Alex Trebek just pulled off what may be the greatest Rickroll in television history (unless you count Melania Trump’s alleged one). On Thursday night’s episode of the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, Trebek dug through the morass of the internet and pulled out an ancient meme to stump the champions, New York found. It all came together when contestant Buzzy Cohen called for the $800 clue in the category “Love Songs, Nothing But ’80s Love Songs”. Trebek nodded—and then Rickrolled the entire audience by reciting the clue, which was only lyrics from Rick Astley’s 1987 hit, “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
If you don’t remember the once-ubiquitous meme, it went something like this: Someone would send you a hyperlink to, say, a list of the Greatest Adam Sandler Movies of All Times or a link to purchase Death Cab for Cutie tickets (it was the early ’00s after all). When you clicked on the link, though, it wouldn’t take you to your chosen destination, but instead lead to the YouTube page for “Never Gonna Give You Up.” It was known as the Rickroll, and its known side effects were constantly having Rick Astley stuck in your head and deeply regretting clicking on a link. Now, Jeopardy! contestants may slowly develop the same fear.
While Trebek’s prank was great, the greatest Rickroll of all time was played by the Foo Fighters who got Astley himself to play along.
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