Op-Ed: Game Show Host Sucks In My Opinion

The Greatest Jeopardy Player Ever with Ken Jennings


It would be an exaggeration to say that I hate Alex Trebek, but I don't think I could ever look him in the face and tell him it was nice to meet him.
On the best of days I find him annoying and pompous. Other times he is downright mean.

For example, today I watched helplessly from my living room as he made cruel overtures to crush what little confidence a captive contestant had left. An act of disdain made all the more despicable because we are currently being treated to The Teen Jeopardy Tournament.

I am not defending the poor contestant. I will concede that she was outmatched by both of her hungry opponents and was taking quite a beating throughout the game. (If it's any consolation to her, she was by far the best looking of the trio, a fact that will serve her better than being most likely to do something). To make matters worse, she cemented her also-run by naming London and Paris as the "two most popular countries for U.S. tourists*," in Final Jeopardy, a mistake that Alex made certain to point out when a simple 'incorrect' would have sufficed. It seems that her elimination from the tournament was not punishment enough; we should also humiliate her for how badly she was eliminated, taunt her for not putting up a better fight.

I get the feeling that he believes the losing contestants are unworthy, while he regards the victors with the respect they are due as geniuses like himself. You could all but hear him rooting for the sole male contestant today as the lad ran away with it in Round One. All the while Alex is reminding the other two of just how badly they are being walloped. He practically gloats when a contestant shines, as if he has something to do with it, or at least if he did it would elicit a similar result.

Maybe I am taking this too hard, but I believe Mr. Trebek's attitude toward this girl is indicative of a deep-seeded belief toward all the contestants that under-perform: that they are beneath him. You can hear it in the way he subtly corrects their pronunciation when parroting their answers back to them, and god forbid a question should pass by uncontested. Is that a note of condescension I detect?

Why is he so smug anyway? He's a game-show host. I don't appreciate his pithy comments or perfect pronunciation. He sounds like a racist when he insists on adopting a little accent to pronounce foreign tongue twisters like 'India.' Does he believe that the audience will admire his deference if he sounds like he's impersonating Apu?


Dear Alex,

I know what's on those blue cards. You're nothing without your judges. Do you remember what it was like to be a child? To be afraid and feel uncomfortable on TV? Are you sure that you would be any better?
And even if you were... well, what should we prize more, humility or fact retention?



*(The correct answer is Canada and Mexico)