11.10.20 Hero of the Day: Alex Trebek

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A SPECIAL HERO OF THE DAY!

Name: Alex Trebek

Age: was 80
Occupation: game show host
Last Seen: in the Great Beyond
Awarded For: being probably the greatest game show host of all time

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For more than 70 years, TV game shows have given us lots of daily enjoyment. 

Many shows have been on longer than I've been alive, like The Price is Right, Let's Make a Deal, Wheel of Fortune and Match Game. Some shows haven't been on as long, like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and Deal Or No Deal, and they became favorites. 

Of course, the hosts of most of these shows would be well-known on a one name basis: Sajak, Barker, Hall, Rayburn and yes... Trebek. For the past 36 years, Alex Trebek brought a plethora of joy as the host of the long-running Jeopardy!, a show that first made its way into American homes in 1964 with Art Fleming at the podium. When the show's producers wanted to reintroduce the show in 1984 to a new generation, Trebek was their man. 

The son of a Ukrainian immigrant to Canada, Trebek grew up modestly in Sudbury, Ontario. After graduating college, Trebek started working at the CBC in 1961, working as an announcer. In 1963, he got on-screen exposure, hosting Music Hop, basically a Canadian version of American Bandstand. Trebek's first game show was Reach For The Top, a game show for high schoolers which he hosted in 1966.

After working various broadcasting jobs in Canada, in 1973, Trebek crossed over to America, hosting the short-lived The Wizard of Odds in 1973. A year later, he started hosting High Rollers, also on NBC, for two years. In 1976, Trebek started hosting a show for Mark Goodson and Bill Todman called Double Dare (no relation to the 1980s show on Nickelodeon), which aired for one season. After DD was canceled, he returned to Canada for a year, hosting The $128,000 Question. However, he returned to America in 1978 to host two more seasons of High Rollers.

In the early 80s, Trebek had a myriad of TV projects in both America and Canada. He hosted the short-lived Battlestars on NBC. After it was canceled, he hosted the controversial Pitfall in Canada. What made Pitfall controversial was that the show's production company, Catalina Productions, went bankrupt and never paid Trebek. He then hosted another Battlestars revival for NBC, which only lasted 13 weeks.

After shooting many failed pilots, Trebek finally found the show that would be his calling: the 1984 revival of Jeopardy! Usually packaged with Merv Griffin's other big game show classic Wheel of Fortune, the two shows have regularly delivered a 1-2 punch in the ratings between the national newscasts and prime time. Throughout his tenure hosting the show, Trebek wasn't just the host of Jeopardy!, he *was* Jeopardy!.

Despite his busy taping schedule, Trebek also found time to host other game shows. He hosted Classic Concentration and a revamp of To Tell The Truth for Mark Goodson and NBC. At one point, he hosted all three shows at once, one for the record books. 

Throughout his tenure hosting J!, there were multiple historic moments on the series. Formerly, there was a rule that a contestant had to leave the show after five days, plus any winnings over $100,000 had to be given to charity. Those rules were eliminated, allowing for legends like Ken Jennings and "Jeopardy James" Holzhauer to win millions on the program. 

Sadly, in 2018, Trebek shocked his fans by announcing his cancer diagnosis. He did retain his sense of humor, saying that his contract was to expire in 2022, so the cancer had to wait. One major hurdle was the 2020-21 season, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. With Trebek's now diminished immune system, Sony had to clear many obstacles to resume taping. Among them included spacing contestants apart and taping without a studio audience. 

Neither cancer nor COVID could stop Alex. Some contestants even used their Final Jeopardy! answers to support him through his turmoil. One such contestant, Dhruv Gaur even used the words "We Love You Alex" for his FJ! answer. It caused Trebek to fight back tears, probably for the first time in the show's history. During the show's "The Greatest of All Time" specials earlier this year, Holzhauer used a FJ! answer to write "Who is the GHOST: Greatest Host of Syndicated Television?", with Pat Sajak crossed off. Trebek responded: "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Jeopardy! Comedy Hour!"

Towards the end, Alex's cancer did not slow him down. However, on Sunday, it took his life. Alex Trebek died at home at the age of 80. He was surrounded by friends and family. 

On Sunday, when word spread regarding Trebek's death, the socials exploded. Everybody from Stephen Colbert to former contestants to beloved Canadian institutions all said their respects. One clip of Trebek that was passed along the socials was that of a contestant from last week, Burt Thakur. While being interviewed by Trebek, he admitted that he learned English from watching him, sitting on his grandfather's lap. Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak tweeted: "Alex Trebek’s courage, grace and strength inspired millions and awed those of us who knew him. A tremendous loss for his family, friends, co-workers and countless viewers. I was honored to be a friend and a part of his professional family for all these years. A very sad day."

Monday's episode of Jeopardy! began with Executive Producer Mike Richards somberly announcing Trebek's passing. He announced that he taped 35 new episodes and his last show was taped just a day before Halloween. That show will air Christmas Day. After he made the announcement and tribute, they cut to an overhead shot of the studio, with the lights dimming.

At this point, nobody knows who will replace Trebek. The biggest rumor right now is that Ken Jennings - who joined the show this season, reading off clues on video - will be Alex's replacement. ABC News' George Stephanopoulos also mentioned that he wants to host the show. Other rumored names include Jane Lynch and even 98-year-old Betty White.  

But in the end, that person will have giant shoes to fill.

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