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‘Jeopardy!’ GOATS Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer And Brad Rutter Mourned The Death Of Alex Trebek

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For the past two years, Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek has battled Stage IV pancreatic cancer, but throughout the grueling treatment he continued to host the show with the same delight and passion as always. On Sunday, we learned that Trebek had passed at the age of 80, with TMZ reporting he died at home surrounded by his family.

Trebek had been open about his cancer diagnosis and the timetable doctors had given him, but made it his stated purpose to continue living as he had and hosting the show he loved and had made into a phenomenon of pop culture. In that time, he brought three of the shows greatest contestants back for the Jeopardy! GOAT Tournament back in January, as Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and the newest Jeopardy! juggernaut James Holzhauer all faced off in a primetime special.

As the news of Trebek’s death emerged on Sunday, those three all paid tribute to the man they had become close with, remembering him as a one-of-one who gave them and the world something special.

Trebek had just taped a number of new episodes and while he continued on with business as usual, the past two years had seen contestants recognize the importance of making sure the legendary host was given his flowers while he was still with us. In the Tournament of Champions, a contestant used Final Jeopardy to say “We love you Alex,” and recently, a newly crowned champion Burt Thakur explained to Trebek that he had learned English by watching Alex host Jeopardy! with his grandfather, thanking him for all he’d done.

The influence of Trebek and Jeopardy! on American culture and millions of people who have competed on the show or became regular viewers is hard to overstate. He will be missed tremendously, but if there is any silver lining in all of this it is that the gratitude and love people have for him was able to be shared fully with him in the final years of his life.


‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Are Remembering Alex Trebek By Posting Their Favorite Moments

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Sunday morning brought about the incredibly sad news that Alex Trebek had died at the age of 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. The legendary game show host, best known for his three decades on Jeopardy!, was beloved by millions whose lives he entered most every weekday evening for years and years.

As with anyone that’s in your life that regularly, whether you know them personally or not, there are going to be plenty of memories that come flooding back when you think about them, and on Sunday Jeopardy! fans broke out some of their favorite Trebek moments from years past on social media to laugh and cry and remember a tremendous host and, by all accounts, a tremendous man.

The Jeopardy! GOATs all paid tribute to Trebek on social media, and as Jennings said, for millions of people we felt like Alex Trebek was part of our family. The remembrances included some hilarious moments, like the time he matter-of-factly said to a contestant telling him about nerdcore hip-hop, “losers, in other words,” or his long history of making fun of contestants who failed miserably at sports categories.

Any time Trebek had to dive into pop culture, particularly music, it was always a hit, like when he’d rattle off rap lyrics to the delight of everyone watching.

My personal favorite might be this moment with Ken Jennings in which the legendary champ took Trebek aback with the question of “What is a hoe?” to an answer.

Trebek will be sorely missed, and the dry humor he would occasionally unleash on contestants is something that really only he could do and remain as endearing a figure as he was. Jeopardy! will not be the same without him, but at least we have thousands of episodes worth of memories to remember him with.

Alex Trebek’s Final Episode Of ‘Jeopardy!’ Will Air On Christmas Day

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On Sunday word broke that Alex Trebek — longtime host of brainiac game show Jeopardy! and who had been battling pancreatic cancer over the last year and change — had died. He was 80 years old. Trebek had continued filming the show even as he fought the illness that would eventually claim his life. That means there’s a backlog of as-yet-to-air episodes. According to Variety (in a tidbit teased out by Vox), his final episode as host will air on Christmas Day.

Mind you, there’s still tons of episodes left, and Trebek’s last day of filming is reported to have been October 29, i.e., about a week and a half ago. Those will continue to air over the next month and a half, leaving the final one for the big holiday — a bittersweet way for everyone to say goodbye to game show-dom’s most unflappable host.

The Canadian-born television personality began hosting Jeopardy! back in 1984. It was far from his first rodeo. He hosted his first game show, The Wizard of Odds, back in 1973, and he also lorded over High Rollers, the short-lived Double Dare (not to be confused with the kids game show), The $128,000 Question, Battlestars, Pitfall, Classic Concentration, among others. But it was as the suave and crisp host of Jeopardy! for which he will be forever remembered.

(Via Variety and Vox)

El-P Reveals Run The Jewels Reached Out To Alex Trebek To Appear On ‘RTJ4’

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The entertainment world was hit with shocking news on Sunday when it was announced that longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek died at the age of 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. As expected, Trebek’s biggest supporters took to social media to share their favorite memories. Among them was Run The Jewels’ El-P, who jumped on Twitter to share an idea involving Trebek that he and Killer Mike had hoped to make a reality on the rap duo’s recently released album Run The Jewels 4.

“True story: when we were originally crafting ‘a few words for the firing squad’ off RTJ4 we were going to make it a sequel to ‘jeopardy’ from RTJ2 and call it ‘final jeopardy,’” El-P wrote. “We reached out to alex trebeks people and tried to get him on the jam but couldn’t make it happen.” The rapper explained why the duo felt that the Jeopardy! host’s involvement would be a great fit on the album. “We thought of that because run the jewels was an answer on jeopardy which we sampled and had in between verses but it didn’t quite work so we tried to get Alex to re-do it a little differently,” El-P said. “When we couldn’t get him we scrapped the idea and created ‘a few words…’ instead.”

Run The Jewels’ “A Few Words For The Firing Squad (Radiation)” is a strong outro from Run The Jewels 4, and it was also crowned Uproxx’s mid-year song of 2020 so far back in June. El-P also shared what Trebek meant to him personally, saying he “represented a calm joy of knowledge and it’s pursuit.” He added, “He had a gentlemanly demeanor and seemingly kind soul and used intelligence playfully and encouragingly. sad to see him go and hope he rests peacefully.”

Alex Trebek Made ‘Jeopardy!’ Great Because He Wanted All Of Us To Find The Answers

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In a devastating year that’s taken so much from so many, 2020 barreled forward on Sunday by taking Alex Trebek from Jeopardy! fans, too. Trebek died after a long and very public battle with Stage IV pancreatic cancer, and by the time a ball drop ends this wretched period, Trebek will be gone from our screens and the Jeopardy! soundstage for good.

Few fans can even remember a Jeopardy! without Trebek, and since his cancer diagnosis in 2019 the very real possibly of his retirement or worse was on the minds of fans, especially when the coronavirus pandemic shut down production this spring. The show’s safety-focused return to production this summer brought new episodes in the fall, which will now show us the last moments we have of Trebek until the backlog of taped episodes with him at the helm run out on Christmas Day.

Tributes will come from many, as will an announcement about his eventual replacement hosting a show with which he became synonymous. It will be difficult and sad, like most things have been this year, and eventually Trebek’s death will settle in with all the heartbreak and sorrow we’ve accumulated in the months after Ken Jennings won the Greatest Of All Time Tournament on primetime in January. Trebek and Jeopardy! meant so much to so many, and even days before his death touching tributes to the show’s host were going viral. Everyone seems to have a personal Jeopardy! story, and nearly every one of those involves Trebek in some way.

“There’s this continuity where it doesn’t feel like a TV property anymore. It’s just a part of America, almost like the national parks or something. It’s really an institution,” legendary Jeopardy! contestant Ken Jennings told me by phone earlier in the month, before Trebek’s death. “It’s just a fabric of all of our lives. It’s Biography now, we feel like it’s part of us.”

Untangling Trebek from that institution will be painful. The aura he projected as host was truly that of someone who knew all the answers, and it was one he worked hard to perfect behind the scenes, putting in the time to learn proper pronunciations and making notes on clues and categories. As our Brian Grubb put it earlier this year, Trebek is the true Jeopardy! GOAT, and this January’s tournament served as much a celebration of Jennings, James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter as it was the show’s legendary host and the personality he showed over the years.

Oftentimes the moments from Jeopardy! that proved most popular were about Trebek himself, not the contestants. People loved seeing him poke fun at contestants who had weird interests or used what may be their only ever appearance on syndicated television to share a startlingly mundane story about themselves. In the hours after his death became public, people flooded social media with memories of Trebek on the show, reciting Cardi B lyrics or saying the word “bitchin.” Another popular video was one of Trebek poking fun at a woman who admitted she liked nerdcore hip hop, only to get roasted by Trebek for defining the genre.

“It’s people who identify as nerdy, rapping about the things they love,” the contestant, Rebecca, said. “Video games, science fiction. Having a hard time meeting romantic partners. You know, it’s really catchy and fun.”

Trebek paused for a moment, then delivered some of the trademark dry humor fans have loved seeing over the years.

“Losers, in other words,” Trebek offered before moving on to the other two contestants and their biographical information.

The clip has gone viral online several times over, to the point that every few months people share it assuming it’s new and further replicating its enduring popularity. The video is a moment that in many ways fits our current cultural climate and the oftentimes outright hostility with which we treat strangers. But though I’ve never met or even interviewed Alex Trebek, I don’t think he was trying to roast this poor woman who likes nerdcore, nor do I think he would want that moment to be his lasting legacy in pop culture. Trebek had jokes, sure, but unlike those of us who watch the show very rarely did put others down for his own gain.

Part of the fun of watching Jeopardy! is, of course, playing along at home. It’s always nice to beat contestants to an answer, something you know that those who actually passed the test to make it on the show did not. For many that edge often comes in sports categories, as even the most learned intellectual simply doesn’t give a sh*t about football enough to know what offside is. One of those famous instances was one of the first Jeopardy! things I wrote about at Uproxx: Trebek somewhat chiding contestants for whiffing on an entire category of very basic football questions.

It’s another moment that often recirculates online, and did once again on Sunday. But that video is not the end of that story: in March of this year, days before the pandemic locked down an entire country, Jeopardy! ran another football category. This time it was written by Trebek himself, complete with crude drawings he made to illustrate the signals a football referee makes. He also acted them out at the podium, much to the amusement of the studio audience and social media. Contestants did much better this time, in part thanks to Trebek’s pantomime and coaching, and he seemed downright chuffed by the results.

Of all the Jeopardy! moments Trebek has given us over the years, I think this is what will stay with me most. More than anything, Trebek always seemed to be on each contestant’s side. There were no favorites, there was no malice or disdain. The judges were to blame for a scoring correction here and there. And while he couldn’t help but poke fun in certain moments, he always wanted players to answer correctly. He didn’t want clues left on the board, because the people behind the scenes worked hard on those clues and, hey, it’s not his money the show is giving away. Everyone gets a payday and a picture, no exceptions.

In a social landscape where too often kindness and compassion are confused for weakness, Trebek was rooting for everyone. The joy through which he worked will endure, both in those who work on the show and contestants who appear on its stage and think the same way he always seemed to think. His genuine sense of wonder and interest in those who adored the show and his work was on display to the very end. The latest viral moment from Trebek was not him dunking on a nerdcore enthusiast, but thrilled by a contestant beatboxing to the point where the Jeopardy! host nearly joined in. It was a moment of growth, maybe, of letting people just enjoy the things they enjoy and appreciating them for wanting to play a role in the world Trebek helped create.

