'Jeopardy!' executive producer details Alex Trebek's brave final days

As the world mourns "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek, who died on Nov. 8, 2020, following a 20-month battle with pancreatic cancer, his colleagues are reeling as they cope with their grief. In the wake of his passing, "Jeopardy!" executive producer Mike Richards opened up about the game show icon in interviews with CNN and the "Today" show. "We love him and we miss him already," Mike told CNN on Nov. 8. Keep reading to see what else Mike had to say about the television legend, his commitment to work and his family and his brave final days…

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"He had a swing in his backyard that he loved. He actually rebuilt it earlier this year — he was very handy, I don't know if a lot of people know that. Even in his book [that came out in July], he described that he wanted his final day to be sitting on his swing next to his wife, Jean, and kind of watching the horizon, and he got to do that. He was coherent, he wasn't in pain. And the fact that he had a nice final day I think makes all of us in the 'Jeopardy!' family feel much better." –Mike Richards, on the "Today" show on Nov. 9

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Alex Trebek began taping season 37 of "Jeopardy!" in September. Oct. 29 turned out to be his final day filming on set. He died 10 days later. "We didn't know that it was going to be his last [day]. It was the first time he'd ever — we usually do five shows a day, he did three and then two on [that] Monday and then Tuesday. He was in pain and we knew it. He'd had surgery. I couldn't believe he was already back from the surgery that he'd had just two weeks before that. I had chills the entire tape day. That first show of that final week, which is, unbelievably, [what's airing] the week of Christmas." –Mike Richards, on CNN on Nov. 8

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On what would turn out to be Alex Trebek's final day of taping, Oct. 29, "He gives a speech talking about togetherness, how important family is. And it will resonate even more now. It was so beautiful that we were all emotional. We were all in tears. We all started clapping and it almost distracted him 'cause he was going, 'OK, now let's play Jeopardy!' … He was at the top of his game even though clearly he was very ill." –Mike Richards, on CNN on Nov. 8

Alex Trebek was still going over questions in the writers room on his final day of taping. "I think he really became synonymous with the show in that he really was that smart. He was self-deprecating about his intelligence and saying, 'Oh, I would probably get 50% of the answers.' I was in the writers room with him, we met every morning before the shows. He had gone through every clue, and this was including the last taping. He went through all of them, 61 per show, rewrote them, gave his flavor, sometimes called into question some of the information, because he had the knowledge in a different way. He really was the show. … He craved knowledge." –Mike Richards, on CNN on Nov. 8

"He didn't enjoy being overly complimented or fawned over. … But on what ended up being our final day taping, I knew he was in an enormous amount of pain, and as he was leaving, I saw him at the door and I said, 'You know, that was maybe the most incredible thing I've ever seen.' He kinda had his head down and he looked up and said, 'Thank you.'" –Mike Richards, on the "Today" show on Nov. 9

"He really believed in the importance of 'Jeopardy!' Maybe that sounds corny… but he really thought it was important, what he was doing. And it is. He loved that 'Jeopardy!' popularized intelligence. … He just loved it and wanted to be there. He reveled in these intelligent people, in the contestants, the writers, he loved being surrounded by them." –Mike Richards, on CNN on Nov. 8

"He was an amazing dad [to Matthew, Nicky and Emily]. He loved Jean so much that it was inspirational. … he was really that great. … They are truly a love story and they were lucky to have each other." –Mike Richards, on CNN on Nov. 8

"He was the most professional person that I've ever worked with in any capacity. Here he was battling cancer, chemo, exhaustion, but you couldn't tell when the cameras rolled. As a professional, the fact that he kept pushing and that he recorded what would now be his final episodes less than two weeks ago gives you an idea of just how much he believed in the show, how much he cared for it. –Mike Richards, on CNN on Nov. 8

"He was even better than what you would hope for. He was incredibly hardworking. He cared about this show. He cared about the importance of this show and that it helped people want to be smarter. He made being smart cool." –Mike Richards, on the "Today" show on Nov. 9