OBIT: Alex Trebek

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debramc
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by debramc »

So sad to hear this news today. My husband and I were commenting the other day that we thought he was looking better in the new shows than last season. I missed a few years of shows due to life getting in the way. We had just gotten back into regular watching in the past several months. Alex will be greatly missed in our household. If I could I would raise a glass of airag to toast his memory!
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by Peter the accountant »

alietr wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 12:45 pm Fare thee well, Alex. My condolences to your family. And our family.
Indeed. Condolences to your family. We will all miss him.
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by squarekara »

:(
yclept
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by yclept »

I have pretty much watched the show since it first began. We truly lost an American (and Canadian) icon.
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by Jurimetrician »

My interior monologue right now is not FCC-approved, so...

I'm sad. Very sad. Condolences to his family.

Next time I dress up, I'll wear my Trebektie in his honor.
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georgespelvin
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by georgespelvin »

I may still get to be on Jeopardy someday, but sadly I will never get the chance to be on Jeopardy hosted by Alex Trebek. RIP.

I find it hard to believe that markets that might otherwise pre-empt Jeopardy on Christmas would do so this year for Alex's final show. The interest (and potential advertising revenue) will be extremely high.
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by Bamaman »

georgespelvin wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 1:30 pm I may still get to be on Jeopardy someday, but sadly I will never get the chance to be on Jeopardy hosted by Alex Trebek. RIP.

I find it hard to believe that markets that might otherwise pre-empt Jeopardy on Christmas would do so this year for Alex's final show. The interest (and potential advertising revenue) will be extremely high.
They may not have a choice if it is bumped by network programming. Hopefully the local affiliates will take steps to make sure it is seen and will air it at a time convenient to most viewers.

I also hope there isn’t any breaking news concerning the election or anything else Monday so everyone can see whatever words of tribute they tack on.
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floridagator
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by floridagator »

Alex Trebek made his U.S game show debut with "The Wizard of Odds," which premiered on NBC on Tuesday, July 17, 1973, a day later than scheduled, due to Watergate hearings. On that momentous day of July 16, Alexander Butterworth revealed the existence of a taping system in the Oval Office. But I digress.

TWOO was produced by Burt Sugarman, and the theme song was written and sung by Alan Thicke. Here is that theme song.
https://youtu.be/RdxaqliKWXw
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jeopardyfan939
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by jeopardyfan939 »

This is sad news indeed, and I was anticipating he would at least make it to 2021 and finish taping episodes for this season. But rest in peace Alex, you'll always be remembered in the Jeopardy! community.

That being said, I wonder if TPTB are going to use an interim host to finish Season 37. I say this because ten years ago, Charlie O'Donnell (longtime announcer on Wheel of Fortune) passed away November 1st; and there was a rotation of guest announcers for the rest of Wheel's 28th season, including Johnny Gilbert and Jim Thornton (who became the full-time announcer in Season 29). The guest announcers even dubbed over Charlie on episodes that aired after his death but were taped before. Since TPTB utilized Johnny as a guest announcer on Wheel, perhaps they can use Pat Sajak as the interim host of J! to finish this season before they find a permanent replacement next season.
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by Fleeboy »

MDaunt wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 1:01 pm I'm probably more upset about this than I have a right to be. I didn't really know him, beyond a few casual chats. But he's been on my television since I was about five years old, which was when we got our first TV (B&W, 17"). He had children late in life, but he got to see them grow to adulthood. I feel terrible for his family, although it could not have been unexpected at this point.

2020 still sucks.
Well said, Michael. The news brought me to tears, which took me by surprise.

I suspect that most of us who had the privilege of spending time on a sound stage with Mr. Trebek have been asked, "what's he really like?" We didn't truly know, of course, as (outside of group photos or a tournament wrap party) all of our interactions with him took place on camera. Over the last 20 months, however, his millions of fans came to know and admire this remarkable man. Watching J! these next seven weeks will be a bittersweet experience.
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JeopardyMom
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by JeopardyMom »

I'm so sad to hear this, and so grateful for the opportunity I had to compete on Jeopardy! and meet Alex in 2008. I wouldn't take anything for that experience.
Prayers for his family and for all of the Jeopardy! crew. The end of an era.
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by slam »

Thanks, Alex!

You truly made the world a better place.
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by cthulhu »

:(
My deepest condolences to his family, and all of those contestants and fans through the years. Godspeed Alex Trebek, for whatever may lay beyond this vale of tears.
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by Linear Gnome »

:o :( :x :cry:
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by LucarioSnooperVixey »

Oh boy! News on this board can't get more shocking than this. :shock: :cry: :?
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by Roadgeek Adam »

While a previous poster mentioned, this is news that you will want to remember where you were when you heard, I was driving on Interstate 190, to go see a beginning (new train station opening in downtown Buffalo), that's when I found out about an ending.