Alex Trebek made Jeopardy! great because he wanted everyone to win, both at the podium with signaling devices and those playing with ballpoint pens in hand at home. When I will think about Jeopardy! in whatever form it takes after Trebek leaves our screens, I hope the same sense of hope and earnest positivity remains. None of us have all the answers, not even Alex Trebek. He will not have taken any particular secrets with him when he passed. What he showed in his 80 years, though, is that no matter what the category our instincts should lean toward compassion, and the answer should always be the desire to get a little bit better every time.

‘Jeopardy!’ Aired An Emotional Cold Open Honoring The Late Alex Trebek

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Jeopardy! paid tribute to the late Alex Trebek with a special message before Monday’s broadcast, a day after the legendary host died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 80. The show inserted a special cold open into the broadcast that shared memories about Trebek and a message from show executive producer Mike Richards.

While Jeopardy! often airs in markets in the 7 o’clock hour locally, there are several US markets that air the show earlier in the day. That’s how word of James Holzhauer’s historic run coming to an end hit social media in advance of most people seeing it air “live” in syndication.

And so video of the cold open hit Twitter well before many were able to see the tribute air before Monday’s episode.

“Over the weekend we lost our beloved host, Alex Trebek. This is an enormous loss for our staff and crew, for his family and for his millions of fans. He loved this show, and everything it stood for,” Richards said. “In fact, he taped his final episodes less than two weeks ago. He will forever be an inspiration for his constant desire to learn, his kindness, and for his love of his family.”

Getting emotional, Richards confirmed that those episodes will air as expected, though there was no official word about what will happen to the show next.

“We will air his final 35 episodes as they were shot. That’s what he wanted,” Richards said. “On behalf of everyone here at Jeopardy, thank you for everything Alex. This is Jeopardy!

The official Jeopardy! account on Twitter posted a message about Trebek that linked to its website, also confirming that episodes with Trebek as host will run until December 25.

It’s an emotional message paying tribute to a man who meant so much to the people he worked with. Despite the fear many had about Trebek and his diagnosis, and the long battle had with pancreatic cancer, it’s still shocking that a central figure like Trebek is truly gone. Another fan-made video of great Trebek moments also circulated on Monday that got many people emotional.

Fans will get 35 more chances to see him at the helm of the show, but it will be an emotional next few weeks of watching to say the least.

Ryan Reynolds Pays Tribute To Alex Trebek, Who Filmed A ‘Free Guy’ Cameo While Battling Cancer

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The death of Alex Trebek caught the world by surprise on Sunday, as news of the beloved Jeopardy! host succumbing to his battle with pancreatic cancer arrived on the heels of Joe Biden winning the 2020 presidential election. It was an emotional time for fans of the classic TV quiz show and Trebek’s comforting presence that anchored each episode of Jeopardy! for over 30 years. As tributes poured in, fellow Canadian Ryan Reynolds issued a heartfelt note of thanks to the late host, who graciously took the time to appear in Free Guy even while undergoing cancer treatment. Via Twitter:

“Alex Trebek was kind enough to film a cameo for our film Free Guy last year despite his battle. He was gracious and funny. In addition to being curious, stalwart, generous, reassuring and of course, Canadian. We love you, Alex. And always will.”

A brief preview of Trebek’s cameo can be seen in the second trailer for Free Guy, which racked up an impressive amount of views shortly after its release. In the short clip, Trebek is hosting an episode of Jeopardy!, which includes a question about Reynolds’ character, who is in the middle of dramatically altering the game world he lives in after falling in love with Killing Eve‘s Jodie Comer.

You can watch the second Free Guy trailer below:

While Trebek’s death was a shock as he seemed to be doing well with his experimental treatment for pancreatic cancer, the host can still be seen on Jeopardy! for a little while longer per his final wishes. On Monday night, producer Mike Richards aired an emotional cold open where he honored Trebek and revealed that the late host had filmed episodes as recently as two weeks ago. “We will air his final 35 episodes as they were shot. That’s what he wanted,” Richards announced.

(Via Ryan Reynolds on Twitter)

Remembering Alex Trebek’s Most Memorable ‘Jeopardy!’ Moments

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Alex Trebek’s death on Sunday hit home for millions of people, as the longtime Jeopardy! host had become an institution of American television and someone that was a regular visitor into your home most every weeknight. As Ken Jennings said in his tribute on Twitter, Trebek felt like a family member to so many because of the familiarity and comfort you felt just watching him, even if you’d never met the man. Those lucky enough to have met him, meanwhile, have almost nothing but glowing things to say.

As tributes continue to pour out about Trebek, we thought we’d put together some of our favorite moments of his on Jeopardy! For me, the last two years after he announced his diagnosis of stage IV pancreatic cancer produced some of the most memorable moments, as it seemed everyone that came on the show recognized that we weren’t going to have Trebek with us forever. That led to some touching moments as contestants made sure to give Trebek his flowers while he was still hosting the show, which if there’s a small silver lining to all of this, it is that he got a chance to hear from people how much he meant to them.

Two of the most shared clips in recent days have been of Dhruv Gaur’s touching “We Love You Alex” answer to Final Jeopardy during last year’s Tournament of Champions and recent champion Burt Thakur’s emotional testimony of how he learned to speak English by watching Trebek on Jeopardy! with his grandfather.

It has been pretty tremendous to see over the past couple years as contestants show their appreciation for the legendary host, and, as our Ryan Nagelhout wrote, part of what made Trebek so beloved was his genuine hope for everyone to do well on the show and the care he took in getting each contestant to open up, even ever-so-briefly, on the show. He also took delight in seeing contestants win, whether it was how astounded he was by the performances of Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer on their legendary runs, or this moment in which all three contestants tied (with the returning champ purposefully betting the amount to let the other two tie him) and, thus, all won $16,000 and got to come back to play the next day. (This rule eventually changed and there’s now a tiebreaker question.)

While Trebek was known for his kindness and warm-hearted nature, which was why so many took delight in seeing him make jokes or even curse, as everyone does, in outtakes like this oft-viral clip of him doing promos for the Jeopardy! phone game.

His dry humor was often on display, but almost never to the delight of the audience more than when they would slip a sports category in that would completely stump the contestants. His delivery of “If you guys ring in and get this one, I will die” is one of the funniest things ever on the show.

Trebek also listened to more “fun facts” about contestants than any human probably should have to, and sometimes their talents or stories would blow him away, such as the recent beatboxer who appeared on the show and made Trebek genuinely thrilled with his exploits.

Other times, people would relay some extremely obscure interests to the host and television audience, to whom Trebek would try to translate to the people at home, most famously with his “losers, in other words” quip after a lady explained nerdcore hip-hop.

And then there were those relationships we got to see him build on screen with two of the best contestants the show ever had, Jennings and Holzhauer, who are inextricably linked to Trebek forever. Holzhauer’s dominance was something that made Trebek almost guffaw at, with his incredible acumen, skill, and knowledge in just about every category. For Jennings, the on-screen dynamic was similar but the 74-time champ clearly loved to prod at Trebek and try to make him break his typical stoic character, never more successful than his answer of “hoe” that produced an all-time reaction from the host.

There are words that Jeopardy! fans will always hear in Trebek’s voice, none more than genre, but for me personally I will always laugh uncontrollably at the weirdest Jeopardy! video edit on the internet: Jeffpardy!

What’s amazing about Alex Trebek’s longevity as host of Jeopardy! is that nearly everyone you ask will have a different favorite memory of Trebek. Some will be incredibly personal, while others may simply be some very funny moment they’ll never forget, whatever the case, he has left an indelible mark on millions and it’s a pretty tremendous legacy to leave behind. As for Trebek himself, he became introspective after his cancer diagnosis and offered his thoughts on how he wanted his final episode to end.

“It’ll be a significant moment for me,” he said. “But I’ve kind of, in my mind, rehearsed it already, and what I would do on that day is tell the director, ‘Time the show down to leave me 30 seconds at the end. That’s all I want.’ And I will say my goodbyes and I will tell people, ‘Don’t ask me who’s going to replace me because I have no say whatsoever. But I’m sure that if you give them the same love and attention and respect that you have shown me…then they will be a success and the show will continue being a success. And until we meet again, God bless you and goodbye.”

Until we meet again, Alex.


An ‘SNL’ Writer Has Revealed What Alex Trebek Thought Of The ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Sketches

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Based on anecdotal evidence of me and my friends at lunch during high school, “Celebrity Jeopardy” is one of the most-quoted SNL sketches in the show’s history.

It aired 15 times between 1996, when Sean Connery (Darrell Hammond), Burt Reynolds (Norm Macdonald), and Jerry Lewis (Martin Short) were the special guests, and 2015, with Will Ferrell dusting off his Alex Trebek mustache for the 40th anniversary special. Following Trebek’s death from pancreatic cancer, SNL writer Steve Higgins shared the origin of the sketch and the time the Jeopardy! host reached out to Lorne Michaels.

“The idea for the sketch came from my wife. She said to me, ‘You should write a ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ sketch, because these celebrities don’t know that much.’ So I took it to Adam McKay,” he wrote for Variety. McKay was SNL‘s head writer before directing Anchorman, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Step Brothers and winning an Oscar for The Big Short. “The fun of writing the sketch to me was the formula,” Higgins continued. “You go through the categories, and the category that has the dirty word hidden in it is always going to be a joke for Sean Connery. And then you have to figure out what the Final Jeopardy! is, and what the reveal is that people won’t get in advance. It’s third-grade humor, which is the best kind of humor. But also Will Ferrell, one of the greatest comics in the world, playing the perfect straight man in Trebek. I’m just lucky that I got to be a part of it. That’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Trebek was a fan of Ferrell’s impression. In fact, he “told Lorne that he loved the sketch. I was always very happy about that,” Higgins revealed. “That would have been terrible, if he’d thought it was anything but love. You really can’t parody something if you don’t love it, or else it’s just mean.” Don’t let the oversized hat (“it’s bigger than a normal hat”) distract you, there’s nothing but love between Trebek and Turd Ferguson.

(Via Variety)

Alex Trebek’s Wife Jean Shared A Photo Of The Late ‘Jeopardy!’ Host And A Thank You To Fans

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The late Alex Trebek is still hosting new episodes of Jeopardy!, and he will appear as the host of the show until Christmas Day. His death on Sunday, however, has sparked an outpouring of grief and tributes from fans and former contestants who loved the show’s host and the legacy game show he helped create.

Monday brought an on-air tribute to Trebek before the new episode that ran in syndication, the first since his death from pancreatic cancer was made public on Sunday. And later in the week his wife, Jean, also shared a thank you to fans for their tributes in the wake of Trebek’s passing. Jean Trebek posted a message to Instagram on Wednesday along with a wedding photo of her late husband, thanking fans for their support and the kind words that have been shared in the days since he died.

