More than two months after the death of Alex Trebek are fans of “Jeopardy!” finally got the chance to say goodbye. A video tribute to the host includes Friday’s delivery of the quiz show, the last one Trebek recorded before pancreatic cancer. claimed his life on November 8th.
The 90-second montage, in which Hugh Jackman sings the Peter Allen song ‘Once Before I Go’, is a light-hearted and laughable reminder that Trebek’s changing appearance through his 36 years as host, with mustache and without, with black hair and with gray, with suits from a few decades.
It celebrated the crazy moments of the usually cramped Trebek, who made him verbally splash with contestants and wrestled with one.
“You really make me feel inadequate,” he says to a participating child. “Sorry about that,” she replied softly.
Trebek is shown walking in one pair without pants on the set, dressed as the Statue of Liberty in another, and with the costume of a Trojan solid in another.
A clip of the host declaring that I do not dance is shown amidst scenes of how he dances through the years.
The tribute is still very sad and sentimental, as Jackman sings “it’s so hard to say goodbye, when there’s so much left unsaid in your eyes,” and “once before I go, I want to let you know, that I would do everything again. ‘
And at the last moments, it shows Trebek by drawing over the decades and repeatedly saying, “So long, everyone.”
Trebek passed away on November 8 at the age of 80, but recorded recordings of performances that were still being broadcast a few weeks in advance. He continued to work for almost two years after his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, and he has remained on the podium where he has become an institution since he started in 1984.
The show will air next week with a series of interim hosts, starting with the veteran “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings.
The final Trebek episodes of the week began Monday with the host urging viewers to give to others suffering from the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re trying to build a softer, friendlier society, and if we all just hit it off a little bit, we’re going to get there,” Trebek said.
His last shows were originally scheduled to air this Christmas week, but they have been postponed until this week to give the delivery more exposure.
The episode contains holiday elements, such as the ‘Christmas Movies’ category.
In one of the last of the more than 500,000 clues that Trebek gave to contestants in his more than 8,200 episodes, he says:
“Basically, this heartbreaking Frank Capra classic is going to fund a shame that has an incredibly rough Christmas Eve.”
The correct answer: “What is ‘this is a wonderful life’?”
Trebek was apparently not sure that Friday’s episode would be his last if it was recorded.
Mike Richards, executive producer of the show, told the NBC program “Today” on Monday that Trebek was an absolute fighter during his last recording sessions, although he was in enormous pain.
At the end of the episode, before the video tribute, Trebek says, “until next week again.”