--- title: Stephen Colbert Calls for Beard Face Off Against Alex Trebek description: Both the 'Late Show' host and Jeopardy's Alex Trebek are currently sporting beards — so Colbert thinks it's time for a trivia face-off. canonical: https://time.com/5393810/colbert-trebek-beards/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-12T15:45:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:48.556Z og:title: Stephen Colbert Calls for Beard Face-Off Against Alex Trebek og:description: The 'Late Show' host challenged Trebek to a trivia match for facial hair og:url: https://time.com/5393810/colbert-trebek-beards/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Colbert Calls for Beard Face-Off Against Alex Trebek twitter:description: The 'Late Show' host challenged Trebek to a trivia match for facial hair twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Stephen Colbert's Beard Wants to Face Off Against Alex Trebek's Beard  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 12, 2018 3:45 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 12, 2018 3:45 PM UTC [Stephen Colbert](http://time.com/5392511/stephen-colbert-les-moonves-louis-ck/) has a title to defend: that of robustly-bearded show host. In a monologue on his _Late Show_ on Tuesday night, Colbert admitted that his recently-acquired [seasonal beard](http://time.com/3907792/stephen-colbert-late-show-twitter/) has already come in for serious competition on TV — from none other than _Jeopardy!_ host [Alex Trebek](http://time.com/5128708/jeopardy-contestants-stumped-by-football-question/). _Jeopardy!_, which recently returned to air for its 35th season, hasn’t changed its game-show style. But its host sure has made a switch in the facial hair department. “Very cute,” Colbert offered, before getting down to the truth. “I have got a beef with Trebek’s beard,” Colbert admitted: he believes Trebek is stealing his new look. “Because check out this Daily Double. Look at this! Look! He’s just sporting a cheap Canadian knockoff of the Colbeard.” (Technically, it’s not quite a [Colbeard](http://time.com/3717581/stephen-colbert-beard/); _Jeopardy!_ has coined Trebek’s look the “Trebeard.”) Colbert continued: “I have a message for Trebek: step off, Beardy Come Lately! There can not be two Colbeards. There can barely be one. I’m still hoping this side fills in before Christmas.” So naturally, Colbert decided to throw down the gauntlet and challenge Trebek to an on-air trivia face-off. The prize? Winner keeps their beard. Loser must shave. As of Wednesday, Trebek had yet to respond to Colbert’s bold challenge, although the _Jeopardy!_ Instagram account has been polling fans earlier in the week to decide whether or not the Trebeard remains. Looks like the bearded drama is only beginning to heat up this fall — and we’re still a few months away from November, famous season of [Movember.](http://time.com/4541747/movember-mustaches-november-vote/) Watch the full clip below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5393810/colbert-trebek-beards/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5393810/colbert-trebek-beards/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert's Beard Wants to Face Off Against Alex Trebek's Beard","datePublished":"2018-09-12T15:45:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:54:48.556Z","description":"\"There can not be two Colbeards. There can barely be one.\"","url":"https://time.com/5393810/colbert-trebek-beards/","keywords":["Newsfeed","stephen colbert","Late Night Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5393810/colbert-trebek-beards/","name":"Stephen Colbert's Beard Wants to Face Off Against Alex Trebek's Beard"}}]}] ```