“My family and I sincerely thank you all for your compassionate messages and generosity,” Jean wrote. “Your expressions have truly touched our hearts. Thank you so very, very much.”

Thursday also brought another message from Trebek himself, filmed for a campaign to help children understand the concept of compassion.

“We all know that bullying is a problem in our society, and often is in our schools,” Trebek said. “And so is a lack of understanding of others’ situations.”

It’s yet another example of the impact Trebek tried to have both in the community and among the legions of fans who continue to mourn his loss in the trivia and game show community. Trebek will certainly be missed, and whoever takes over for him once his run of new shows is over will certainly have big, compassionate shoes to fill moving forward.

Levar Burton Is ‘Flattered’ Fans Started A Petition To Have Him Succeed Alex Trebek Hosting ‘Jeopardy!’

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As delicate a subject as it may be, Jeopardy! needs a new host in the wake of Alex Trebek’s death. And at least one person oddsmakers believe has a chance to follow the late Trebek’s lead at least seems interested in the job.

Levar Burton, a TV legend in his own right after hosting Reading Rainbow and appearing on Star Trek, has become the subject of a fan petition to make him the new host of the show following Trebek’s death as a result of pancreatic cancer on Sunday. The 80-year-old host was likely nearing the end of his career before his Stage IV cancer diagnosis in 2019, so Jeopardy! would likely have had some replacements in mind. But a significant amount of fans want Burton hosting, and as we’ve seen with the Reading Rainbow revival, there’s a groundswell of folks online that really likes him.

A Change.org petition about his candidacy for replacing Trebek popped up online this week, and thousands of people quickly signed on.

Between hosting 21 seasons of the educational Reading Rainbow, playing the brainiac engineer Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: the Next Generation, and filling the roll of Kunta Kinte in the ever important mini-series Roots, LeVar Burton has inspired and shaped the minds of several generations of trivia-loving nerds. This petition is to show Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and producers Mike Richards and Harry Friedman just how much love the public has for Burton, and how much we’d all love to see him as the next host of Jeopardy!

Burton himself also shared the petition, saying he’s “flattered” people think he should fill Trebek’s place on the legendary Jeopardy! stage.

“Even if nothing comes from it, I can’t tell how much how I appreciate all y’alls love and support,” Burton wrote on Twitter. We know Jeopardy! has new episodes with Trebek hosting scheduled to air until Christmas Day, and the show’s future past that remains uncertain with Trebek now gone and an ever-intensifying pandemic threatening to shut production down even if it has a host. But we know a lot of people are hoping Burton gets the call, and he certainly doesn’t sound like he’d say no if if that call came.

Adam Thielen Wore Cleats Paying Tribute To Alex Trebek Before Monday Night Football

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Last week brought word that beloved Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek had died after a battle with Stage IV pancreatic cancer at the age of 80. Immediately, people began offering their remembrances of the legendary game show host, from those that knew him best from the show to fans who simply wanted to relive some of their favorite Trebek moments.

Trebek’s final episodes will air as scheduled through December, with Jeopardy!‘s executive producer offering a heartfelt message on the first show that aired following his death. There’s plenty of speculation regarding who may step into the host role on Jeopardy! in Trebek’s place, with Ken Jennings as the presumptive choice while others have expressed hope for someone like Levar Burton, but whoever it is will have massive shoes to fill — and will need to try and carve out their own tone for the show because no one can do it exactly as Trebek did.

On Monday night, prior to the Vikings game against the Bears, Adam Thielen decided to wear some custom cleats made by Mache to offer his own tribute to Trebek, with the host’s visage on one cleat and a Jeopardy board saying “We Miss You Alex” on the other.

It shows how impactful Trebek was on so many for all different walks of life that Thielen would want to pay his respects in this way. From the sports world to academia to everyday folks at home on their couch, he managed to make everyone feel at home watching the show.

The Late Alex Trebek Kicked Off Thursday’s ‘Jeopardy’ With A Message About World Pancreatic Cancer Day

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Thursday is World Pancreatic Cancer Day, and for Jeopardy! fans, it’s a day that serves as an opportunity for remembrance. Earlier this month, longtime host Alex Trebek passed away following a battle with the disease at age 80. He was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer in early 2019 and battled for more than a year, and through Christmas Day, Jeopardy! will broadcast episodes that were aired with Trebek as host from before his passing.

It’s unclear exactly when Thursday evening’s episode was shot, but before things kicked off, Trebek spoke to those watching at home about World Pancreatic Cancer Day. While donning a purple tie, shirt, and ribbon on his jacket — purple is the color used to honor those who have battled pancreatic cancer, and the show’s official Twitter account encouraged people to wear it on Thursday — Trebek urged people to take this seriously.

“Before we get into today’s match, a word about today,” Trebek said. “Today is World Pancreatic Cancer Day, and if you or anyone you know has developed some of the symptoms that I have talked about in the past, then by all means, get to a doctor, get yourself tested, I want you to be safe. This is a terrible, terrible disease.”

For more information on pancreatic cancer and the symptoms associated with it, here’s a link with more information via the Mayo Clinic. And for more on World Pancreatic Cancer Day, click here.

‘Jeopardy!’ Will Resume Taping With Ken Jennings Guest Hosting After Alex Trebek’s Death

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Ken Jennings will officially take over as host of Jeopardy! following the death of legendary host Alex Trebek. For now, that is.

The syndicated trivia titan of a game show announced Monday that it would resume taping episodes following Trebek’s death from pancreatic cancer, with Jennings as the first of what’s apparently a series of guest hosts continuing the season while the show searches for a permanent replacement.

The news came as part of a larger announcement about what the show will do to honor Trebek in the wake of his death. New episodes with him as host will air in syndication until December 25, and on Monday news came that there would be a greatest hits of sorts also airing in tribute to Trebek.

“Alex believed in the importance of Jeopardy! and always said that he wanted the show to go on after him,” Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards said in a statement. “We will honor Alex’s legacy by continuing to produce the game he loved with smart contestants and challenging clues. By bringing in familiar guest hosts for the foreseeable future, our goal is to create a sense of community and continuity for our viewers.”

Jennings will take over as Jeopardy! host on November 30, when the show begins to tape again. And the news makes it sound more like a trial run for Jennings as host than an official announcement that he’s taking over full-time, as many have speculated. Whether that becomes official seems unclear right now, but Jennings is a logical solution both in the long and short-term. He already works on the show behind the scenes, and he certainly is recognizable among fans as the official Greatest Of All Time after his win in the Jeopardy! GOAT Tournament, which aired in January.

Alex Trebek’s Final ‘Jeopardy!’ Episodes Will Air In January Following Some Of His Best Moments As Host

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On Monday, word broke that legendary contestant Ken Jennings will be one of the guest hosts on upcoming episodes of Jeopardy! following the passing of iconic host Alex Trebek. Trebek, who passed away recently from pancreatic cancer, will still be on the air with never-seen episodes, however, and Jeopardy! announced further details on when his last shows will air.

First, the show will air ten of Trebek’s best episodes during the weeks of Dec. 21 and Dec. 28, referring to “anticipated preemptions around Christmas and New Year’s.” From there, however, Trebek’s last week of episodes will hit the air during the week of Jan. 4, 2021, before the guest-hosted shows begin on Jan. 11.

“Alex believed in the importance of Jeopardy! and always said that he wanted the show to go on after him,” said Jeopardy! Executive Producer Mike Richards. “We will honor Alex’s legacy by continuing to produce the game he loved with smart contestants and challenging clues. By bringing in familiar guest hosts for the foreseeable future, our goal is to create a sense of community and continuity for our viewers.”

It is important to note that the show indicates a long-term replacement “will not be named at this time,” and the announcement refers to a “series of interim guests hosts” that will begin with Jennings. While the choice of Jennings to be the first will undoubtedly spark speculation, fans can now plan around the airings of Trebek’s last episodes, which will be must-see television for fans of the beloved trivia program.


Watch Alex Trebek’s Powerful Message For Jeopardy’s Thanksgiving Show

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Two weeks ago, the world lost an icon as longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek passed away after a lengthy battle with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Trebek had just wrapped up filming a number of episodes of the show he hosted for decades, which will run through early January before the show begins airing new episodes with a series of guest hosts, starting with Ken Jennings.

On Thanksgiving, one of Trebek’s new episodes will air and in it he offers a powerful message about what to be thankful for even amid a year like 2020 in which so many things have gone wrong.

“Happy Thanksgiving, ladies and gentleman,” Trebek says. “In spite of what America and the rest of the world is experiencing right now, there are many reasons to be thankful. There are more and more people extending helping hands to do a kindness to their neighbors, and that’s a good thing. Keep the faith, we’re going to get through all of this, and we are going to be a better society because of it.”

It is a perspective that I think many need to hear as we all seek some kind of optimism in such a dreadful year, and for Trebek to provide it, even as he was in the throes of his battle with cancer is just further evidence of his incredible ability to be a calming and welcome voice to people, one that is sorely missed.

Google Made A Clever Alex Trebek Tribute In Honor Of The Late ‘Jeopardy!’ Host

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Jeopardy! fans are sadly counting down the last days of Alex Trebek’s run as the long-running game show’s host after he died of pancreatic cancer in November at age 80. The show’s taping has resumed without Trebek, as Jeopardy! GOAT Ken Jennings is taking the duties for now.

But some eagle-eyed Internet users, or perhaps someone searching for more information about the late Trebek, noticed a nice tribute to the late Jeopardy! answer-keeper. If you search “Alex Trebek” via Google, you get search results for the now-former Jeopardy! host. But the top of the results page suggests you do something that Trebek himself would require if you were on the soundstage.

“Did you mean: who is Alex Trebek” the search engine asks, a nod to the fact that Jeopardy! contestants have to answer in the form of a question. The results quirk was noticed on Monday and shared on social media. And, indeed, a try at searching for Trebek did come up like this on Monday evening in a Chrome browser tab.

Google

It’s a very simple way to pay tribute to Trebek, and it’s oddly touching that some folks working behind a billion-dollar monolith of a mega corporation would take the time to make some trivia nerds very happy.

Turns Out The Host Of ‘Jeopardy!’ Has Even More Responsibility On The Show Than You Might Think

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Jeopardy! is a game of structure and rules, so learning that one of them is entirely arbitrary may rattle some longtime fans of the most popular syndicated trivia show in America. And yet, here we are, slowly seeing many of the institutions we’ve come to rely upon erode before our very eyes.

The latest, perhaps less consequential example of this comes from journalist Clare McNear, who wrote a book about Jeopardy! called “Answers in the Form of Questions” this year. She also wrote a post for The Ringer about who the next permanent host of the show may be, as Ken Jennings has taken over the duties temporarily following the death of Alex Trebek.

The most fascinating part of that story, however, was pointed out by McNear herself on Twitter: The show’s host is actually in charge of determining when to ring the tone that signals when contestants ran out of time to answer a question. Yes, though you likely may have assumed there’s a set time players have, it’s really up to the host to physically press a button that plays the chime. This was revealed by other hosts of spinoff Jeopardy! shows, including Bob Bergen, the former host of Jep!

