TMZ.com

One of the biggest "Jeopardy!" champs of all time has strong thoughts on the new hosts -- especially the day-to-day guy, Mike Richards, ... whom he clearly thinks might not have been the best pick.

We talked to Austin Rogers -- who went on a major hot streak in 2017 -- in NYC Wednesday, and got his two cents on the new faces of the iconic quiz trivia show ... and he gave us the straight dope on their EP and Mayim Bialik taking the reigns post-Trebek.

Watch how he responded when we asked how he felt about the announcement -- seems he doesn't think MR was the most ideal way to go ... but a decent option nonetheless.

Fact is -- and as Austin pointed out to us -- Mike has a lot of game show experience ... and he was pretty damn good during his stint as guest host a few months ago. And, as far as Mayim goes -- Austin says she certainly ticks a few boxes for what may or may not be a damage control move ... in his eyes, anyway.

There's some controversy with her getting the tap -- she was a noted anti-vaxxer (one with a PhD, no less) ... but has apparently changed her tune on the jab, and has said in recent months that she and her kids are, in fact, vaccinated against COVID-19. So ... all good???

Anyway, Austin says regardless of how he feels ... he's just happy the show will continue -- and hopes these 2 can carry on its storied legacy well enough. BTW, he gave us a rundown on his latest ventures -- and it sounds like Austin's about to go on a book tour for his new offering -- "The Ultimate Book of Pub Quiz by the Smartest Guy in the Bar."

"Jeopardy!" has a surprising 2-part answer for who will permanently replace the legendary Alex Trebek for hosting duties -- Mike Richards, as expected ... AND Mayim Bialik!!!

The iconic game show announced Wednesday morning it will have 2 hosts for the first time in its long history ... Richards, Executive Producer of the show, will handle the daily duties of the syndicated program, while Bialik will host "Jeopardy!" primetime and spin-off specials.

Daily Beast first broke the news.

As we reported ... Richards was revealed to be the frontrunner recently after guest-hosting in February and crushing it. He's also hosted other game shows before -- "Divided" and "The Pyramid" for Sony Pictures’ GSN cabler -- and has produced more than 4,000 hours of game shows.

Bialik was one of several celeb guest hosts who filled in this year -- along with Ken Jennings, Aaron Rodgers, LeVar Burton, Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos and many others -- after the final Alex Trebek episodes aired.

Trebek was the "Jeopardy!" host for 36 years before he died, but it looks like the new era is officially set to begin ... or new eras, we should say.

Jay Leno's a well-known motorhead, but apparently he's a stuntman too ... based on this crazy footage of him gripping the nose of an airplane in mid-flight!!!

The former 'Tonight Show' host is on Wednesday's ep of "Spike's Car Radio" hosted by comedian and auto enthusiast Spike Feresten, and along with talkin' cars ... Jay reminisced about a fun, and seemingly risky, flight he took with friends.

Leno says they were on a small plane flying off the coast of Catalina Island, and he knew the nose of the aircraft opened up from the inside ... so he decided to give them a little surprise.

After opening the nose hatch, Jay was totally hanging off the front of the plane!!! It looks insanely dangerous, but must not be all that risky, at least to pilots.

CJ Franco thinks traditional dating shows like "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" need some major overhauls to stay relevant, because -- as she's learned the hard way -- dating in real life ain't all roses and proposals.

We got the hot model and a friend Tuesday outside Olivetta, and got her take on "The Bachelor" franchise ... seeing as how she's one of the stars of HBO Max's "FBoy Island" ... a dating show competitor.

CJ says the premise of her show is more rooted in reality than the 'Bachelor' brand ... because as she attests, the dating pool is light on Prince Charmings and heavy on so-called "FBoys."

The latest season of "The Bachelorette" just wrapped with another proposal -- although, we'll see if it lasts -- and CJ says folks are getting tired of the same thing over and over again.

With a slew of new dating reality shows on streaming services, she thinks the 'Bachelor' franchise has to make some changes ... or risk going the way of the dinosaur.

