Starcade is an American game show where contestants competed against one another by playing arcade video games . The series originally aired on WTBS from 1982 to 1983, followed by a run in syndication for the following season.
92-503: The series was first hosted by Mark Richards. Geoff Edwards replaced Richards after the first 23 shows, and continued until the show's cancellation. Starcade was produced by the JM Production Company to air on WTBS and later syndication by Turner Program Services (TPS). Starcade was the first video arcade game show , and set the blueprint for similar game shows like Video Power , Nick Arcade , and Arena . The show
184-531: A Jeopardy! question. Trebek married broadcaster Elaine Callei in 1974. They had no children, although Trebek adopted Callei's daughter Nicky. The couple divorced in 1981. In 1990, he married Jean Currivan, a real estate project manager from New York. They had two children, Matthew and Emily. In 1996, Trebek ran the Olympic torch in Jacksonville, Florida , through a leg of its journey to Atlanta . He became
276-533: A fatwa on Salman Rushdie . Most recently, Edwards was a morning DJ with KSUR (now KKGO ) in Los Angeles. One of the features of his radio show was "Radio's Answer Lady," in which listeners could call in with questions — some serious, some not so serious — and he would answer on the air, sometimes with serious answers, sometimes with quips. During that time, Edwards tried his hand at acting, appearing on I Dream of Jeannie and That Girl . In 1968, he
368-522: A naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998. For his work on Jeopardy! , Trebek received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host eight times. He died on November 8, 2020, at the age of 80, after a 20-month battle with stage IV pancreatic cancer . At the time of his death, Trebek had been contracted to host Jeopardy! until 2022. Trebek was born on July 22, 1940, in Sudbury, Ontario , Canada,
460-579: A naturalized citizen of the United States in 1998. On January 30, 2004, Trebek escaped major injury after falling asleep behind the wheel of his pickup truck while driving alone on a rural road in the Central Coast town of Templeton, California , returning from a family home in Lake Nacimiento . The truck sideswiped a string of mailboxes, flew 45 feet over an embankment, and came to rest against
552-643: A Minute , Edwards remained largely inactive on the national television scene. This changed with his next two hosting gigs, which were his longest. In November 1985, Edwards replaced Chuck Woolery as the host of the California Lottery 's weekly game show The Big Spin , which he would host for ten years, mostly from the lottery's Sacramento headquarters. Then, in 1986, Edwards was called on by Stewart yet again, this time to replace Blake Emmons as host of its Montreal -based revival of Chain Reaction (which aired in
644-475: A correct answer. Edwards was also co-host of the Los Angeles news program Mid Morning L.A. on KHJ-TV (now KCAL-TV), replacing Bob Hilton in the early 1980s and paired with co-host Meredith MacRae . Edwards and MacRae won Emmy Awards for best host and best hostess respectively for a news magazine series. The two also emceed an unsold Bob Stewart-produced game show pilot, $ 50,000 a Minute , in 1985 for ABC . In 1985, Edwards became host of The Big Spin ,
736-400: A deal with Warner Brothers to produce the game show pilot Pot of Gold for NBC, but the series never sold. They also worked on a talk show based on the magazine Ladies Home Journal , but that series also failed to sell and Smith-Edwards Productions folded in 1981. Later that year, Edwards returned to television to host a daily revival of Treasure Hunt for syndication that was cancelled at
828-458: A fan of them soon after taking the job, studying the games in the show's rotation and reading gaming magazines. He would frequently offer advice and hints to contestants, and he was once featured in a "Starcade Hotline" segment playing and beating the notoriously difficult game Sinistar . Edwards remained a fan of video games until his death in 2014. The show's original theme was an eight-bit melody similar to those heard in various arcade games of
920-474: A game show hosted, with 6,829 episodes at the time. He has also appeared in multiple television commercials. On October 1, 2018, Trebek moderated the only debate in the Pennsylvania governor's race , between Democrat Tom Wolf and Republican Scott Wagner . According to news outlets, he wanted to change the flow of the debate to be more conversational instead of the more traditional format. Trebek dominated
1012-457: A guest on GSN Live on May 16, 2008. During his tenure on Starcade , as a result of his extensive studying about video games to avoid what his predecessor did, he became a video game fan; he would often give his own hints to help contestants on the show when they selected a particular game to play, and one "Starcade Hotline" segment showed him beating the notoriously-difficult arcade game Sinistar (he and other crew members would often play
SECTION 10
#17328511439771104-566: A military college in Quebec but dropped out when he was asked to cut his hair. Trebek's first job at age 13 was as a bellhop at the hotel where his father worked as a chef. Trebek attended Sudbury High School (now Sudbury Secondary School ) and then attended the University of Ottawa . He graduated from the University of Ottawa with a degree in philosophy in 1961. While a university student, Trebek
