'Jeopardy!' honors Alex Trebek in emotional goodbye: 'This is an enormous loss'
'This is an enormous loss'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Jeopardy!" is honoring the late television icon Alex Trebek.
At the beginning of Monday night's episode, the show's executive producer Mike Richards took a moment to say a few words in remembrance of Trebek.
"Over the weekend we lost our beloved host Alex Trebek," Richards said while fighting back tears. "This is an enormous loss for our staff and crew, for his family and for his millions of fans. He loved this show and everything it stood for. In fact, he taped his final episodes less than two weeks ago."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Richards continued: "He will forever be an inspiration for his constant desire to learn, for his kindness and for his love of his family."
ALEX TREBEK SPENT HIS FINAL DAY WATCHING THE HORIZON WITH HIS WIFE JEAN
Trebek's final 35 episodes will also be aired as they were shot because that's what Trebek "wanted," said Richards.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He added: "On behalf of everyone here at ‘Jeopardy!’ thank you for everything, Alex.”
'JEOPARDY!' STAR KEN JENNINGS ON THE BEST ADVICE ALEX TREBEK EVER GAVE HIM
Richards ended with the show's trademark opening: “This is ‘Jeopardy!'" It was followed by a moment of silence on the ”Jeopardy!" set with lights dimmed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trebek died on Nov. 8 after a lengthy battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The longtime “Jeopardy!” host not only kept fans updated on his health battle every step of the way, but he continued to do his job hosting the popular trivia show as well.
Alex Trebek died on Nov. 8 after a lengthy battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. (Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images)
Speaking on the “Today Show,” Richards shared some insight into how Trebek, 80, spent his last day on Earth.
“Even in his book, he described that he wanted his final day to be sitting on his swing next to his wife, Jean, and kind of watching the horizon and he got to do that,” Richards said in an excerpt from his interview shared on the show’s Twitter on Monday.
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He said that Trebek had always been particularly fond of the swing on his property and even fixed it himself earlier this year. Richards noted that the host was very “handy.”
“He was coherent, he wasn’t in pain and the fact that he had a nice, final day makes all of us in the ‘Jeopardy!’ family feel much better,” Richards said.
Fox News' Tyler McCarthy and The Associated Press contributed to this report