What Alex Trebek meant to me
It’s funny to think that a person you’ve never met can have had such an impact on a part of who you are. Growing up in my household, education was prioritized over everything. Every hobby we had back-ended on learning — remember Speak and Spell? That was my first portable ‘game’. Even early video games were the likes of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego where the objective was to hunt down Carmen through your knowledge of geography. Watching TV was restricted to a minimum and as much as I tried to sneak in my TV watching my mother always managed to peel me off to get me to do my homework and study. Except when it came to Jeopardy. The show with these buzzing bright blue screens and a well-spoken host sporting a large push broom on his upper lip. My mother saw the learning aspect and relaxed her TV restrictions, but mostly because she loved playing along. And was she ever good! She’d have the answers to almost everything, quick to the draw, she’d shout out her answers so loudly we wouldn’t have a chance. At the time I’d find it annoying, partly due to her exuberance, but also in frustration that I couldn’t read the questions as fast (or have the answers) “Aw mom not so loud, give us a chance to answer!”. I would notice the sly smirk she’d make without averting her eyes from the screen as her children shushed her. Her inner joy of being correct surpassed the remarks of her annoyed children.
The show with these buzzing bright blue screens and a well-spoken host sporting a large push broom on his upper lip.
I was never good, at least early on, but to my credit, I was only a kid. As I grew up and went on to university, Jeopardy remained an evening staple. To my delight, my housemates enjoyed partaking in the competition as well — it was something we all seemed to have grown up with, a shared bond. I was determined to get better and have the bragging rights to the correct answers, I was even convinced one day I’d be able to make it on the show. But mostly we’d share a good laugh as we’d grown to love the slightly outdated and over-rehearsed interview questions with the contestants. The snappy quips, dry humour and borderline ‘dad jokes’ Alex would inject would always get us. ‘One piece of trivia you’d share on Jeopardy about yourself’ became a great way to get to know someone, I’d often fantasize what I’d say, trying to come up with the most ridiculous scenarios.
Evenings would go by, days after days, weeks after weeks, years after years, Alex would always be there as someone I could count on to bring a bit of excitement and relief to my day. Even well after mom passed away, the first thing I’d do when I’d visit my dad was tune into Jeopardy. Everything from the jingle to hearing “this is Jeopardy!” and watching the man himself walk on stage would put me in a different world. My sister and I would find the same competitive thrill in trying to get the right answer, but this time we were more supportive if one of us had a good response to a tough question.
I found solace and attachment to this show. Some people will say that it’s nothing more than a game show version of Trivial Pursuit. To those people I say you’re wrong, it’s much more. Alex and his show had opened my curiosity for learning, competitiveness and the need to be better. It was something and someone I could count on when I was having a bad day. And more than that, knowing the charitable man Alex was outside of the show set a great example for all of us.
I’ll never be good enough to be on Jeopardy, but at least I’ve had the pleasure of playing along with Alex all these years. Thank you for all the memories.
