Alex Trebek has named two people he'd like to step in as the host of Jeopardy! when he decides to call it quits on the long-running game show. Trebek's contract is up in 2020 and, while he described his odds of staying "50/50 and a little less," he suggested two people to replace him in an interview with TMZ's Harvey Levin on Monday. He said he told the producers "they should consider" Alex Faust, who does the play-by-play for the Los Angeles Kings hockey games. He also named attorney Laura Coates, who has appeared on cable news programs. Both Faust and Coates reacted to Trebek's suggestions on Twitter Monday. "I'm flattered by Mr. Trebek's kind words," Faust wrote. Coates said she was "incredibly honored & humbled." Incredibly honored & humbled @Jeopardy Alex Trebek 1) knows who I am 2) thinks I'd be a great host of my fave game show ever that I grew up watching w/ my family & still watch w/ my own kids (who saw him say this & now think I'm a genius) #Dying https://t.co/qdMxWc9g5e via @TMZ — Laura Coates (@thelauracoates) July 30, 2018 When he does retire, Trebek added, whoever takes over should perhaps keep something in mind when it comes to the pronunciation of questions and answers. "If there are words that are going to be difficult to say properly, I make diacritical marks so that the people at home think, 'Oh, gosh, Trebek is so bright,'" he told Levin in a video TMZ tweeted Thursday. Based on Trebek's own career goals as a child, a long-held dream of hosting the classic ABC quiz show is far from essential. "I joke with audiences, I tell them when I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor, a pilot or Prime Minister of Canada," he told Levin in the OBJECTified interview on the Fox News Channel Sunday. "I have achieved none of my goals. You are looking at a failure." Trebek has hosted Jeopardy! since 1984, but to get the gig, he "paid [his] dues" hosting other game shows for 10 years, he said in the interview. The first game show he helmed was the Canadian high-school quiz Reach for the Top in Canada in 1966. "I got to be the butt of a lot of jokes from people like SCTV," he told Levin. Eugene Levy played Trebek, the host of a quiz show on the Canadian sketch comedy series in 1978. After making a name for himself, Trebek moved south and hosted game shows in the United States. He started on The Wizard of Odds in 1973 only for it to be canceled after a single year before moving on to High Rollers the following year. Trebek also told OBJECTified's host about the first book he bought as a University of Ottawa Prep School student in Canada. "I looked at this and I said, 'My gosh, this book is leather bound, and it's Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and it's only $2. I've got to get that book,'" he said. "That was the beginning of a thirst for knowledge and a love of books." Jeopardy! wrapped Season 34 Friday. It airs weekdays at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.<doc-sep>Alex Trebek hinted that he’s on the verge of retiring, and the ‘Jeopardy’ host’ named Alex Faust as a possible replacement! Before hitting the ‘Daily Double,’ get all the info on this potential successor. “He was one of two people named as potential replacements for Alex Trebek when his Jeopardy contract runs out in 2020.” Who is Alex Faust? This ­Jeopardy­-style answer-question has been swirling around the minds of game show aficionados ever since Alex Trebek, 78, told TMZ’s Harvey Levin that there was a “less than 50% chance” of him signing a new deal. When asked for a possible replacement, Trebek namechecked Alex Faust, 28, so get to know the possible next host of Jeopardy. 1. He’s a sports announcer. In a moment that was 100% pure Canadian, the Ontario-born Trebek picked a hockey announcer as a potential replacement. “I mentioned to our producer not so long ago that the fellow that does play-by-play for the Los Angeles Kings — they should consider him.” Since 2017, Alex has been calling the action at Kings games, but this isn’t his first gig in the announcer’s booth. He called college football and basketball games for ESPNU and served as a radio broadcaster for the American Hockey League’s Utica Comets, calling the first game in the franchise’s history. As the voice of Northeastern University’s men’s basketball program, he also became one of the youngest commentators to ever work an NCAA tournament in 2016. 2. He’s already replaced another legend. If Alex lands the Jeopardy gig, it would be the second consecutive time that he took over for a retiring legend. He got the LA Kings job when Bob Miller, a Hall of Famer broadcaster, retired after 44 seasons with the kings. “The expectation isn’t that I’m going to replace Bob Miller, because that’s just impossible to do,” he told the Los Angeles Times at the time. “ … I know he developed a relationship even beyond the TV sphere of going out and meeting people at events or meeting fans at games. That’s part of the job responsibility for me, for me to get to know fans, for fans to get to know me, and hopefully it all works out over the long haul.” 3. Alex Faust is a Brooklyn native who went to school at Northeastern University. Alex graduated with a degree in political science and economics and worked, for a time, as a data analysis for PricewaterhouseCoopers, all as a means to finance his interest in sports. However, his natural gifts led him to landing a full-time job as a broadcaster. 