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Late Jeopardy! Host Alex Trebek was an “ absolute warrior ” during his last recordings of the game show, which aired this week, according to the show’s executive producer.
Trebek died on November 8 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, but continued to film Jeopardy until the end.
According to executive producer Mike Richards, who appeared on the Today show Monday morning, Trebek was in “ tremendous pain ” for the latter episodes, but made the “ Herculean ” effort to be there.
Icon: Late Jeopardy! Host Alex Trebek (seen in 2019) was an ‘absolute warrior’ during his last recordings of the game show, which aired this week, according to the program’s executive producer
Star: Mike Richards said Trebek was in ‘tremendous pain’ for recent episodes, but made the ‘Herculean’ effort to be there
Trebek died at the age of 80 after a two-year battle with cancer, but continued to host Jeopardy! – whose face he had been since 1984 – until just days before his death.
“He was an absolute warrior,” Richards said.
And what he was able to do by going to the set, by recording these last episodes … we didn’t know that these would be his last episodes and neither did he. But it was Herculean.
“He was in great pain,” he added. “He was, you know, ten days after her death. And you won’t feel that in any of these [final] episodes. He is strong. He looks awesome. He’s funny. And he’s amazing.
Richards admitted that a “ normal person ” would probably have stopped filming a year and a half before Trebek, given that he was receiving chemotherapy once a week during filming.
Force: Richards recalled how the week before the last episodes Trebek was in the hospital and called him to tell him he was planning to continue filming
“I think there was a level of professionalism,” he said. “ I think he really understood the importance of the show and what it meant to people, and to do what I’ve always said he did to be smart and cool. So I think it was all of those things for him.
“ And I think it comes down to, you know, he wrote an autobiography that describes his childhood, and that kind of hard work, blue collar, I’m going to go to work [attitude]. And that’s what he did.
Richards recalled how the week before the last episodes, Trebek was in the hospital and called him to tell him he planned to continue filming.
“He calls me up and says, ‘Mike, I’m fine. I’ll be on tape. I got to eat Jello today.’ And I said, ‘Alex, that’s great, but that doesn’t mean not saying you’re going to be ready to host five episodes of a game show, “which is a huge effort, and he said don’t cancel. I’ll be there, ”he said.
The final episodes of Trebek will air this week, including tonight’s episode, which features a special moment.
Finale: The final episodes of Trebek air this week, including tonight’s episode, which features a special moment. The host is seen in 2012
“ In this very special and amazing last week he comes out and gives a speech about the importance of unity and solidarity and that the world is struggling, but we have to go through it together, ” Richards said. .
Long Running: Trebek hosted the program for 37 consecutive seasons, starting in 1984; he is pictured with his wife Jean in 1990
“And we got chills. And, you know, there are specific moments in Jeopardy! when you clap and then there are times when you are calm.
And usually in his monologue he would go out and make a statement and they would go into categories.
“Well, there aren’t many people in the studio because of COVID. And we all erupted into applause.
“ And you don’t see him on camera but as he goes through the categories he sees us start to clap and he kind of looks at us, what are you guys doing? And we were so moved that we had to applaud.
As to who Trebek thought his successor should be, Richards said he “ mentioned a few names ” but wanted to stay out of that decision.
No one will replace him, and he knew it. As humble as he was, he knew there was no way for it, ”Richards said.
“He’s a smart, believable person who loves the show. This is what he wanted.
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