Alex Trebek becomes the longest-tenured game show host of all time
On Friday, Alex Trebek became the answer to his own Jeopardy-styled trivia answer: “With 6,829 episodes under his belt, this person holds the Guinness World Record for most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter.”
Trebek, 73, has hosted Jeopardy since 1984, in its current syndicated form as well as in occasional prime-time versions. His 31st season as host begins filming this September.
In a statement and a separate video released by Guinness to commemorate the accomplishment, Trebek shared his thoughts on the world record and the job itself:
It’s an honor to hold the Guinness World Record for hosting Jeopardy!, which I’ve often said is the best of reality TV….It’s a fun show to do, and it’s a quality program that I never have to apologize for when I meet people. So there are no downsides.
Trebek’s contract runs through 2016, after which he’s announced his intention to retire. He’ll have to pick up the pace between now and then, though, if he wants to catch the man with the most overall hours spent on television: Regis Philbin has spent 17,000 cumulative hours in front of cameras over the past fifty years, or approximately one hour every day since Kennedy was president.