1196-462: A minor heart attack at his home, but returned to work as scheduled in January 2008. Early in the morning on July 26, 2011, Trebek injured his Achilles tendon while chasing a burglar who had entered his San Francisco hotel room, requiring six weeks in a cast. Trebek experienced another mild heart attack on June 23, 2012, but was able to return to work the following month. On December 15, 2017, over
1288-416: A mustache to host Hockey Night . In 1973, Trebek moved to the United States and worked for NBC as host of a new game show, The Wizard of Odds . A year later Trebek hosted the popular Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley game show High Rollers , which had two incarnations on NBC (1974–76 and 1978–80) and an accompanying syndicated season (1975–76). In between stints as host of High Rollers, Trebek hosted
1380-464: A native Canadian, as was Trebek; Perry had blood ties to Canada and lived in Toronto , Ontario during the first several years of Definition ). His commuting days ended after Chain Reaction left the air in 1991. ( Chain Reaction' s next incarnation would be in 2006 on GSN with Dylan Lane hosting.) Edwards was famous for his catch phrase — "Right you are!" — which he frequently exclaimed after
1472-428: A persistent stomach ache before the diagnosis but did not recognize it as a symptom of the disease. In a prepared video announcement of the diagnosis, Trebek noted that his prognosis was poor but said that he would aggressively fight the cancer in hopes of beating the odds and would continue hosting Jeopardy! for as long as he was able, joking that his contract obligated him to do so for three more years. Trebek updated
1564-481: A result, Trebek was never paid for that series. After both series ended, he hosted a revival of Battlestars called The New Battlestars that ended after 13 weeks, then shot a series of pilots for other series for producer Merrill Heatter , for whom he had worked hosting High Rollers and Battlestars , and Merv Griffin . The Heatter pilots were Malcolm , an NBC-ordered pilot featuring Trebek with an animated character as his co-host, and Lucky Numbers, an attempt at
1656-432: A revival of High Rollers that failed to sell. For Griffin, (who was ultimately encouraged to hire Trebek by Lucille Ball ) he shot two pilots for a revival of Jeopardy! when original host Art Fleming (a friend of Trebek's) declined to return to the role owing to creative differences. This revival sold, and Trebek began hosting it in 1984 and remained the host until his death in 2020. His final episode hosting Jeopardy!
1748-457: A score as possible, and the top scorer on each game advanced to play Berzerk against the other two. The winner of this contest received an Asteroids Deluxe arcade game and an Apple II computer, and then played a different game against a celebrity in an exhibition match with no prizes at stake. The game used for this match was the then-new Donkey Kong , and the celebrity was Larry Wilcox , known for portraying police officer Jon Baker on
1840-426: A series of guest hosts filled in for Trebek for the remainder of season 37 of Jeopardy! (his final season). On July 27, 2022, it was announced that Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings would succeed Trebek as the permanent hosts of Jeopardy! after alternating in multi-week stints for the remainder of the show's 38th season after Mike Richards (the show's then-executive producer who briefly succeeded Trebek as host of
1932-750: A side effect from the chemotherapy, were interfering with his ability to speak, noting that "there will come a point when they (fans and producers) will no longer be able to say, 'It's okay.'" In a December 2019 interview with ABC News , Trebek stated that he would begin looking at experimental treatments and chemotherapies and that despite periods of severe pain and depression, he was still in good enough physical condition to handle construction projects. Trebek also stated that he had already prepared an on-air farewell statement before his cancer diagnosis. In March 2020, Trebek announced he had survived one year of cancer treatment (noting that his prognosis had given him only an 18% chance to survive that long) and that, though
SECTION 20
#17328511439772024-604: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (located at 6501 Hollywood Boulevard , near those for Ann-Margret and Vincent Price ). On November 4, 2010, Trebek received the Royal Canadian Geographical Society 's gold medal for his contribution to geographic education and the popular study of geography. Previous recipients of this award include the author and anthropologist Wade Davis (2009), Peter Gzowski (1997), and Mary May Simon (1998). In 2016, Trebek
2116-467: A state I dearly love," Trebek said. Trebek was interviewed by Michael Strahan for an ABC special chronicling Jeopardy! and his career (produced to promote Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time ), which aired January 2, 2020. On October 6, 2020, Trebek made a cameo appearance in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft , announcing the Ottawa Senators ' third-overall draft pick, Tim Stützle , in the style of
