In August 1986, VideoAge launched the world’s first TV Game $how Magazine, a New York City-based consumer monthly that, in its short life, reported on over 60 game shows, new and old. Game shows were religiously followed by 70 million weekly viewers in the U.S. in the 1980s. Publisher and editor Dom Serafini was aided by a staff of 17 people, plus freelance contributors.
The January 1987 edition featured a three-page interview with Alex Trebek, then a 47-year-old producer and host of Jeopardy! At that time, the program, on its third season, was the number two rated game show in syndication. The number one was Wheel of Fortune. Both shows were created by U.S. TV host Merv Griffin (1925-2007). Jeopardy! was launched in 1964, while Wheel of Fortune premiered in 1975.
George Alexander (Alex) Trebek died of pancreatic cancer on November 8, 2020, a few months after celebrating his 80th birthday.
Trebek was a philosophy major at the University of Ottawa, Canada. While still a student, he began working part-time at CBC (Canada’s public broadcaster). After graduating, he continued on at CBC for another 12 years, working as a staff announcer in French and English.
In 1973, when Trebek was 33 years old, he decided to go west to Hollywood. “I’d done just about everything I could do in Canada,” he told TV Game $how Magazine.
With the help of fellow Canadian performer Alan Thicke (1947-2016), Trebek went on to host several shows in the U.S., including High Rollers, The $128,000 Question, Double Dare, Battlestars, and finally, Jeopardy! which he hosted for 36 years, until the last day of his life.
In the interview with TV Game $how Magazine he revealed some things about himself: “A lot of people on the staff are intimidated by me,” he said. “And really that’s good and bad.” He also explained why he rarely smiled: “You’re not the main focus of attention. The game show and the contestants are.” But he had a good sense of humor. Asked about his responsibilities as the producer of Jeopardy!, he answered: “Make sure the host doesn’t take drugs!”
In December 1986, Steven Dorfman, then one of Jeopardy!’s 12 writers, penned a three-page story for TV Game $how Magazine on how the answers are written for the show, which tasks contestants to come up with the questions. TV Game $how Magazine returned to cover Trebek several times, including once when the magazine’s Managing Editor Ken Carlton shadowed him during a taping in New York City. Over 400 would-be contestants showed up to audition and one of them had the audacity to ask Trebek, who was explaining the game to them, “Who are you?”
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