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'Jeopardy!' was short on guest hosts after Ken Jennings' stint expired -- so a chief showrunner had to lace up himself and get on the field ... which turned out to be a beaut of a decision.

Executive producer Mike Richards stepped in Monday to serve as host of the quiz program -- kicking off the broadcast by introducing himself and explaining to viewers at home why there wasn't a more well-known face on their TV sets ... like a celeb, or a 'Jeopardy!' alum.

Long story short ... the team behind the scenes had a hard time booking someone -- which he explains was, in part, due to COVID fears -- so he decided to take up the mantle himself and present answers to this week's contestants. He says it best ... the show must go on.

As the rest of the half-hour played out ... it became clear Richards was a natural, and the reviews online were stellar. People loved him -- his style, his wit and humor ... all very reminiscent of the late, great Alex Trebek.

The show went off without a hitch -- and Richards says he'll be doing hosting duty for the next 2 weeks.

As we reported, the show's already announced a slew of celeb guest hosts in coming months, but folks seem to really like Mike!

Tekashi 6ix9ine's free to run his mouth because he has bodyguards, but his baby mama says she doesn't ... and fears his escalating beefs are putting their little girl in harm's way.

Sara Molina tells TMZ ... she thinks the rapper's been unhinged lately, going off on Instagram Live tirades and trading barbs with Chicago rappers like Lil Reese and 600 Breezy.

Sara says unlike 6ix9ine -- who can afford hired muscle to keep him safe while he stokes feuds with other rappers -- she and their 5-year-old, Saraiyah, are much more exposed ... and she's concerned they might become a target for his enemies.

6ix9ine's baby mama also claims he hasn't made any attempt to rekindle his relationship with Saraiyah -- so he's oblivious to the potential danger to her.

Sara tells us she doesn't want anything from Tekashi other than to think about their daughter's safety and stop provoking possible violence, stay inside, and stay away from them.

Florida's Agriculture Commissioner says she will not follow the Governor's order to lower flags to honor Rush Limbaugh ... because she doesn't think he deserves it.

Nikki Fried, a Democrat, is directing all of the state offices she runs to defy Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, who says he wants flags to be flown at half-staff to pay tribute to the late conservative radio show host ... who died last week of lung cancer.

Fried says, "Lowering to half-staff the flag of the United States of America is a sacred honor that pays respect to fallen heroes and patriots." She clearly doesn't put Limbaugh in that bucket, because she added ... "We will not celebrate hate speech, bigotry, and division."

She also called the Governor's call to honor Limbaugh a "partisan political tool."

Fried's agency -- the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services -- also shared the state's official flag protocol, which says ... "the flag is to be lowered primarily for federal officials including the President, Vice President, Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, Speaker of the U.S. House, members of Congress from Florida, prominent State of Florida officials, and Florida law enforcement officers, firefighters, and members of the Armed Forces from Florida who have died in the line of duty."

Shailene Woodley says she and NFL star Aaron Rodgers have been engaged for "a while" ... revealing she's smitten with the quarterback who she believes is just a big "nerd."

"I don't know him as a football guy," the 29-year-old "Big Little Lies" actress told Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" this week. "I know him as the nerd who wants to host 'Jeopardy!'"

"That's the dude I know. He just happens to also be very good at sports."

Woodley did not say when or how she and Rodgers first met ... but she revealed everything kicked off at some point during the pandemic.

"We met during this wacky, wacky time," Woodley said.

The surprising part about their relationship, though, is Woodley says she truly had no idea how good the 37-year-old NFL MVP is at football when she was first introduced to him.

Woodley says she had never seen a football game -- let alone been to one in person -- explaining, "I didn't really grow up with sports. Especially American sports."

But, Woodley appeared very happy with how things were going with the Packers star nonetheless ... explaining Aaron is "a wonderful, incredible human being."

By the way, Woodley says her dog is also happy the engagement is happening ... saying her future hubby is an ELITE fetch player!!

If the WWE decides to carve 4 heads into the side of a giant mountain to honor the greatest pro wrestlers in company history, The Miz says his face better be on there.

... right along with Hulk Hogan and John Cena.

And, yeah, Miz is dead serious about this -- claiming he's got the resume to back it up.

"I am the first-ever 2-time Grand Slam champion," Miz tells TMZ Sports ... "That means I've held [the WWE Championship] title twice. The Intercontinental more than twice. The United States champion twice and Tag Team Championships twice."

"I am the only one in the history of this business to be a 2-time Grand Slam champion. So in my opinion, I'm on the Mount Rushmore of WWE."

In all seriousness, Miz has had a pretty epic career since first appearing on WWE's reality show competition "Tough Enough" in 2004 ... busting his ass to become one of the top wrestlers in the world.

