`See you again next week'
Trebek utters signature sign-off as his final Jeopardy! appearance airs
For the final time, longtime announcer Johnny Gilbert has said the words, “And now ... here is the host of Jeopardy! … Alex Trebek!”
After taping his final appearance on the beloved game show in October, just 10 days before his death on Nov. 8, the last new episode to feature the Canadian-born TV personality aired Jan. 8.
The episode featured returning two-time champ Yoshie Hill of California going up against Cliff Chang from Illinois and Jim Gilligan from New York.
“Merry Christmas,” Trebek said, greeting the contestants and viewers at home.
The categories were: Artists in Europe, It's the Little Things, Christmas Movies, Wearable Tech, Brooklyn '99 and “Bing” Pot.
There was his trademark ease of banter when he remarked, “I know the feeling,” to Gilligan, who confessed to suffering from “tsundoku,” which refers to the art of buying more books than you'll ever have a chance to read. When he learned Hill had once taught calligraphy, Trebek asked her what the secret was to being a good calligrapher. “It needs consistent practice,” she replied.
Gilligan went first in Double Jeopardy! with the categories being: History of Flight, Dog is My Co-pilot, Hit Songs of the 1960s, A Trip Around the Library, 6- Syllable Words and Cross World Clues. The contestants took turns buzzing in with their answers, but you could hear Trebek's genuine regret when Chang mispronounced an answer, “Misspoke there, too bad,” and then, “Ohh, sorry,” when Hill did the same.
At the end of Final Jeopardy!, when the winner broke into a smile as their answer was being read, Trebek said, “Look at that smile, folks. He's not a good poker player, I fear.”
Then he signed off in his usual fashion saying, “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for spending the time with us. We'll see you again next week.”
A montage of clips, set to Peter Allen's Once Before I Go, closed the program, with Trebek pictured walking off the stage one last time.
Trebek, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2019, had continued to host the program throughout his public battle, taping episodes between chemotherapy treatments.
Last March, the Sudbury, Ont., native announced that he had reached the one-year survival mark for the deadly disease.
“I'd be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one,” he said in a video posted to the official Jeopardy! Twitter account last March. “There were some good days, but a lot of not-so-good days. I joked with friends that the cancer won't kill me; the chemo treatments will.”
He added, “There were moments of great pain, days when certain bodily functions no longer functioned, and sudden massive attacks of great depression.”
Throughout the battle, Trebek, who had been host of the show since Sept. 10, 1984, maintained his upbeat attitude and cheery demeanour. He even used some forced downtime away from the program to finish his memoir, The Answer Is … Reflections On My Life, which featured his “thoughts on a range of topics, including marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality and philanthropy.”
“I didn't know how much pain he was in, but obviously he was battling,” executive producer Mike Richards said in an interview. Richards said because Trebek's death was unexpected, the show ended as a “normal Jeopardy! episode.”
“He didn't know it was going to be his last show, the contestants didn't know, we didn't know,” Richards added. “He signs off and says, ` We'll see you next time,' so (you) see a man at the peak of his powers.”
Even if he didn't get to end things the way he wanted, in an interview with ABC'S Michael Strahan last January, Trebek revealed he had come up with a final goodbye he thought would have tied things up perfectly.
“I will say my goodbyes and I will tell people, `Don't ask me who's going to replace me because I have no say whatsoever,'” he continued, reciting his planned exit speech. “`But I'm sure that if you give them the same love and attention and respect that you have shown me … then they will be a success and the show will continue being a success. And until we meet again, God bless you and goodbye.'”
Jeopardy! returned Monday with guest host Ken Jennings.