The Iconic Sci-Fi Show You Forgot Alex Trebek Guest Starred On
Here's a hint: The truth is out there.
That's right — the late, great Alex Trebek, who spent 36 years at his noble post hosting "America's favorite quiz show" also made a fun guest appearance on Chris Carter's popular sci-fi procedural The X-Files. The Jeopardy! host made several interesting guest appearances during his long career, often portraying himself in some Jeopardy!-related gag or quick scene set on the iconic gameshow's stage. Other times, his appearances were stranger.
As fans of The X-Files will tell you, the series' tone varied widely from episode to episode. Some episodes could be terrifying, whereas others would leave you reaching for the tissue box. Then there were the ones so outlandish that they walked straight up to the line of self-parody. Alex Trebek's episode, the season 3 hour entitled "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" definitely falls into the latter category, but in the best possible way.
On the episode, Trebek plays "Man in Black 2," the obvious sidekick to "Man in Black 1," who was amazingly played by professional wrestler and future Governor of Minnesota Jesse "The Body" Ventura. That casting list should tell you everything you need to know about the tone of "Jose Chung's From Outer Space."
Alex Trebek was a Man in Black just a few months before Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones made the secretive organization famous
1997 really was a banner year for the Men in Black.
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space" first aired on April 17, toward the end of The X-Files' excellent third season, and just three months before Will Smith's Men in Black took the summer box office by storm. In the episode, agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) are tasked with investigating — what else? — a rash of reported alien abductions.
The two special agents arrive on the scene to discover the notorious Men in Black, represented for the purposes of this episode by Trebek and Ventura's characters, are already involved in an attempt to conceal the truth from the FBI. During the course of this episode, the ever-skeptical Scully actually encounters incontrovertible evidence of alien interference on Earth only to have her memory wiped by the Men in Black.
So, why Trebek? Seems an odd, non-gameshow-related fit. Chris Carter always had a predilection for celebrity cameos when he was on the hunt for a good X-Files guest star. Apparently, Jesse Ventura was cast first for this episode. The X-Files creative team considered author Salman Rushdie for the second part, but ultimately decided he was too elusive of a figure to adequately serve in the role. Next they approached singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, but were summarily rejected. Ultimately, it was David Duchovny's recent appearance on Celebrity Jeopardy! that landed Trebek the featured role (via ScreenRant).
While he wasn't their first choice, Trebek turned out to be the ultimate choice, and he is now forever immortalized as part of the X-Files canon.