Trebek: the glue that holds television together.

February 7, 2008 5:31 PM

Having hosted over 5,000 episodes of Jeopardy, it would be impossible for Alex Trebek not to spaz out once in a while. Here are some of those magical times (this ones got swearing...). Trust me, nobody else in the world swears with as much raw talent.
posted by pwally (39 comments total)

Related F-bomb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CzEx7Z4QIk&feature=related
posted by jikel_morten at 5:45 PM on February 7, 2008

Eugene Levy pretty much nailed Trebek's seething volcano of passive agression back in his SCTV days.
posted by Kinbote at 5:45 PM on February 7, 2008

Alright then.
posted by absalom at 5:45 PM on February 7, 2008

F-bomb link.
posted by jikel_morten at 5:46 PM on February 7, 2008

A LEATHER GLOVE!
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:49 PM on February 7, 2008

Ok, I watched the "siezure" one probably 50 times... hilarious. Thanks for the post. The last link reminds me of the Minnie Winnie (nsfw audio).
posted by knave at 6:01 PM on February 7, 2008

The Penis Mightier!!
posted by LordSludge at 6:27 PM on February 7, 2008 [1 favorite]

BUT THOSE PEOPLE WERE NEVER IN MY KITCHEN!!!!
posted by dirigibleman at 6:33 PM on February 7, 2008

Um... I'm pretty sure that first one is faked... or am I missing some obvious joke?
posted by papakwanz at 6:36 PM on February 7, 2008

I think Jennings got jobbed on that garden implement question.
posted by deadcowdan at 6:56 PM on February 7, 2008

Actually, I think they later ruled the "ho" answer was acceptable. (Yes, I remember that. Yes, I am a Jeopardy nerd.)
posted by Rangeboy at 6:58 PM on February 7, 2008

$Texas
posted by Adam_S at 7:02 PM on February 7, 2008

When he swears, or says "dollar," you can really tell he's Canadian.
posted by klangklangston at 7:22 PM on February 7, 2008

Has anyone else noticed that the Jeopardy questions have gotten way easier, and the contestants way dumber in the past little while?

(I am enjoying this post.)
posted by Sys Rq at 7:34 PM on February 7, 2008

My friend was a contestant on a cheesy Canadian game show hosted by Trebek before he moved on to bigger things in America. He said that Trebek was breathtakingly assholish--to the point of not appearing entirely sane. In particular, he would be chatting congenially to my friend on camera, then as soon as the camera was turned off would turn to whichever show functionary was handy and say someting like: "Jesus Christ, can you believe this loser asshole?" Referring to my friend and right in front of his face. When my friend would respond, Trebek would completely ignore him, as though he where a dog barking in the distance, and continue to slag him to the producer or whomever. Then, cameras on and it was "So, Mike, you've got $2,000 so far, which door are you going to choose?"
posted by Turtles all the way down at 7:45 PM on February 7, 2008

Oh yeah, I've always gotten that arsehat vibe from Trebek.

Has anyone else noticed that the Jeopardy questions have gotten way easier, and the contestants way dumber in the past little while?

Thanks for ruining it - I thought *I* was getting smarter.

Seriously, after flunking the Jeopardy tryout a few years ago I swore I would no longer make fun of contestants who said really dumb things. But sometimes you just can't help it.


(And SNL Celebrity Jeopardy was great.)
posted by NorthernLite at 7:54 PM on February 7, 2008

Hey, NorthernLite, buddy, you *are* getting smarter. Every day, man.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 7:58 PM on February 7, 2008

I want to get the "fuck you, fuck you, fuck you" as my ringtone.
posted by Lucinda at 8:21 PM on February 7, 2008

DOLLY PARTON!!!
posted by dirigibleman at 8:54 PM on February 7, 2008

I was on about 15 years ago. During the break, they were taking questions from the crowd. Among the crowd were a bunch of middle-school honor students. One of them asked, "Mr. Trebek, what's your secret to keeping to cool and collected in front of millions of people, day after day?" Alex Trebek immediately responded, "I use a lot of heavy drugs." Everyone had a laugh, and then a flunky ran in and whispered something in his ear. Trebek immediately gave an insincere apology for daring to make a joke about drugs. He's fine by me!
posted by jtron at 8:59 PM on February 7, 2008 [2 favorites]

When I was on Jeopardy! I got to watch some of the other games in my tournament. During commercial breaks Trebek would take questions from the audience. If anybody got the microphone and said "Um," before asking their question, he would interrupt them to say "Don't start your sentence with 'um.'" and refuse to take their question.

The most surreal moment, however, came when some poor woman in the front row lost control of herself and called out an answer: Isabelle Allende, if I recall. None of the contestants appeared to hear it though, and none of them buzzed in to answer that question. Trebek addressed this incident during the next commercial break. "A woman in the audience," he said, quite pleasantly, "called out an answer during our last segment. Luckily for her, none of the contestants answered the question. Otherwise Johnny [Gilbert, the announcer] and I would have taken her out back and beaten her within an inch of her life."

