For 36 years, Alex Trebek hosted Jeopardy right up until he passed away on November 8. During that time, he stood at the podium for over 8,200 episodes, giving out over half a million clues and interacting with thousands of contestants. It turns out though, that's not all the iconic host was doing.
Journalist Clare McNear, who penned a book about Jeopardy called Answers in the Form of Questions, discovered a shocking truth while researching the book - that Alex controlled the boop-boop-boop sound that signals when a contestant has run out of time to answer a clue.
In a tweet, she explained that she stumbled upon the revelation while speaking with Bob Bergen, who hosted the kids version of the game show in the '90s. He told her he was in disbelief when he learned the tone was controlled by the host. Bergen described how Harry Friedman, who oversaw both the regular Jeopardy and the kids version, pointed out the button. Bob stated,
"The very first day, Harry is showing me the podium with the button. I said, 'Wait a minute, there's no set time? Do you edit it down so people don't go, 'How come he had ten seconds and he had four?' He said, 'Nope, and nobody in the history of the show has ever questioned it.'"
Even Ken Jennings, who holds the record of the longest winning streak on Jeopardy, only learned of this recently and was as blown away by it as everyone else.
If you need a refresher course on the sound, this tweet serves as a helpful reminder:
Even before knowing that Trebek controlled the boop-boop-boop, fans were impressed by him, but this adds a whole new layer to his role.
As for who will fill his shoes, Ken Jennings seems to be a frontrunner. Jennings signed on as a consulting producer in September, a role that saw him reading categories on-air. Following Trebek's passing, it was announced that Jennings would be the first in a series of guest hosts, starting on January 11.
As yet there has been no official word on a replacement.
Photo: Getty Images