2208-457: A utility pole in a ditch. Trebek was not cited for the accident and returned to work taping Jeopardy! four days later. Trebek owned and managed a 700-acre (283 ha) ranch near Paso Robles in Creston, California , known as Creston Farms, where he bred and trained thoroughbred racehorses . His colt Reba's Gold is the stakes-winning son of Slew o' Gold . Trebek sold the operation in 2008 and
2300-648: A weekly skating program. Starting on April 1, 1969, Trebek also hosted Strategy , a weekday afternoon game show. From 1971 until the end of 1972, he hosted I'm Here Til 9 , the local morning drive radio show on CBC Toronto . In 1971, Trebek was one of several to have been shortlisted to succeed Ward Cornell as host of Hockey Night in Canada . Although Trebek was the preferred choice of executive producer Ralph Mellanby , based on his audition and other CBC roles, Mellanby stated in 2020 that he ultimately chose Dave Hodge instead, because his boss did not want someone with
2392-456: Is Jeopardy! The lights on the set then dimmed blue in remembrance. After each posthumous episode in season 37, the title card read, "Dedicated to Alex Trebek. Forever in our hearts. Always our inspiration." On the first anniversary of Trebek's death, which was also the day that the first episode Ken Jennings hosted in season 38 was aired, a different title card read, "Alex Trebek, July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020. You are missed every day." On
2484-657: The Don Ross/Geoff Edwards Show . As a news reporter for KHJ-AM radio, Edwards was present in the basement of Dallas police headquarters when Jack Ruby shot suspected John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963. Edwards was one of the witnesses interviewed by NBC television correspondent Tom Pettit on the scene. In its 11th annual radio selections for the Best of 1967 column, The Los Angeles Times selected Edwards for its Personality of
2576-463: The NBC crime-drama CHiPs . The original pilot aired as a special on a handful of syndicated stations, where it rated quite well. Three more pilots were then shot for NBC at Bridge Studios, formerly the facilities of KPIX-TV (the station relocated to Battery Street in 1979, and the complex was demolished in 2006), featuring a retooled format (more similar to the series as aired) and host Alex Trebek (who
2668-538: The Tom Kennedy -hosted NBC word game To Say the Least in 1978. Both of those shows were produced by Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley Productions, which also produced High Rollers, the show Trebek was hosting during both of those guest appearances. Trebek also was a contestant on Celebrity Bowling in 1976, teamed with Jim McKrell . The duo won their match against Dick Gautier and Scatman Crothers . After High Rollers
2760-465: The 1983 Star Wars game. Certain segments of the show were set to the in-game theme music from the game Xevious . The final first-run show aired on February 24, 1984, with reruns airing in syndication until September 1984. WTBS then reran episodes of Starcade on Sunday mornings until January 1985. All episodes except episode #35 are known to exist, according to the show's official website. On December 25, 2020, Wink Martindale released one of
2852-661: The Alex Trebek Leadership Award at the University of Ottawa, an annual $ 10,000 award to a summa cum laude graduate who has also demonstrated community leadership. By October 2020, Trebek's contributions to the University of Ottawa totalled around $ 10 million. In March 2020, Trebek donated $ 100,000 to Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter in Los Angeles. Trebek owned his own wardrobe, consisting of dozens of outfits and hundreds of neckties. In February 2021, Trebek's son, Matthew, donated
Starcade - Misplaced Pages Continue
2944-570: The CBC national radio news and cover a wide range of special events for CBC Radio and CBC Television , including curling and horse racing . Trebek's first hosting job was on a Canadian music program called Music Hop in 1963. In 1966, he hosted a high school quiz show called Reach for the Top . From 1967 to 1970, Trebek was a host for the CBC, introducing classical music programs including performances by Glenn Gould . For one or two seasons, he hosted
3036-468: The Canadian hit Eye Bet . The program featured contestants watching video clips of celebrities talking about a subject; their job was to guess the subject in question. The series, which aired afternoons on CBS television, did not fare well and the network cancelled it in favor of the phenomenally popular Match Game remake. Edwards also said he did not like Barry and he had no intention of continuing with
3128-468: The G4 lineup during the network's 2021 relaunch. Two players (or teams; age-regardless) competed through three rounds in the main game. Each round began with a video arcade-game related toss-up question. The player who buzzed in and answered correctly chose one of five free-standing arcade games in the studio and was given 40 seconds (later 60, then 50) to amass as high a score as possible. The opponent then played
3220-853: The November 9, 2020, episode of Jeopardy! , as a tribute to Trebek, then-executive producer of both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune , Mike Richards , visibly emotional, opened the show with this statement: I'm Mike Richards, the executive producer of Jeopardy! Over the weekend, we lost our beloved host Alex Trebek. This is an enormous loss for our staff and crew, for his family, and for his millions of fans. He loved this show and everything it stood for. In fact, he taped his final episodes less than two weeks ago. He will forever be an inspiration for his constant desire to learn, his kindness, and for his love of his family. We will air his final 35 episodes as they were shot. That's what he wanted. On behalf of everyone here at Jeopardy! , thank you for everything, Alex. This
