‘Jeopardy!’ executive producer opens show with touching tribute to Alex Trebek

“Jeopardy!” executive producer Mike Richards opened Monday’s show by honoring beloved and longtime host, Alex Trebek. Trebek died Sunday after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.

“This is an enormous loss for our staff, crew, for his family, and for his millions of fans,” said Richards. “He will forever be an inspiration for his constant desire to learn, his kindness, and for his love of his family.”

While Trebek collected several Emmys and became a pop culture icon during his career, he will most be remembered for the joy he brought to households everyday, for 36 years.

Video Transcript

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MIKE RICHARDS: Over the weekend, we lost our beloved host, Alex Trebek. This is an enormous loss for our staff and crew, for his family, and for his millions of fans.

- Jeopardy executive producer Mike Richards opened Monday's show by honoring beloved and longtime host Alex Trebek following his death on Sunday from a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.

MIKE RICHARDS: He will forever be an inspiration for his constant desire to learn, his kindness, and for his love of his family.

- Alex was so admired and loved that thousands of celebrities and fans, including A-list actors, legendary musicians, and even former US presidents publicly honored him-- like Bill Clinton, who tweeted "Hillary and I loved watching Alex Trebek on Jeopardy through the years. He made knowledge fun and valuable. We will miss him very much."

And while Alex collected lots of Emmys and became a pop culture icon during his career, he will be remembered most for the joy he brought every day for more than 30 years.

MIKE RICHARDS: On behalf of everyone here at Jeopardy thank you for everything, Alex. This is Jeopardy.