 so far to make him the No. 3 all-time high winner of the syndicated daily show behind James Holzhauer ($2,462,216) and Ken Jennings ($2,520,700) — but this is also the week of shows taped on Aug. 19 in the oh-so-brief period between the time Mike Richards was named “Jeopardy!” host and when he stepped down/was fired.

Kim flew herself to Los Angeles on Aug. 18. While she heard chatter “in the mediaverse” about TheRinger.com story that ultimately led Richards to step down as “Jeopardy!” host, Kim had not read the article before going to the Sony lot where “Jeopardy!” tapes its episodes.

“That kind of thing would maybe psych a contestant out a bit,” Kim said. “And once you’re on the lot, you’re not allowed to use your phone.”

Kim said the show’s contestant coordinators were focused on making the contestants comfortable and she overheard no gossip about Richards’ hosting status while on set.

“This was the first day of filming for the new season so people were a little bit harried, but I didn’t know whether to interpret that as normal stress or stress from something else happening,” Kim said. “It wasn’t like this big, dramatic day of filming. It was pretty low key overall.”

Kim said she didn’t get the sense her “Jeopardy!” competitors had read the Ringer story either, but even if they had “it would have felt inappropriate to be gossiping about it while you’re on the set.”

She does marvel a bit at the timing after her “Jeopardy!” journey began two years ago.

“It’s like, ‘In all the gin joints in all towns in all the world,’ but in all the tapings in all the world, I walk into this,” Kim said, laughing.

Kim applied for what would ultimately lead her to be on “Jeopardy!” in 2019 by taking the show’s online test. From there she was invited to audition in person in Columbus, Ohio, in July 2019.

“But then I didn’t get the call to be on the show until the very beginning of March 2020,” she said, noting that the covid-19 pandemic delayed her appearance. In mid-October 2020, with the show back in production, Kim received a call about appearing on the show. Then host Alex Trebek died, pausing production. Kim was pregnant with her second child and was ultimately rescheduled again for August.

By then, Kim knew she might face off against Amodio.

“I knew if I did go up against him, I’d probably be a bit more bold in my strategy,” Kim said. “But really after I saw his run, the strategy was, if I go up against him, just have fun because you’re going up against one talented player. I knew putting too much pressure [on myself] would affect my performance anyway.”

Kim said overall her “Jeopardy!” appearance “was a really great experience,” especially the chance to meet other contestants from different walks of life. As a longtime fan of the show, she’s taken note of the guest hosts, many of whom she liked. But for now she’s got a preference: Buzzy Cohen.

“I think he’d make a wonderful host,” she said. “I’m Team Buzzy right now.”

Kept/revived

Disney+ renewed “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” created by 1998 Upper St. Clair High School grad Tim Federle and co-starring Bethel Park native Joe Serafini, for a third season.

“Cops,” canceled by Paramount Network last year, will be revived with new episodes on streaming service Fox Nation on Oct. 1.

Channel surfing

2003 Carnegie Mellon University grad Rory O’Malley, who also voices characters on Apple TV+’s “Central Park,” provides the voice for the nephew of the titular character in Netflix’s ribald, extremely Chicago joke-heavy “Chicago Party Aunt,” streaming Friday. … O’Malley’s fellow 2003 CMU grad Leslie Odom Jr. (“Hamilton”) will host “The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back!” (9-11 p.m. Sept. 26, CBS) which will be preceded by the “84th Annual Tony Awards” (7 p.m., Paramount+). … Patrick J. Adams (“Suits”) will have a recurring role on Amazon’s currently-filming-in-Western-Pennsylvania “A League of Their Own,” playing the back-from-World-War-II husband of the character played by Abbi Jacobson, who is also co-creator of the series. … Monroeville native Don Roy King won his fifth straight Emmy for outstanding directing for a variety series (“Saturday Night Live”) this past weekend at the “Creative Arts Emmys,” a precursor to this coming weekend’s prime-time ceremony (8 p.m. Sunday, CBS and Paramount+). King now has 11 prime-time Emmys overall. … “Halloween Kills” will be in theaters and on streaming service Peacock on Oct. 15.