The key to TV success, the way CJ sees it anyway ... is making a dating show that's more relatable to the women and men watching at home.

"Jeopardy!" executive producer Mike Richards is letting his coworkers know, he did NOT discriminate against pregnant models when he was an exec on "The Price Is Right" ... and insists he would never stoop to that level.

Mike blasted out a memo to the "Jeopardy!" staff Monday, addressing the recently resurfaced allegations and reports that he's going to become the next host of the famous game show.

Richards, who was named in two lawsuits, says the claims in the suits came out of employment disputes and don't "reflect the reality of who I am or how we worked together on The Price is Right."

Mike was accused of making insensitive comments about pregnant models, but he says ... "I would not say anything to disrespect anyone's pregnancy and have always supported my colleagues on their parenting journeys."

The pregnancy discrimination allegations resurfaced in the wake of reports Mike is expected to take over hosting duties from the late Alex Trebek and usher in a new era of "Jeopardy!"

In his memo, Mike says he's humbled and honored to be asked to host but says "no final decisions have been made" and it's not his call even though he's the EP.

As we reported ... Mike guest-hosted 'Jeopardy!' back in February and absolutely crushed it. He's hosted other game shows before, including "The Pyramid" and "Divided" as well as producing more than 4,000 hours of game shows.

There's been some fan outrage to reports Mike's taking Trebek's place ... and other guest-hosts this season included Aaron Rodgers, LeVar Burton, Anderson Cooper, Mayim Bialik, Katie Couric and George Stephanopoulos.

Christine Quinn could sell a lot more than real estate these days -- the "Selling Sunset" star might wanna bottle her post-birth workout regimen, 'cause she hit the beach to show off some tremendous results.

The real estate agent -- who's featured on the Netflix reality series -- was on the beach in Taormina, Sicily ... cruising the shore with her newborn son, Christian, in hand -- who's just about 3 months old at this point.

Check out the photos ... Christine was cradling her baby boy in her arms, and even got into the water with him -- holding Christian and an umbrella pretty seamlessly.

Cute mom and son moment, no doubt, but the other takeaway is how good Christine's looking. She had to have an emergency C-section during delivery in May. Three months later, as they say ... baby and mom are doing fine. Really fine!!!

Christine hasn't been shy about showing off her fitness during her Italian getaway.

Bob Odenkirk has found a silver lining in a major medical scare he suffered last week ... he feels like a real-life Jimmy Stewart character from "It's a Wonderful Life."

Bob is on the mend after collapsing on the New Mexico set of "Better Call Saul." It was extremely serious at first, with a very uncertain outcome. But, Bob's rebounded in a big way, and he's clearly moved by the love and concern from family, friends and fans.

He says he's filled with gratitude from the outpouring of concern and support ... “I am doing great. I’ve had my very own “It’s a wonderful life” week of people insisting I make the world slightly better. Wow! Thank you, I love everyone right now but let’s keep expectations reasonable!”

Lots of stars, including his "Breaking Bad" co-star Bryan Cranston, were super concerned after the July 27 heart attack, and Bob couldn't be more grateful for his recovery.

Allison Josephs has had it with Hollywood's portrayal of the Orthodox Jewish community, and believes "My Unorthodox Life" is the latest contributor to negative stereotypes she calls downright dangerous.

We got the "Jew in the City" founder outside the Peninsula Hotel in NYC, and she had some stern reactions to the controversial new Netflix series about Julia Haart -- CEO of modeling agency Elite World Group -- who left her Haredi community in 2013.

Josephs has several issues, first and foremost with Julia ... who she accuses of co-opting someone else's story and not being entirely truthful. She also blasts Haart for generalizing her former Jewish community as "fundamentalist" at a time when hate crimes against Jews are on the rise.

Allison goes on to say these recurring negative portrayals of the Orthodox community on TV and film are devastating ... and she's pleading with Hollywood execs to do better.

