Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson says the late beloved Jeopardy! host, Alex Trebek, loved the sketch comedy show’s recurring “Black Jeopardy!” bit. Speaking with Sean Evans on a recent episode of Hot Ones, Thompson recalled meeting Trebek in 2019 and discussing the iconic SNL skit.


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“That was the first thing he mentioned,” Thompson said of running into Trebek backstage at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas. “He actually said ‘God bless you for figuring out how to do a Jeopardy! behind the legendary Will Ferrell Jeopardy!”

The “Black Jeopardy!” sketch first aired in 2016. Thompson gave a shoutout to Michael Che and others on the SNL writing staff for helping him put together the concept.

“He was patting me on the back about that, but I was patting him on the back for probably being one of the smartest people in the world,” Thompson continued. “Because it seems like he knows the answer to all of those Jeopardy! questions. He has a way of responding to each question like, ‘No, of course, it’s this, and that, and the other, because I read this book or I’ve known about this historic town in Rome.’ You know what I’m saying? He was incredible.”

Check out the full interview below.

[Via]