Who is Alex Trebek?
Since 1984, he's been hosting the insanely popular quiz show Jeopardy!
And, well, he's not always such a nice guy, as he's occasionally proved through controversial
off-the-cuff remarks.
With that in mind, let's look at some of Trebek's most dastardly on-screen deeds.
No football for Jeopardy! nerds
Over the course of his decades-long career, Alex Trebek hasn't given a single Jeopardy!
contestant a wedgie, but he appeared to come awfully close in one February 2018 episode.
The host rather mercilessly teased all three contestants, including multi-day champ Ryan
Fenster, for their complete and utter lack of knowledge of football.
None of them even attempted to make a single guess in the category.
After the first clue, Trebek jeered,
"I can tell you guys are big football fans."
After another clue was met with more blank stares, Trebek sniped,
"Do you think we should go to commercial?"
As the contestants fumbled a few more times, the host quipped,
"Let's look at the thousand dollar clue, just for the fun of it."
By the end, Trebek's derision reached its apex:
"If you guys ring in and get this one, I will die."
Mean about memes
How would you fare with this Final Jeopardy! clue?
"In a hint of the future, in 1973 Marjorie Post gave it to the U.S. government as a warm-weather
presidential retreat, but it was returned."
If you just shouted, "What is Mar-a-Lago?", congrats!
That's the correct answer, and you'd probably be a decent Jeopardy! competitor.
Also, you might've fared better than Jeopardy! champ Erik Agard, who appeared on the show
in October 2018 and didn't have the foggiest idea what to write down for this clue.
In lieu of hazarding a guess, he jotted down a smart-alecky meme instead.
"'What is you doing baby?'
Well, I'm responding incorrectly!
And I'm going to lose a thousand dollars."
Despite the wrong answer, or non-answer, Agard had a big enough lead to still win the game,
while also demonstrating that he was a rather spicy memelord.
"What is a threesome?"
Jeopardy! contestant Kara Spak offered a delightfully awkward response to the following clue in
the "Group Countdown" category: "If Andy yearns for Brenda and Brenda cares about Charlene
who pines for Andy, the three of them form one of these."
You don't have to be a professional love-maker to know the answer to that one, but Spak apparently
choked in the heat of the moment.
"What is a threesome?"
"No."
The correct response, of course, is, "What is a love triangle?"
Following Spak's response, Trebek deadpanned:
"Kara has obviously had much more experience than I."
Spak later recalled how Trebek also called her a "saucy wench" during a commercial break.
And in her next game, he referenced the moment yet again.
"Well, you have met our threesome for this second semifinal match."
Never insult Big Bird
Word to the wise: Think twice before speaking dismissively of Big Bird when Alex Trebek
is within earshot.
Lisa Mueller learned that the hard way.
During the contestant chit-chat segment in a March 2018 episode, Mueller told Trebek
how she used to obsessively write to her heroes in her youth.
"I love Big Bird.
I wrote to them and I said, ‘My third favorite color is yellow, just like you are.’
I guess it's kind of a backhanded compliment."
Mueller continued on with her tale, and Trebek had quite the response for her.
"I didn't actually have bunnies.
But I just wanted to draw some bunnies.”
"Get the feeling that our current champion is a little weird?"
When Mueller's jaw dropped, It didn't escape Trebek's attention.
"Oh, give me, yeah, give me the look.
You disrespected Bird Bird!
You're lucky to be here."
The Pygmy Goat Incident
In a July 2012 episode, Laura Sikes Jambon, a graduate student from Rochester, New York,
definitely didn't encounter the nice version of Alex Trebek.
During the contestant chit-chat, she told Trebek about a pygmy goat named Billy she
used to own for "the cuteness factor."
Alas, Billy wasn't long for this cruel world.
Aside from occasionally munching on yummy cat fur, Billy apparently enjoyed eating a
lot of other things, too.
Jambon listed items like a three-wick candle, an entire bag of Hershey Kisses, and a bag
of concrete mix, the latter of which led to his demise.
Trebek's response to this story wasn't exactly the most graceful.
"Wait a minute.
Was it a 60-pound or an 80-pound bag?
Because-"
"Alex, you're being insensitive."
And then Trebek totally blew off returning champ AJ.
"AJ, I don't want to talk to you."