'Jeopardy!' releases 1st teaser with Ken Jennings as host
Longtime host Alex Trebek died Nov. 8 from pancreatic cancer.
Monday marks the start of a new "Jeopardy!" era. Following the death of longtime host Alex Trebek, whose final episode aired Jan. 8, the show will begin introducing a series of guest hosts until a permanent replacement is named.
The first interim host is 74-time "Jeopardy!" champion Ken Jennings. The show shared a teaser of what's in store with Jennings at the helm, which includes an emotional tribute to Trebek.
"Sharing the stage with Alex Trebek was one of the greatest honors of my life," the 46-year-old emotionally says during the promo. "Like all 'Jeopardy!' fans, I miss Alex... very much."
Jennings previously spoke about one of the final conversations he had with Trebek, which took place shortly before the beloved game show host died.
"I spoke to him on the phone actually the weekend he passed and he was -- he was frail but he was still very much Alex," Jennings, who holds the record for the longest winning "Jeopardy!" streak, said on "Good Morning America."
"I remember him just being very confident in me to be a guest host if he ever needed that," he continued, adding that he was reminded by Trebek that "the host is not the star of 'Jeopardy!'"
Jennings went on to explain that Trebek "always made it about the players and about the competition," adding, "It's just hard to imagine that in the TV landscape today, a star of his size saying, 'Hey, the game is not about you' -- but that was great advice."
According to a statement from the show, Trebek's final day of filming was Oct. 29 -- just 10 days before he died of pancreatic cancer on Nov. 8 at the age of 80.
The first episode of the Jennings-helmed "Jeopardy!" premieres at 7 p.m. ET Monday on ABC.
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