FOG BLOG ENTERTAINMENT LOG: LAST ALEX TREBEK JEOPARDY EPISODE AIRS TONIGHT:

TAPED JUST DAYS BEFORE HE DIED , THE FINAL EPISODE OF JEOPARDY AIRS TONIGHT!....THERE WILL BE A TRIBUTE ON THE CREDIT ROLE AT THE END OF THE EPISODE STARTING NEXT WEEK.....THE WINNER OF OVER 70 EPISODES.......KEN JENNINGS WILL START A SERIES OF GUEST HOSTS FOR THE SHOW......The final Jeopardy! episode hosted by Alex Trebek, which airs Friday, will be remarkably unremarkable, with no farewell by the veteran host or any kind of personal message to viewers in his opening statement.

That is because “Alex didn’t think that was going to be his last episode,” Jeopardy executive producer Mike Richards told Deadline about the show, filmed some 10 days before Trebek died November 8 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. “He was planning on hosting the show the next week, that was his focus. And then when he wasn’t feeling well, he told me, ‘I am not going to be able to come this coming Monday-Tuesday but let’s look at the following Monday and Tuesday’; those were the days we shot. That was as late as Thursday of the week he passed away. He passed away Sunday morning.”....The January 8 show will be “a normal Jeopardy! episode,” Richards said, with Trebek saying “see you next time” and credits rolling. That will be followed by a tribute package celebrating Trebek’s legacy.

The last time Trebek addressed viewers in a personal manner was in the episode that aired Monday, when the beloved trivia-game host used his opening statement to deliver a powerful message about kindness, togetherness and giving.

“That was just something he decided to do in that moment,” Richards said of Trebek’s speech, which was followed by spontaneous applause in the studio.

As Richards and his team are putting the final touches on the last Trebek episodes, a search for his successor is also underway.

“The search is going very well, there are a lot of people very interested in hosting Jeopardy!, which is gratifying, and also appropriately reverent of the shoes they will be stepping into,” Richards said. “We have had some great conversations with people.”

Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings will be the first guest host after Trebek’s sign-off this week.

“Ken stepped in and did a great job for us as a guest host,” Richards said.