‘Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time’: Trebek says Round 2 gets better
PASADENA
TV viewers apparently are really excited to find out who really is the greatest “Jeopardy!” champion of all.
Tuesday’s first episode of the game show’s clash of titans on ABC drew a whopping 14.4 million viewers, easily dominating the prime-time competition. Fans saw Ken Jennings top James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter in the first round of “The Greatest of All Time” tournament.
“It’s a significant event in my television career,” host Alex Trebek told journalists at the Television Critics Association press tour. “… From my point of view, it doesn’t get any better than this.”
Appearing alongside Jennings, Holzhauer and Rutter during a lively panel session, Trebek promised that the show gets even more fun in Wednesday night’s second round.
The players, he said, “seem more relaxed. There’s more banter. Their personalities come out.”
Not surprisingly, most of the questions during the panel were directed at Trebek, 79, who has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He has spoken in recent interviews about looking ahead to his eventual retirement and how he wants to save the last 30 seconds of his final show to say farewell to the audience.
“I don’t foresee that 30-second moment coming up in the near future,” he said. “… Thinking about retiring and retiring are two different things. We’ll see what happens.”
Asked for an update on his health status, Trebek, who has been fighting a cold, said “some days are better than others.”
“My resistance is lower than most of you because of the treatments I’ve been having, chemotherapy …,” he said. “They’ve got me off one of my chemo drugs, which was killing me. … I won’t know for a week or so where I stand.”
Asked what he would do post-“Jeopardy!” Trebek — with perfect comic timing — replied: “Drink.”
And what will he miss the most about working on the venerable game show? The time on stage that he gets to spend with the contestants.
“I love spending time with smart people,” he said. “I hate spending time with stupid people.”
Trebek appreciates all the love that has come his way since he revealed his health woes, but downplays the praise from critics who laud him as a television institution.
“The pity factor is out there.,” he acknowledged. “People have been so kind, sending good thoughts … (but) my success, to a great degree, has depended on the success of the game.”
The “Jeopardy!” champs, who all showed up for the panel wearing purple pancreatic ribbons, don’t quite see it that way. Said Jennings, “If anyone’s irreplaceable, it’s Alex …He’s the last of the great old-school broadcasters on our TV every night.”
“He’s very modest, but there wouldn’t be any ‘Jeopardy!’ without Alex,” added Rutter, who praised the host’s “professionalism” and marveled at how “he keeps getting better.”
Holzhauer chimed in, asking the journalists if they could name any other celebrity who has lasted this long and not been involved in “even a minor scandal”?
Replied Trebek, “There’s still time.”
But Trebek made sure to turn the spotlight on the “Jeopardy!” all-stars, particularly Holzhauer. He pointed out that, until he recently came along, there was never a third candidate worthy of taking on Jennings and Rutter.
“Now, suddenly, it’s great television,” he said.
Jennings credited Holzhauer’s aggressive, “gunslinger” style of play for altering his own approach to the game.
“Brad and I realized we had to take big chances or risk getting steamrolled,” said Jennings, who said that, going into the “GOAT” tournament, he studied Holzhauer’s appearances on the show like “an offensive coordinator” in football.
On Tuesday night, Jennings, came out on top with a combined total of $63,400 — a mere $200 over Holzhauer’s $63,200 winnings. The first contestant to capture three rounds will go home with $1 million.