Ken Jennings recounts time Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek appeared on show without trousers

Iconic host was attempting to defuse on-set tension

Alex Trebek on the set of Jeopardy! in 2005 (YouTube/Jeopardy)

Longtime Jeopardy! fans might remember the time host Alex Trebek appeared on the game show without trousers.

The sequence, which first aired in 2005, was brought up by Jeopardy! champion and interim host Ken Jennings. Jennings has taken over hosting for the time being following Trebek’s death from pancreatic cancer at the aged of 80, in November 2020.

Asked during an appearance on The View on Monday to share his favourite memory of Trebek on the show, Jennings replied: “There was a great moment … where the contestants were nervously before the show, [saying] ‘Behind these lecterns, we could take off our pants and nobody would know.’

“Alex must have been listening because at the top of the show, the music plays, the announcer says ‘the host of Jeoardy!, Alex Trebek!’ and he walks out in his boxers, and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life. That really, really cut the tension.”

The sequence was part of an Ultimate Tournament of Champions hosted by Trebek in 2005, in which Jennings was a participant. 

Trebek can be seen in the clip walking onto the set wearing his usual blazer, button-down shirt, and tie, but no trousers – stepping onto the set in his underwear, dress shoes, and socks. 

“I was informed backstage a few minutes ago that our tree contestants wanted to relieve some of the tension, and they said we must do the programme without trousers,” Trebek says in the video. 

“Can we get a camera behind to make sure that they have done the same as I?”

The camera then reveals that all three contestants – Jennings,  Brad Rutter, and Jerome Vered, have failed to heed their own advice and are, in fact, wearing their full suits, including trousers.

Rutter also remembered the moment fondly in a recent interview with WOGL, telling the radio station that Trebek had a sense of humour, “even more so in person than you would see on the show”.

A permanent successor for Trebek has yet to be announced.