The panic in Kyle Richards' voice is painfully evident on the 911 call she made moments after she was attacked by bees ... as the operator desperately tried to help her work a lifesaving EpiPen.

Kyle, who is allergic to bee stings, is clearly panicked about what could happen to her because she can't figure out how to use the injectable device. The operator tries to calmly talk her through it, but even he starts to lose patience at times.

As we reported, a swarm of bees stung Kyle last month in the backyard of her Encino home.

The dispatcher tells Kyle helps is on the way ... but in the meantime, you can hear his, and Kyle's, frustration that she can't get the EpiPen out of its carrying case.

Kyle repeatedly says she's trying, but can't work the twist-off case ... and at one point asks if she should just stab her leg while the EpiPen is still in the case.

As we reported ... The 'Real Housewives' star posted the terrifying security footage following last weekend's attack that sent her to the ER. She later posted from her hospital bed and underscored the importance of always carrying an EpiPen ... and knowing how to use it.

Pamela Anderson is out of the 'Bu ... because TMZ has learned she just sold her Malibu estate.

The house -- located in the celebrity-riddled Malibu Colony -- sold for $11.8 million. Turns out the sale may now be in the record books for the Colony. The price breaks down to more than $4,000 a square foot.

The house is 2,700 square feet and the best part may be the incredible backyard with a great pool and guest house. The house has 4 bedrooms and the entire house is sustainably sourced -- courtesy of Pam.

Tomer Fridman from Compass had the listing.

As for the buyer, well, if you're familiar with Kreiss furniture ... the heir to that fortune scooped it up. The new owners -- Loren and Kate Kreiss -- were repped by Sandro Dazzan from The Agency.

Gigi Hadid put her supermodel status on the back burner, if you will, and became a total fangirl when she got to meet, and work with, the one and only "Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro!!!

Jersey's other Boss joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and told us about his baking experience with Gigi, who happens to be one of his biggest fans.

Buddy says she literally started crying when they met, and he was blown away by how much she knew about his show -- and cake decorating -- when they got together to create a tasty treat.

The "Cake Boss," has a new series on Food Network and Discovery+ -- "Buddy vs. Duff: Baker Battle" -- and he says fans will see how much better his surgically repaired hand is doing ... nearly a year after his horrific bowling incident.

Longtime soap opera actor Jay Pickett has died -- this while he was actually doing his job in front of the camera.

Jay passed Thursday on the set of a new film he was working on called "Treasure Valley" in Idaho -- so says his costar and co-producer for the flick, Jim Heffel, who shared the tragic news on Facebook ... explaining he actually died while they were preparing to shoot a scene.

He writes, "Jay died sitting on a horse ready to rope a steer in the movie Treasure Valley in Idaho. The way of a true cowboy." Not much more was discussed as to how he ended up toppling over, but it sounds like it was sudden ... and an official cause of death isn't out yet.

Another star from the movie, Travis Mills, took to his own FB page to speculate it appeared to be a heart attack of some sort, while also noting everyone around at the time tried hard to keep him alive ... going on to call it a shocking tragedy.

This is a project that Jay was all in on -- he was writing, producing and starring in it as the lead man. It sounds like a good old-fashioned Western movie ... and was due to be released next year.

Jay certainly has had some movie experience over the length of his long career, but he's definitely more famous for his TV work ... or daytime TV, we should say -- which he got started in the '90s with "Days of Our Lives," on which he played Dr. Chip Lakin.

He was only on 'Days' for about a year, but then moved on to even more legendary soaps ... where he had prolonged roles. Jay was in over 700 episodes of "Port Charles" for several years between the late '90s and early 2000s, playing Frank Scanlon to much fanfare.

After that, Jay went on to star in "General Hospital" for a couple years -- at which point, he was acting in a ton of different stuff ... like "Dexter," "Desperate Housewives," "Hot Line," "Saving Grace" ... and later, "NCIS," "The Mentalist" and other shows and movies up until very recently.

