Alex Trebek’s last episode of Jeopardy will air on January 8, bringing the beloved host’s tenure on the iconic game show to an end after more than three decades.
Trebek was filming in the Jeopardy studio through late October, not long before his death at age 80 on November 8. Because the game show is produced with a relatively long lead time, new episodes featuring Trebek have continued to air posthumously. His final episode was originally slated to air on Christmas Day; however, the show is now closing out the year with “10 of his best episodes,” which kicked off on December 21. The host’s last week of episodes has been rescheduled to run from Monday, January 4 through Friday, January 8, 2021.
Trebek took over as Jeopardy host in 1984, when a revived version of the classic show premiered. (The original version of Jeopardy, hosted by the actor Art Fleming, ran from 1964 to 1979, airing every weekday afternoon on NBC.) Trebek went on to become one of the most familiar faces on American television, and was intent on continuing to stay that way for as long as possible, while keeping an eye on both his age and his health.
In 2019, Trebek revealed to the public that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. But he remained on the job as much as he could while pursuing aggressive treatment, adamant that he did not want to leave Jeopardy in light of his diagnosis.
Speaking to reporters at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in January 2020, Trebek said he planned to only inform his producers that he was stepping away from the series on the day he taped his final program.