3312-669: The US on the USA Network ). He would do this until the series was cancelled in 1991 and would commute between the United States and Canada during this time. During this time, Edwards would also take the job as host of a revival of Jackpot for syndication in 1989. Edwards was also one of four game show hosts to have emceed a game show in the United States and another in Canada concurrently (the other three were Howie Mandel , Alex Trebek , and Jim Perry ). Edwards, like Perry, commuted back and forth between
3404-504: The United States and Canada between 1986 and 1991, hosting The Big Spin and the 1989 revival of Jackpot! in Sacramento and Glendale , respectively, and the USA Network version of Chain Reaction in Montreal, Quebec . However, Edwards was required to have a Canadian co-host on Chain Reaction , due to the fact that he had no ties to the country, unlike Trebek, Mandel and Perry (Mandel is
3496-401: The United States. Trebek's francophone side was put on display in 1978, in a special bilingual edition of Reach for the Top and its Radio-Canada equivalent, Génies en herbe . In this show, Trebek alternated smoothly between French and English throughout. Like other hosts of the day, Trebek made several guest appearances as a panelist or player on other shows. One of his guest appearances
3588-582: The Year for Edwards' on air work at KFI. After a few short stints at other stations, Edwards was hired at KMPC in Los Angeles, occupying the 9 a.m.-noon slot for several years beginning in February 1968 until December 1979 when he resigned to focus on his TV career. He later worked at KFI from 1987 to 1989 but he ultimately resigned, as a protest against fellow KFI personality Tom Leykis , destroying Cat Stevens ' ( Yusuf Islam ) records following Stevens' call for
3680-736: The afro, mustache and "very dark tan" that he sported at the time — he was often confused for being a Black man and so was invited to take part in the organization's telethons. Trebek also donated 74 acres (30 hectares) of open land in the Hollywood Hills to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in 1998. He was later awarded one of the American Foundation for the Blind 's six yearly Access Awards for his role in accommodating Jeopardy! champion Eddie Timanus . Trebek hosted
3772-545: The annual The Great Canadian Geography Challenge in Canada. He hosted the National Geographic Bee in the United States for 25 years, stepping down in 2013. He also served on the advisory board of U.S. English , an organization that supports making English the official language of the United States. In 2016, Trebek donated $ 5 million to the University of Ottawa to fund the Alex Trebek Forum for Dialogue,
Starcade - Misplaced Pages Continue
3864-460: The arcade games between tapings). Edwards died of complications from pneumonia at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California , on March 5, 2014, less than a month after his 83rd birthday. Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek OC ( / t r ə ˈ b ɛ k / ; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He
3956-533: The chemotherapy treatments were often worse than the cancer symptoms themselves, he was confident that he would survive another year, saying that ending treatment would be a "betrayal" to his family, supporters, and to the God in whom he had faith. As a precautionary measure, Jeopardy! initially taped episodes without a studio audience, as protection from the COVID-19 pandemic ; Trebek, because of both his age and his condition,
4048-464: The debate and talked for 41% of it, often talking about himself without giving candidates time to discuss their stances on political issues. He also made remarks regarding the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church . Trebek later apologized for his performance, stating that he was "naive" and "misunderstood" the role of a moderator. "I offer my sincere apologies to the people of Pennsylvania ,
4140-406: The emcee role. In October 2018, Trebek signed a new contract to continue as host through 2022, stating in January 2019 that although he was beginning to slow down due to his age, the show's work schedule, consisting of 46 taping sessions each year, was still manageable. On March 6, 2019, aged 78, Trebek announced that he had been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. He had been experiencing
4232-414: The end of the 1981–82 season. In 1983 Edwards began hosting Starcade , a new show centered on video games. He took over the show from previous host Mark Richards, who hosted from December 1982 until the summer of 1983. The show initially aired on Superstation WTBS and went into national syndication from September 1983 to September 1984. Richards was fired for the reasoning that he did not know much nor
4324-438: The fall. He required a short medical leave and returned to regular hosting duty in mid-January 2018. In 2018, while being interviewed by Harvey Levin on Fox News , Trebek floated the idea of retirement, saying the odds of his leaving Jeopardy! in 2020 were 50/50 "and a little less". Trebek added that he might continue if he is "not making too many mistakes" but would make an "intelligent decision" as to when he should give up
