‘Jeopardy!’: Fans React to 10 Major Changes From Alex Trebek’s First Episode, 40 Years Later

By September 10, 1984, Alex Trebek had hosted many game shows: The Wizard of Odds, High Rollers, The $128,000 Question, Double Dare, Pitfall, and The New Battlestars. But on that day 40 years ago, the Canadian emcee began the job that would carry him through the rest of his life: hosting Jeopardy!

Though Trebek might have had new-host jitters during that first taping — “He seems kind of nervous … and honestly, can you blame him?” Jeopardy! champ Buzzy Cohen said in a recent rewatch of the episode — he was still the warm, professorial presence so many contestants got to meet over his 36 years at the podium.