"Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek posted a YouTube video Thursday to tell fans of the show he'll be "back in the studio taping more 'Jeopardy!' programs very, very soon."
Sitting on his couch at home wearing a blue "Jeopardy!" hat, the 77-year-old TV host explained that he had surgery last month for "a subdural hematoma, a blood clot on the brain caused by a fall endured about two months ago."
Viewers won't see any disruption in the popular syndicated game show (7:30 p.m., Channels 19, 2) because episodes are taped months in advance, according to "An Update From Alex" posted on Sony Pictures Entertainment's "Jeopardy!" website.
The Sony statement filled in the rest of the details:
" 'Jeopardy!' host Alex Trebek was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Friday, December 15, as he was experiencing complications from hitting his head in a fall that took place in October. After receiving a diagnosis of a subdural hematoma, he underwent surgery to remove the hematoma on December 16. The surgery was successful, and he was released from the hospital on December 18. He is expected to make a full and complete recovery.
"Alex spent Christmas at home with his family, and he will return to the 'Jeopardy!' studio for taping in mid-January. Because 'Jeopardy!' tapes months in advance, the only change made to the show’s schedule concerns the upcoming College Championship, which will now air in April. Otherwise, 'Jeopardy!'s' broadcast schedule is unaffected."
Trebek, a Canadian, is among my favorite interviews. When Carol and Pete Rose first moved to Los Angeles, they rented a house next to Trebek owned by the game show host. (He bought it to use the tennis courts.) Twice he told me about spending a summer in Cincinnati in the late 1950s as an apartment maintenance man. He was 18, and in love.
"I was dating a girl. It was a nice summer. I worked in a large apartment complex, and was on the maintenance crew. So we mopped halls and sorted garbage," he told me.
Trebek, who has hosted the show since 1984, was presented a Daytime Emmys lifetime achievement award in 2011.