So, who gets the 4th spot on WWE's Mount Rushmore??

"You can select between The Rock and [Stone Cold Steve Austin] … and Ric Flair," Miz says.

Of course, there's a solid argument for a handful of other WWE legends ... from Andre the Giant to The Undertaker to The Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage and more.

San Diego native Katrina Johnson was only 12 years old when she shot to stardom after she was cast as one of the super funny OG cast members -- which included epic impressions of Ross Perot and Roseanne Barr -- on the first few seasons of the children's sketch comedy show "All That" filmed at Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, Florida.

Katrina shared the sketch stage with an impressive list of young actors including Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, Angelique Bates and Lori Beth Denberg ... and of course Alisa Reyes.

A man in Oregon might now hold a dubious distinction -- the highest recorded blood alcohol content -- because cops say he was .77 during a DUI arrest.

The incident went down earlier this month a couple hours outside of Portland -- where cops say they were called about a hit-and-run. They tracked down a white Ford Explorer and after pulling it over ... "observed the driver to be HIGHLY intoxicated." The all-caps emphasis was made by the Warm Springs PD.

Cops say Nathan Danzuka fled in the Explorer and a short pursuit began until he crashed into a concrete barrier about half a mile from the initial stop.

When the dust settled ... cops say Danzuka's blood alcohol content was 0.77%, which is more than nine times the legal limit. Goes without saying ... his driver's license was suspended and he was taken to the hospital for a medical evaluation and placed into custody. Cops say criminal charges are pending for the 28-year-old motorist.

'Bachelor' Matt James is finally opening up about Chris Harrison excusing historical racism and Rachael Kirkconnell's racist behavior ... calling it incredibly disappointing and devastating.

Matt didn't mince words expressing his disappointment in Harrison over how he conducted himself in an interview with Rachel Lindsay -- the first black 'Bachelorette' -- as they discussed photos showing Kirkconnell attending a 2018 antebellum south party.

The 'Bachelor' said, "Watching Chris's failure to receive and understand the emotional labor that my friend Rachel Lindsay was taking on by graciously and patiently explaining the racist history of the Antebellum South, a painful history that every American should understand intimately, was troubling and painful to watch."

Matt said he's glad the controversy has, at least, sparked critical conversations and raised important questions ... but he's still in the middle of processing all of this as a few more episodes remain on his season of "The Bachelor." He also thanked 'Bachelor Nation' for their solidarity on an issue that has left former black contestants divided on how to proceed with the host's future.

Andy Reid’s iconic face shield just reached Hall of Fame status ... 'cause the Pro Football H.O.F. just announced the Chiefs coach's COVID-19-friendly look is getting put on display in Canton!!

The Hall of Fame announced the newest addition to its "Pro Football Today Gallery" on Monday ... which will now feature the same hat and face mask the legendary coach wore throughout part of the 2020 season.

Of course, Reid became an instant meme when his shield fogged up like crazy during Week 1 of the NFL season ... which Coach later referred to as "brutal."

After the game, Reid had their equipment director, Allen Wright, fix the issue with an anti-fogging product. He eventually switched to wearing a face mask in order to meet newly introduced league protocols.

The Hall points out it's the same mask Reid wore as he secured his 230th win as a coach during Week 9 ... when he moved into 5th place all time.

Martin Gugino, the elderly Buffalo protester who got knocked to the ground and bled out of his ears, is now suing the city over that ordeal.

The 75-year-old man is suing the City of Buffalo, its mayor, several police officers and the Commissioner ... alleging the curfew they imposed last summer amid BLM protests was arbitrarily enforced, and ended up landing him in the hospital with a cracked noggin.

In his docs, Gugino says the 8 PM curfew they enforced at Niagara Square was draconian and frankly unconstitutional, infringing on his right to be there and peacefully protest ... as he claims he was doing that day.

Gugino claims mere minutes after the clock struck 8, officers in riot gear began picking and choosing whom they wanted to accost and arrest arbitrarily. Out of fear for other protesters, Gugino says he tried to talk them down, but alleges they screamed, "Push him" ... which he says 2 officers then did, with excessive force.

Of course, we've all seen what happened next ... he stumbled back, and slammed his head into the sidewalk. Gugino says that upon being transferred to a hospital, he learned he'd suffered a concussion and that his skull had been fractured.

After the fact, Gugino claims Buffalo PD tried brushing off his injury as a trip-and-fall -- but Gugino says that couldn't be further from the truth. He claims he was hospitalized for weeks, and that eventually ... Mayor Byron Brown copped to what had actually happened.

Despite this ... a Grand Jury declined to indict the 2 officers accused of pushing Gugino.

Justin Hartley and Chrishell Stause are officially single ... 'cause we've learned their divorce has been finalized.

