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Alex Trebek Almost Quit 'Jeopardy'?

Alex Trebek Almost Quit 'Jeopardy'?

We've always wondered if kids could handle the pressures of "Jeopardy," but we've never thought about longtime host Alex Trebek having any problem. Seems like it is possible -- enough to the point where the Canadian trivia master threatened to quit the show.

In a series of emails leaked from the now-infamous "Sony hack," it seems that the mother of one of the "Jeopardy Kids" contestants was a little more than upset over Trebek's behaviour on-set.

The woman's child broke down after finishing the game (before Final Jeopardy) in the negative. (For those of you who don't know, that means the contestant can't participate in the final round.) She ran backstage crying, without any sort of consolation from Trebek. This prompted the mother to write the following email:

"If he 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 ... She was upset about not being able to completely play the game to the end ... I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for that."

After producers requested that Trebek re-shoot the segment, he angrily replied:

"If you all think I should retape the opening, I will. But I want to say that for 30 years I’ve defended our show against attacks inside and out. But it doesn’t seem to operate both ways. When I’m vilified, corporate (and certainly legal) always seems to say ‘don’t say anything and it’ll blow over,’ and I’m not feeling support from the producers, and that disappoints the s**t out of me ... If I’m making mistakes and saying things you don’t like, maybe it’s time for me to move on. It’s not a threat, but I want to let you know how I’m feeling."

According to the ensuing emails, Trebek was eventually mollified by one of the executive producers of "Jeopardy." So it seems like we'll still have Trebek for the foreseeable future.

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