“I’ll take ‘Game Show Icons’ for $1,000!”
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA – MAY 05: Alex Trebek poses in the press room during the 46th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Center on May 05, 2019 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images)
Guys, today marks the fifth anniversary of “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek’s passing (Nov. 8, 2020), and it would be an injustice not to celebrate his legacy.
So, Alex, hopefully, somewhere up in TV heaven, you are seeing this. We miss you and will never forget your…
This image released by Jeopardy! shows Alex Trebek, host of the game show “Jeopardy!” Trebek’s memoir, “The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life,” will be released on Tuesday, July 21. (Jeopardy! via AP)
Top 5 “Jeopardy!” Moments
1. “What is a hoe?”
CULVER CITY, CA – JULY 14: Jeopardy host Alex Trebek, (L) poses contestant Ken Jennings after his earnings from his record breaking streak on the gameshow surpassed 1 million dollars July 14, 2004 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Jeopardy Productions via Getty Images)
Trebek read this seemingly easy clue to a contestant whose mind went somewhere else: “This term for a long-handled gardening tool can also mean an immoral pleasure seeker.”
“What’s a hoe?” contestant and present-day ‘Jeopardy!’ host Ken Jennings answered.
“No. Whoa,” Trebek quickly reacted. “They teach you that in school in Utah, huh?”
The answer was “rake.”
2. No pants, no problem
(Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
On a February 2007 episode, Trebek opened the show by walking out without his pants on.
“I was informed backstage a few minutes ago that our three contestants, Ken, Brad, and Jerome, wanted to relieve some of the tension, and they said, ‘We must do the program without trousers,'” he said.
Alex quipped, “Can we get a camera behind to make sure that they have done the same as I?”
3. MC Alex spits rap lyrics
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 21: Alex Trebek speaks during a rehearsal before a taping of Jeopardy! Power Players Week at DAR Constitution Hall on April 21, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images)
In January of 2015, the “Jeopardy!” category was “It’s a Rap” and that’s exactly what Trebek did!
When the clues featured famous rap lyrics by Grandmaster Flash, Notorious B.I.G., the Beastie Boys, and Dr. Dre., Trebek channeled his inner MC and rapped all the clues. One clue Alex read said, “I’m nuthin’ but a G thang/Never let me slip ’cause if I slip then I’m slippin’.”
4. “Losers,” in other words
A photo of Jeopardy hot Alex Trebek. Courtesy: CBS Television Distribution
Alex may have created the decade’s nastiest burn. During a 2016 episode, a contestant revealed her love for “nerdcore hip-hop” and described the fanbase to Trebek. The host savagely quipped: “Losers, in other words.” Zing! Classic Trebek shade.
5. What is “We love you, Alex”
FILE – Alex Trebek, host of “Jeopardy!” attends a ceremony honoring the show’s executive producer Harry Friedman with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, in this Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, file photo. “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek died Sunday , Nov. 8, 2020, after battling pancreatic cancer for nearly two years. Trebek died at home with family and friends surrounding him, “Jeopardy!” studio Sony said in a statement. Trebek presided over the beloved quiz show for more than 30 years. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
One “Jeopardy!” answer got Alex choked up, which is rare for the game show host! In the “Final Jeopardy” round of the show’s “Tournament of Champions” round on a November 2019 episode, the question read, “In the little of a groundbreaking 1890 expose of poverty in New York City slums, these 3 words follow ‘how the.’”
Contestant Dhruv Gaur was first to expose the answer, he went around the correct answer (“what is, ‘other half lives?’”) and instead wrote “What is, We love you Alex!”
“That’s very kind of you,” Trebek answered while getting emotional, “Thank you.” The touching moment came after Trebek had announced his cancer battle earlier in the year.
Host Alex Trebek poses on the set at Sony Pictures for the 28th Season Premiere of the television show “Jeopardy” in 2011. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Trebek died of pancreatic cancer in November 2020 at the age of 80.
RIP Alex, forever missed!
