As television gears up for the final episodes of Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, more memories from his decades of hosting the show are coming to light. Longtime Jeopardy! narrator Johnny Gilbert, who has been on the series the entirety of Trebek's tenure, recently reminisced about his friend and the sweet interactions he'd have with the television audience.
Johnny Gilbert worked with Alex Trebek for over 30 years, which is a long time to get to know someone on and off camera. Even when the two weren't working on the show, they were "golf buddies." In a recent interview with People, Gilbert recalled that in the time Jeopardy! would take breaks between filming, Trebek would interact with the audience. Johnny Gilbert remarked that Trebek especially liked interacting with the kids in the studio, encouraging them to up their own trivia knowledge through learning and other methods:
He was always telling the youngsters in the audience, 'You've got to read, you have to learn. That's the way you're going to succeed.'
Alex Trebek was also known to take questions from the Jeopardy! audience, to the point that it sometimes caused some issues in filming. With Trebek's cheeky personality, it's only fitting that he would have more than a few memorable moments talking with show attendees. Gilbert recalled one funny interaction in particular that really speaks to the host's willingness to interact with fans:
He would get so involved that we would have to hold up coming back out of commercial for him to finish with the audience, but he insisted… One gal asked him, 'Boxers or briefs?' Alex took a beat and said, 'Thongs!' I told him a long time ago, 'If this show goes away, you could be a stand-up comedian.' He always loved to do jokes.
Jeopardy! fans have certainly witnessed the quick wit of Alex Trebek during a round of the show, so it must've been a real treat to see him with an extended amount of time to crack some jokes. It's been said about a hundred times before and it'll be said a hundred times more, but whoever is the next full-time host of the program will have some big shoes to fill to match his greatness. As for 90-year-old show announcer Johnny Gilbert, he plans to stay on board with the next host and stick with the game as long as he can. Gilbert will presumably return alongside interim host Ken Jennings, who will be the first of a few guest hosts of the program until a full-time host is found.
Alex Trebek's final episodes of Jeopardy! are set to air the week of January 4, 2021. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for more on the game show, and for the latest news happening in television and movies.