According to court filings, a judge officially signed off on the dissolution of their marriage earlier this month. We don't have details of the judgment yet -- meaning it's unclear if spousal support was ordered, or how any assets were divvied up.

You'll recall ... when Justin abruptly filed for divorce back in 2019 -- after only 2 years of marriage -- he'd indicated he didn't wanna pony up any spousal support to Chrishell, and also wanted her to cover her own legal fees. It's possible they had a prenup in place.

There was another weird thing about their original divorce docs -- the date of separation was listed as July 8, 2019 ... when they'd been seen publicly together many times after that.

Chrishell made it seem like Justin's filing came out of left field, but later admitted he'd threatened to leave several times prior.

In any case, both of these beautiful people have moved on to new loves -- JH is with Sofia Pernas and Chrishell's with 'DWTS' star Keo Motsepe. They had no kids together ... so, no custody battle to slow down the divorce.

"WAP" -- the sexually explicit hit song by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion -- is a symbol of women taking charge and speaking their minds ... to Rep. Maxine Waters, anyway.

The Congresswoman and MTS recently hooked up online, and Waters seemed to surprise the rapper when she was asked what music encourages her ... and she brought up "WAP."

After hilariously telling Meg not to worry, several times, Rep. Waters said when she first heard the track she thought ... "Now that's audacity. That is audacity."

During the online chat, for Harper's Bazaar, Maxine also said Cardi and Meg should be commended, not criticized, for spearheading a feminist movement in hip-hop.

After all, Waters says that's what the men who were "in charge" in this music genre -- like Tupac and Dr. Dre -- did for years, and she points out that she's always been a First Amendment defender.

Now, compare Waters' take on "WAP" with that of conservative host Ben Shapiro ... who notoriously blasted the vulgarity of the song's lyrics when it was released and claimed it was an affront to feminism.

Who ya got?

Xzibit's wife is apparently ready to get her walk on ... as in walking away from their marriage.

The "Pimp My Ride" star's wife, Krista Joiner, might've yelled "D to the P" Monday morning, before filing her divorce petition in Los Angeles Superior Court. They've been married for about 6 and a half years.

Xzibit and Krista wed in November 2014, but the marriage made headlines for another reason -- X got busted for DUI in the early morning hours the day after the ceremony.

The couple reportedly began dating in 2001 and had 2 children together. Tragically, their son Xavier was born prematurely in May 2008 and died 11 days later.

A woman walking in the middle of a street sideshow got launched into the air when a car hit her, but miraculously ... she walked away!

The crazy incident went down Sunday night in Oakland where what appears to be a souped-up Pontiac was burning rubber. In the middle of laying down a donut, the driver made serious contact with the woman.

She, and others, were clearly risking life and limb by standing so close to the action.

You can see she tried to brace for the impact but it did her no good ... she immediately went airborne and spun in the air before crashing down hard on the pavement -- her shoes even went flying.

The miraculous part ... the stunned crowd can't believe she gets up as if nothing happened. That might have been the result of adrenaline, but she did walk away ... seemingly okay.

Killer Mike says his barbershop got damaged by stray bullets from a shootout ... and he's using the incident to advocate for an end to senseless violence.

The Atlanta rapper/activist says his SWAG Shop -- which is gearing up to reopen soon -- was not personally targeted, but had its windows shot out over the weekend due to "black men who cud not shoot for s**t shooting at one another."

Mike says he's not mad because property can be replaced, but is sorry to his customers because the damage will delay the shop's relaunch.

KM seems to be most upset about the ongoing violence in his community, and has a message for those involved, saying ... "Please consider what would have happened if one of y’all actually hit one another. The jail, the lawyer fees, the funeral cost and two black families loss."

Mike says he's thankful for everyone who helped clean and board up his shop, along with South Fulton police for looking after his people ... but most thankful no lives were lost in the shooting.

He adds "simply becuz of tempers and poor decisions our biz is being stifled," but he vows that SWAG will be open again as soon as he can make it happen.

If Sen. Ted Cruz swung by his crib at any point Sunday, he would've seen the brigade of standing musicians in sombreros ... reminding him what he was missing in Mexico.

Somebody hired a mariachi band to swing by Ted's Houston home yesterday, where the fellas were cranking out Mexican tunes from the sidewalk, quite loudly -- with a crowd of neighbors and spectators forming around them and enjoying the vibes.

Unclear if Ted was around to take in the show himself -- we know he'd been out and about, helping distribute supplies to Texans devastated by the winter storm ... albeit, several days after first going to Cancun with his family.

As we reported, Cruz did a quick U-turn after touching down last week -- and, at first, tried blaming the whole thing on the will of his daughters, and his desire to be a good dad. He eventually just copped to it ... calling the whole thing a mistake in hindsight.