A few people in the audience chuckled uncomfortably, but most of us just sat in stunned silence.

These videos are great.
posted by PhatLobley at 9:00 PM on February 7, 2008 [7 favorites]

Jeopardy has been replaced by the Cash Cab. And Benjamin Bailey is much friendlier. Or at least he seems to be.
posted by wv kay in ga at 9:35 PM on February 7, 2008

I wish everyone on television was as openly insane as him.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:38 PM on February 7, 2008

Why is nobody answering in the form of a question, goddamnit?

(Sorry, just getting into the spirit fuck damn shit piss FUCK)
posted by not_on_display at 10:25 PM on February 7, 2008

Mildly interesting, but it just doesn't matter what Trebek is "really" like off-camera. To me, anyway. He's a genial host, offers up some semi-decent attempts at humor occasionally, and keeps things going. What more could you want in a quiz-show host?

And like others: when I auditioned in SF back in (?) 1996 and missed the cut by ONE question, I swore that I would never mock contestants who appeared dumb.
posted by davidmsc at 11:09 PM on February 7, 2008

MC Trebek

Trebek goes to Funkytown
posted by saslett at 12:15 AM on February 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

Anyone remember the portrayal of Trebek from DFW's "Little Expressionless Animals" in Girl with Curious Hair?

A game show host has a fairly easy professional life. All five of a week's slots can be shot in one long day. Usually one hard week a month is spent on performance work in the studio. the rest of the host's time is his own. Bert Convoy makes the rounds of car shows and mall openings and Love Boat episodes and is a millionaire several times over. Pat Sajak plays phenomenal racquetball, and gardens. No one is exactly sure what Alex Trebek does with his time.

Funny, banal and creepy; just like the real thing.

Then again, Jennings has described the dude as a "robot", though he later corrected himself.
posted by HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal at 2:01 AM on February 8, 2008 [3 favorites]

"spaz out"? WTF?
posted by patricio at 2:27 AM on February 8, 2008

"spaz out" as in "have an involuntary spam"?
posted by Dr. Curare at 3:24 AM on February 8, 2008

This was really funny ! I didn't know he had it in him. Gave me a good laugh to start the day !
posted by butterfly7171 at 4:59 AM on February 8, 2008

"have an involuntary spam"

I can't tell you how many times that's happened to me--I look down and I'm holding a key and the empty can, but the only thing remaining of its contents are a few smears of grease and a vague queasy feeling.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 5:12 AM on February 8, 2008 [7 favorites]

Perhaps it's my UK sensitivity but "spaz" is not a reference to having a spasm but being spastic...
posted by patricio at 5:41 AM on February 8, 2008

ICE BURN!

"Hurts to miss that one ..."
posted by elmwood at 5:42 AM on February 8, 2008

Last night's Jeopardy! had a guy from Lowell, MA who spoke infrequently enough during the first segment that I actually thought he had a speech impediment of some sort. I fast-forwarded through the first commercial break, though, and caught up a few seconds into his interview and recognized the accent.

Anyhow, I think the crew was having a bit of a laugh, because there was an entire category called "Arnold," which was clearly designed for the lulz when he called for it. Later, though, there was a clue, to which I don't remember the response, but it was a word that was barely recognizable as English through his accent. Alex said, "Yes...," and gleefuly mimed the word.

This is why I love Alex Trebek.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:13 AM on February 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

While the frequency of my Jeopardy! watching can be described as "when it happened to be on", Alex Trebek has always been a notable figure, for when we were growing up, my sisters and I all agree he bore a striking resemblence to our father (at least until Alex shaved his mustache off), in a naive sort of "Look, it's dad on TV!" sort of way.

Of course, the resemblence was largely physical, as they speak and act vastly different. I guess dub the audio of Robert DeNiro from "A Bronx Tale" over an episode of Jeopardy! and you sorta get the idea.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 6:35 AM on February 8, 2008

Then again, Jennings has described the dude as a "robot", though he later corrected himself.

I think this is a point you're making, but that first post was clearly a joke; I wouldn't say he "corrected himself", so much as he clarified for people that like to get their panties in a bunch. That first post got picked up in the news, and people started writing in talking about what an ingrate Jennings was. Pretty ridiculous stuff...
posted by inigo2 at 7:29 AM on February 8, 2008

Trust me, nobody else in the world swears with as much raw talent.

I respectfully disagree.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:58 AM on February 8, 2008

Ursula Andress, Catherine Deneuve, and Charo - twice!

Foreign FLICKS, Mr. Connery... foreign FLICKS!
posted by porn in the woods at 8:50 AM on February 8, 2008

no whammies no whammies no whammies...
posted by ericbop at 12:02 PM on February 8, 2008