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I was in the subway last Wednesday when I realized that something had happened.
As the train passed from one station to the other, my phone rang, loud in the headphones. Unknown number. I ignored it and shortly after, it came out of 49th Street Station to get to Times Square. When my phone resumed service, it buzzed quickly twice.
"Hey Austin. That's Harvey Levin. I am in Mexico. Are you available for a call within the next hour, "said the first message, followed by" Austin. His Harvey. Please call – it's urgent. "My phone rang again – Unknown number – and this time, I answered.
"Hello Austin. That's Harvey Levin from TMZ … "
That's how I found out that the "Jeopardy!" Animator, Alex Trebek, had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
The next two hours were very hectic. FaceTimed, of TMZ, appeared in front of the media, attended a meeting with representatives of the entertainment industry about a potential project, and then organized a classic evening at the bar where I work. During all this time, at each meeting, a preoccupation with Alex dominated all my conversations with everyone I met.
Likewise, every TV, every Times Square ticker, and every TaxiTV I'd ever adopted seemed to broadcast its name and diagnosis in bold. The sheer volume of SMS, phone calls, tweets and DMs that I have received over the next few hours has testified to the esteem that Alex is held by so many people in the world.
I can not say that I was surprised. With all his famous cameos, countless parodies abounding in him, and the fact that Alex Trebek's very name is so often synonymous with knowledge and gravity, the beloved game show host is firmly in the firmament. of popular culture. But it was not always like that.
I grew up watching "Jeopardy!" – Alex made his debut as a playmaker when I was 5 and the show soon became mandatory for my family. But while I ventured into adult youth and went to university during the no man's land between the 90-channel network-dominated television and the video-on-the-go Complete application of the Netflix era, my interactions with "Jeopardy! "Were rare. A young career and an active social life made a 19:00 appointment with the couch almost impossible. So, I missed the mastodon Ken Jennings, the Watson battle and the Decades tournament.
During this interim period, Alex's popularity shifted from the hottest game show animation to the animation of the Favorite Game Show ™ series in America, to become a staple of American entertainment (and perhaps to be even global).
That's why, during my regular-season appearances in the series in 2017, while I had multiple wins in my 12-game losing streak and that Alex told me, "You have participated a few times now. What do you want to talk about? about?? I was absolutely unprepared for my response: "I do not know, man. What do you want to talk about?"
The audience was panting and laughing in turn cheerfully, as if I had said, "Could you please spend the jelly?" While I was dealing with Polaner All Fruit.
A few months later, when the episode was finally aired, Twitter broke out: "You can not just call Mr. Trebek" DUDE! »» And other vitriolic variants of it. It is at this precise moment that I learned the cultural cachet of the man. Thousands of people have panicked about my bland attitude towards a heavyweight of culture – their heavyweight of culture. What I thought was innocent and fun was personal for millions of people, because Alex was personal for millions. He is loved and his fans wanted me to know.
This experience immediately recalibrated my attitude towards him. In my subsequent returns to the program, I recalled it a bit. Not out of respect for Alex himself – trust me, he can take it as well as he can give it – but out of respect for the mysticism that's cemented around him. Alex did not necessarily cultivate this personality on purpose, but his audience expected – and demanded that it be respected – and I respect that and them.
This is because we have hosted Alex here for 35 years. Every night at 7:00 pm on WABC7 here in New York or at 3:30 pm on WIAT CBS Birmingham or 4:30 pm on KARE11 in the Twin Cities, many of us have come to know the duality of this man both patrician and yet in the process of to make daddy jokes. A man who is a stern master but also the nice teacher who helped you form a fake extracurricular club just so you could spend time with your friends. It's the older brother who will subtly push you to do something silly, and not so subtly – but with love – tear you apart when he fails.
When Alex sees empty looks on the faces of the candidates after a particularly delicate index, he stimulates them. "Nobody?" If a reckless competitor takes the bait to give an incorrect answer, Alex retorts, "Oh, sorry, I should not have gone!" Even if, even the cleverest, he had just attracted them!
So many of us have come to know the duality of this man at the same time patrician and yet making daddy jokes. A man who is a stern master but also the nice teacher who helped you form a fake extracurricular club just so you could spend time with your friends.
Last year, while I was in LA with a little free time, I attended a "Jeopardy!" Recording and I saw this dichotomy in action. As a member of the public watching an episode of referee well suited to Alex and encouraging the competitors while maintaining his judicial neutrality, I was impressed by the ease with which he controlled the match. As a competitor, you do not notice how it gives a transparent and effortless appearance. You are too concerned about yourself to notice the smooth running routine of a real impresario.