4416-875: The first person to host three American game shows at the same time, earning this distinction on February 4, 1991, when Trebek took over from Lynn Swann as host of NBC's To Tell the Truth for Goodson-Todman, which Trebek hosted until the end of the series' run on May 31, 1991. In 1994, Trebek returned to the CBS network for the first time since hosting Double Dare to host the Pillsbury Bake-Off , which he hosted until 1998. Trebek and Pat Sajak , host of Wheel of Fortune , traded places on April Fools' Day 1997. Pat Sajak hosted Jeopardy! and Trebek hosted Wheel of Fortune with Sajak's wife, Lesly, as Trebek's co-host. Sajak and Wheel of Fortune co-host Vanna White played contestants at
4508-412: The first round. One of the five games was the "mystery game," which awarded a prize (originally 500 extra points, in very early episodes) to the player/team who chose it in any of the three rounds. The player/team in the lead at the end of the third and final round won the game and a bonus prize, and moved on to the bonus round. The player selected one of the two games that had not yet been played, and
4600-470: The game show of the California Lottery , and would remain host of that program until his retirement from television in 1995. In an interview with Blog Talk Radio, Edwards said he helmed the pilot of Fun & Fortune , the lottery game show in Missouri (before Rick Tamblyn became the permanent host). In another interview, he said he was offered the host role for Family Feud but had to turn it down because he
4692-464: The objective of which is "to expose students to a wide range of diverse views, through speeches, public panels, events and lectures by University of Ottawa researchers, senior government officials and guests speakers from around the world." His gifts to the university, which at the time totaled $ 7.5 million, also fund a Distinguished Speaker Series, which has included a presentation by Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee , introduced by Trebek. In 2017, he funded
SECTION 50
#17328511439774784-794: The pilot episodes hosted by Alex Trebek on YouTube . It was only available for a short time before being removed due to a copyright claim from JM Productions. In January 2017, Shout! Factory announced it had acquired the rights to Starcade from Caruso and Arthur, and intends to work with JM Productions to reboot the series, along with additional projects. However, these plans never came to fruition. On November 15, 2022, during an Xplay reunion at Kinda Funny Games , Jirard "The Completionist" Khalil revealed that he had plans to reboot Starcade at G4 . These plans also never came to fruition, as G4 shut down in October 2022. Geoff Edwards Geoffrey Bruce Owen Edwards (February 13, 1931 – March 5, 2014)
4876-483: The program) was let go after taping a week's worth of episodes after various controversies came to light. In 1987, while still hosting Jeopardy! , Trebek returned to daytime television as host of NBC's Classic Concentration , his second show for Mark Goodson . Trebek hosted both shows simultaneously until September 20, 1991, when Classic Concentration aired its final first-run episode (NBC would air repeats until 1993). In 1991, he made broadcast history by becoming
4968-446: The property is now an event center called Windfall Farms. In a 2018 interview with Vulture , Trebek said he was a political moderate and registered independent , neither conservative nor liberal, with some libertarian leanings. Trebek stated he believed in God as a Christian. During a 2018 gubernatorial debate, Trebek said that he was raised Catholic during his childhood and adolescence. On December 10, 2007, Trebek experienced
5060-807: The run of NBC's Shoot for the Stars (both it and Jackpot were produced by Bob Stewart ). The New Treasure Hunt would also come to an end in 1977. In January 1980, Edwards debuted as the host of the new Barry & Enright show Play the Percentages , which he hosted until the end of the television season when it was cancelled. He also hosted his last daytime network show when he substituted for Bill Cullen (then filling in on Password Plus for an ill Allen Ludden ) on two weeks of NBC's Chain Reaction , another Bob Stewart show. Edwards also briefly tried his hand at producing when he teamed with Mark Maxwell-Smith to form Smith-Edwards Productions in 1980. The duo signed
5152-403: The same game, and whatever points the players earned were added to their overall scores. If a player's game ended before time ran out, the turn ended immediately and the player was credited with whatever points they had earned. The second and third rounds were played identically, with 40 seconds (later 50) game playing time for the second round, and 30 seconds (later 40) for the third. Once a game
5244-540: The second anniversary of his death, Trebek was honored in a category entitled "Remembering Alex Trebek" during the Jeopardy! Round of the 2022 Tournament of Champions special exhibition episode of Jeopardy! Since Trebek's death, various television networks aired their own tributes to him such as MeTV (which played " What Is... Cliff Clavin? " and "Mama on Jeopardy!", two episodes of the classic 1980s sitcoms Cheers and Mama's Family respectively in which Jeopardy!
