Alex Trebek

Alex Trebek was interviewed for two hours plus in Studio City, CA.  Trebek talked about his early career interests, his school years (including earning a Philosophy degree), and his start in broadcasting on the CBC in Canada.  He reminisced 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 talked about hosting the “live” CBC series Music Hop, which resembled the later American series Hullabaloo.   He talked about hosting several series on the CBC, including talk and game shows.  He discussed 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 described 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 talked 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 spoke in great detail about his long association as the host of the syndicated game show Jeopardy!  Among the topics he discussed were the game play, Celebrity Jeopardy!, contestant selection, his approach to his hosting duties, and the winning streak of Ken Jennings.  Trebek also talked about his association with the USO over the years. The interview was conducted by Barrie Nedler on August 22, 2007.