Later, in the Sony Pictures garage, I heard "Hey! Austin! And turned to see the other side of Alex – the "off the clock" side wearing a loose jacket and resolutely daddy jeans in what appeared to be a washed-out finish to the acid. "What do you think of this All-Star tournament that we are going to do?", He asked. I followed the party line saying that I was excited and that it was something new, it should be cool. "Yeah, well, I do not know at all how it's going to work, who knows if it will work the same way?" He chuckled and went on to his car.
Two sides, coexisting organically, one spinning "Jeopardy!" With a firm and comforting hand from the inside of the sound stage and the other gently cooing it from the adjacent parking structure. This is one of the main reasons why I love and respect so much this man.
Alex's brilliant duality was also exposed in the instantly viral video in which he announced his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer last week. The clip is sober, thoughtful, hopeful – but not without wit.
"I plan to beat statistics on the low survival rate for this disease," he promised by speaking directly to his fans. "The truth is said, I must! Because according to the terms of my contract, I have to host Jeopardy! Another three years!
There is Alex Trebek, revealing a diagnosis that could decimate an inferior person, drawing in the strength of his character and his conviction to overcome this disease to break a much appreciated joke. Our hearts were breaking and I suspected that Alex knew it, but he cared too much about us when he needed to let us cry without giving us the chance to take a deep breath and laugh – would not it? only for a moment.
For me, it's a real gift and an illustration of the man I've come to know and love in the last 18 months – and that we all know and love in the past 35 years.
Throughout his career, while providing hundreds of thousands of clues, Alex has always been the umpire of the absolute facts. Alex and "Jeopardy!" As an institution peddle in truth something of particular value in our current social and political climate. Authorized without being authoritarian, Alex informs us of what we should know, what we do not know and what we want to know more about. And most importantly, Alex is never too proud to admit when he is wrong. While tens of thousands of viewers scream on their television that "pencil" and "pencil" are synonymous in French and raise their hands in exasperation when Alex stops them badly on the screen, they sigh with relief when he comes back a few moments later and lets everyone know that an error has been made – we, not Alex, were correct – and that the wrongs are duly repaired.
In the current entertainment climate, few can offer contrition, much less blame. But Alex does. In this way, in his way, Alex comforts us with its reliability and reliability. He is an icon with a capital "I". As Peril! Legend Ken Jennings tweeted"I already said that, but Alex Trebek is sort of the last voice of Cronkite: a reassuring and reassuring television voice that you hear every night, almost to the point of ritual." Chicken soup, a warm blanket, the voice of Alex Trebek.
I believe in all of us and the role we can play in Alex's fight, because I believe in the healing properties of the community, the family and the restorative power psychologically to know that we take care of you. Together, we can show Alex how much he has counted for us in supporting him …
The time has come for us to offer him the comfort he has been giving us selflessly for decades. Stage 4 pancreatic cancer is a terrifying diagnosis. Alex has offered us comfort for so many nights. so now, let's return the favor.
As he implored in his video, together we can beat this – and I believe him and believe in him. I also believe in each one of us and the role we can play in Alex's struggle, because I believe in the healing properties of the community, the family and the healing power psychologically to know that we take care of you . Together, we can show Alex how important he is to us by supporting him, tweeting our support or offering our love in whatever way suits us.
In peril! The closing night of the tournament All-Stars last year, Alex came and drank a glass of wine with my parents and my girlfriend Maria, and we welcomed him into our family, as millions of others have been doing it virtually for decades. My mother joked that something was hurting me, and Alex said something like, "No, we like Austin here. He really became a big part of our humble show. "
And this is, for me, the most salient quality of Alex: interview after interview, when asked what the star of "Jeopardy!", He answers without fault: "During my 57 years of 'TV show animation, I have always been featured as a host, never as a star of the show. Because the stars of the show are the candidates and the material. "
But this, in its continually erased way, is a mistruth that needs to be corrected. Alex Trebek is the star of "Jeopardy!" And – for many of us – the clarity of our evenings. Now, he needs all our support, love, and faith, and give him everything we've felt like the least we can do to thank him for all he has given – and continues to to give -.
Austin Rogers is a champion of "Jeopardy!" And host of the Much to Learn with Austin Rogers podcast.
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