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November 8, 2020 2:56 pm  #3


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

A Classy man.  He will be missed.

 

November 8, 2020 5:15 pm  #4


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Alex Trebek Loved 'Jeopardy!' Bits on 'SNL', But Contended Another Actor Did Best Impersonation

"Eugene Levy to this day I maintain did the best Alex Trebek ever, better than Will Ferrell," he said then. "He looked more the part, too. He had the dark hair and he had the black mustache."

What is "absolutely right Alex." The SCTV sketches featuring the Trebek takeoffs are amongst the funniest things they ever did. It's nice to see he had a sense of humour about them. 







 

 

November 8, 2020 6:52 pm  #5


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

They must have had this one ready for awhile.

Tonight at 10:00 pm,  ABC has "Alex Trebek, Remembered -  A 20/20 Special"  (Also airing on Citytv.)

(*Includes Updated Start Time)

[I got this from the zap2it listings.  They had originally posted it in the 9:00 pm slot;  however it is now showing up an hour later.  My Rogers guide still shows "Cardshark" for both stations in that timeslot.]

Last edited by Media Observer (November 8, 2020 8:00 pm)

 

November 8, 2020 7:32 pm  #6


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

I will miss him, I watch everynight pretty well...and I thought he was good to go this year and new shows had started without a live audience.

Alex was a class act and these long time hosts are passing, I raise a glass to him and to the contribution he made. In times of craziness, he was always calm and professional in his work.


 


The world would be so good if it weren't for some people...
 

November 8, 2020 7:34 pm  #7


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Muffaraw Joe wrote:

I will miss him, I watch everynight pretty well...and I thought he was good to go this year and new shows had started without a live audience.

Alex was a class act and these long time hosts are passing, I raise a glass to him and to the contribution he made. In times of craziness, he was always calm and professional in his work.


 

Well said.  A fine tribute.

According to the New York Post,  the last episode he taped is scheduled to air on Christmas Day.
 

 

November 8, 2020 7:49 pm  #8


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Thanks for the notice about the special. I've set my DVR.  

And yes, it was almost certainly "in the can" for some time, likely when his diagnosis was first announced. The bulk of the hour - especially his early years - was pre-written, pre-edited and pre-produced - with what's called a "new top" put on the front and the end, detailing the latest news. 

They also have them for other ailing or older people. You can be sure there's one sitting in every station's library somewhere for the Queen and another for Mayor Hazel McCallion and Mel Lastman, among others. I remember how we had a prepared obit for Pope John Paul II before he passed away. It's macabre, but it's important because it saves hours of production when the sad time finally comes.

Still, sometimes they take you by surprise. I remember being in the newsroom half an hour before the 6 PM show,  when an intern just happened to look up at a muted screen that had CBC News Network on it, with a breaking news graphic that indicated Pierre Trudeau had passed away. It hadn't hit the wire yet and so she casually mentioned to me, "CBC is saying Trudeau died." 

I remember shooting up like an electric current hit me and ran to the producer, and then all hell broke loose. No one had bothered to prepare anything in advance, yet somehow they managed to get a decent package on the air, complete with library tape and reactions seconds before the 6 o'clock show started. How they wrote the script, pulled the tape and got it edited in time, I will never know. But it had to be there and it was.

And that's why, grim as they are, these pre-packaged obits are almost always done in advance.

 

November 8, 2020 7:55 pm  #9


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

RA,  I just posted an Edit to correct the timeslot;  as zap2it is now showing the special as commencing an hour later at 10:00 pm.

Last edited by Media Observer (November 8, 2020 8:01 pm)

 

November 8, 2020 8:19 pm  #10


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Thanks. Will reset.

 

November 8, 2020 9:16 pm  #11


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

A:  Alex Trebek passes away at the age of 80.

Q:  Why is today a sad day for Canada and the rest of the world?


RIP to a brave and classy man that faced his diagnosis with dignity and determination.


PJ


ClassicHitsOnline.com...If you enjoy hearing the same 200 songs over and over again...listen to the other guys!
 

November 9, 2020 6:29 pm  #12


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Hi RA,
Speaking of "In the can" obits, we had one sitting on the editing desk at CityPulse clearly marked Sinatra Obit,  ready to go at a moments notice for "old blue eyes" to pass away.    Seems it sat there for a while, and eventually went to air.