Each day with pancreatic cancer is a gift, local pancreatic cancer has a 35% survival rate over 5 years. Survival when the cancer has metastasized is only 7%. Most stage 4 pancreatic cancer patients die relative soon after diagnosis. It is a gut punch of a disease that we have yet to find a cure for, or a stronger treatment than heavy chemotherapy and radiation. There are few commercials that get your attention than the Lustgarten Foundation one of the late Danny Aiello watching videos of his now-late son, a pancreatic cancer victim. You can tell how much pancreatic cancer can affect even the greatest. Alex Trebek said on ABC in January that it has helped him stop thinking about the future and to enjoy every day to the fullest. At the same time, I think once Alex publicly announced his diagnosis, the country and the world realized how much every day with Alex Trebek on this earth meant. All of us knew this day was coming at some point.

However, the pancreatic cancer diagnosis did something else. It helped us take the last 35 years of having Alex Trebek on our televisions on Jeopardy! has been not for granted. Celebrities, politicians, fellow game show hosts, famous contestants and most importantly, you and me, had an outpouring of support for a man that was part of multiple generations of television, and a fixture in much of our childhoods and adolescence. In the United Kingdom, there are many game show and quiz shows that help show who the best of the best in trivia is. In the United States, we have considered Jeopardy! the top of the line. If you are able to make it on to the show, you are already in a club of people who have had the honour to be considered one of the best. There isn't another. The benefit of Jeopardy has been the longevity, the strength of the writing and the whittling of contestants. We all watch game shows because we want to see people like you and me win unthinkable amounts of money.

Alex Trebek has always been there. Thanks to Jeopardy!, a man who loved to poke fun at himself made many guest appearances on television, from Cheers to the famous Celebrity Jeopardy on Saturday Night Live. He made appearances on multiple animated shows. He was on the Simpsons, where he made fun of Marge's poor performance. He was on Rugrats, hosting a show named Super Stumpers as Alex Quebec. In that appearance, he made a quotation that sounds heinous in retrospect: "And didi, you don't have to answer in the form of a question." His other appearance on animation that I grew up with was on The Magic School Bus. There he was the host of the "International Show-and-Tell Competition".

It takes a certain kind of person to have the impact that Alex Trebek did. I think a lot of us have this unsustained mythological belief that all celebrities on television are like these uber rich people who have butlers who do everything in giant houses. In reality, many of them are you and me, but just have more money. Rather than going on ritzy vacations, here's a man who spends all day tearing out roofs and floorboards, making construction work. He's just a man who felt he was doing his job and we all appreciated it. He always treated contestants with the utmost grace and professionality, just as he handled every day. It could not have been easy for him to have to reveal to the public that he was suffering. However, in the face of an uncurable disease, he did so in March 2019 with the utmost grace and most importantly, the same sense of humour he had doing Jeopardy and every other guest appearance on television.

My #1 favourite quote in history is from George Bernard Shaw and it is meant for use when there has been an ending.
A Splendid Torch (1896) wrote:I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.
I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" for me.
It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment,
and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.
From The Wizard of Odds, Battlestars, High Rollers, Malcolm, To Tell the Truth, Classic Concentration and Jeopardy, the young kid from Sudbury, Ontario lived as bright a life you could ask. While he is no longer a mortal man, we shouldn't look at his death a loss. We should look at his death as a celebration of the life of a man whose life was to entertain you and I and made himself an international icon doing so.

We'll miss you, Alex. I'm sure Art and Merv are waiting for you.
Last edited by Roadgeek Adam on Sun Nov 08, 2020 2:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by Don't Think Twice »

My daughter was born November, 1984. A few days after I took her home from the hospital, I got up for her 2:00 am feeding, turned on the tv, and there was Jeopardy! back on my tv, with Alex Trebek, a new host I hadn't seen in the old version. Apparently, it was rerun in the NYC market at 2 am in those early days. I have watched Alex almost every night since.

That same daughter, born 36 years ago this month, and her husband took the test this year and both did very well. Even though I know it's a toss-up to get on the show, I was really hoping that she would get on while Alex was still with us. I am very sad. R.I.P. Alex, and thank you for all the enjoyment your brought to my life.
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by merica »

I just watched Alex’s Cheers appearance on demand last night. Still as funny now as it was way back then.
I never met Mr. Trebek but he will still be missed.
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by dhkendall »

Bamaman wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 12:53 pm
ParrotRob wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 12:52 pm
Bamaman wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 12:45 pm Damn.

When will his last recorded game air?
According to the article I read, Christmas Day.
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.
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.
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Re: OBIT: Alex Trebek

Post by harrumph »

His passing is a rare occasion when millions of people who never literally met the man will feel genuine sorrow and reflect upon his class and courage.  

He performed at the highest level to the end, which is remarkable with the effects of his particular illness and its therapies.  His interactions with the contestants and his general performance were at the top of his game. 
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