TOP 10 Ways Alex Trebek SAVED Everything (SPECIAL EDITION)

December 12, 2020
Posted in SM Presents
December 12, 2020 Scarlett.Media

Alex Trebek was a TV presence that everyone had grown to love. Family’s will forever remember tuning into the hit trivia show Jeopardy and seeing Alex on their Livingroom TV’s week after week. It created a sort of attachment, and in a way, it was as if Trebek had become a member of everyone’s family. He had a smart sense of humor, which whether he liked it or not, was always paired with his nice-guy Canadian-spirit.

The legendary TV personality was born on July 22, 1940, in Sudbury, Ontario. His mother was a French-Canadian woman with some First Nations ancestry, and his father was a Ukrainian immigrant who worked as a chef. Trebek described Sudbury as “distant memory”, as he had left home to go to boarding school at a young age. Trebek also went to the University of Ottawa to study philosophy but in 1961, after graduating, he instead decided to pursue journalism. Trebek landed his first job with CBC TV but would soon go onto host game shows. He had hosting gigs on Reach for the Top, Jackpot, The Wizard of Odds, until finally, in 1984, he began hosting the gameshow every family has grown to love, Jeopardy

Across the globe, we felt saddened for Alex after he revealed that he was battling pancreatic cancer, a disease he would pass away from in November 2020. Today, Scarlett Media presents a tribute to a great Canadian man and our list of 10 Ways that Alex Trebek SAVED Everything. Show your support of this great man and smash the like button to keep his name trending.

Number 10: Alex helped pick the NHL draft:

Like we said, Alex Trebek was Canadian, so of course he was an avid hockey fan. He grew up watching Gordie Howe of the Red Wings and is quoted as saying that when Gordie left Detroit, his allegiances switched to the Montreal Canadiens. “I didn’t have anybody to cheer for here and when he fully retired, I thought if I’m going to cheer for a team, I’ll cheer for Montreal,” said Trebek. He was a Montreal fan at the time of his death. A month before he died, he helped the Ottawa Senators announce the third overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. In this truly memorable moment, we see Alex come on screen to announce Tim Stutzle as the next member on the team to be drafted. What a way to start your career! Tim must have felt honored to have been acknowledged by such a legend.

Number 9: Kebert Xela

A cartoon version of Alex Trebek made an appearance on Family Guy’s fourth season. Adam West, a regular character on the show is shown as a Jeopardy contestant, where the category is “Space”. Alex Trebek reads off the question: “It was the first spacecraft to land on the surface of Mars”, and of course, in Family Guy fashion, something wild happens. It pans to Adam West who answers: “Kebert Xela”. As Trebek reads the answer aloud, which is cleverly his named spelled backwards, he unknowingly gets zapped back into the 5th dimension. According to Adam West this is where Trebek truly belongs.

After the episode aired, Trebek actually had a contestant copy this answer on a real episode of Jeopardy. He wagered only a dollar, but when Alex read the answer aloud, he didn’t get sent back to another dimension. Some fans speculate that he was saved by the mispronunciation of an “E”. You got lucky Trebek. Was this trick only a reality in the realm of cartoons, or could Alex have mispronounced the secret code on purpose? Let us know what you think.

Number 8: The Man in Black 

Speaking of another dimension, Alex Trebek once made an appearance on the the X-Files, back in the shows third season, on their 20th episode. Trebek played a “man in black” who confronts Mudler. He almost hypnotises him, speaking in the soothing Trebek voice we’ve all come to love: “you’re feeling very sleepy, very relaxed.” What’s really cool about this cameo is that even within the show they acknowledge that the man looked a lot like the gameshow host. After his scene they cut to Scully who says: “Mudler didn’t say that it is Alex Trebek, it was just someone who looked incredibly like him”. Do you think that it was really Trebek under that black hat, or an alien imposture from the 5th dimension?

Number 7: Alex Trebek on The Simpsons

If we’re talking about Trebek’s guest appearances, we can’t forget this incredible right of passage. Trebek guest starred on the Simpsons a couple of times, but arguably his most notable performance was for season 9 episode 10. After Bart accidentally burns all of his Christmas presents, he lies to his parents, saying it was a bugler who did the damage. The Springfield community feels horrible for the Simpsons, so they make a large donation to the family. Soon Bart’s lie come to light, and Marge is forced to go on Jeopardy, hoping to win a cash prize so that she can pay the town back. Unfortunately, she answers the questions wrong and ends with a negative total. The cartoon gives us a humorous behind the scenes look at what happens if you end the show with a negative amount, and these Jeopardy debt collectors look like they mean business!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompdp20bsI8

Number 6: Trebek Swears

If you need a good laugh, we’ve got you covered with this one! These outtakes surfaced, showing Trebek in all his hilarity, cracking jokes in between takes while shooting a promo for a phone version of the game. We can’t help but chuckle watching the beloved host use crude language, as it seems so unlike him. Look up the uncensored version if you’re having a bad day and thank us later. “Dumb son of a- you don’t watch Jeopardy 24hrs a day,” Trebek certainly has a good sense of humor!