 

November 9, 2020 8:53 pm  #13


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

As I suspected, Monday night's Jeopardy episode began with an obit slide followed by a visibly emotional executive producer Mike Richards paying tribute to Trebek, noting they will air the final 35 episodes with him hosting because "that's what he wanted." There was a shot of an empty Jeopardy set with the lights dimming, before they went into the usual intro. It was classy, like Trebek, and it would have surprised me greatly if they hadn't done something.

Here's the text of the message:

"I'm Mike Richards the executive producer of Jeopardy.

Over the weekend, we lost our beloved host Alex Trebek. This is an enormous loss, for our staff and crew, for his family and for his millions of fans.

He loved this show and everything it stood for. In fact, he taped his final episodes less than two weeks ago. 

He will forever be an inspiration for his constant desire to learn, his kindness and for the love of his family.

We will air his final 35 episodes as they were shot. That's what he wanted.

On behalf of everyone here at Jeopardy, thank you for everything Alex.

This is Jeopardy..."
 



 

 

November 9, 2020 10:14 pm  #14


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

You can see the tribute here.

 

November 11, 2020 1:57 pm  #15


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

What an amazing "what could have been" story this is. I'd never heard this before. 

How Alex Trebek Almost Became Host of Hockey Night in Canada

 

November 11, 2020 3:06 pm  #16


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

I remember the 1987 Dave Hodge fiasco well. It happened on my birthday. For the record, the Flyers/Habs game ended in a 3-3 tie. No shoot outs back then.

 

November 16, 2020 11:25 am  #17


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

RadioActive wrote:

[The instant Alex Trebek special on ABC] was almost certainly "in the can" for some time, likely when his diagnosis was first announced. The bulk of the hour - especially his early years - was pre-written, pre-edited and pre-produced - with what's called a "new top" put on the front and the end, detailing the latest news. 

They also have them for other ailing or older people. You can be sure there's one sitting in every station's library somewhere for the Queen nd another for Mayor Hazel McCallion and Mel Lastman, among others. I remember how we had a prepared obit for Pope John Paul II before he passed away. It's macabre, but it's important because it saves hours of production when the sad time finally comes.

The danger of pre-producing early obits, of course, is that things like this are bound to happen.

France Radio "Mistakenly" Publishes Obituaries Of Queen, Pele, Apologizes

 

November 16, 2020 11:50 am  #18


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

RadioActive wrote:

The danger of pre-producing early obits, of course, is that things like this are bound to happen.

France Radio "Mistakenly" Publishes Obituaries Of Queen, Pele, Apologizes

Along this vein: a number of years ago Frank Magazine got a hold of and published a list compiled from CBC TV's various canned obits and their relative lengths - the angle of the story being essentially the longer the piece, the higher up the totem pole the individual was. IIRC Her Majesty topped the list at the time, as she likely would as well today.
 

 

December 30, 2020 10:13 pm  #19


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Trebek's Last New 'Jeopardy!' Episodes Airing With A Tribute

Meanwhile, new temporary host Ken Jennings is looking to get ahead of some potentially harmful material before it goes public. 

Ken Jennings Apologizes for Tweets Ahead of Debut as Jeopardy! Host

 

January 8, 2021 12:40 pm  #20


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Friday night marks the final appearance of Alex Trebek as host of Jeopardy, the last episode he taped before his death. I'm sure there will be some sort of emotional tribute to him on the show. 

I've seen a number of online complaints about this week of Jeopardy being pre-empted by the Donald Trump/Capitol attack coverage. Normally, missing the show wouldn't be a big deal. But this week is the last chance for many loyal viewers to tune in and see Trebek for his final screen appearance and a number of east coast American stations were forced to play it at 2 in the morning to make sure it made it to air. 

I gave up watching Jeopardy many years ago, but I'll be recording this one, just to see what they do. 

 

January 9, 2021 12:04 pm  #21


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Watched every show this week! They wrapped with a montage of past Alex clips. It was cool, but I was expecting more to be honest.