5336-603: The series if it made it past CBS' initial commitment. Edwards was not unemployed long, as Chuck Barris hired him to host The New Treasure Hunt that launched in weekly syndication in fall 1973. In January 1974, Edwards returned to daytime with the NBC show Jackpot . For the next nineteen months, ending in September 1975, Edwards would commute back and forth between California and New York as Jackpot taped at NBC's Rockefeller Center studios. He would briefly do this again in 1977 during
5428-506: The short-lived CBS game show Double Dare (not to be confused with the 1986 Nickelodeon game show of the same name ). Double Dare turned out to be Trebek's only game show with the CBS network (he returned there in 1994 to host the Pillsbury Bake-Off until 1998), and the first show he hosted for what was then Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions , as well as the second season of the syndicated series The $ 128,000 Question , which
5520-504: The show in August 2019. Follow-up immunotherapy was ineffective, and Trebek resumed chemotherapy in September. On October 4, 2019, in an interview with CTV's Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme , Trebek said: "I'm not afraid of dying" and "I've lived a good life, a full life, and I'm nearing the end of that life... [I]f it happens, why should I be afraid [of] that?" In the same interview, Trebek noted that sores in his mouth,
5612-406: The show's history, Brad Rutter , Ken Jennings , and James Holzhauer , against each other. Trebek made multiple guest appearances on other television shows, ranging from Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2008 and 2011 to The Colbert Report series finale. In August 1995, during a return to his broadcast-news roots, Trebek filled in for Charles Gibson for a week on Good Morning America . Trebek
SECTION 60
#17328511439775704-446: The situation in May 2019, stating that he was responding exceptionally well to treatment and that some of the tumors had shrunk to half their previously observed size; he credited the prayers and well wishes of his fans for the better-than-usual results and planned to undergo several more rounds of chemotherapy . Trebek finished that round of chemotherapy treatments in time to resume taping of
5796-576: The son of George Edward Trebek ( born Terebeychuk, Ukrainian : Теребейчу́к ), a chef who had emigrated from Ukraine as a child, and Lucille Marie Lagacé (April 14, 1921 – 2016), a Franco-Ontarian . Trebek had roots in Renfrew County, Ontario , where his maternal grandmother was born in Mount St. Patrick near Renfrew . Trebek grew up in a bilingual French - English household. He was almost expelled from boarding school. Shortly after, Trebek attended
5888-515: The stamp scheduled for release in July 2024. Trebek was a longtime philanthropist and activist. He was active with multiple charities, including World Vision Canada , United Service Organizations and the United Negro College Fund . For World Vision, Trebek travelled to many developing countries with World Vision projects, taping reports on the group's efforts on behalf of children around
5980-561: The start of the show. Trebek's final episode of Jeopardy! aired on January 8, 2021, concluding with a 90-second tribute to Trebek. On August 19, 2021, the Jeopardy! stage was renamed "The Alex Trebek Stage", with his family present at the dedication. The United States Postal Service honored Trebek with a commemorative stamp honoring both the 60th anniversary of the Jeopardy! franchise and Trebek's naturalized American citizenship, with
6072-441: The straight man to singer Bobby Darin . After that series ended, Edwards pursued a game show career, starting with Says Who? in 1971, followed by Cop-Out! in February 1972—however, both shows eventually turned out to be unsold pilots . Edwards's first full-time game show hosting stint took place from March through June 1973 on Jack Barry 's Hollywood's Talking , a remake of a late 1960s ABC game Everybody's Talking and
6164-544: The time. Halfway through Richards' run, the theme was changed to one composed by "Mindseed" (Ed and Joanne Anderson), who were also employed by Data East at the time and who also composed the music for Venture and Mouse Trap for Exidy . Occasionally, special episodes were produced such as team episodes, and others in which only one game was played repeatedly through the entire episode. Games that were featured in an episode of their own were Cliff Hanger , Dragon's Lair , Pole Position II , Track & Field and
6256-548: The wardrobe to The Doe Fund , in keeping with a statement Trebek had made on his last day of taping. In 1997, Trebek was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of the university (D.Univ) from the University of Ottawa . In addition to awards for Jeopardy! , he received a great deal of recognition. Trebek received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. He was also awarded eight Outstanding Game Show Host Emmy Awards (1989, 1990, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2019, 2020, and 2021) and
6348-469: The wheel, with winnings going toward charities. Trebek appeared on Celebrity Poker Showdown in 2005 and came in second place in his qualifying game , losing to Cheryl Hines . On June 24, 2018, Trebek returned as a panelist on the ABC revival of To Tell the Truth . He hosted a Jeopardy! primetime special event titled The Greatest of All Time on ABC in January 2020, pitting the highest money winners in
