Insert Foot vs. “Jeopardy!”

When are we going to stop defaulting to “white male,” even when no one wants the white male but the white male? I may have shot myself in the foot when it comes to dating, but it’s true.

Around the time Mike Richards was hiring himself to be “Jeopardy!” host a couple weeks ago, I caught a photo of him. My double take became a triple take, and I honestly wondered if it was real. The photo looked like a throwback, like part of a retro Weezer video, or a still from a movie about the 1950s.

His hair, his expression, his suit, the way he was holding a microphone, reminded me of a guy guest hosting “American Bandstand.” He looked cool (in a 1980s trying to be 1950s way). He looked together. He looked white.

So very white, I honestly wondered if it was a parody of a 1950s TV game show, or the Elvis stamp, or something. It wasn’t. It was a white guy hired in 2021, to host a TV game show.

Now I’m not saying white guys shouldn’t host TV game shows. I know some white guys. I even have a few white guy friends. My own father was probably a white guy. If someone wanted to hire this white guy to host a TV game show, I wouldn’t necessarily turn it down. I’m not sure they could pay me enough, but I’d certainly let them try.

Then I’d stop laughing long enough for Mayim Bialik to shove me aside and take the job.

Why so scared, Sony? When given the opportunity to keep “Jeopardy!” a rung above other game shows, reality TV, and whatever other televised dumb flooding our brains, the show’s parent company couldn’t manage more imagination than what seemed like the safe choice to replace Alex Trebek.

For 1961.

In the category of “you get what you pay for,” Sony got its safe, good-looking white male and, ironically, everything that comes with it, which suddenly isn’t so acceptable in 2021: arrogance, misogyny and a slice of racism.

Richards taped one show before someone found an old episode of a podcast called “The Randumb Show,” on which Richards said clever words like “boobie” and generally acted like a smug misogynist unafraid of some minor racism.

You know, like a white guy (yes I am; yes, I have; yes, I was a smug moron). That’s what Sony wanted.

But as if it needs to be said: “Jeopardy!” fans aren’t stupid.

Richards stepped down as host, though will likely remain as executive producer. Fine.

I still can’t believe anyone thought he was the right choice to replace the beloved Trebek (seriously, my 13-year-old nearly cried when he died). Not because Richards is white, but because being white is so engrained as a vital component of Richards being the ultimate insider. Giving Bialik the consolation price of hosting a spin-off and some specials just proves the fix was in. And fairness is supposed to be a big deal at “Jeopardy!”

Public sentiment leaned heavily toward LeVar Burton, Bialik, Aaron Rodgers … but who the hell is Mike Richards, and why do we have to know?

The possible appearance of sham alone should’ve disqualified Richards.

Of course, Trebek was a white male, but an extraordinary one, hired decades ago. He gets points for seemingly keeping “Jeopardy!” clean and three rungs above what passes for television in 2021. There was a reason finding Trebek’s replacement was such a big deal: He set a standard. Certainly not because he acted like a smug dick on a podcast. He didn’t need to pretend to be so clever.

But Richards was just kidding, and if he offended anyone…

He did, and he’s gone. So are the 1950s, and its time people start acting like it.

Follow self-critic Tony Hicks at Twitter.com/TonyBaloney1967.