On Monday, November 8, 2020, the world lost a TV legend and, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest television hosts of all time. Alex Trebek, the “Jeopardy!” host and trivia guru, died just this past week at the age of 80 from his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Alex was so iconic that Saturday Night Live had a running sketch called “Celebrity Jeopardy!” with Will Ferrell as the host. The theme song of the show always was played and later made known by many (Marble, 2020). Alex Trebek’s calm and clear voice was a staple part of American TV and will be sorely missed.
If any of you have been living under a rock all this time, “Jeopardy!” is a trivia TV show that has three contestants and a host. There is a board with six categories and each category has a question that is worth $200-$1000, going up $200 incrementally. Contestants choose the money amount in the category and the host reads the prompt, having the contestant answer in the form of a question (e.g. “What is a smorgasbord?”). There are two rounds and after those two rounds there is a final question called “Final Jeopardy.” You try to answer the question, and you bet how much money you are willing to lose or gain. Alex Trebek acted as the host for this show from its reboot in 1984 until his death (Marble, 2020). Jeopardy! and Trebek are synonymous; you cannot have one without the other.
To me, Alex Trebek is a symbol of strength and perseverance. Even though he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2019, he still wanted to act as host of the show and did not let cancer have the power to control him and his decisions. He loved being around trivia buffs like himself, something that does not surprise me (Marble, 2020). He did not let something bad stand in the way of living his life the way he wanted to. He spent the last years of his life doing the job he loved and that inspires me. It warms my heart that a man of his caliber was allowed to rest with the people he loved the most by his side, his family.
Maybe one day Alex Trebek will end up as a question to the answer in his beloved show. Who is Alex Trebek? A man of resilience, an icon of television. I think he would really enjoy it.
Works Cited
Marble, S. (2020, November 8). Alex Trebek, ‘Jeopardy!’ host and trivia master, dies at
80. Los Angeles Times.
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