Coddling Not in Trebek’s Job Description
Despite demands to the media from SONY’s legal team to stop publishing leaked emails and confidential information contained therein, Radar Online zeroed in on emails involving the 12/3/14 game during Kids Week on Jeopardy!
The mother of one contestant who was unable to participate in Final Jeopardy! was not happy with the way Alex handled the situation when her child finished Double Jeopardy in the red. Apparently, she expected Trebek to go after her daughter who ran off the stage in tears when she was informed that she could not participate in Final Jeopardy!
The viewing audience did not actually see this happen though, but saw Trebek make a reference to the incident before the start of the game the next day.
The girl’s mom felt that if Trebek “had taken the time, he would have known, like you do, that my daughter is not a sore loser, and does not become emotional solely over losing a game,” adding that her daughter was upset “about not being able to completely play the game to the end.” The mother said she will never forgive Alex.
Producers told the woman that “Alex’s intentions were good” and decided to ask him to re-tape the segment “to appease an upset mother who could start another feeding frenzy about Alex’s perceived insensitivity,” according to the emails.
More emails revealed that Trebek was not happy with the request and replied: “If I’m making mistakes and saying things you don’t like, maybe it’s time for me to move on,” noting that it was “not a threat, but I want to let you know how I’m feeling.” He added that he has defended the show against attacks for 30 years but corporate “(and certainly legal)” seems to have a habit of hanging him out to dry when the attacks are against him. Trebek said they always say: “don’t say anything and it’ll blow over,” making him feel unsupported. Trebek eventually got some of that support from “Jeopardy!” executive producer Harry Friedman.
Well, Fikkle Fame supports you, Alex, and doesn’t see how it is your job to coddle any unhappy contestants, even youngsters.
The simple solution is to just get rid of Kids Week. This is the second consecutive one where a child has been unduly upset and the flak has fallen on Trebek. But wow, that would be so unfair to all the other kids who do not blame Trebek when things don’t go the way they hoped.
Perhaps they could have one of the judges deliver the bad news during Kids Week and a contestant coordinator standing by to bring upset children to their parent(s). Or just give Trebek that week off with pay and bring in a guest host.
Anybody got any better ideas?
Stop all this madness, please!
I just thought about something. With the emails being released now all Jeopardy watchers know who the mom is. If she had stayed quiet no one would have known. Now all of her friends know how she acted after her daughter did not qualify. All future teachers had better watch out for this kid’s mom.
Alex being a parent himself understands kids. I wonder how many of the young producers on the show have kids or raised any? Alex is a professional and conducted himself as such during Kids Week. Parents stop jumping in when your kids lose or they will be telling you what to do next if they aren’t already.
Changed my sign in name so posters to this site will know my first name is Jacob. Just a minor change. Last name too long. Don’t even try to guess. It drove my teachers crazy.
I knew something must have happened when Trebek made a reference to emotions the next day.
On the comments for this story on Yahoo almost everyone is siding with Trebek. That mother went totally into her protective mode. She’ll never forgive Alex for playing by the rules?! That makes zero sense.
Since intelligence is inheritable, it’s clear now why the kid ended up in the red.
As for redoing the scene — wouldn’t it have been even more humiliating for the kid to have to come back out in front of the audience and be told AGAIN that she stunk on the show?
Last year, the “emancipation” kid was visibly on the verge of tears. Maybe a contest like this is too intense for children and the Kids Week needs to be done away with. I could definitely live without it.
Well, doing away with kids week was my knee-jerk reaction too, and I have also said, now and again, that I am not the biggest fan of tournaments.
But let’s think about it — the last 2 years, 30 kids participated in the contests. 2 kids couldn’t cope with the results. And the 2 kids who were upset still got the same money they would have gotten even if the rule that was upsetting them was bent *just for them*
In that light, it seems ridiculous to do away with Kids Week. They should get a guest host, preferably a teacher, for that week. Alex deserves a break. The mother’s email made it sound like he actually called the kid a sore loser.
Maybe before each game, a list of the rules should be read out loud to the kids accompanied by their parents and then have the parents sign their acknowledgement. And jeopardy should have “nannies” standing by 🙂
yeah, Cece, Super Nannies!!!
just kidding 😉
Seriously, I personally know that some kids are just more sensitive than others and you grow out of it. When I was kid, the saying was I would cry “at the drop of a hat”. Today, I’m all cried out and the house could fall on my head and I probably wouldn’t shed a tear.
When all is said and done, it’s just not right to blame Trebek. As Jacob wisely pointed out, it really would put him in a worse position in terms of perceived favoritism.
OK, here is the part of mommy’s email that completely loses me: [Her daughter being upset] “about not being able to completely play the game to the end.” One would think that both mother and daughter had watched Jeopardy! a number of times, before the kid decided to participate. And they had obviously seen on occasion contestants in the red (or with no $) who couldn’t play the game to the end. So… what eluded the both of them???
With all of the staff members that Jeopardy has why would Alex Trebek be expected to run after a kid? I am sure jeopardy has plenty of staffers they could do something of this nature. Alex Trebek is the host of the show not the person who is to coddle to small children or to any contestant who is not satisfied. That should be the function of the staff. Just my opinion.
If Alex would cater to one child who is a contestant on the show it would smack of favoritism. His role is to remain neutral, read the clues, and treat all contestants equally…. no exceptions!
If someone does not qualify to play in Final Jeopardy that is stating a fact and not singling someone out.