Alex Trebek has set a Guinness World Record, and may one day be a trivia question on his own game show.
As of Friday, June 13, Trebek had hosted 6,829 episodes of Jeopardy!, which set the record for the “most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter (one show).”
The early episodes of Jeopardy!, in the 1970s, were hosted by Art Fleming, with Don Pardo and John Harlan serving as the announcers. 73-year-old Trebek took over in 1984 and has hosted the show ever since. Jeopardy! is currently in its 30th season with the 31st scheduled to premiere in September. Throughout his career, Trebek has asked 416,569 official Jeopardy! questions.
“It’s an honor to hold the Guinness World Record for hosting Jeopardy! which I’ve often said is the best of reality TV,” Alex said in a statement. In an accompanying video Trebek said, “It’s a fun show to do, and it’s a quality program that I never have to apologize for when I meet people.”
Trebek’s current contract runs through 2016, and the media has speculated that he will enter retirement after that. However, Alex said that he is not sure what he wants to do. “Everybody’s speculating on my retirement, and I don’t know why,” Trebek said. “It’s silly. Somebody asked me if I’ve given any thoughts to retiring. Well, yes, I’ve given thoughts to retiring…. Everybody assumes from my having said that, that he’s retiring. Well, no. I’ve been thinking about it. So allow me to think about it.”
Alex did reveal that when he does decide to retire, he won’t make it a big deal. “There won’t be any fanfare,” Trebek said. “It’ll be like the time I shaved my mustache on a whim. I’ll just ask the director to leave me 20 or 30 seconds at the end of the program to say a few words and I’ll say a few words and thank people and be on my way.”
Image via Wikimedia Commons