He's survived by his wife, Elena, and their children. Jay was only 60.

Thea Ruth White -- the voice of Muriel on "Courage the Cowardly Dog" -- has died.

Her family shared the sad news over the weekend, saying she'd passed Friday following a surgery to remove a cancerous mass from her liver ... which her nephew, Brad Zitzner, says resulted in her catching an infection shortly thereafter.

By all accounts, she fought hard ... but lost her battle to cancer. Right before going in for the procedure -- Thea's brother, John, posted a video of her asking for well-wishes from fans (young and old) which she said would help her in her recovery. She seemed to be talking in the Muriel voice, too, from the famed Cartoon Network show that she's most famous from.

John posted yet another video on Facebook, which seemed to indicate this is something Thea has been dealing with for a while -- apparently, she'd gone in for an initial surgery just a week ago ... and he has a video up of her talking following that procedure.

Her nephew writes, "Thanks Feefer for your leadership of your family. The role you have taken with my kids and all your family sadly can't be replaced. I can see hundreds of fan tributes already online so your love was shared far and wide."

Brad adds, "You loved life and even know I know the final outcome I love your decision to go for it and to try to win."

Thea hadn't gotten into acting until later in life -- it seems her first major role was on 'CTCD,' on which she starred for four years. She's also lent her talents for shows like "Pecola" and 'Scooby Doo' ... but it looks like she's been faithful to portraying Muriel in a variety of forms.

She was 81.

Bill Maher is back with a vengeance ... and he's making a case that cancel culture and cultural appropriation are destroying America.

Bill's back from a month-long hiatus and he zeroed in on the honchos at the Olympics who were 86'd for decades-old infractions.

He then targeted a subset of cancel culture -- cultural appropriation, and made a case that it's anathema to empathy. In other words, sharing cultures -- rather than walling them off -- is a celebration of diversity rather than exploitation. His example is surfing -- an AP story called the new Olympic sport an indignity to Hawaiians. Bill calls BS ... you gotta watch and judge for yourself, but he's got some solid arguments.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone want to buy a beloved Colorado restaurant featured in "South Park," but it's still just a pipedream ... because we're told Casa Bonita is NOT for sale.

Here's the deal ... the "South Park" creators made it pretty well known this week they want to buy the Mexican restaurant they often shout out in their sitcom, in part because the real Casa Bonita has remained shuttered since the outset of the pandemic.

But, as flattering as their desire to buy Casa Bonita might be, honchos at the restaurant's parent company, Summit Family Restaurant Inc., tell TMZ ... they're not interested in selling, despite filing for bankruptcy.

Since the bankruptcy filing, we're told tons of people have reached out to Summit about purchasing Casa Bonita -- but Trey and Matt weren't among them.

We're told the decision-makers at Summit plan to reopen Casa Bonita ASAP once the current bankruptcy process wraps, with the goal being to get folks back to work in the next month. Summit's owned Casa Bonita for 25 years.

Good news, folks ... Bob Odenkirk is in such good spirits he's now joking around with friends, according to one of them ... actor David Cross.

Cross says the "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" star is doing so good, in fact, fans will soon be hearing from him. Cross updated Bob's legion of fans Friday morning saying, "Just got off the phone with Bob and he's doing great!"

David added, "Both [Bob] and his family are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and concern everyone has shown. You will be hearing from him soon. But he's doing really well!!!"

That's welcome news considering what he's gone through over the last couple of days. TMZ broke the story ... Bob was rushed to the hospital after collapsing on the set of "Better Call Saul" while filming in New Mexico.

We later learned the emergency was a "heart-related" incident. For a moment it was touch-and-go. He was not conscious during his initial hours in an Albuquerque hospital before he eventually woke up -- and Cross now sounds confident Bob will be back to his old self.

As we reported ... there was an outpouring of support following the medical scare. "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston shared a pic on Instagram and asked fans to "please take a moment in your day today to think about him and send positive thoughts and prayers."

Message delivered.