I was at work when I got the news that Alex Trebek has lost his year long struggle with cancer and it seemed like all the energy left my body. I have already made comments earlier in my blog postings about how Alex Trebek and Jeopardy! impacted my life so I don't want to rehash those. But I would like to say a couple of things about Alex and his impact.
1. If you truly want to know how good of a host Alex Trebek was, watch a non-Jeopardy! game show that he did (High Rollers, Classic Concentration etc.) Or even some of the failed pilots that he did (Malcom and M'ama Non M'ama come directly to mind). These are all different formats and game types. And Trebek fits into all of them like a glove. He was the consummate professional. It was a trait shared by him and by Bill Cullen, whom game show afficianados cite as the greatest game show host ever. Trebek is right there with him.
2. Trebek may have been characatuered as being stiff and stuffy, but that was hardly the case if you take my advice in step 1. In fact, I have heard that there are ladies who found him likeable and even attractive for that. He wa quite the ladies man in the late 70s and early 80s before marrying his wife Jean in 1990. And I have two clips that show that attraction to an extent. Ironically the first is a lady whom I mentioned in my previous musings: Nancy McKeon. She was doing a Christmas edition of a Trebek fronted vehicle called "Battlestars" (think Hollywood Squares with Triangles) and at 4:06, she said this:
Now obviously, it's a nice suit. But the man inside it makes the suit come to life. So there was an air of sexiness around Trebek in those years.
The second clip involved something I just found out today. And it's less about sexiness and more about iconography. Last year, Trebek was at the Daytime Emmy Awards, presenting the award for Outstanding Young Actress in a Drama Series. The Award was given to Hayley Erin, a young actress on General Hospital at the time. She was born in 1994. Watch her reaction to winning the award at 2:19 and forward.
She says "OH MY GOD! IT'S ALEX TREBEK!" This is a 25 year old woman. To get that reaction from her as a 79 year old man is clearly a mark of how impactful and warm and inviting Alex Trebek was. And the fact that the two clips are so far apart show the length of time that he was able to do this effectively.
3. Finally a word about the show as it relates to him. TV Guide once desctibed it as (paraphrasing here)
"A sturdy fortress in the middle of a game show land of buzzers and costumes and bells and whistles. When you entered the fortress to play the game, it was fingers on buzzers and may the best man win."
And I bet you can watch an episode from 1986 and then an episode from 2009, and apart from the dollar values and the set and some of the material, it runs exactly the same. That is down to Trebek, who made it look so easy that it was almost nothing. But it wa something. A marvel to behold. And it took a mavel to run. God bless you, Alex. We will miss you.
