The last five Jeopardy! episodes hosted by Alex Trebek will begin airing Monday, January 4.
The final episode filmed before Trebek's death will air January 8 and will include “a special tribute to the life and work of the man who captained America’s Favorite Quiz Show with skill, style, and sophistication for 36+ years,” according to a statement from Jeopardy! producer Sony Pictures Television.
Trebek died on November 8 at the age of 80 after battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He announced his diagnosis in March 2019 and kept fans updated while recording episodes of the game show between treatments, giving no indication of retiring from the host podium.
Trebek taped his final episode of Jeopardy! on October 29, just days before his death. Jeopardy! generally tapes a single week of episodes on one day.
The game show stopped filming new episodes in March 2020 during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. When new episodes resumed filming during the summer, and given Trebek’s health status, some minor changes were made in the studio. Contestants were separated by several feet, and Trebek stopped shaking the hands of contestants.
Trebek was Jeopardy’s second host after Art Fleming hosted the original version of the game show. There will now be a series of guest hosts, according to show producers. At the end of November, they announced Ken Jennings, a former contestant, will be the first guest host.
Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards released a statement following Trebek’s death saying the show would resume production on November 30.
Jennings was deemed the “Greatest of All Time” in January 2020 following a prime time Jeopardy! event. Other guest hosts will be announced in the future.
Jennings joined the program at the start of the current season as a consulting producer. Before winning the “Greatest of All Time” series, Jennings set a still-standing record of 74 wins in a row in 2004.
“Alex believed in the importance of Jeopardy! and always said that he wanted the show to go on after him,” said Richards. “We will honor Alex’s legacy by continuing to produce the game he loved with smart contestants and challenging clues. By bringing in familiar guest hosts for the foreseeable future, our goal is to create a sense of community and continuity for our viewers.”
New episodes featuring Jennings will air starting January 11.
