Alex Trebek

In his two-hour interview, Alex Trebek (1940-2020) talks about his early career interests, his school years (including earning a Philosophy degree), and his start in broadcasting on the CBC in Canada. He reminisces about his days in radio and television broadcasting in his early twenties and the excitement of those days and the pranks he and his colleagues played on each other. He talks about hosting the "live" CBC series Music Hop, which resembled the later American series Hullabaloo. He talks about hosting several series on the CBC, including talk and game shows. He discusses how he came to appear on American television as the host of the NBC daytime game show The Wizard of Odds, and his move to the States. He describes how his "look" was desirable since it was different, saying he was the first game show host since Groucho Marx to have a mustache. He talks about his continual hosting in game shows in the 1970s in the U.S. and Canada and how he never felt like a celebrity and insisted to be introduced as the "host" of the show, rather than the star. He speaks in great detail about his long association as the host of the syndicated game show Jeopardy! Among the topics he discusses are the game play, Celebrity Jeopardy!, contestant selection, his approach to his hosting duties, and the winning streak of Ken Jennings. Trebek also talks about his association with the USO over the years. Barrie Nedler conducted the interview on August 22, 2007 in Studio City, CA.