November 8, 2020

Goodbye to Alex Trebek.

58 comments:

Lurker21 said...


Shouldn't you have put all that in the form of a question?

mockturtle said...

RIP, Alex. We will miss you. You're irreplaceable.

Josephbleau said...

There was Jeopardy before Alex, and will be after. No one is irreplaceable.

Unknown said...

Sad to here... I was on "Jeopardy!" some years back and he was a class act.

Aggie said...

RIP a unique and interesting personality and true fighter.

doctrev said...

... well, that is a shame. As a unifying institution for Americans who think they have the wits, smarts, and reflexes to go all the way from obscurity to trivia celebrity, Jeopardy is certainly in the top three. And Alex Trebek was a man who conducted himself without drama, scandal, social posturing, or desperate narcissism.

I'm going to miss him.

Scotty, beam me up... said...

I loved Jeopardy as a kid in the Art Fleming / Don Pardo era of the 1960’s. I was thrilled when Alex Trebek brought this, the classiest and best game show ever, back on the air. I also loved Will Farrell as Trebek and Darryl Hammond as Sean Connery in the Celebrity Jeopardy! parodies on SNL years ago. Ironic that Alex and Sean died a little over a week apart. Answer: He was the greatest game show host of all time. Question: Who is Alex Trebek?, Alex.

gilbar said...

here was Jeopardy before Alex, and will be after. No one is irreplaceable

The graveyards are full of irreplaceable men

Birkel said...

What is inevitable?

Lurker21 said...


There was Jeopardy before Alex, and will be after.

Probably, given the way everything in entertainment is retreaded, rebooted and recycled.

Art Fleming, the first host, died of the same disease.

How long before people decide the show is cursed?

Andrew said...

How sad. RIP. Rare to find a man so gifted and humble at the same time.

In memoriam, Alex in a sitcom:
https://youtu.be/botdmsQilnU

mikee said...

Who was a fine person and a great game show host?

whitney said...

The question is, will the replacement be a strong female host or strong diverse host?

Big Mike said...

Lurker21 for the win in the very first comment. I hope you bet it all on a Daily Double.

Darrell said...

Fuck you, Biden.
He couldn't handle the election fraud.

rhhardin said...

I threw out my TV in 1971 before Jeopardy started so never saw him, or Archie Bunker for that matter.

rehajm said...

There was Jeopardy before Alex, and will be after.

This...Is...Woke..Jeopardy!

James K said...

How long before people decide the show is cursed?

If Superman is any guide, there needs to be at least one more. Though dying at 70 (Fleming) 80 (Trebek) doesn't seem especially bad luck, though that's easy for me to say.

Dave Begley said...

Pancreatic cancer claims another victim. Bob Gibson, Creighton grad and HOF pitcher, last month. Five years ago this month former Creighton president and friend of mine, Fr. John P. Schlegel, S.J.

Little progress has been made on pancreatic cancer although a HS classmate of mine's wife did survive.

The stats are horrible.

tim in vermont said...

I kind of gave up on Alex when he would inject his liberal politics in the questions and stand there with a stupid grin. I guess he is good looking though, so his passing matters.

BudBrown said...

Canadian States for $1000.
Trebek was born here?

Narr said...

Pancan got my father in 1962. Back then, most people only found out they had it for sure when the docs went in and looked, and by which time it was too late.

I only occasionally watched Jeopardy--it made me too angry when people muffed easy questions, and most of them were easy.

Narr
Except the sports stuff, for me

doctrev said...

This is, by the way, one of the reasons "beaten by a game show host" should have never entered the public consciousness. I have no doubt that Alex Trebek would have effortlessly taken the nomination of either major party and the general election, if he felt like it. In terms of Hollywood types that still had broad appeal and no scandal, I'm chilled to realize I never even thought of someone like Alex Trebek replacing Joe Biden.

We dodged quite a bullet. Again.

Charlie Currie said...

RIP

Was at my buddy's on Thursday to do some work on the great white wagon, and caught a couple of episodes of Concentration Classic with Alex as host. Longer hair, bushier mustache but still the same guy.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

doctrev said...

