Trebek for $100

Alex Trebek has been monitoring the answers (i.e., questions) on Jeopardy for 28 years, which makes him one of the icons of television. There are a few other folks who go on, reliably delivering their material again and again, but not many. And even fewer come across quite as smart.

Spoiler alert: Trebek already knows the answers (i.e., questions).

Profiling Trebek, Dan Zak at WaPo doesn't exactly rake through the dirt. There is no dirt. Trebek is not a Jekyll and Hyde, is not a secret high-lifer, and appears to be exactly the same onstage or off. And let's face it. Onstage he's not exactly a house a'fire. But he's not supposed to be. He's the man with the answers (i.e., questions).

[He] remains apart, behind a lectern near a wall of flat-screen TVs. He is also cordial and sedate. He is the host of the show. He cracks few jokes. He hugs no one. He wears suits in gray and navy. He announces categories and reads clues and says “Right” or “Correct” or “Yes” and, sometimes, “No.” He has all the answers, which means he knows all the questions. He used to stand behind the lectern but now he sits. He used to have a mustache but now he doesn’t.

That almost completely sums him up. Except he likes to read Immanuel Kant in his spare time. Immanuel Kant??? Maybe he does know all the answers. And all the questions, for that matter.

Jeopardy is the show we like to watch to feel smart. If you want to feel smart for reading a web article, check out Alex Trebek, thinking deep after 28 seasons of ‘Jeopardy!’ (By the way, halfway through we had to log in via Facebook to continue reading. We were not harmed in the process.)
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