Beloved game show host Alex Trebek left one last surprise for the world up his sleeve: Jeopardy! posted on its Twitter account today a heartwarming Thanksgiving message from Trebek, taped in front of the studio audience some time before his death from pancreatic cancer earlier this month.
“Happy Thanksgiving ladies and gentlemen,” Trebek says in the video clip. “You know in spite of what America and the rest of the world is experiencing right now, there are many reasons to be thankful. There are more and more people extending helpful hands to do a kindness to their neighbors, and that’s a good thing. Keep the faith. We’re going to get through all of this and we will be a better society because of it.”
Trebek, among the most revered television personalities of the past generation, hosted the popular gameshow for over 30 years. Jeopardy! recently announced that Ken Jennings, a former contestant on the show who won a record-setting 74 consecutive games, would become the show’s interim host, in shows that will begin airing in January, 2021.