The forever-popular gameshow Jeopardy! is no stranger to having video games as items on the trivia board, but this may be the first time a video game meme has made an appearance. Albeit not in a direct clue or answer, but rather in the category titles, Alex Trebek presented the category “Pay Respects” followed by “F,” referencing the meme originating from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
The episode aired on April 30, and caught the attention of gamers everywhere. Though not as hysterical as other gaming moments on Jeopardy!, it was entertaining to hear Trebek deliver the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare meme, likely unbeknownst to him. Surely the gameshow’s writers are happy with the reaction this has garnered online.
For those unfamiliar with the infamous meme, it comes from the 2014 game’s laughable attempt to involve the player in the somber and dramatic cutscene playing out before them. The intense action-packed shooter series opted for a heartfelt and serious moment but couldn’t quite figure out how to have players interact in a natural-feeling way.
Since then the moment has been lambasted and parodied across the internet, and become a gamer-shorthand for, well, paying respects. On chats such as Twitch or Discord, it is now commonplace for people to “drop Fs in the chat” by just posting a letter F when something sad or unfortunate happens during a game or live stream.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is also known for being one of actor Kevin Spacey’s final performances, portraying the antagonist in the game, three years before several sexual assault allegations began to come out against him. An important part of the #MeToo movement, the braveness of actor Anthony Rapp and others led to an ousting of the Spacey from acting, save for his bizarre and uncomfortable holiday videos.
For more than 36 seasons and 8,000 episodes, Jeopardy! has been hosted by Alex Trebek, who has won countless awards, including six Emmys. Just over a year ago, Trebek announced to the world that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Thankfully, Trebek has survived his first year, an astounding feat in and of itself, and has continued to host the show the whole time.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is available now for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
