Prior to His Death, Alex Trebek Filmed an Inspiring Thanksgiving Message to 'Jeopardy!' Fans
After hosting “Jeopardy!” for decades, Alex Trebek put a lot of thought into how he wanted to end his time on the show.
In January, he told ABC that he had it all planned out.
“It’ll be a significant moment for me,” Trebek said. “But I’ve kind of, in my mind, rehearsed it already, and what I would do on that day is tell the director, ‘Time the show down to leave me 30 seconds at the end. That’s all I want.'”
“And I will say my goodbyes and I will tell people, ‘Don’t ask me who’s going to replace me because I have no say whatsoever. But I’m sure that if you give them the same love and attention and respect that you have shown me … then they will be a success and the show will continue being a success.'”
“‘And until we meet again, God bless you and goodbye.'”
Trebek died 10 days after his last day in the studio on Oct. 29, and the show recently announced that Ken Jennings would be taking the host reins for the immediate future.
After that, a rotating cast will take on the job, with “Jeopardy!” informing viewers that it will be employing “a series of interim guest hosts from the Jeopardy! family.”
We will resume production on 11/30 with a series of interim guest hosts from the Jeopardy! family – starting with Ken Jennings. Additional guest hosts to be announced. pic.twitter.com/0MdGqnzp3R
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) November 23, 2020
Filming is set to resume on Nov. 30, but on Thanksgiving, “Jeopardy!” shared a special, encouraging message from the late host.
“Happy Thanksgiving, ladies and gentlemen,” Trebek started off in the video.
“You know, in spite of what America and the rest of the world is experiencing right now, there are many reasons to be thankful.”
“There are more and more people extending helpful hands to do a kindness to their neighbors, and that’s a good thing.”
“Keep the faith. We’re gonna get through all of this, and we will be a better society because of it.”
High on our list of things to be thankful for this year: Alex’s Thanksgiving message from today’s show. We hope you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! pic.twitter.com/8OlpkSGi9r
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) November 26, 2020
“High on our list of things to be thankful for this year: Alex’s Thanksgiving message from today’s show,” Jeopardy! tweeted on Thursday. “We hope you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!”
Trebek may not be with us in person anymore, but his legacy will live on through the show and countless lives he’s touched.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