Both Bergen and Patrick remember the surreal experience of finding themselves suddenly in control of that iconic blue set. “I will tell you, it is one of most difficult jobs in the world to host a game show,” says Bergen. He still recalls his shock when he realized that the boop-boop-boop tone that sounds when contestants don’t ring in wasn’t automated—the host, be it him or Trebek, had a button in front of him to manually trigger it. “The very first day, Harry”—Harry Friedman also oversaw the trio of spinoffs—“is showing me the podium with the button. I said, ‘Wait a minute, there’s no set time? Do you edit it down so people don’t go, ‘How come he had ten seconds and he had four?’ He said, ‘Nope, and nobody in the history of the show has ever questioned it.’”

The tough-to-describe sound is impossible to not hear if you’re a fan of the show, which is why an audio example of time differences may help here. A handy video of four different clues all being read by Trebek surfaced online after the Ringer article was published. And what may have been dismissed as editing for time now seems to make a lot more sense: It was actually Trebek deciding when players didn’t have the answers and it was best to move on.

If anything, it’s a simple reminder of just how much of an impact Trebek had on Jeopardy! and how daunting the task of replacing him will be. Not only was Trebek the voice of the show, he quite literally controlled how the game flowed. Contestants have trained their answering skills on the signaling device on the cadence of his voice and the way he ended questions to get their timing down. But, as it turns out, it was also his own skills on a different button that was key to the show’s pace over the decades as well.

[via The Ringer]

Let A Supercut Of Alex Trebek Speaking French Prepare You For Jeopardy!’s ‘Around The World With Alex’

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Alex Trebek’s final games hosting Jeopardy! set up an emotional holiday season for game show fans, as the show’s final episodes taped before his death will air right up until Christmas Day. To celebrate the late Trebek’s legacy, Jeopardy! has put together a number of tributes.

Jeopardy! announced the tribute on Thursday, with two full weeks of Trebek’s favorite episodes where he traveled around the globe to deliver clues from iconic locations. The collection begins on December 21 and runs until New Year’s Day and features episodes from the last two decades where Trebek covers a wide range of topics.

Here’s the full list of episodes and their air date:

Week 1: Dec. 21-25

Monday, Dec. 21 Hockey (Original Airdate: 10/14/04)
Tuesday, Dec. 22 Sesame Street (Original Airdate: 04/04/06)
Wednesday, Dec. 23 The U.S. Air Force: USO Tour to Japan (Original Airdate: 09/27/07)
Thursday, Dec. 24 Machu Picchu (Original Airdate: 11/06/07)
Friday, Dec. 25 Niagara Falls (Original Airdate: 01/15/09)

Week 2: Dec. 28 – Jan. 1
Monday, Dec. 28 Journey Through Israel (Original Airdate: 11/23/09)
Tuesday, Dec. 29 Galápagos Wildlife (Original Airdate: 12/09/09)
Wednesday, Dec. 30 Operatic Costumes: The Met (Original Airdate: 11/09/11)
Thursday, Dec. 31 Petra (Original Airdate: 11/14/11)
Friday, Jan. 1 National Museum of African American History and Culture (Original Airdate: 2/06/17)

As a Niagara Falls native, I’ll be particularly interested in that Christmas Day episode, but there are lots of really interesting locations the show has explored with these segments, including some much harder to get to than the American Falls, such as, say, Machu Picchu.

Anyway, to get you ready for the “Around the World” tribute, here’s a supercut of Alex Trebek speaking French, if you need it.

C’est un danger, indeed.

The Voice Of ‘Jeopardy!’ Has Revealed The Advice That Alex Trebek Would Tell The Audience

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“And now, here is the host of Jeopardy! Alex Trebek.”

Johnny Gilbert has introduced Alex Trebek as the host of Jeopardy! over 8,000 times, but he’ll say it for the final time on January 8. That’s the airdate of the last episode that Trebek taped before he died from pancreatic cancer at 80 years old. In a special issue of People, Gilbert, 96, remembers Trebek as a special talent and all-around good guy.

“Alex has always been the same person. He was very introspective, he read a tremendous amount, and traveled a lot. He was always doing crossword puzzles to keep his mind active,” Gilbert said. He called Trebek “very intelligent” and revealed that he was “always telling the youngsters in the audience, ‘You’ve got to read, you have to learn. That’s the way you’re going to succeed.'” Gilbert also told an amusing story about a question an audience member once asked Trebek. It involves thongs, obviously:

“He would answer any question anyone wanted to ask. He would get so involved that we would have to hold up coming back out of commercial for him to finish with the audience, but he insisted,” Gilbert said. Some of those questions [were] silly. “One gal asked him, ‘Boxers or briefs?’ Alex took a beat and said, ‘Thongs!’ I told him a long time ago, ‘If this show goes away, you could be a stand-up comedian.’ He always loved to do jokes.”

Gilbert doesn’t know who will replace Trebek as the next host, but he has some advice for them. “Jeopardy! is a very special game. All that information that he gave out, aside from what was actually on the show, was in his mind,” he told People. “Somebody has to be able to handle that. If the person lets the show be the show, it will be fine.”

(Via People)

The ‘Jeopardy’ Executive Producer Remembers Alex Trebek’s ‘Very Special’ Final Day As Host

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Alex Trebek’s final episodes as the host of Jeopardy! will air the week of January 4, 2021, with his final episode coming on January 8, exactly two months after he died from pancreatic cancer. Those five episodes (which were originally scheduled to air around Christmas until being pushed back) were taped over the course of two days in October, and as executive producer Mike Richards told EW, “You’ll watch them and you’ll go, ‘This guy’s as healthy as could be. This is not a sick person at all.’ He had that much willpower.” Richards also shared a powerful story about Trebek’s last day in the studio.

“On the second day of taping, what would end up being his final taping and the final time he was in the studio, I went to [his] door and said, ‘Hey, that was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.’ And he did not like to be complimented. That was kind of staring down the mouth of a great white when you’d do that, because he really didn’t like that,” Richards said. But he felt compelled to compliment an “exhausted” Trebek, who “goes, ‘Thank you.’ He knew what he had done and appreciated the fact that we all knew what he had done. So those last two days are very special, and I’ll never forget them.”

Until next week, please enjoy Alex Trebek’s visit to Sesame Street.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Ken Jennings Apologized For Some ‘Insensitive’ Tweets From His Past

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Ken Jennings is a rock star — the one officially (more or less) determined the greatest Jeopardy! contestant of all time. Earlier this year he even defeated his closest competition, namely James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter. But he’s also human, and he’s also on Twitter. And when you’re both of those things, there’s a good chance you’ve said some pretty dumb things, in public.

On Wednesday, the penultimate day of this historically crappy year, the popular know-it-all — who will soon host some Jeopardy! episodes in the wake of Alex Trebek’s passing — decided to make amends over some unfortunate tweets he let loose in a different time. One of the, from 2014, found him making this joke: “Nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair.” He’s apologized for it before, back in 2018. But it resurfaced last month, and though Jennings deleted it, he thought it best to own ot it up rather than bury his past.

“I just wanted to own up to the fact that over the years on Twitter, I’ve definitely tweeted some unartful and insensitive things,” Jennings wrote in what proved to be a Twitter thread. He continued:

“Sometimes they worked as jokes in my head and I was dismayed to see how they read on screen. In the past, I’d usually leave bad tweets up just so they could be dunked on. At least that way they could lead to smart replies and even advocacy. Deleting them felt like whitewashing a mistake.

“But I think that practice may have given the impression I stand by every failed joke I’ve ever posted here. Not at all!” he continued. “Sometimes I said dumb things in a dumb way and I want to apologize to people who were (rightfully!) offended. It wasn’t my intention to hurt anyone, but that doesn’t matter: I screwed up, and I’m truly sorry. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we should be kinder to one another. I look forward to heading into 2021 with that in mind.”

Though Jennings is, again, hosting certain upcoming episodes, no full-time Jeopardy! replacement has been named after Trebek’s passing in November.

(Via EW)


Alex Trebek Gave A Powerful Speech About Building A ‘Kinder Society’ In One Of His Final Episodes As ‘Jeopardy!’ Host

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Monday was the beginning of Alex Trebek’s final week as the host of Jeopardy! The game show (and all-around) legend, who died in November from pancreatic cancer, filmed the final five episodes over the course of two days in October. Trebek also recorded a touching message to those suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You’ll recall that about a month ago, I asked all of you to take a moment to give thanks for all of the blessings that you enjoy in your lives,” Trebek says, referring to this clip from Thanksgiving. “Now, today, a different kind of message: this is the season of giving. I know you want to be generous with your family, your friends, your loved ones. But today, I’d like you to go one step further. I’d like you to open up your hands and open up your hearts to those who are still suffering because of COVID-19. People who are suffering through no fault of their own.” He added, “We’re trying to build a gentler, kinder society and if we all pitch in, just a little bit, we’re gonna get there.” The episode ending with the dedication, “Forever in our hearts, always our inspiration.”

Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards told EW that he didn’t know Trebek was going to give the speech. “On that first episode, he walked out, and you’ll see it when it airs, he gives this amazing speech about the holidays and coming together and being strong and taking care of each other. And we didn’t know he was gonna do that; he just walked out and did it,” he said. “And you’ll see in the episode, we all started to clap.”

Trebek’s final episode of Jeopardy! airs this Friday, January 8.

Ryan Reynolds Said It Was ‘Heartbreaking’ To Watch Himself Cameo On One Of Alex Trebek’s Final Episodes

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Alex Trebek made a lot of TV appearances over the years, the best of which is almost certainly the time on Cheers when Cliff Clavin unexpectedly bombed on Jeopardy! But he didn’t do a ton of movies, even if the only thing he did in them was play his charming self. (His filmography’s wild, too, spanning the Julia Roberts cancer weepie Dying Young, the Leslie Nielsen spoof Spy Hard, and the 2000 Charlie’s Angels.) But one of the last times you see him may wind up being his cameo in the long delayed Ryan Reynolds movie Free Guy, in which he played himself. And during the final run of Trebek’s Jeopardy! episodes, Reynolds paid back the favor, making a cameo on the beloved game show — a move that now seems extremely bittersweet.

Reynolds’ appearance came on the first Jeopardy! of 2021, when he appeared in the video of one of the night’s clues. His answer involved “NPCs,” and if you don’t know what that acronym stands for, well, then you’re not as up on things as Brayden Smith, the contestant who got it right. Here’s a hint, though: It involves the plot of Free Guy, in which he plays a Regular Joe he discovers he’s been living inside an open-world video game.

Reynolds’ appearance was paired with a brief montage from the film, which was supposed to open in July of 2020, but then, well, you know. (It’s now scheduled for May 21, but frankly even that seems optimistic.) Is this the first time what was essentially an ad for a movie was sneaked into a Jeopardy! clue? Possibly! Still, two of Canada’s most beloved entertainers briefly got to share a screen, even if that now feels unbearably sad.

