Today's Jeopardy! category: On The Job.

        The Answer: A Cincinnati garbage man in the late 1950s.

        The Question: Who is Alex Trebek?

        Long before his television career, an 18-year-old Alex Trebek spent a summer in Cincinnati. It was admittedly a trivial pursuit.

        “I was dating a girl. It was a nice summer,” says Mr. Trebek, now hosting his 18th year of Jeopardy!

        “I worked in a large apartment complex, and was on the maintenance crew. So we mopped halls and sorted garbage.”

        Mr. Trebek, who turns 62 in July, didn't want to say much about his Cincinnati summer when we met at the recent TV critics' tour. But he had plenty of answers for other questions, just like on TV. Except that all the questions were about him.

        Answer: Philosophy.

JEOPARDY!

What: Jeopardy! When: 7:30 p.m. weekdays, Channels 9, 2 Repeats:On the Game Show Network at 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.

        Question: What subject did Mr. Trebek major in at the University of Ottawa?

        When his Queen City fling fizzled, he returned to his native Canada to attend college. After graduating in 1961, he took an announcing job at the Canadian Broadcasting Co., starting his 41-year TV career.

        “I've been in broadcasting all my adult life. I was interested in acting, but you get trapped by your success sometimes. People keep asking you to do the same kind of work, and before long you're set in that little niche.”

        Answer: TV host.

        Question: What occupation is listed on Mr. Trebek's passport?

        “I've been doing it here in the States since '73,” Mr. Trebek says. His first U.S. game show was Wizard of Odds. He has also hosted Classic Concentration, To Tell The Truth, High Rollers, The $128,000 Question and Double Dare.

        Since 1984, he has read answers on Jeopardy!, the No. 2 syndicated series (behind Wheel of Fortune). King World, which produces both shows, hired him after his successful stint subbing for host Chuck Woolery on NBC's daytime Wheel of Fortune.

        “They remembered that I was a quick study,” he says.

        Answer: More than half.

        Question: How many Jeopardy! questions can Mr. Trebek answer?

        “I used to test myself on a regular basis, and I'd get 60 to 65 percent right. I used to take all the contestant search tests, and I passed all of those,” he says.

        “I have appeared on other quiz shows, and I've done all right. I'm not a rocket scientist. But I'm not an airhead, either. I would do fairly well against my peers. I've always said that a good 30-year-old would clean my clock — their reflexes are better, they're able to get the material out quicker.

        “But I'm not out to prove anything. I've got the job.”

        Answer: Pete Rose's former landlord.

        Question: Who is Alex Trebek?

        Mr. Trebek bought the house next door to his Studio City residence so he could use its tennis court. In the 1990s, it was rented by Pete and Carol Rose, who would summon the TV star to fix electrical or plumbing problems.

        “When something breaks, you call the landlord,” he says with a shrug.

        The Jeopardy! schedule — taping five shows a day, two days a week — gives him plenty of time to spend at Creston Farms, his thoroughbred training center in central California. He's also a food and wine connoisseur.

        “There's no down side to this job,” he says. “It's fun. It's a good show, a great job.”

        Answer: Easy to play along at home.

        Question: Why are Wheel and Jeopardy! so popular with viewers?

        “You don't watch our shows just as spectators. You play along,” he says. “On Jeopardy!, you try to come up with the responses before our players do.

        “Some of the material is easy. We kind of suck you in, and then we kind of hit you with the tougher stuff.”

        Amiable Alex stands out even more in this new generation of game shows where Weakest Link players are berated by hosts, or The Chair contestants are distracted by fire, ice or dangling animals.

        “A rule that we've followed for 18 years is that we don't take cheap shots at people, or celebrities who are in trouble with the law,” he says. “We treat contestants the way we'd like to be treated”

        Answer: Forever.

        Question: How long will game shows be on TV?

        “People enjoy game shows. It's very light-hearted, feel-good entertainment. You're watching people to whom nice things are happening.”

        Game shows have been around since the birth of network TV. They're “relatively inexpensive” to produce, compared to sitcoms with big stars that shoot one show a week, he says.

        “Game shows will be around as long as there is television,” he says.

        Answer: Retirement.

        Question: What word is not in Mr. Trebek's vocabulary?

        “I would hope Jeopardy! and Wheel — because they work as a tandem in so many markets — will help each other along, and . . . go for a long time.

        “I've got a 10-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter in private schools. So I hope these shows, particularly Jeopardy!, last another eight or 10 years so I can put them through school.”

        Contact John Kiesewetter by phone: 768-8519; fax: 768-8330; e-mail: jkiesewetter@enquirer.com.
       

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