6440-416: The winter break of Jeopardy! taping, Trebek was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after reportedly experiencing complications from a fall in October of that year. The incident resulted in a subdural hematoma . Trebek underwent surgery to remove blood clots from his brain the following day. On January 4, 2018, the verified Twitter account of Jeopardy! announced that Trebek had been suffering from
6532-522: The world. He and the Jeopardy! crew became involved with the United Service Organizations in 1995, appearing on several military bases throughout the world, both in an attempt to find contestants and as a morale booster for the troops. While genuinely supportive of the cause throughout his life, Trebek has said that he believes he initially got involved with the UNCF in the 1980s because — due to
6624-563: Was cremated and his remains were given to his wife. Trebek's estate was liquidated in an estate sale in April 2022 as his daughter prepared to sell his home in Studio City . Shortly after Trebek's death, Jeopardy! contestant and future host Ken Jennings , Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau , and Wheel of Fortune hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White were among those who paid tribute. On
6716-550: Was a member of the English Debating Society . At the time, he was interested in a broadcast news career. Before completing his degree, Trebek began his career in 1961 working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . According to Trebek, "I went to school in the mornings and worked at nights; I did everything, at one time replacing every announcer in every possible job." He would eventually read
6808-532: Was a plot device), Buzzr (which aired episodes of shows Trebek guest starred in such as Card Sharks or hosted such as Classic Concentration and To Tell the Truth in the Fremantle library) and Game Show Network (which aired a Jeopardy! marathon ). On the premiere episode of the rebooted American version of The Chase , where Jeopardy! champions James Holzhauer, Brad Rutter, and Ken Jennings were chasers, host Sara Haines paid tribute to Trebek at
6900-736: Was already committed to Shoot for the Stars . In 1995, Edwards appeared on Sliders , in the episode "Luck of the Draw". Edwards and his first wife, Suzanne, co-hosted a talk show, The His and Her of It . The program was broadcast on television stations owned and operated by ABC . In 1970, the couple also served as honorary co-chairmen of the organization California Association of Parents of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children. In his later years, Edwards traveled extensively, hosting traveling programs on both radio and television, and writing about travel. His travel book Going All The Way humorously chronicles his around-the-world cruise adventures. He appeared as
6992-477: Was also a guest star in season 3 of The X-Files , playing one of two "Men in Black" (human agents charged with the supervision of extraterrestrial lifeforms on Earth, hiding their existence from other humans) opposite Jesse Ventura , in the episode " Jose Chung's From Outer Space ", which first aired on April 12, 1996. On June 13, 2014, Guinness World Records presented Trebek with the world record for most episodes of
7084-591: Was an American television actor, game show host , and radio personality. Starting in the early 2000s, he was also a writer and broadcaster on the subject of travel. Prior to his media career, Edwards was an accomplished musician, playing drums in a number of jazz bands. Edwards began his career while attending Duke University , working for a radio station in Albany, New York . In 1959, Edwards got his first job at KFMB-AM in San Diego , hosting an evening show and co-hosting
7176-467: Was best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show Jeopardy! for 37 seasons from its revival in 1984 until his death in 2020. Trebek also hosted a number of other game shows, including The Wizard of Odds , Double Dare , High Rollers , Battlestars , Classic Concentration , and To Tell the Truth . He also made appearances, usually as himself, in numerous films and television series. A native of Canada, Trebek became
7268-437: Was called in to substitute host for Trebek for what was initially expected to be a temporary replacement while Trebek recovered from the surgery on November 8; that same day, Trebek died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 80, after 20 months fighting pancreatic cancer. It was the same disease that affected his predecessor and the original host of Jeopardy! Art Fleming , who died a little over 25 years earlier. Trebek
7360-523: Was cancelled in 1980, Trebek moved on to Battlestars for NBC. The series debuted in October 1981 and was cancelled in April 1982 after only six months on the air. In September 1981, Trebek took the helm of the syndicated Pitfall , which taped in Vancouver and forced him to commute, as Trebek had done while hosting High Rollers and The $ 128,000 Question in 1978. Pitfall was cancelled after its production company, Catalena Productions, went bankrupt. As
