Alex Trebek‘s final episode as the host of “Jeopardy!” will air Christmas Day.
The 80-year-old, who died Sunday, continued filming the syndicated game show while battling pancreatic cancer and appears to have more to give, even in death. His last day in the studio was Oct. 29, according to Sony Pictures Entertainment, which produces the show in batches well in advance of each episode’s air date.
Episodes hosted by the Daytime Emmy winner will air through Dec. 25 — though it’s unclear how many there are — and, in announcing Trebek’s passing, the show’s representatives said they were not announcing a new host yet. (He’s irreplaceable, anyway.)
But that hasn’t stopped speculation from running rampant about who might succeed the stalwart host, who had stood behind his iconic lectern since the series was revived in 1984. The Canadian-bred TV legend emceed more than 8,200 episodes over nearly 37 seasons and set a Guinness record along the way.
Professorial and unpretentious, Trebek continued to helm the question-and-answer show for 18 months after his Stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in March 2019. He was open about his prognosis and grueling treatment throughout, particularly how his battle affected his work duties. He even found time to write a memoir.
Even before then, though, Trebek knew his time as the trivia master would come to an end, occasionally naming possible successors along the way. He joked that it should be his longtime friend Betty White, 98, because “they want somebody younger, somebody funnier.”
On other occasions, when speaking of his retirement, Trebek named a few replacements: The frontrunner was another Alex: Alex Faust, the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Kings, Trebek said in a 2018 episode of Fox News’ “OBJECTified.” Another was CNN legal analyst Laura Coates, who grew up watching the show with her family.
Of course, there are always the all-stars to consider: Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter, all of whom competed early this year to determine with Trebek the greatest “Jeopardy!” contestant of all time. It was Jennings in the end, and the record-holder for winning the most consecutive games was tapped as a consulting producer on the show in September, leading many to believe that he was being groomed to take over for the ailing Trebek.
On Monday, the Wrap reported that ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos’ reps are already lobbying for him to get the job too.