‘Jeopardy!’ Has Found Its Next Guest Host In Katie Couric

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It’s hard to imagine anyone but the late Alex Trebek hosting Jeopardy! (no offense to Art Fleming), but after his final episode airs this Friday, the game show will continue with “a series of interim guest hosts from within the Jeopardy! family, starting with Ken Jennings.” He will be followed by Katie Couric, who will take over for a weeklong stint, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

The producers of Jeopardy! have previously stated their plans to have guest hosts after the final Trebek episodes air until a permanent replacement is chosen… It’s likely that the guest host stints will play a role in determining who will succeed Trebek, who fronted the syndicated version since its launch in 1984.

Trebek was a broadcaster before he became a game show host, as was Couric. It’s a solid-if-unspectacular choice (I’m still holding out hopes for Weird Al), as after years spent on the Today show, Couric is a pro at awkward human-interest interviews.

Bean Dad defender Jennings has previously said that he’s not interested in hosting Jeopardy! beyond a few episodes. “I don’t want to have it because it means we don’t get Alex,” he told USA Today. “It’s just sad for me to go out there, in a way, because I know that, like the audience, I wish it was Alex walking out at the top of the show.”

(Via Los Angeles Times)

‘Jeopardy!’ Champion James Holzhauer Honored Alex Trebek Ahead Of His Final Episode

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The final episode of Jeopardy! with Alex Trebek as host airs on Friday, closing a legendary chapter in the syndicated game show’s history. Trebek died in November after a battle with pancreatic cancer, leaving behind a show that will continue without his enormous presence.

Tributes to Trebek have come from all over in recent days. The show itself paused airing new episodes for a two-week tribute to Trebek’s travels around the world, and basically everyone involved in the show — even Ryan Reynolds — has something kind to say about Trebek. That includes James Holzhauer, the record-breaking Jeopardy! champ who competed in 2020’s Greatest Of All Time Tournament.

Holzhauer shared a brief Twitter thread where he paid tribute to Trebek, starting with a very funny promo poster of Trebek looking like James Bond.

“It’s easy to forget that Jeopardy is basically “Let’s watch these three strangers take a GED test, except they have to pretend THEY’RE asking US the questions because reasons,” Holzhauer wrote. “Alex made that concept into the biggest thing on TV, into a lifelong dream for prospective contestants.”

Holzhauer eloquently stated the importance of Trebek to the show, not in the impact it has had on him personally but also in Trebek’s dedication to the program, right until the final days of his life.

“I feel very grateful for the time we had together—not just in the studio but also in my living room, where he’s felt like a member of the family for 30+ years,” Holzhauer wrote. It’s a lovely tribute to Trebek for sure, and in a week that’s been troubling to say the least, the final on-camera moments of Trebek’s life will bring an additional sadness to millions watching. More tributes will come, but it will be tough to beat this one.

It Will Likely Be Months Before ‘Jeopardy!’ Announces A Permanent Host To Replace Alex Trebek

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Alex Trebek’s final episode as the host of Jeopardy! airs tonight, but the game show will continue with “a series of interim guest hosts,” beginning with Ken Jennings and Katie Couric. It’s unknown who will take over after them (possibly LeVar Burton?), but don’t expect an announcement about a permanent Jeopardy! host until the spring.

“The search is going very well, there are a lot of people very interested in hosting Jeopardy!, which is gratifying, and also appropriately reverent of the shoes they will be stepping into,” executive producer Mike Richards told Deadline. “We have had some great conversations with people… Ken [Jennings] stepped in and did a great job for us as a guest host. We will have a series of guest hosts throughout the spring.”

Richards would not discuss names, with Katie Couric believed to be on the list, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. A permanent new host won’t be named before spring, Richards said. “We are going to take our time and talk to a lot of people, have some people guest host and see what our fans think as well,” he said.

Trebek’s final episode tonight will be followed by a tribute celebrating his legacy.

(Via Deadline)

‘Jeopardy!’ Champion Brad Rutter Recalled When Alex Trebek Showed Up On Stage Without Pants

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Friday is a sad day for Jeopardy! fans, as the syndicated game show is set to air the final episode Alex Trebek taped as host before he died of pancreatic cancer in November. Many have paid tribute to Trebek as his final episodes air, including past champions and those who have appeared on the show in the past.

But former Jeopardy! champion and Greatest Of All Time Tournament participant Brad Rutter is doing his best to lighten the mood with a great story that showcased a little-seen side of the late game show host. People detailed a radio interview Rutter gave with WOGL on Thursday where the show veteran described a moment from the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005. Back then, Rutter was not as veteran a big-game Jeopardy! player, and the tournament pitted him against Jeopardy! GOAT Ken Jennings and Jereme Vered.

Rutter explained that the trio were nervous before the match and someone joked that to ease tensions someone should should play without their pants on, a riff on some common advice to imagine a crowd naked if you’re nervous. But it turns out that Trebek got wind of the joke and wanted to play along.

“What we didn’t know was that our mics were live, and Alex heard us,” Rutter said.

When the announcer introduced Trebek, the longtime host decided to have some fun with the three competitors. “Alex came out with no pants on,” Rutter recalled.

Rutter added that Trebek’s sense of humor came out “even more so in person than you would see on the show.”

“You’re really just not allowed to talk about much,” he told WOGL of being on Jeopardy! “I was lucky enough to be on the show so often that I got to know Alex a little.”

Trebek’s humor has appeared on the show in other forms over the years, but it was a notable break from the usually stoic character he displayed as trivia master on the show. It’s what made those SNL sketches about celebrities messing with Will Ferrell’s Trebek so funny: the idea of the Jeopardy! host suffering on their account. Rutter also co-signed another good Trebek story earlier in the week that spoke to who the show host was.

It is nice, though, to know that Trebek was also willing to risk a bit of public embarrassment in order to deliver a joke. And it’s a lovely example of why so many people over the years recall their time on Jeopardy! and around its legendary host so fondly.

[via People]

Watch An Emotional ‘Jeopardy!’ Tribute To Alex Trebek In His Last Episode

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Alex Trebek’s final episode hosting Jeopardy! aired on Friday and included a tribute to the longtime host who died in November at age 80. Though Trebek’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis had been known for more than a year, his death still came as a shock to fans and those working on the show. He died just days after filming his last episode, and the month that followed saw those episodes air while fans mourned his inevitable loss.

Friday’s episode was originally set to air on Christmas Day but was pushed back two weeks to run 10 episodes in which Trebek traveled around the world to record clues. There were several references to Christmas and that the episode would air that day, including a holiday movie category. But aside from that, it was a wonderfully ordinary episode, with no real indication that it would be the last he ever hosted.

That changed at the end of the episode, though, as the program aired a moving tribute to Trebek that included some notable moments over the decades in which he served as the iconic trivia show’s host.

It was funny, emotional, and a perfect encapsulation of who Trebek was and why he meant so much to fans of the show. There are costumes, ad-libbed jokes and a long montage of Trebek saying “so long” over the years, including his final sendoff. Trebek will be missed, but there are few better ways the show he loved so much could have paid tribute to the host it will miss very much.


Ken Jennings Is Even More Impressed By Alex Trebek Now That He’s Hosted ‘Jeopardy!’ Himself

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Monday was the start of a new era on Jeopardy! as the show aired its first episode taped after the death of Alex Trebek. The legendary Jeopardy! host died in November after a battle with pancreatic cancer, and the remaining episodes Trebek taped before his passing hit TV screens on Friday.

That episode, originally scheduled to air Christmas Day, featured a lovely tribute to Trebek over his tenure on the show. Monday saw a guest host, Jeopardy! GOAT Ken Jennings, take his spot behind the podium as the show looks for a new permanent host in the coming months. And though Jennings is far from the first person to host a Jeopardy! other than Trebek, he’s certainly filling big shoes in the coming weeks.

Ahead of his first episode airing in most markets, the show shared an interview with Jennings where he described his excitement for taking over the hosting duties. Jennings, who won a record-shattering 74 straight episodes and last January won $1 million against Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer in the show’s Greatest Of All Time Tournament, certainly knows his way around the soundstage. But when asked what’s different about hosting, he said that going behind the host podium made him realize just how good Trebek was at hosting for so long.

“The main thing I learned is just what an impressive, perfect job Alex Trebek did behind the desk here for 36, 37 years,” Jennings said. “And I thought I knew from over there.”

For decades, part of a contestant’s prep for competing on Jeopardy! was quite literally studying Trebek. The cadence he used when giving clues and the way he finished sentences were important factors in determining when it was the right time to ring in on the signaling device. Getting that timing down helped players not buzz in too early, which locks you out from buzzing in again, and in fierce competition, that fraction of a second can make all the difference.

But Jennings said there’s so much more to hosting than it appears from afar, and it took actually getting control of the game to realize just how great Trebek was at keeping things going.

“I thought I had studied the man and had understood just what a remarkable job he was doing keeping the game going, mastering the sense that he understood all the clues, because he did. Explaining it to the audience,” Jennings explained. “And I thought ‘ah, I understood it all.’ And when I had to do it I realized he was doing 10 things I wasn’t aware of for every one I saw. It’s a very demanding job and he was just the best.”

One thing we know for sure that Trebek — and now Jennings — has control over as Jeopardy! host is the tone that plays when time has run out to answer a question. That was all done via a button at the podium, as we learned late last year. It will certainly be interesting to see what feels different about Jeopardy! with another host manning that button and reading the clues, let alone if contestants start studying the way Jennings speaks in order to gain a new edge.

A ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Told A Lovely Alex Trebek Story That Ken Jennings Called ‘Very On-Brand For Alex’

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While Ken Jennings is in the midst of his spell hosting Jeopardy! on a part-time basis, Alex Trebek’s specter looms large. No one will ever fully replace Trebek, who passed away last year following a bout with pancreatic cancer, but folks like Jennings, Aaron Rodgers, and more will do their best before a full-time host is replaced.

The good news is that for as long as Jeopardy! is on the airways, people will associate it with the man who hosted it for decades. And on Wednesday’s episode, one contestant told a story about meeting Trebek in New York City that Jennings joyously called “very on-brand for Alex.”

“I was shocked,” Sarah said. “It was on the platform at 145th street and he was in jeans and a polo, and I’m staring at him, and I’m like, ‘That’s Alex Trebek!’ And on the long subway ride down to 59th street, I asked him to take a selfie. He said he doesn’t take selfies, so we had someone else take the photo for us.”

Jennings loved the story — which included a photo of the pair sitting on a subway car — and as Sarah explained, Trebek’s son, Matt, owns a Mexican restaurant in that part of the city. As far as Jeopardy! contestant stories go, this is certainly up there among the better ones that we’ve heard.

