What it was like taping Jeopardy! during Alex Trebek's final weeks

San Francisco Chronicle

Trebek's final Jeopardy! episode airs on January 8th. Some of the contestants noticed that the age-old rhythms were there during those final tapings, but with a lot of coronavirus precautions. “You never take your mask off except at the lectern," said contestant Nizar Abdalla. "There was no studio audience except for the pool of contestants. There were even rules about who in the crew could go backstage to talk to Alex.” Another contestant, Andrew Chaiken, noted that a lot of contestants who didn't have to fly in. “There seemed to be an unusually high number of Californians,” Chaiken said. “I think there was a preference to go with people who could drive to the studio.”