Monday, November 09, 2020
Remembering Alex Trebek; Decades Changes Schedule in December with The Odd Couple and The Love Boat Added
![Alex Trebek](https://www.sitcomsonline.com/photos/alextrebek.jpg)
Canadian-American television personality and game show host Alex Trebek, who was best known as the longtime host of Jeopardy!, has died. He died at his home in Los Angeles on November 8 after a nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Mr. Trebek was 80.
Trebek's television career began in 1961 in his native Canada where he worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC). His first hosting job was on a music program called Music Hop in 1963. He hosted the Toronto version of the high school quiz show Reach for the Top from 1966 to 1973. In 1969, he hosted the game show Strategy. He hosted the short film series Pick and Choose in 1971. He hosted I'm Here Til 9, the local morning drive radio show on CBC Toronto, from 1971 to 1972.
He moved to the United States in 1973. He hosted the 1973-1974 NBC daytime game show The Wizard of Odds. A year later he began hosting NBC's High Rollers from 1974 to 1976. It was brought back from 1978 until 1980. Between his stints on High Rollers, he hosted the short-lived CBS game show Double Dare from 1976 to 1977, which was produced by Mark Goodson—Bill Todman Productions. He hosted the second season of the syndicated game show The $128,000 Question from 1977 to 1978. He hosted the syndicated Pitfall from 1981 to 1982. After High Rollers was cancelled in 1980, he moved to NBC where he hosted Battlestars (1981-1982) and later The New Battlestars (1983).
Trebek began hosting the syndicated game show Jeopardy! when it was revived in 1984. He hosted the series for 36 years and over 8,000 episodes from 1984 until his death. His last day filming in the studio was on October 29. His final broadcast will air on Christmas Day on December 25. Trebek received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host seven times (1989, 1990, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2019, and 2020) for his work on Jeopardy!. The series has won a record 39 Daytime Emmy Awards as well as a Peabody Award. He hosed Super Jeopardy! in 1990. In January 2020, he hosted ABC's primetime tournament Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time.
He hosted the NBC daytime game show Classic Concentration from 1987 to 1991. This was his second show for Mark Goodson. In 1991, he made broadcast history by becoming the first person to host three American game shows at the same time when he began hosting NBC's To Tell the Truth. He hosted the show from February to March 1991.
Trebek also made appearances in numerous television series, in which he usually played himself. Some of his sitcom guest appearances included Mama's Family, Cheers, Pacific Station, The Golden Girls, The Larry Sanders Show, Dave's World, The Nanny, Blossom, Seinfeld, Ned and Stacey, Ladies Man, How I Met Your Mother and Hot in Cleveland. His voice credits included Rugrats, The Simpsons, Arthur and Family Guy. Some of his other television guest appearances included Vega$ (as Arthur Martin, credited as Alex Trebeck), Beverly Hills 90210, The X-Files, Baywatch and Orange Is the New Black.
He was interviewed for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television on August 22, 2007.
Mr. Trebek was a true game show host legend. It will be hard to imagine Jeopardy! without him. He made learning trivia fun and cool. We thank him for the many hours of entertainment he brought us during his long career. He will be greatly missed.
ABC aired a 20/20: Alex Trebek Remembered special last night (November 8). It's available on their website and on demand.
Share your memories on our Game Shows message board. View photos in our galleries.
Decades is making some schedule changes beginning Monday, Nov. 30. Since The Jeffersons is moving to Antenna TV this January, it will be off the lineup on Decades. The Odd Couple will be joining the lineup and will air weekdays at 5pm & 5:30pm. Then at 6pm, The Love Boat will be airing every weeknight, followed by The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show at 7pm, which will also air from 7-8am in the morning, too. Only other schedule change is 6-7am with back-to-back airings of The Millionaire. The weekdays 9am-5pm "Television Across the Decades" sitcom line-up from the '50s to the '80s will remain as is (The Lucy Show, The Donna Reed Show, Family Affair, Petticoat Junction, I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show/Newhart). The late fringe sitcoms will also remain as is from 10pm-5am and you can still see Decades Weekend Binges all weekend long. The Jeffersons will get one final Weekend Binge Dec. 5-6. View the full Decades schedule that begins Nov. 30.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, July 26
The Conners - "Keep on Truckin'" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After a sudden turn of events, the Conners are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before.
The Conners - "Tangled Up in Blue" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Darlene gets one surprise after another when David introduces his girlfriend at a parent-teacher conference and mentions that Mark & Harris will be spending the weekend with them.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 22)
Friday, July 26
- Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Watch Nick on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) - Michael appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie), Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Burning Love/Reno 911!) and Aparna Nancherla (Corporate) - Sasheer, Joe and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) - Jennie chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. NBC's Today catches up with Jennie in the 10am hour.
- Marcus Scribner (grown-ish/black-ish) - Marcus talks about his coming-of-age film How I Learned to Fly on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Delroy Lindo (UnPrisoned) - Delroy talks about UnPrisoned on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Dylan Sprouse (The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody/Grace Under Fire) - Dylan talks about Lionsgate's The Duel on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/21 - Frasier (2023) - Season One
06/11 - The Jeffersons - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
06/11 - Welcome Back, Kotter - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
07/05 - Letterkenny - Season 12 (Final Season)
07/30 - Ted Lasso - The Richmond Way (The Complete Series) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season / The Complete Series
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
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