This is, by the way, one of the reasons "beaten by a game show host" should have never entered the public consciousness. I have no doubt that Alex Trebek would have effortlessly taken the nomination of either major party and the general election, if he felt like it. In terms of Hollywood types that still had broad appeal and no scandal, I'm chilled to realize I never even thought of someone like Alex Trebek replacing Joe Biden.

We dodged quite a bullet. Again.


Seriously? You don't think it would have been fun to watch President Trebek in the White House Press Room making statements and the news media having guess what the questions were?

DimWhit said...

Sure, I suppose Jeopardy! will continue.
Alex Tribec will remain an irreplaceable mensch....

Sally327 said...

R.I.P. I thought Alex was a good host although he got more and more pompous over the years. I was always amused at how he acted as if he knew the correct responses without having to read the card.

I wonder who will take his place. It needs to be a minority woman, it can't be another white man. Maybe someone like Queen Latifah, I could see her pulling that off.

FullMoon said...

kind of gave up on Alex when he would inject his liberal politics in the questions and stand there with a stupid grin.

Was pretty funny when contestants did not know answer to simple political question was Elizabeth Warren.

FullMoon said...

R.I.P. I thought Alex was a good host although he got more and more pompous over the years. I was always amused at how he acted as if he knew the correct responses without having to read the card.
Yeah, I wanted to see him as a contestant.

Breezy said...

We watch Jeopardy most nights, avoiding politics/news. We all learn more, and the competition in the family is fierce!

I will miss him in that spot. He often said he was the “host”, not the “star”. The “stars” were the questions and contestants....

RIP...

doctrev said...

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Seriously? You don't think it would have been fun to watch President Trebek in the White House Press Room making statements and the news media having guess what the questions were?

11/8/20, 2:20 PM

The greatest of fun, but there are certain serious matters I can't see him caring about. Elite celebrities think the system is going very well for them, and it's impossible to disagree. But now there are tens of millions who think that yes, democracy has run its course.

Dangerous times imminent.

Joe Smith said...

Iconic mustache...seemed like a very nice guy...one of my boys went to college with one of his kids...used to see him on campus once in a while.

Mrs. X said...

I was a contestant on the show a few years back (I didn't win, unfortunately). I liked Alex and I don't think he was liberal. He had had a knee replacement not too long before and he made some comment about socialized medicine, not favorable. The production company was probably another story.

Humperdink said...

mockturtle said "RIP, Alex. We will miss you. You're irreplaceable."

Josephbleau responded: "There was Jeopardy before Alex, and will be after. No one is irreplaceable."

I believe you are missing her point.

Francisco D said...

RIP Alex.

You were always a class act.

Mark said...

The second reading at Mass today seems quite appropriate. His death is sad, and we grieve, but it is not "the end" and we can also rejoice in his life here, and in his life now:

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,
about those who have fallen asleep,
so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose,
so too will God, through Jesus,
bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
(1 Thes. 4:13-14)

stevew said...

Loved Alex and Jeopardy!, watched pretty much every night I was home in time, was a great after dinner entertainment digestif. Alex was such a classy, nerdy, and lovable host. If you know his politics I don't think that knowledge comes from watching and listening to him on the show. The show will go on, and I bet he wished that it does, but it will be different without him.

RIP, Alex Terbek.

madAsHell said...

What's the name of the SNL actor that does "Black Jeopardy"?

I think he has a new career calling him!!!

ndspinelli said...

A pompous, preening, French Canadian who had the answers and was smug when a contestant got it wrong. I won't miss him.

Doug said...

I'll take "Heartbroken" for $2000.

gpm said...

I started with Art Fleming and Don Pardo (who, as I recall, lasted well into the Trbek era) back in the 60s.

I just hope we don't get Ken Jennings as the host. He became formally associated with the show somehow recently. Might stop watching.

Queen Latifah might be a blast!

--gpm

Skeptical Voter said...

Alex had a good run--and was a delightful host of the show. Still at age 80 (I just turned 77) I realize we'll all have to checkout at some point in time. But Alex Trebek left a solid body of work, and enterntainment for all behind. I'll miss him.

