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‘Jeopardy!’: Alex Trebek Named the ‘Funniest’ Contestant He Ever Had on Show

What couldn’t Alex Trebek do? He was arguably the best host TV has ever seen, and in this interview, he was able to do a great job as a contestant. A legend.

Since Alex Trebek was an icon, he mastered both aspects of the show- the one doing the quizzing and the one being quizzed. Especially when the question revolved around the funniest contestant to ever appear on Jeopardy!

Trebek Took Over the Hot Seat

In an interview from 2019, Alex Trebek took over the hot seat, where Micheal Strahan asked him all the “Jeopardy All-Star” questions. 

With a Jeopardy board with three columns, starting at $200 and reaching all the way to $1,000, Strahan jumped right in. 

“For $600, The funniest contestant ever?” asked the Good Morning American host. 

“Oh, New Yorkers are going to love this because it’s your guy,” Trebek quickly answered. “The New York bartender, Austin Rodgers. Who’s going to be in the [Jeopardy! All-Star Games] tournament. He’s one of the captains.”

“So he is one of the captains in the All-Star Tournament? He was a character.”  

“Yes indeed. Yes indeed,” said Alex Trebek. Rodgers appeared on Jeopardy! back in 2017. He was a New York bartender that decided to compete on the show on a whim. Jeopardy! and Trebek were kind to him to say the least. Rodgers ended up walking away with $411,000 in prize money after 12 games. He also became a viral sensation for his unique sense of humor.

Strahan even revealed that they interviewed him a couple of times. Alex Trebek continued to quickly come up with answers to all of Micheal Strahan’s Jeopardy questions, not missing a beat. 

Jeopardy Hosts in the Wake of Alex Trebek

Unfortunately, the beloved Jeopardy host died in November of 2020 after nearly an 18-month battle with stage four pancreatic cancer. Trebek was 80 years old. 

The popular game show is currently trying to find someone who can fill the massive shoes Alex Trebek left when he passed. 

So far, Jeopardy royalty Ken Jenning (frontrunner), executive producer Mike Richards, journalist Katie Couric, and TV personality Dr. Oz, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and TV personality Anderson Cooper have all had their day in the Jeopardy spotlight. 

The “60 Minutes” correspondent, Bill Whitaker, begins his reign on Monday.

Following his two-week stint, Today host Savannah Guthrie, actress Mayim Bialik, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, NFL commentator Joe Buck, and Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton will all take turns behind the podium.

Additionally, the Jeopardy panel only keeps growing. The show recently announced that CNBC’s David Faber and Good Morning America anchors George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts will also be hosts.