Jeopardy! fans everywhere miss longtime host Alex Trebek. Especially when you consider how exhausting and controversial the search for the legend’s replacement has been, fans wanted to remember the good times with Trebek.
It has been exactly one year since Trebek passed away due to cancer. Trebek hosted the game show for 37 years before last fall’s final appearance. It was a legendary run by a legendary performance. In total, the man hosted over 7, 500 episodes. Is that not wild, Outsiders?
One Twitter user, @CoachMurph, tweeted, “Saying goodbye has become too common, goodbye and thank you Alex Trebek. You had a place in my home, especially during my dads battle with cancer. Both men battled against cancer, made the world better and always brought a smile to my face. Thanks Alex. #AlexTrebek #suckitcancer”
There are multitudes of tweets just like the one above. When you host a game show for this long, and break a world record for the longest period of time hosting said game show, you become an intricate part to so many people all over the world. Fans from all over grew up watching and playing along with Jeopardy. It has been an American staple for so many families and losing him hit a lot of folks hard, to nobody’s surprise.
Trebek told NPR, “I seem to be, you know, your uncle, your friendly neighbor, and people react to that in a positive way. They feel comfortable with me. And so when you combine all of those things, it makes for a pretty pleasant experience for the television viewer. They don’t feel, oh, gosh, you know, this is a good game, but that host, he’s really obnoxious.”
Yes, this all checks out. He was an old-school host who did not want to make the show about himself. He was a selfless host for years and years who wanted to keep the spotlight on the contestants. It was about the people, not about him and Trebek always saw that. It’s what made him such a great game show host for so long. It’s why fans miss him so a year after his tragic passing.
Trebek’s message he had for America while speaking with NPR in the summer of last year? Trebek said, “Be kinder to each other. I see America in a crisis situation right now in so many ways. And I want people to open up their hearts, and open up their hands, and open up their wallets to help each other. Because if ever there was a time when we needed to do that, that time is now. …”
There isn’t a better message than that, is there, fellow Outsiders? Trebek lived it on the show and Jeopardy fans miss him so.