Curious George said...

"I wonder who will take his place. It needs to be a minority woman"

Maybe Kamala Harris can fuck the producer...

Ralph L said...

Was pretty funny when contestants did not know answer to simple political question was Elizabeth Warren.

All three missed Avenatti last year.

Narr said...

"All three missed Avenatti last year," says Ralph L@801pm.

I saw that one! One of a few.

Narr
Palm, forehead

Spiros Pappas said...

I think Alec Baldwin would make a good replacement.

JoyD said...

Every once in a while I check in with Althouse again. She’s ok, but if I click on the comments I’m always disappointed. You silly people. You have nothing original to do? Nothing original to say? I didn’t have much extra time in my life for Jeopardy although I caught it a few times and it was fun. Those commenters who were sneering and snide about the death of a man are just life’s most pathetic losers.
And they know they are.

stephen cooper said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bunkypotatohead said...

The Jeopardy reboot will need a black trans woman as host to meet the new diversity requirements. And no one will need to guess the correct question, as that's just a symbol of white superiority.

Leo said...

My favorite appearance of his was when he appeared in the X-Files "Jose Chung's from outer space" where he and Jesse Ventura played Men in Black. Also showed Charles Nelson Riley was a very capable actor.

Jeff Brokaw said...

He will be missed. Very solid guy. Sometimes I wished he would loosen up a little, though.

Here in Chicago — for some dumbass reason — Jeopardy aired at 3:30 instead of 6 or 6:30 (like I have seen it in several other markets, almost all of them in fact). I would have watched every night for the last 30+ years at 6 or 6:30. Many thousands of others, too, I would suspect.

Do we really need local news at 4, 5, national news at 5:30, then local news again at 6? No. No we do not. Thanks for nothing WLS!

Nichevo said...


gpm said...
I started with Art Fleming and Don Pardo (who, as I recall, lasted well into the Trbek era) back in the 60s.

I just hope we don't get Ken Jennings as the host. He became formally associated with the show somehow recently. Might stop watching.

Queen Latifah might be a blast!

--gpm

11/8/20, 6:04 PM


Surely some Clinton or Obama apparatchik like Joe Lockhart is in need of a sinecure?

PM said...

Messrs Rogers and Trebek. Don't come any better.

Narr said...

OOHHH! Nancy Pimental, who was the hostette on Win Ben Stein's Money for a couple of years.

She'd be good. I liked Kimmel on that show, but can't stand him since.

Narr
Pretty and smart

gpm said...

>>Here in Chicago — for some dumbass reason — Jeopardy aired at 3:30

Yeah, I always noticed that when I was "home" for Christmas. In Boston, it's been on at 7:30 for as long as I can remember (except when they reschedule to 2:15 in the morning or whatever to show some Patriots BS or the like at 7:30). I used to miss it a lot because I'd stop off somewhere on the way home from work and not get home until 8 or so. Saw it a lot more often since I started working mostly from home a couple of years ago and, especially, after our neighborhood Irish bar closed for good back in March.

--gpm

gpm said...

Today's show had a nice intro about the situation. Amazing that Alex was still hosting two weeks ago and has been looking good in this season's episodes. I have known only one person who died from pancreatic cancer. He was sitting literally next to me at the neighborhood Irish bar one night, saying he was seeing a doctor the next day because of chest pains. He was dead less than three weeks later after total isolation from anyone other than immediate family. An immense loss to our little local family that has itself now been destroyed by the Covid situation.

Reinforced my totally unscientific view that it's the doctors and their diagnosis that kill you. Dates back to our discussions in college at, well, that place in Cambridge, that the role of allergy tests for teens was to give you allergies.

Ken J. showed up as one of those idiotic clue introducers. Hopefully, that's all his role will be. Still annoying, but should be rare occurences.

Leaves open the spot for the new PC host.

--gpm

Robert Cook said...

"There was Jeopardy before Alex, and will be after. No one is irreplaceable."

As the whole of human history well teaches us.

Narr said...

Cook, speak for yourself.

I'm damn well irreplaceable!

Narr
And irrepressible