“I miss Alex.”
The first “Jeopardy!” The episode since Alex Trebek’s death aired on Monday with Ken Jennings, presented as the first in a series of interim guest hosts, barely able to contain his tears when speaking of the late presenter.
“Sharing this stage with Alex Trebek was one of the greatest honors of my life,” he said on Monday during the opening of the show.
Even without the man who brought intelligence and balance to the show for almost 37 years, “Jeopardy!” returned to business normally on Monday. Jennings, who holds the record for “Jeopardy!” Longest winning streak, he opened the show with a monologue dedicated to Trebek – almost choking on the process.
“Few things in life are perfect, but Alex did this job perfectly for over 36 years – and it was even better up close,” he continued. “We were dazzled by his intelligence, his charm, his grace – really, there is no other word for it.”
“Like all ‘Jeopardy!’ fans, I miss Alex. Very. And I thank you for everything you did for all of us, ”he added.
Jennings, however, said the show had to continue – despite Trebek’s death in November at 80, after a battle with pancreatic cancer – as there are tens of millions of fans “who love this show”. Trebek’s last emotional episode aired on Friday, filmed just 10 days before his death. The episode included a montage of Trebek’s best moments over the years, which brought many fans to tears.
“Let’s be absolutely clear: no one will ever replace the great Alex Trebek, but we can honor him by playing the game he loved,” he concluded, before joining the game on Monday night.
But it was not forgotten by the 74-time champion that fans would prefer to see Trebek maneuver the bell, as he has done in more than 8,200 episodes since 1984.
“Honestly, I’m with the public,” the 46-year-old man said in a promotion launched before the show. “I don’t want me here. I want to see Alex here. I know exactly how they feel when they see anyone else behind this pulpit. “
“I am very happy to fill in and help,” said Jennings, who won the title of Best of All Time last year.
The fans seemed to agree after watching Monday’s episode, writing: “Watching now and I’m not going to lie, but it looks weird” and “Wow. This will take some time to get used to it. “
Jennings served as a consultant producer for “Jeopardy!” this season, which saw him present special video categories, assist competitors and other aspects of the show. He is the first in “a series of provisional guest hosts for ‘Jeopardy!’ family ”, which possibly also includes Katie Couric.
While Jennings said it was “surreal” to present the show, Trebek gave him some advice if he should replace him as a presenter in any role.
“I spoke to him over the phone the weekend he was gone and he was – he was fragile, but he was still very Alex,” said Jennings in “Good Morning America.” “I remember him just having a lot of confidence in me to be a guest host if he needed it.”
Rumors circulated that Jennings was being “prepared” to take over the show, and his name was thrown into the ring as a possible permanent replacement – fueled even more when he preemptively apologized for previous “insensitive” tweets before his debut as a host. He is also the host of the new series “The Chase” along with his colleague “Jeopardy! The contestants in the biggest tournament of all time ”James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter.
But Jennings said in that last conversation, Trebek reminded him that “the host is not the star of ‘Jeopardy!’ “Noting that the dear host” always talked about the players and the competition “.
“It’s hard to imagine that, on the TV scene today, a star the size of him says, ‘Hey, the game is not about you’ – but that was great advice.”