Number 5: Trebek on Orange Is The New Black 

Speaking of crude language, Trebek makes quite the appearance in the sixth season of Orange Is The New Black. Susan, also known as Crazy Eyes, hallucinates a full Jeopardy cast, where her and Piper are the contestants. Not knowing where her prison girlfriend Alex is, Piper answers “Where is Alex?” to every question, until Trebek finally looses it and says, “I’m here B****!”. This scene got a lot of laughs from Orange Is the New Black and Jeopardy fans alike. 

Number 4: Let’s Rap, Kids

Alex Trebek is spitting bars in this episode of Jeopardy and watching him rap in his own voice had us slapping at our knees. The category was “Let’s Rap, Kids”, and the gleeful audience got to watch Trebek read lyrics from Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, and Kayne West (who he hoped he wouldn’t get an email from.) We love how he reads the answers as he normally would, and he makes the moment even cuter by saying: “I was just getting into this rap thing. I’m not too good at it, but I was getting into it!”.

Number 3: No Pants

During a special episode of Jeopardy called the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, Alex shocked us all by walking out with no pants on, just his knee-high black socks, and suit jacket covering his underpants. Alex says “I was informed backstage a few minutes ago that our three contestants wanted to relieve some of the tension, and they said we must do the program in without trousers…” He then got a camera behind the contestants at the podium, who clearly weren’t as brave as Trebek as all of them had their pants on. Not only did he have a great sense of humor, but clearly Alex wasn’t one to back down from a challenge. One of the three finalists may look familiar to you, and he should! Ken Jennings holds the record for the longest consecutive wins, and you’ll see Jennings again soon, as an interim host of Jeopardy in Alex Trebek’s passing. Could Ken be the next fulltime host? Only time will tell. 

Number 2: Nerdcore Hip Hop

One of Trebek’s all time best burns went viral, and you may have already had the pleasure of seeing it on social media, or maybe you even witnessed it when it aired on TV. In case you haven’t, the clip shows a contestant as she shares her love for a genre of music called Nerdcore Hip-hop. After Alex expresses his confusion, the contestant goes onto explain what the genre is. “Its people who identify as nerdy, rapping about the things they love. Video games, science fiction, and having a hard time meeting romantic partners.” That’s when Alex says: “Losers in other words”. Ouch! The video has been widely shared, but what you might not have seen is that, being the nice guy he is, Alex takes the time to clarify that he was joking, and they are seen laughing together. He had no hate for anyone who identified as a “nerd”, he just couldn’t pass up a joke!

Before we share our number one reason Mr. Trebek saved everything, take a moment to subscribe to our channel for more lists about the best media has to offer.

Number 1: Alex Trebek’s Appearance on SNL

During his run at SNL one of Will Ferell’s most popular characters was his take on Alex Trebek. The last episode before Ferell’s departure from the show, he again took on that character, but this time it was made even more special when Alex Trebek joined him. What a way signoff! The sketch itself is hilarious, and Trebek’s presence makes it even more special. If your looking for a lighthearted laugh, then we highly recommend checking it out!

We hope our list helped you remember how awesome of a guy Alex Trebek really was, and maybe that brightened your day a little. He left the world a posthumous message at Thanksgiving time, urging us to “be thankful” and “keep the faith”. We know that times are tough, but Alex took a moment before he died to remind us to keep our heads up, even though he had an idea of what the world was headed for. We can’t help but hope that things will get better. So, keep on keeping on folks! And if you need a pick-me-up while quarantining, consider throwing on some Jeopardy reruns, Alex Trebek just might be able to help us leave our worries behind for a moment, like he always could.

Anyone else wish they had a chance to be on Jeopardy while Alex was hosting? Were there4 any other great moments we forgot to mention? Tell us about it in the comments below and be sure to subscribe for our take on your favorite film and TV shows. Thanks for watching! 

#ScarlettMedia #SAVED #AlexTrebek

Credits:
Writer: Cassidy Frost
Editor: AB Scarlett
Voice: Ashley Hollier
Video: Charlie

Scarlett Media productions are for commentary, criticism and parody. All media samples are for transformative and fair use. See Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, 276 F.Supp.3d 34 (S.D.N.Y. 2017); Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015). Some links in description may contain affiliate links.

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