 

January 9, 2021 5:19 pm  #22


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Me too. Be interesting to see the ratings for Friday.

 

January 10, 2021 1:39 pm  #23


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

R32 wrote:

Watched every show this week! They wrapped with a montage of past Alex clips. It was cool, but I was expecting more to be honest.

I wonder how big the ratings will be for Ken Jennings' first episode on Monday. I would guess the curiosity factor will be huge. I also wonder if announcer Johnny Gilbert will stick around. I was stunned to read that he's 92 years old! Amazing that he's still working. 

Here's the video tribute aired on Friday at the end of Trebek's last show, in case you missed it. 

 

January 10, 2021 9:01 pm  #24


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Here is an acceptance speech from Alex Trebek for an award that was to run for the Canadian Screen Awards in March.  It never ran since the ceremony was cancelled because of COVID. Nice clip that was released just a few days ago...Alex never forgot his french either!
https://www.everythingzoomer.com/arts-entertainment/2021/01/08/alex-trebek-praises-canada-in-new-acceptance-speech-ahead-of-final-episode/
 

 

January 11, 2021 11:53 pm  #25


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

After the job Jennings did tonight, a good guess might be they've already found their next host.

 

January 12, 2021 12:11 am  #26


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

mike marshall wrote:

After the job Jennings did tonight, a good guess might be they've already found their next host.

I thought he was great. But there are more guest hosts coming, including Katie Couric.

Here' s a very old, and badly preserved clip, of original host Art Fleming hosting Jeopardy! in 1966.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnducf

Last edited by Dale Patterson (January 12, 2021 12:25 am)


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

January 12, 2021 9:19 am  #27


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

I did a little digging on the Art Fleming version. Thank you Jeopardy Timeline.That Sept 7th, 1966 partial clip appears to be the oldest surviving piece of the series in the public domain. There are actually nineteen episodes that have survived. A March 5th,1964 test episode is held by the Paley Center for Media. The premiere was March 30 at 10:30AM.The UCLA Film & Television Archive posesses thirteen episodes. 3-Jan 1967, 5-Mar/Apr 1971, 5-Mar/Apr 1973. Archival Television Audio has three more complete episodes from May/Aug 1968 and Oct 1974. The only complete episodes I have found online were the 2000th [Feb 21, 1972] and the last [Jan 3, 1975]                                   A few other interesting facts I discovered. Dec 13-17, 65-Burns Howell becomes first undefeated champion. Apr 17,67-Art Fleming is unable to host. Wayne Howell fills in. Oct 13,67. 1.000.000th dollar is awarded. Winner receives a 1968 AMC Javelin SST Sports Hardtop. Mar 30,72- To celebrate the 8th anniversary, the contestants are Bill Cullen, Peter Marshall and Art Fleming.

 

January 12, 2021 10:06 am  #28


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Apropos of nothing, I wonder how many people remember that years after he hosted Jeopardy!, Art Fleming hosted a Sunday night show on KMOX-AM in St. Louis. It was a decade or so after he did the game show and I used to listen to it just to hear his voice again. He was actually pretty good on the radio and that's where he got his start.

According to Wikipedia, he was the first announcer to ever deliver the tag line "Winston takes good like a cigarette should." 

And here's the ultimate sad irony: Alex Trebek and Art Fleming, until now the only two men to ever host Jeopardy, both died from the same thing - pancreatic cancer. 

 

January 12, 2021 4:54 pm  #29


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Dale Patterson wrote:

mike marshall wrote:

After the job Jennings did tonight, a good guess might be they've already found their next host.

I thought he was great. But there are more guest hosts coming, including Katie Couric.

And now there's a new player in the future hosting sweepstakes, although I doubt he'll ever be considered for a permanent gig.

Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers Says He’ll Guest Host ‘Jeopardy!’

 

January 13, 2021 8:45 pm  #30


Re: Alex Trebek Passes at 80

Add two more names in the race to replace the late Alex Trebek. Although I suspect these two are more about the publicity than getting a permanent gig, since they already have one. 

Mayim Bialik, Bill Whitaker Added to Game Show's Guest Host Rotation

Bialik is certainly an interesting choice. As many here know, in addition to being an actress, she also holds a Ph.D in neuroscience.