This LEGO ‘Jeopardy!’ Set Is, Quite Literally, A Moving Tribute To Alex Trebek

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LEGO recreations of basically anything are always a fan favorite, even for infamous events, but one Jeopardy! fan really went the extra mile for what doubles as a loving tribute to late show host Alex Trebek.

It’s a LEGO recreation of the Jeopardy! set, but as Jess Hughes and its creator make clear, it’s more of a kinetic sculpture. That’s because everyone on the set can move. LEGO Alex Trebek moves back and forth, and each of the three GOAT Tournament contestants reach for their signaling device and can ring in. Their podiums even light up when they do, which is a really cool feature.

The pre-pandemic contestant bench looks great here, and the video is actually a well-done introduction to the individual character models using audio from the show. There’s even some game play that’s recreated in LEGO, and later in the video there’s a peek behind the podiums to see how the electronics work here.

Current Jeopardy! guest host and Greatest Of All Time Tournament winner Ken Jennings shared it online as did the show’s own Twitter account, so it’s clear the tribute made an impact on those it was intended for. And it really is lovingly done, complete with some custom nameplates that Jennings, Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer used during the GOAT Tournament. The set looks a bit different now, as we still live in the pandemic age, but it’s a lovely tribute to Trebek and a nice reminder of how much fun that tournament was to watch a year ago.

Alex Trebek’s ‘Jeopardy!’ Suits Were Donated To A Charity For Formerly Homeless And Incarcerated Men

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Alex Trebek’s legacy will remain an enormous part of the Jeopardy! universe long after the show picks a full-time replacement host. And now we know that the wardrobe he wore on camera will have a much bigger and immediate impact on many more people.

Earlier in the month word broke that Trebek’s family intended to donate Trebek’s substantial Jeopardy! wardrobe, and on Thursday the New York Times reported that they had done exactly just that. The collection of clothes, starting with 14 suits, 58 dress shirts, 300 neckties, will go to the Doe Fund, a charity that helps formerly homeless and incarcerated men in New York.

So it was that Mr. Trebek’s “Jeopardy!” wardrobe — which also included 25 polo shirts, 14 sweaters, 9 sport coats, 9 pairs of dress shoes, 15 belts, 2 parkas, and 3 pairs of dress slacks — arrived about two weeks ago at the Doe Fund, a New York City nonprofit that provides services, housing and job opportunities to men who have been in prison or homeless.

“The Doe Fund made perfect sense since these are guys who are going on job interviews and need second chances,” said Matthew Trebek, 30, a New York restaurateur who co-owns Lucille’s and Oso, both in Harlem. “It would be an honor to the type of work that my Dad did throughout his life.”

The story has some great details about the charity and the process of finding it after the death of Trebek, who passed away in late 2020 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. The Doe Fund certainly fits into Trebek’s hopes of building a better, more forgiving world, and everyone receiving Trebek’s suits seems to really appreciate that they were part of TV history.

Kenan Thompson Said Alex Trebek Loved The ‘Black Jeopardy!’ Sketch On SNL

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Jeopardy! has made a number of appearances on Saturday Night Live over the years, and apparently Alex Trebek really loved Kenan Thompson’s turn as host of the legendary game show.

Thompson appeared on Hot Ones this week and told a story about meeting Trebek backstage at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas in 2019. The story comes at the 9:45 mark of the Hot Ones video. Host Sean Evans asked Thompson if Trebek was “aware of Black Jeopardy!” But apparently one of the first things he said to Thompson when they met was how much he appreciated the sketch, which aired in 2016. In it, Tom Hanks played a MAGA hat-clad white man who did his best to compete on the show.

“That was the first thing he mentioned,” Thompson said. “He actually said ‘God bless you for figuring out how to do a Jeopardy! behind the legendary Will Ferrell Jeopardy!

You can watch the SNL sketch below.

Thompson credited his writing partners, including Michael Che, for coming up with a concept that was “just chock full of too many jokes to ignore,” which helped get the sketch on the air in the first place. And while Trebek was certainly complimentary of both Ferrell and Thompson, the latter made sure Trebek knew he was appreciated as well.

“He was patting me on the back about that, but I was patting him on the back for probably being one of the smartest people in the world,” Thompson said. “Because it seems like he knows the answer to all of those Jeopardy! questions. He has a way of responding to each question like, ‘No, of course, it’s this, and that, and the other, because I read this book or I’ve known about this historic town in Rome.’ You know what I’m saying? He was incredible.”

While a more sympathetic look at a Trump supporter perhaps didn’t hold up very well over the last four years, Trebek certainly felt that Thompson did a great job with the sketch. And he’s right: putting something together that rivals the infamous Ferrell-led sketches about Jeopardy! certainly is an admirable feat.

Aaron Rodgers Wants To Host ‘Jeopardy!’ Full-Time While Still Being An NFL Quarterback

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After a difficult fortnight for Jeopardy! fans who believe in science, the syndicated trivia show returns on Monday with a new guest host: Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The former winner of Celebrity Jeopardy!, Rodgers is one of several guest hosts the show tabbed while they search for a permanent replacement for Alex Trebek, who died last year at the age of 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

While most fans of the show expect a decorated champion like Ken Jennings or perhaps the show’s executive producer, Mike Richards, to take over, you can count Rodgers among the people who feel it’s possible to play quarterback and also permanently host Jeopardy! And his enthusiasm for the gig is already undeniable. Ahead of his first episode, the official Jeopardy! Twitter account sent out a video preview of the Packers quarterback taking the stage and talking a bit about the opportunity.

It’s admittedly a bit weird to hear Johnny Gilbert say “and now here is the guest host of Jeopardy! Aaron Rodgers.” But it’s no weirder than, say, having Dr. Oz host the show and make hundreds of former contestants mad in the process. And Rodgers certainly seems excited about the opportunity to hear answers in the form of questions.

“As a lifelong fan of Jeopardy!, it is an incredible honor to guest host,” Rodgers said. “I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of amazing things, but winning Celebrity Jeopardy! and getting to share the stage with the legend, Alex Trebek, is something I will never forget. Alex was such a gentleman. So smart, so precise. I was in awe. And I will work hard to honor his legacy.”

It’s a lovely opening statement before he gets down to business, and one that will immediately endear him to longtime fans, even if they may root for the Chicago Bears. If you’re curious when Rodgers had time to record his two weeks’ worth of episodes, it was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday that he got the 10 episodes in over a two-day period in February, after the Packers were done playing football.

That timing is important, of course, as he certainly has plenty to do in Green Bay during football season. But as Claire McNear wrote for The Ringer, Rodgers is not exactly content with a guest spot. He’s absolutely willing to make taping the show and playing professional football work. In an interview with McNear, he made it clear he wants to take over for Trebek if he can make the timing work.

A lot of people joke that Alex Trebek had the ultimate dream job on Jeopardy!—he was paid pretty well to work just 40-something days a year. So I’ve got to ask—would you ever consider giving up football to host Jeopardy!?

I don’t think I’d need to give up football to do it. They film 46 days a year. I worked 187 this year in Green Bay. That gives me, eh—[pauses]—178 days to do Jeopardy! So I feel like I could fit 46 into that 178 and make it work. It would be a dream job for sure, and I’m not shy at all about saying I want the job. That’s how I went into it. I want an opportunity to be in the mix.

I feel like I bring something different to the stage—I’m the youngest of any of the guest hosts, I’d be the youngest host of just about any major game show, I bring an audience from the NFL, and I feel like I appeal to nerdy people, too, because I was a nerd in high school and got caught in that weird phase of wanting to be a jock and an athlete and also really caring about getting good grades. And at the same time, there’s not many bigger fans of the show than me. I’ve been watching it for years and years and years. I respect the show and appreciate the history of it, and also there’s my background of stepping in for a legend and their footsteps. I feel like all that combined makes me a pretty good candidate.

The math checks out here, but it would be an exhausting schedule. Those 46 days are filled with five episodes each day, and hours of prep time beforehand learning pronunciation, keeping up appearances on camera and having the stamina to make every episode great for both people at home and the contestants. Remember: unless you make it to the Tournament of Champions (usually by winning five straight games) you get one run on Jeopardy! and that’s that. What made Trebek so good at his job for so long is that his commitment to the show made everyone involved feel special in their 22 minutes of fame. It’s a tough task to replicate, especially if you’re also one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history still very much on the job.

The full interview has a lot of details about how Rodgers prepared for the guest spot, and it’s clear he put in the work to be a good host. It’s not a surprise a highly dedicated athlete would prepare for hosting duties like he would any other opponent, but expecting to film a lot of Jeopardy! and play 17 or more NFL games a year is certainly a tall task. If he’s up for it, though, he’s definitely got a better shot at the full-time gig than Dr. Oz.

[via The Ringer]

Mike Richards Reportedly Becoming The Next Permanent Host Of ‘Jeopardy!’ Has Inspired A Lot Of Reactions (And Not Just Kramer Jokes)

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Last November, the game show world lost one of its legends: longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek following a 20-month battle with pancreatic cancer. (It wasn’t the TV personality’s only big program. Buzzr viewers can see him lording over the slightly less cerebral Classic Concentration.) Since then the show has had a revolving door cast of temporary hosts, one of whom, it was believed, would eventually take the reins permanently. And on Wednesday, it seemed the powers-that-be had finally found their person…and it wasn’t what most expected.

That person, according to Variety, is Mike Richards, who not only hosted the show from late February to early March of this year, but who’s also one of its executive producers. It was a shock to those who were hoping for fan favorites like LeVar Burton, Aaron Rodgers or superstar champion Ken Jennings. And though technically Richards is still only in “advanced negotiations” with Sony Pictures Television, the news was met with, shall we say, a lot of opinions on social media.

Some were annoyed that, after all that, in the year of our lord 2021, they seem to have gone with another white guy.

Lots of people were hoping for LeVar Burton.

Some found him to be “generic.”

There’s also his name. Indeed, there were a lot of Cosmo Kramer jokes.

There was also this: Since Richards is a Jeopardy! executive producer, and thus at least partly in charge of the hunt for a new host, it sounds like he simply chose himself.

Which is basically what Dick Cheney did when George W. Bush asked him to find him a running mate for the 2000 election.

Others were simply not a fan of Mr. Richards.

Others didn’t know who he is, clearly unaware of the former host of the aughts program Beauty and the Geek.

Then again, people asking “Who is Mike Richards?” was apropos for this particular show.


LeVar Burton’s Supporters Are Livid He Was Passed Over As ‘Jeopardy!’ Host

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With Sony Pictures Television officially confirming that Mike Richards will be the new host of Jeopardy! (with Mayim Bialik handling primetime specials and spinoffs), LeVar Burton supporters are absolutely livid that he was passed over to replace Alex Trebek. While the chances of Burton landing the permanent gig took a hit last week as reports began circulating that Richards was the frontrunner to become the next host of Jeopardy!, there was a (slight) glimmer of hope that maybe things would turn around.

But, now, Burton’s shot at the top gig is officially gone, and his legion of supporters are voicing their displeasure after launching a successful fan campaign to get him on the show as a guest host.