7452-505: Was chosen for play in any round, it could not be chosen again. At the end of the second round (and third when the series began), the player/team in the lead played "Name the Game," watching brief video clips of four arcade games and attempting to choose each title from two possibilities. The player/team won a prize for correctly identifying any three games, and a second prize for naming all four. When teams played, both players had to play one game in
7544-731: Was given 30 seconds to beat the average score of 20 other players on that game. If the player did so, he/she won the day's grand prize, which consisted of either an arcade game, a home entertainment robot, a jukebox, or even a vacation (in certain "invitational" episodes). The original pilot for Starcade was hosted by Olympic gold-medalist hockey player Mike Eruzione , taped at the studios of KRON-TV in San Francisco and featured an almost entirely different format. Twenty-four players competed at once, divided into three groups of eight that played different games ( Defender , Centipede , and Pac-Man ). The players had 30 seconds to achieve as high
7636-467: Was he very enthusiastic about video games; determined not to repeat what his predecessor did, Edwards studied the video games utilized on the show and the industry in general and consequently became so fascinated with video games that he became an avid player. Edwards kept up the hobby until his death. Except for a week of substituting for an indisposed Monty Hall on Let's Make a Deal in early 1985 and an unsold Bob Stewart pilot for ABC called $ 50,000
7728-537: Was looking forward to taping again. On July 21, 2020, Trebek published his memoir: The Answer Is...: Reflections on My Life . Trebek underwent surgery related to his cancer treatment in October. Trebek returned to the show two weeks after the surgery but was unable to handle his full workload due to pain from the surgery and had to split his usual five-episode taping session over two days; these five episodes would be his last. Trebek taped his final episode on October 29, 2020, just 10 days before his death. Ken Jennings
7820-734: Was named the Honorary President of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society; in that capacity, he was present at the opening of the RCGS's new headquarters in 2018. In 2011, it was announced that Trebek would be one of the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmy Awards . That same year, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Fordham University . Since June 13, 2014, Trebek has held
7912-449: Was on a special week of NBC 's Card Sharks in 1980. Trebek and several other game show hosts ( Allen Ludden , Bill Cullen , Wink Martindale , Jack Clark , Tom Kennedy , Gene Rayburn , and Jim Lange ) competed in a 3-week-long round-robin tournament for charity. Trebek won the tournament, defeating Cullen in the finals. Trebek also appeared as a celebrity teammate on the NBC game show The Magnificent Marble Machine in 1975, and
8004-402: Was particularly at risk of death from the particular variant of SARS-CoV-2 circulating. Soon afterward, production of the show was suspended altogether. The show resumed taping in August, in time for the season 37 premiere. On July 16, 2020, Trebek gave an update regarding his cancer. Trebek said that while he still felt fatigued, the chemotherapy was "paying off." Trebek also stated that he
8096-419: Was recorded in Toronto . Since the second incarnation of High Rollers premiered while The $ 128,000 Question was still airing and taping episodes, Trebek became one of two hosts to emcee shows in both the United States and Canada, joining Jim Perry , who was hosting Definition and Headline Hunters in Canada and Card Sharks , which coincidentally premiered the same day as High Rollers in 1978 in
8188-504: Was seen in several episodes of Petticoat Junction , as Bobbie Jo Bradley's boyfriend Jeff. From his time on the show, he met — and maintained a very close friendship with — Meredith MacRae , (who played Billie Jo Bradley). In 1969, he narrated an educational film, How We Feel About Sound . He also guest starred on Police Woman , Diff'rent Strokes , and Small Wonder . In the early 1970s, Edwards appeared on The Bobby Darin Show as
8280-538: Was suggested by NBC). The pilot was picked up by Ted Turner in 1982, and the show began its life on WTBS in December, still taping at Bridge Studios with Mark Richards as host. Richards, however, appeared to be uncomfortable on-camera; more importantly to Turner, Richards did not appear to be interested in video games. Richards was replaced by veteran game-show host Geoff Edwards on the 24th WTBS episode. Though Edwards had had no previous experience with video games, he became
8372-403: Was to air on Christmas Day 2020; however, Sony announced on November 23, 2020, that the air dates of Trebek's final week would be postponed, with episodes scheduled for the week of December 21–25 being postponed to January 4–8, 2021, due to the delay caused by the cancellation of most November production dates and pre-emptions caused by holiday week specials and shorts. Following Trebek's death,
8464-449: Was used to sponsor and showcase brand new coin-operated machines of the golden age of arcade video games . Shortly after the series' cancellation, a second JM-produced video arcade game show, The Video Game , was aired for a brief period from 1984 to 1985. Starcade aired in repeats on the G4 network from its inception in 2002 to 2004, shortly before its merger with TechTV . It returned to
#976023