The final-ever Jeopardy! game show hosted by longtime presenter Alex Trebek aired on Friday night.
The final question: Dr. Margaret Todd gave science this word for difference forms of one basic substance; It’s from the Greek for ‘equal’ & ‘place’
‘What is Isotope?’ came the correct answers from the show’s contestants.
Trebek signed off: ‘Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for spending the time with us. We’ll see you again next week.
It was the last show that Trebek ever recorded.
Legendary game show host Alex Trebek posthumously ended his historic 36-year run as Jeopardy! host on Friday with his final episode
Trebek fist pumped as he made his way out of the studio during the show’s closing credits
The show aired more than two months after he died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 80
More than two months after Trebek’s death, fans of Jeopardy! finally got the chance to say goodbye.
A video tribute to the host closed Friday nights episode of the quiz show, the final one that Trebek taped before pancreatic cancer claimed his life on November 8th.
The 90-second montage, set to Hugh Jackman singing the Peter Allen song Once Before I Go, is a lighthearted and laughter-filled remembrance showing Trebek´s changing look through his 36 years as host and more than 8,000 episodes, with his trademark mustache and without, with black hair and with grey, with suits from across the decades.
It celebrated the wackier moments of the usually strait-laced Trebek, showing him verbally sparring with contestants and arm-wrestling with one.
The show ended with a moving montage tribute that highlighted Trebeks career
The video was set which aired ahead of the show’s closing credits, was set to the tune of Peter’s Allen’s ‘Once Before I Go.’
‘You really make me feel inadequate,’ he tells a child contestant. ‘Sorry about that,’ she sassily answers.
Trebek is shown walking on the set pants-less in one clip, dressed as the Statue of Liberty in another, and wearing the costume of a Trojan solider in another.
A clip of the host declaring ‘I don’t dance’ is shown amid scenes of him dancing through the years.
The sad and sentimental tribute is set to apropos lyrics as Jackman sings: ‘It’s so hard to say good-byes, when there’s so much that’s left unspoken in your eyes, once before I go, I would like to let you know, that I would do it all again.’
The final moments show Trebek through signing off through the decades, repeatedly saying, ‘So long, everybody.’
Trebek was seen in a variety of suits as the show as filmed across the decades
In some clips, Trebek could be seen uncharacteristically joking around
Trebek died in November at the age of 80 but had pre-taped several weeks of shows that have continued to air.
He kept working for nearly two years after his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer, remaining in place at the podium where he had become an institution since starting in 1984.
The show will continue next week with a series of interim hosts, starting with veteran Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings.
The week’s final Trebek episodes began Monday with the host urging viewers to give to others who were suffering during the coronavirus pandemic.
‘We’re trying to build a gentler, kinder society, and if we all pitch in just a little bit, we’re going to get there,’ Trebek said.
The clips also showed him both with and without his once trademark mustache
Trebek presented the show for 36 years across some 8,000 episodes
His final shows were originally scheduled to air Christmas week, but they were put off until this week to give the send-off more exposure.
The episode includes holiday elements, like the category, ‘Christmas Movies.’
In one of the last of the more than 500,000 clues Trebek delivered to contestants in his more than 8,200 episodes, he says:
‘Basically, this heartwarming Frank Capra classic is about a disgraced financier having an incredibly rough Christmas Eve.’
The correct response: ‘What is ‘It’s a Wonderful Life´ ?’
Trebek is seen wearing a double-breasted suit – popular in the early 1990s
Trebek kept working for nearly two years after his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer
Trebek apparently wasn’t certain that Friday’s episode would be his last when it was recorded.
The show’s executive producer, Mike Richards, told NBC’s ‘Today’ show on Monday that Trebek was ‘an absolute warrior’ in his last taping sessions, despite being in ‘enormous pain.’
At the end of the episode, before the video tribute, Trebek says, ‘see you again next week.’
It was followed by the title card that has appeared on all the episodes that have aired after Trebek’s death: ‘Forever in our hearts, always our inspiration.’
Friday’s episode was taped on October 29, just 10 days before his death