Despite being schooled on “cancel culture” by Burton during his April appearance on The View, even Meghan McCain took Jeopardy! producers to task for passing over the Reading Rainbow host.

For his part, Burton has gracefully responded to missing out on the Jeopardy! job with humility and gratefulness for the outpouring of love from fans. Last week, he tweeted out a message thanking everyone for the incredible experience even though it didn’t end as planned.

“I have said many times over these past weeks that no matter the outcome, I’ve won,” Burton tweeted. “The outpouring of love and support from family, friends, and fans alike has been incredible! If love is the ultimate blessing and I believe that it is, I am truly blessed beyond measure.”

A Gift From Alex Trebek Led Some ‘Jeopardy!’ Staffers To Think Ken Jennings Was His ‘Preferred Successor’

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Ken Jennings may be a “company man” when it comes to Jeopardy!, but according to others working on the game show, the consensus was that it was his job to take after the death of Alex Trebek. The Jeopardy! GOAT was the odds-on favorite in Vegas to take over the show following Trebek’s death after a battle with pancreatic cancer, but earlier this month, we learned that executive producer Mike Richards will take over the syndicated role while Mayim Bialik will host primetime tapings of the show.

Word of those selections has brought the show a wide swath of criticism, be it from those who wanted guest hosts like LeVar Burton to take over, or those were outraged by Richards’ history of alleged misconduct on The Price Is Right or Bialik’s past comments about vaccines. What’s also trickled out are reports about what those behind the scenes wanted to have happen, including a report that Bialik was the first pick for a full-time host before she turned the role down.

According to a story in the New York Times, many working on the show thought that Jennings was the man all but hand-picked by Trebek to host the show after passing. That detail came with an anecdote about how when he first took the guest hosting gig late last year, there was a gift waiting for him from the longtime late host of Jeopardy!

When Ken Jennings arrived at the “Jeopardy!” studios in November for the first day of his audition to become the new host of the long-running quiz show, he found a gift waiting for him: a pair of Alex Trebek’s cuff links, along with a handwritten note from his widow, Jean.

For some members of the “Jeopardy!” crew, the cuff links validated their assumption that Mr. Jennings, a genial Utahn who rose to fame in 2004 after winning a record 74 consecutive games, had been Mr. Trebek’s preferred successor. (“Jeopardy!” producers had arranged for a phone call between Mr. Jennings and Mr. Trebek two days before he died.) But “Jeopardy!,” while a beloved cultural icon, is also a lucrative asset of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and in the television industry, sentiment only goes so far.

That phone call, gift, and note made many on staff assume that the newly-minted consulting producer suddenly thrust behind the most important podium in game shows would be there to stay, even after the long list of guest hosts that tried out after he and Richards had their turn. But his own appearance, while strong on stage and in the ratings, was not without controversy as well.

And while Jennings has been cordial about the process in the press and said he didn’t want to publicly advocate for himself, it’s clear a number of people behind the scenes saw it as his job to lose well before he actually did.

Alex Trebek Specifically Named A Black Woman He’d Like As A Potential ‘Jeopardy’ Host Replacement And People Are Mad That She Never Got To Guest Host

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The search to replace the beloved longtime Jeopardy! host was bound to upset people. There’s simply no way to replace an icon such as Alex Trebek without all hell breaking loose, but did producers anticipate the level of backlash that’s going down against new full-time host Mike Richards? That’s a tough one. Richards’ history of troubling remarks, as newly unearthed in a lengthy report from The Ringer’s Claire McNear, give a really bad look, in addition to what’s already been known about Richards’ controversial past as a game-show producer. Yes, the show’s spotlight won’t entirely be on Richards, since Mayim Bialik will host the Jeopardy! prime time incarnation and spinoffs, but it’s hard to imagine that producers couldn’t do better than Mike Richards in finding a host who could be embraced by the audience.

Perhaps there’s a silent majority who won’t mind Richards on their screens almost daily, but yikes, the guy even helped pick himself as host, and even John Oliver made mention of what a fiasco this is turning out to be. LeVar Burton is still riding high in fan polls, even if he didn’t pull in ratings, and one would think that, yeah, at this point, multiple other guest hosts (not Dr. Oz) would be preferable to what’s going on with Richards. And this brings to mind — or at least, a lot of people are noticing now — how Alex Trebek sat down in 2018 with TMZ’s Harvey Levin (on Fox News’ OBJECTified program) and named some people who he wouldn’t mind seeing replace him.

Among those that Trebek singled out? A Black female attorney and legal analyst, Laura Coates, who’s known by CNN viewers and as the host of Sirius XM’s The Laura Coates Show. “There is an attorney, Laura Coates,” Trebek declared. “She’s African-American and she appears on some of the cable news shows from time to time.” Back in March of 2020, Yashar Ali tweeted this clip while questioning why Coates wasn’t on the guest-host list as Jeopardy! went through its selection process.

Yep, in 2018, Coates heard about how Trebek namedropped her and tweeted that she was “Incredibly honored & humbled” that Trebek “1) knows who I am 2) thinks I’d be a great host of my fave game show ever that I grew up watching w/ my family & still watch w/ my own kids (who saw him say this & now think I’m a genius).”

This week, she also vaguely tweeted about Trebek without context or without mentioning the controversy swirling around Richards.

By the way, there’s more of that Levin-Trebek interview, too, if you’d like to watch, but for now, people (some of whom are noticing the Yashar tweet for the first time) are really focused on Coates and wondering why she didn’t get a guest-hosting shot.

One can imagine there’s a lot of discussions happening right now with the Jeopardy Productions powers that be.

The Emmys’ In Memoriam Montage Honored Michael K. Williams, Norm Macdonald, Alex Trebek, Larry King, And More

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It’s been another rough year. While there have been positive developments over the last 12 months — vaccines, a new president, plus the beginnings of a slow return to normal — one can’t forget those we’ve lost. The Emmys, like any awards show, is supposed to be about escapism, and about celebrating great work throughout the television industry. But they always take some time to honor those who’ve passed on since this time last year.

As this year’s show neared its close, In Treatment star Uzo Aduba took to the stage to present this year’s In Memoriam montage. As Leon Bridges and Jon Batiste, we were reminded of all the legends who left us in the last year.

They spanned from all parts of the vast television industry. There were news hosts, like Larry King, and morning show staples, like Willard Scott. Game shows were represented by Alex Trebek. There were comedians like Jackie Mason, Paul Mooney, and Norm Macdonald, who passed away only last week.

There were lots of old sitcom stars, like Laverne & Shirley’s David L. Lander, Ed Asner and Gavin MacLeod of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Dustin Diamond, and Markie Post and Charlie Robinson, both of Night Court. There were lots of actors whose careers intertwined both movies and TV, like Christopher Plummer, George Segal, Ned Beatty, Yaphet Kotto, Hal Holbrook, Olympia Dukakis, Jessica Walter, Clarence Williams III, and Cloris Leachman.

And there were legends who did it all, like Cecily Tyson, Charles Grodin, and another recently late personality: Michael K. Williams. Their legends will live on.

Matt Amodio Has A Really ‘Boring’ Answer For What He’s Going To Do With All Of His $1.5 Million ‘Jeopardy!’ Money

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Matt Amodio’s Jeopardy! streak came to a sudden and shocking end on Monday, but that’s nothing to sneeze at: With 38 consecutive wins, he has the second longest run in the game show’s history, ahead of James Holzhauer’s 33 wins but way behind Ken Jennings’ 74. In that time — only nine days of shooting, by the way, in which he banged out five episodes a day — he amassed a whopping $1.5 million in winnings. What’s he going to do with it? The answer: probably not much.

The 30-year-old grad student was on CNN doing a kind of exit interview, during which he was inevitably asked about how his life will change with a new bounty of cash. But his answer wasn’t as interesting as one of his Jeopardy! questions. “Boring answer, but I’m going to say my goal is to not touch a penny any time soon,” Amodio replied.

Amodio was also asked about experiencing a record Jeopardy! run in the midst of the Mike Richards mishegoss, which saw him having burning through a number of hosts, including the show’s now-infamous former executive producer-turned-almost-permanent emcee. But his answer about that was kind of boring, too.

“I was surprised by how little that affected me, because there’s a whole crew. Jeopardy ism’t just one person, it’s a team,” Amodio said. “And sure, one host was changing all the time, but there was so much that was the same. It felt pretty consistent throughout this whole thing.”

As for who should be the late Alex Trebek’s permanent replacement, Amodio doesn’t have an answer for that either. He said Mayim Bialik, who’s been filling in while the producers find a new one, was “fantastic.” And he says Jennings, who he hasn’t worked with (yet), would also be “fantastic.” But, you know, sometimes, in this wackadoodle world we live in, boring is good.

(Via CNN)

Mayim Bialik Loved A ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant’s Long-Lasting Tribute To Alex Trebek

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It sure seems like Mayim Bialik’s gaining momentum for the most audience-favored candidate to host Jeopardy! on a full-time basis. She’s made no secret, as well, of her desire to take over the job after she and Ken Jennings finish out the year of sharing those duties. And Mayim seems incredibly comfortable with the job, too, as she welcomed contestant Julian Huerta this week while devoting some airtime to how he celebrated hearing that he’d be on the show.

Julian received the news on a very significant day, and he elaborated in response to Mayim’s prompt. “We actually got the original email that we were gonna be called back to do the audition process,” Julian explained. “And my wife happened to drop the same day that we were pregnant, as well. So, we actually ended up naming my son Alex.”

What an undeniably sweet tribute. “We love this baby name!” the Jeopardy! Twitter account wrote in response.

Not only that, but the pregnancy yielded twins with a girl named Emma. Alas, Julian did not fare too well during his time on the show, heading out with a third-place finish, but he’s got the souvenir of a lifetime. Nothing to complain about there, for sure.

Ken Jennings’ Return To ‘Jeopardy!’ Includes A ‘Souvenir’ To Alex Trebek On The Anniversary Of The Host’s Death

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It was one year ago today, November 8, that Alex Trebek died at 80 years old. Jeopardy! still hasn’t settled on a full-time host since his passing (it was Mike Richards, until it wasn’t, and it DEFINITELY won’t be Aaron Rodgers), so Ken Jennings will fill in for the next three weeks. This is his second stint as host, which is a “very tricky job,” he told USA Today. “The mechanics of hosting Jeopardy! are daunting. There’s a lot going on at once, and Alex made it all look so easy. But I can tell you firsthand, it’s not easy.”

Jennings wasn’t aware that his return as host would coincide with Trebek’s death anniversary. The crew knew, but “they didn’t want to put that in my head,” he explained. “So I was not told until after that it was the November 8 show.” Trebek’s passing will go unmentioned during the episode, outside of “possibly a [title] card,” but Jennings said that he “did wear Alex’s cuff links that week, that his wife, Jean, had been kind enough to leave for me. So I do have a little kind of souvenir.”