4. He has a style that helped him earn the job, despite being so young. “I don’t like to be pretentious,” he said. “I think there’s a difference in the way that I call the game that folks may not be used to. I don’t necessarily do as much of a mechanical radio style as you may see elsewhere. And that’s evolved into my style on TV.” 5. Alex wasn’t the only one Trebek named as a replacement. In addition to Alex Faust, Alex Trebek named CNN legal analyst Laura Coates, who was blown away that Alex even knew who she was. “Incredible honored & humbled Alex … thinks I’d be a great host of my fave game show ever that I grew up watching w/ my family & still watch w/ my own kids (who saw him say this & now think I’m a genius).” She would also be a great pick. In addition to her experience as the host of her own Sirius XM radio show, she’s a graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the University of Minnesota Law School. She also has worked as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, and was an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia.<doc-sep>As Alex Trebek, the iconic Jeopardy host, contemplates his retirement, he's also brainstorming who should succeed him as the show's host. Longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, 78, has hinted that he will likely step down when his contract expires in 2020. When considering replacements, Trebek told FOX News Channel's "OBJECTified" that he likes Alex Faust, the Los Angeles Kings 28-year-old play-by-play announcer. "I mentioned to our producer not so long ago that the fellow [Faust] that does play-by-play for the Los Angeles Kings—they should consider him," Trebek said in an interview with Harvey Levin. The host named Faust as the first of a few potential people to be considered as his replacement. Faust inherited his current role with the Kings from retiring Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Miller in 2017 after 44 seasons in Los Angeles. "I guess there are worse ways to randomly see your name show up on TMZ!," Faust tweeted. "I’m flattered by Mr. Trebek’s kind words, and delighted to hear he’s a big LA Kings fan!" It would be a pretty seamless change, according to Trebek. “He’s young, he’s attractive, his first name is Alex,” Trebek said. “It wouldn’t be a big hardship for Johnny Gilbert say, ‘and now, here’s the host of Jeopardy, Alex Not Trebek…” Trebek also added that CNN legal analyst Laura Coates could fill the slot. Coates, a lifelong Jeopardy! fan, was flattered. Trebek has been the face of the iconic game show since 1984 and is a lifelong hockey fan who grew up in Sudbury, Ontario.<doc-sep>Alex Trebek, the host of “Jeopardy!” since 1984, stoked speculation on Monday that he could retire when his contract expires in 2020, telling a TMZ host that his chances of staying longer were “50-50, and a little less.” The absence of Mr. Trebek, 78, would fundamentally alter the lightning-fast trivia show, which relies on his steady delivery to keep the pace humming. His comments, made on a Fox News program hosted by Harvey Levin of TMZ, were far from conclusive, and fans have long guessed who his replacement might be only to see him renew his contract again. But this time he suggested two people he saw fit to replace him — neither of whom had been on the radar of most fans. He first mentioned Alex Faust, the play-by-play announcer for the N.H.L.’s Los Angeles Kings. On Twitter, Mr. Faust appeared to be surprised but grateful for the plug.<doc-sep>
‘What is Alex Trebek retiring?’ The legendary host is reaching the end of his contract, and he knows exactly whom he’d like to take over for him after his final ‘Final Jeopardy.’ Since 1984, Alex Trebek, 78, has stood behind the podium and issued the answers on Jeopardy. Yet, all good things have to come to an end, and while speaking with TMZ’s Harvey Levin on OBJECTified, the topic of his contract’s 2020 expiration date came up. Instead of saying he’ll “do it for as long as he can,” Alex seemed ready to pass the role of host off to someone else. “[I] mentioned to our producer not so long ago that the fellow who does the play-by-play for the Los Angeles Kings [Alex Faust], they should consider him.” When Harvey pitched the idea of a woman taking over the role, Alex had a recommendation too! “There is an attorney, Laura Coates…she appears on the cable news shows, from time to times.” As for the chances of Alex actually renewing his contract? It would be wise not to bet everything on that chance, as Alex said the odds of him staying are “50/50 and a little less.” So, just who is Alex Faust? The 28-year-old Brooklyn-native was picked to replaced Bob Miller, the Hall of Fame broadcaster who covered the Kings for 44 seasons, in 2017. “Believe me, it wasn’t an obvious outcome for me either,” Alex told the Los Angeles Times. “The expectation isn’t that I’m going to replace Bob Miller, because that’s just impossible to do. When you’re there for 44 years, you build up a rapport with the audience and you build a relationship with the audience…that’s part of the job responsibility for me, for me to get to know fans, for fans to get to know me, and hopefully it all works out over the long haul.” Alex has done play-by-play on college football, basketball and lacrosse for ESPNU. He also worked for NESN and did play-by-play for the Utica (N.Y.) Comets for the American Hockey League. Leave it to Alex to honor his Canadian heritage by naming a hockey-guy as one of his potential successors. His other potential heir, Laura, has a brain large enough to hold all the answers in the world. From St. Paul, Minnesota, Laura graduated from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and Internal affairs and the University of Minnesota Law School. She’s a Professorial Lecturer of Law at George Washington University, and was an Intellectual Property litigator, a former Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, and a Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights division of the Department of Justice. “Incredibly honored & humbled @Jeopardy Alex Trebek 1) knows who I am 2) thinks I’d be a great host of my fave game show ever that I grew up watching w/ my family & still watch w/ my own kids (who saw him say this & now think I’m a genius) #Dying,” the Laura Coates Show host tweeted in response to the news.