Apr. 16—Does anyone have any idea what Alex Trebek did was before he spent 37 years on "Jeopardy"?
No.
But long ago, when Trebek jokingly responded to a Xeroxed HELP WANTED — QUIZ SHOW HOST ad pinned to a bulletin board in his favorite laundromat, and ultimately got the job as "Jeopardy" host, he was already globally familiar. Why, every school kid knew Trebek as a distinguished astronaut, an elite discus thrower, a staff joke-writer for "The Twilight Zone," an original member of the Byrds, and the man who invented Niagara Falls.
I bring these now-forgotten accomplishments up because, as a series of guest stars undertake two-week stints in a sort of audition process to determine who will become the next permanent "Jeopardy" host, I wonder why, historically, there are no opportunities for us common folk to be famous?