Jennings’ debut as the inaugural guest host was a huge success — during the first week of his six-week stint, he brought in an average of 10.3 million viewers, second this past season only to Trebek’s final week as host, the Deseret News reported. Of all the 16 guest hosts who would fill in for the show’s 37th season, Jennings had the highest ratings.

Jennings and Mayim Bialik will continue to rotate as hosts for the foreseeable future.

(Via USA Today and Deseret News)


Laura Coates Says ‘Jeopardy!’ Producers Rejected Her Despite Alex Trebek Naming Her As A Potential Successor

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A little over two years before his death, Alex Trebek weighed in on who should replace him on Jeopardy! when he eventually left the show. Despite former Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings waiting in the wings, Trebek named two candidates that personally caught his eye: LA Kings hockey announcer Alex Faust and CNN legal analyst Laura Coates.

As we now know, neither Faust nor Coates ended up being involved in the running to replace Trebek as the permanent host following his death. In fact, executive producer Mike Richards essentially gave himself the top gig, only to lose it in a matter of days following numerous sandals. To add to that drama, Coates revealed to Tamron Hall on Monday that Jeopardy! producers never even gave her the time of day when she reached out about making good on Trebek’s personal request. Via Mediaite:

“I asked for the opportunity when it came time, when they were looking for people to possibly fill in,” she told Hall. “I certainly raised my hand and knocked on doors and found them closed. I asked for the opportunity. I was told, ‘No.’”

The rejection obviously stung for Coates, who was honored that Trebek even named her in the first place, and yet his personal wishes were rejected by Jeopardy! producers.

“I was thrilled when he said my name,” Coates told Hall. “I thought, ‘My God. This person that I have watched my whole life really, even knows my name let alone thinks that I would be worthy enough to fill his shoes which frankly can’t be filled?”

(Via Mediaite)

Alex Trebek’s Name (And Personal Library) Are Going To A Great Cause: A New Los Angeles Homeless Shelter

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Starting next week, a Los Angeles homeless shelter named after iconic Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek will open the doors to its 107-bed facility. The facility will also feature a library housing the late host‘s personal books and furniture, as well as providing services and outreach as part of a path to permanent housing. The Trebek Center held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, which was attended by Trebek’s wife.

Via Los Angeles Daily News:

“We all know that homelessness is complicated,” said Jean Trebek, widow of Alex Trebek, who died in 2020 from pancreatic cancer. “There is no single pathway to the streets,” she said. “There’s no single intervention that ends homelessness. But there is a single remedy and it’s called love. Supporting another is loving another and the transformational power of support will surely be known at this site.”

Also in attendance was Los Angeles City Councilmember John Lee, who thanked local residents for making the “difficult decision” to allow The Trebek Center to take over the site of a popular skating rink. Lee told the crowd that the shelter will take “the necessary footsteps to combat what is happening on our city streets.”

Donating his name and library to a homeless shelter is another reason why it’s been so tough for the show to replace him. The man left massive shoes to fill in a lot of ways, making it a monumental task to find someone who brings the same combination of warmth, charm, and gravitas to the Jeopardy! podium. (Outside of a tiny disaster, the show has relied on a series of rotating guest hosts while prominently leaning on Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik, both of whom remain top contenders to get the gig at some point.) A final decision still hasn’t been made because, again, Trebek was just that good. You really can’t rush into this one.

When you’re replacing one of the greats, you gotta take your time.

(Via Los Angeles Daily News)

‘Jeopardy!’ Is Planning A Tribute To Alex Trebek That Will ‘Break The Internet’

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This November is the two-year anniversary of Alex Trebek’s death, which is hard to believe. It seems like it was only yesterday he was making fun of nerds and being “insensitive” about a pygmy goat. To honor the long-time Jeopardy! host, producers are planning a tribute that will “break the internet.”

In the latest episode of the essential Inside Jeopardy! podcast, executive producer Michael Davies revealed, “Overall, we owe him a fantastic episode of Jeopardy! on that day,” referring to November 8, the day of Trebek’s death (and Election Day). “It may well break the internet. I don’t want to give too much away.”

Elsewhere in the episode, producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss spoke to current Jeopardy! hosts Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik, who discussed the upcoming season, the show’s 39th. ““It’s very exciting and especially exciting to get to share this honor and this platform with Ken who is such a legend and it’s very exciting, it’s overwhelming but in a really good way,” Bialik said. Jennings added, “I’m just such a fan of the show, to this day, I feel like a fan, I wouldn’t be the person I am without all the Jeopardy! I watched as a kid, and then, of course, it changed my life in a big way 20 years ago, it’s just an honor to be associated with the show in any way, and now with Mayim double the perks.”

Jeopardy! returns with new episodes later this month.

(Via TV Insider)

Ken Jennings Received A Sweet Gift From Alex Trebek’s Widow That He Takes With Him Onto The ‘Jeopardy!’ Set

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Even though Ken Jennings only recently stepped in to host Jeopardy!, he has a long-standing history with the show. After winning 74 consecutive games in 2004, the trivia connoisseur would frequently return to the signature deep blue set for some good, old-fashioned fun in the form of a question.

After Alek Trebek passed away in 2020, Jennings became an obvious choice to step in as host, which he will continue to do throughout season 39 alongside Mayim Bialik. Of course, this is a very hard legacy to continue, as nobody is quite as pure as Alex Trebek. It’s a wonder they kept the show going anyway! But they did, and Jennings recently revealed that he has a small but sentimental gift from Trebek on his person when he’s on set.

Jennings was given a small gift from Trebek’s wife Jean as a surprise which turned out to be a very heartwarming gesture. “I showed up at the morning writer’s meeting where we went over all the day’s clues and responses,” Jennings recently told Vulture. “One of the producers motioned to a little box that was sitting in front of me. I opened it and it was a little jewelry box with Alex’s cufflinks and a very kind note from Jean Trebek offering support. It must have been a super hard time for her, and she was thinking about the poor schmuck trying to do her late husband’s old job. That was such a lovely gesture.”

The current Jeopardy! host confirmed that he wears “The Alex Cufflinks” whenever he sports a specific shirt while filming. “And I’m in his dressing room, so I’m thinking about him anyway,” he added. He did not confirm if the cufflinks contained some secret Trebek power, or if they light up when someone is about to say a wrong answer. But still! It’s cool! “Alex and I had a professional relationship. We weren’t, say, hanging out and going camping together, but every time I saw him, we got along well. It sure seemed like [Jean] was trying to give a sense of continuity to Jeopardy!, even after her loss and our loss as viewers.”

Jennings added that even though he is the one reading the clues, there is still some signature Trebek energy on set. “It’s hard not to feel his presence there. He was there for almost four decades. You do kind of feel like he must be in the building. It’s not quite the same as a spectral form peering around a corner and saying, ‘No, no, what is Bucharest? Bucharest, Romania.’ [Laughs.] But it’s nice to feel like he’s still there and part of the show.” Even though he’s not around, it’s still nice to remember that one time when he hosted the show without pants. But hopefully, Jennings will not continue that legacy.

(Via Vulture)

‘Jeopardy!’ Honored The Anniversary Of Alex Trebek’s Death With A Special Trebek-Themed Category

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Jeopardy! has officially entered the post-Alex Trebek era with two permanent hosts splitting duties behind the podium for the biggest trivia game show on the planet. But Trebek’s impact on the show remains, and two years after his death the syndicated show paid tribute to the longtime host on Tuesday.

The moment came not during actual play, but as a warmup game of sorts between Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach, and Amy Schneider. As a bit of an interlude to the Tournament of Champions, three of Season 38’s biggest winners played each other to keep their skills sharp despite all getting automatic byes into the tournament’s semifinals.

It also, smartly, meant that any election coverage cutting into syndicated airings would not have viewers missing action crucial to the tournament’s results. That lack of stakes meant the game had a bit looser of a feel, and the trivia for some categories was more, well, trivial, than is often the case. Which is why the show had an entire category about Trebek’s life.

Some of the questions were pretty standard: about his hometown (Sudbury, ON) and where he attended university. But one question actually stumped the trio, probably because it was about obscure tools called woodruff keys. That’s OK, though, as host Ken Jennings pointed out Trebek apparently didn’t know what they did, either.

Regardless, it was a nice tribute to the man who largely made Jeopardy! what it is today, and it was nice to see that — woodruff keys aside — some of the biggest stars of the show today certainly know its roots.

‘Jeopardy’ Host Ken Jennings Pointed Out Something He Thinks Pat Sajak Does Better Than The Beloved Alex Trebek

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Ken Jennings might be the host of Jeopardy!, but that doesn’t mean he’s entirely loyal to the quiz show or its late iconic host.

While appearing on Justin Long’s Life Is Short podcast, Jennings admitted that he’s always been more of a Pat Sajak guy going back to when he was a kid watching Wheel of Fortune on the family TV. The revelation is sure to add fuel to the raging war over which classic TV game show is better, and Jennings might want to watch out. Jeopardy! fans are a vocal bunch. They might not take this perceived slight at Trebek well.

Via New York Post:

“Alex was such a genius at being the host of ‘Jeopardy!’ —you really cannot do better than that… But as a kid I was always like, ‘Pat’s more fun, Pat jokes around with the three people,’” Jennings said.

“I’m a little more of a Pat Sajak where I’m like if I say one more thing, please end it with a joke,” he continued of his own hosting style.

While Jennings’ comments weren’t that bad, he kept going, and these next words might dig him a hole with Jeopardy! fans.

“I want to make it less painful than it was for me as a viewer,” Jennings said about his interactions with contestants as opposed to Trebek’s.

However, Jennings’ attempts to add a little more humor to Jeopardy! has not been smooth sailing. The host has a penchant for making groan-worthy dad jokes that one might also describe as “painful.”

(Via New York Post)

‘Jeopardy!’ Fans On Social Media Are Sharing The Most Iconic Moments From The Long-Running Quiz Show

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Jeopardy! on YouTube

It’s rare when the internet can come together and agree on something. It happens every once in a while, like with Barbienheimer or Baby Yoda or when it’s time to bully a puppet. But most of the time, people are fighting on the internet. It’s just the way the world works now, and we have to live with it. At least we can all agree that whatever is happening with Madame Web is very confusing to watch.

But there is one little show that seemingly unites everyone and their grandmothers (because it’s been on for so long) and that’s Jeopardy! After being on for forty years, there is no shortage of embarrassing, heartwarming, and straight-up ridiculous moments from the beloved game show. And luckily, everyone has their favorite clips on deck, so when we need a quick morale boost on the internet, there is always a little joke for everyone. For instance, remember when Ken Jenning called Alex Trebek a hoe?

Yeah! There’s a lot more where that came from. Sometimes, the contestants were the ones who were acting out of pocket:

But a lot of the time, Trebek was just dunking on his contestants for being nerds.

Or when they were doing the opposite of winning:

There will never be another one like Trebec, though. Sorry, Ken.






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