Alex Trebek He was dedicated to his job until the very last minute.
The star was the host of “Danger!“More than 30 years ago, however.” He died of pancreatic cancer in November At the age of eighty.
As is usual for the televisionTrebeek filmed several episodes of the series “The Hazard!” Up front, and left the show with content that shows Trebek on his head for a while after his death.
The final episodes of the show featuring Trebek will be broadcast this week ahead of the hero Ken Jennings takes over interim host.
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Before the final week of Trebek’s starring episodes, “Jeopardy!” Executive Producer Mike Richards appeared on “Today” and praised his late colleague.
Alex Trebek’s recent episodes of “Jeopardy!” It will air this week. (Photo by Santiago Felipe / Getty Images)
“He was an absolute fighter,” Richards said. “What he was able to do by returning himself to the set to record those final episodes … was Hercules.”
The last episodes were recorded 11 days after Trebek underwent surgery, and only 10 days before his death.
Richards said that upon recording the star was “in excruciating pain,” but assured fans would not pick up on any of that.
“He’s strong, he looks cool, he’s funny and he’s been cool,” The executive said.
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It was also revealed that Richards advised Trebeek not to shoot the episodes as he was not doing well. The star, however, insisted.
“A week before recording those episodes, he was in the hospital – this guy was incredible – he called me and said, ‘Mike, I’ll be fine, I’ll be at the bar, I was able to eat Jell-o today,’” the producer recalls. ”And it went,“ Alex, That’s cool, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be ready to host five episodes of a game show, “Which is a colossal amount of effort.”
“Don’t cancel, I’ll be there,” Trebek told Richards.
Richards also revealed that Trebek provided a private message on the site that no one expected.
He said, “He went out and delivered this very amazing speech about the difficult times we are going through and our importance as a country, as a community, humanity, we unite and be there for each other.”
Richards admitted that he and his crew “took chills” after hearing the star’s message.
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“There are certain moments in Jeopardy! When you clap and then there are moments when you are calm – usually in his monologue, he’d come out and make a statement and then move on to the categories,” the Hollywood executive explained. “There aren’t a lot of people in the studio because of COVID and we all burst into applause. You can’t see him on camera, but as he goes to the categories, he sees that we start clapping and he’s kinda looking at us. [like] ‘What are you doing guys?’ We were so moved that we had to clap. “
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No permanent successor has been named, and while Richards has made clear that Trebek “mentioned two names”, he “pretty much wanted to stay out of this” process.
