For church Zoom service I had two options and I opted for the one without the virtual background: Spoiler
There are enough smart people working for J! to not have Alex's last episode air on 12/25 with the NBA airing affecting a lot of viewers.
I say open the vaults for a couple of weeks around the holidays and delay the last Trebek ep. until 2021. Though not until Feb. sweeps.
Like econgator I had the Trebek in the test room experience. It was my first time auditioning, in 1995, and was a very pleasant surprise to have Alex do Q & A while the tests were graded.
Seeing Alex work from the perspective of the contestant podiums was a dream come true and while I'll always be grateful to the contestant coordinators for the opportunity to play with Alex hosting I feel sad today thinking about the board members here and Facebook friends who will never have that chance.
Like many people here, Alex was truly someone I idolized. I never really did well in school, never really got great grades. I never did any clubs throughout my school years. Then I started watching regularly my junior year of high school and did well enough to think to myself, "hey, I'm kinda good at this". It gave me enough confidence to join my quiz bowl team my senior year. I helped my team finish second in our conference and was even named team MVP. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had achieved something to be proud of.
Trivia and useless facts has always been something I've shined at. And I have nobody to thank but Alex.
I also had the great pleasure of Alex popping into my J! Test in DC, probably in 94 or 95, and chatting with us as we awaited the test results. Seems I missed the cut by one, as did many others! Alex was charming and funny, of course. I still have hopes of being on the show some day but it wouldn't be the same
ABC is doing an hour special on Alex tonight at ten.
Met him and got an autographed picture when I was 7 or so and he was hosting High Rollers. Later was in the audience when a friend was a contestant. Damn good at his job. Pretty tough losing him and Regis so close together during these rough times.
For his final episode, I suggest hauling two weeks of episodes out of the vault to push his finale past Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. TPTB are going to need some time to sort this out regardless seeing as how they immediately canceled Zoom auditions. So this would seem to solve both issues.
dhkendall wrote: ↑Sun Nov 08, 2020 2:07 pm
I’m thinking that because this December 25 show will be different from other December 25 shows they might make an exception and try to get that one on somehow even if it’s not in its usual time slot.
Possibly, but around here, at least, the NBA is on ABC on Christmas Day, si we would almost certainly be pre-empted if the season goes a head as they plan to.
On Election Night, ABC NY shifted Jeopardy to a different channel for viewing. At the very least, I can imagine them doing that. Or even trying to get the NBA to shift their schedule to keep that 30 minutes open. I can’t imagine they would truly preempt Alex’s last show.
dhkendall wrote: ↑Sun Nov 08, 2020 2:07 pm
I’m thinking that because this December 25 show will be different from other December 25 shows they might make an exception and try to get that one on somehow even if it’s not in its usual time slot.
Possibly, but around here, at least, the NBA is on ABC on Christmas Day, si we would almost certainly be pre-empted if the season goes a head as they plan to.
On Election Night, ABC NY shifted Jeopardy to a different channel for viewing. At the very least, I can imagine them doing that. Or even trying to get the NBA to shift their schedule to keep that 30 minutes open. I can’t imagine they would truly preempt Alex’s last show.
No matter what I have said or may say for or against AT or the show, at the end of the day I love what they value at their core and have preached for so many years; they're the right things. Amidst all the shock and sadness, that's what I tried to keep in mind today. Still a prospective contestant and relatively new regular viewer, but that doesn't mean I'm any less thankful for all that AT and the show have done for you, me and everyone else.
I didn't learn English from Alex as Burt did, but I learned the language of culture from him. Watching as a kid in the '80s and '90s, I learned that knowledge is never trivial. In Alex's world, not only could one know highbrow things like history and literature and the fine arts, one should know them; it was part of being a complete, cultured person. Some mocked or criticized Ken when he wrote that Alex is our era's Cronkite, but I think the comparison is apt in terms of the trust the public had in him. A fact must be a fact, because Alex said it. There's no one like that left. The show will find another good host and I'll keep watching, but there will never be another Alex Trebek.
We all knew it was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier.
He was astonishingly good at his job, and it is hard to see how anyone can fill his shoes - letting the questions be the star, but still being an authoritative presence. I wish I had met him. Whoever inherits will have a massive legacy to live up to.
A nice last Christmas present for the fans but sadly it won’t air in a lot of markets.
I saw that his last day in the studio was October 29.
Has anyone heard if his last day was planned for October 29 or if that was just the day that he knew he couldn't continue? I assume there were supposed to be more tapings this year. I know he had talked about not making a big deal about his last taping.
A nice last Christmas present for the fans but sadly it won’t air in a lot of markets.
I saw that his last day in the studio was October 29.
Has anyone heard if his last day was planned for October 29 or if that was just the day that he knew he couldn't continue? I assume there were supposed to be more tapings this year. I know he had talked about not making a big deal about his last taping.
According to Mike Richards on the CNN video, they didn’t know it would be his last day, but they knew Alex was in a lot of pain. He just had surgery two weeks prior. He only taped three shows one day and two the next instead of his normal five a day.
I don’t think I can say anything different than what I have read. It hurts that we lost Alex and Regis so close together. I have watched J! since almost the beginning as a child. I am happy I was able to see him in person when they taped the MDM tournament in NYC.
Thank you, Alex, for hosting so well for 36+ years. May you rest in peace.
Oh, what has science wrought? I sought only to turn a man into a metal-encased juggernaut of destruction powered by the unknown properties of a mysterious living crystal. How could this have all gone wrong?
For Boston area fans, the NFL will be in Week 16 on Christmas. Fox is scheduled to show the Vikings-Lions that day at 3:30 EST.
Delaying the broadcast for two weeks seems the best option. Doing it for a week puts it on January 1, which involves a host of other scheduling conflicts. Plus it gives them two more weeks to figure out how to proceed. There are likely Christmas themed categories for that week along with Alex saying “Merry Christmas” on his last episode that will seem odd on January 8, but that will be the least of my concerns watching that episode.
