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Alex Trebek -- the revered and beloved "Jeopardy!" host since 1984, whose calm but witty presence was must-see television for millions of Americans -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

A "Jeopardy!" spokesperson tells TMZ, "Jeopardy is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends."

The TV icon had been battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer since announcing the news back in March 2019. He immediately started chemo after the diagnosis but made no plans to retire and continued hosting his game show ... as impressively as ever.

Trebek powered through for a full year -- despite what he called "massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it was really worth fighting on" -- because he said he realized giving up on life would be a betrayal to his wife, God and other cancer patients.

He pointed out the odds of surviving a second year with pancreatic cancer were just 7 percent, but he hoped he'd be able to celebrate that milestone too. Sadly, he took a turn for the worse.

Alex continued to host "Jeopardy!" ... recently beginning his 37th season, and earlier this year, he shot the epic 'Greatest of All Time' tournament on prime-time television.

Ken Jennings, who won that 'G.O.A.T.' tournament reacted to Alex's passing, saying, "Alex wasn't just the best ever at what he did. He was also a lovely and deep decent man, and I'm grateful for every minute I got to spend with him."

Ken's competitor James Holzhauer added, "It was one of the great privileges of my life to spend time with this courageous man while he fought the battle of his life. You will never be replaced in our hearts, Alex."

"Jeopardy!" says Alex hosted episodes will air through December 25th. His last day taping in the studio was October 29.

The shows executive producer, Mike Richards, says, "Working beside him for the past year and a half as he heroically continued to host "Jeopardy!" was an incredible honor. His belief in the importance of the show and his willingness to push himself to perform at the highest level was the most inspiring demonstration of courage I have ever seen."

After his initial diagnosis, there were several ups and downs for Alex. In May 2019, he announced his tumors had shrunk more than 50 percent, obviously a great sign of progress, but his numbers declined and he began another round of chemotherapy a few months later. Still, he maintained a positive outlook ... and did a lot of good throughout his ordeal.

His soothing and reassuring voice was on display when he announced having cancer. Trebek -- who was signed to host the show through 2022 -- joked, "Truth told, I have to! Because under the terms of my contract, I have to host 'Jeopardy!' for three more years!"

His commitment to the game show was a two-way street. When Alex took a brief medical leave in 2018 to have surgery for blood clots on his brain after a nasty fall, "Jeopardy!" never aired episodes with a guest host. He also suffered mild heart attacks in 2007 and 2012.

Alex started his career on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1961 announcing the news, and quickly gained fame after hosting the high school quiz show, "Reach for the Top."

He introduced himself to U.S. audiences in 1973 when he hosted a new NBC show called "The Wizard of Odds." That would lead to work on a variety of game shows ... including "High Rollers" with his trademark curly hair and classic 'stache and a brief fill-in stint for Chuck Woolery on "Wheel of Fortune."

Then, when the "Jeopardy!" gig -- a revival of the old show -- came up, Alex got the call.

The show gained immense popularity with Alex at the helm ... dominating the evening game show biz along with 'Wheel.'

Alex -- winner of 6 Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding game show host -- set a Guinness World record in June 2014 for most episodes (6,829) of a game show hosted. Despite his unprecedented and hugely successful run, Alex never viewed himself as a celeb or the "star" of the show. He said as much to Harvey Levin for an episode on "Objectified."

Alex also told Levin he was seriously considering retirement before signing a contract extension. He seemed serious at the time ... naming 2 potential replacements: L.A. Kings announcer Alex Faust and CNN legal analyst Laura Coates.

Important to note ... "Jeopardy!" producers say they are not announcing a new host right now.

Trebek was born on July 22, 1940, in Ontario, Canada. He majored in philosophy at the University of Ottawa but he had serious ambitions about a career on TV. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998, but not before running the Olympic Torch in 1996 as it made its way to Atlanta.

Alex -- who was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 2017 for his iconic achievements -- married Elaine Kares in 1974 and they divorced in 1981. He married again in 1990 ... this time to Jean Currivan, with whom he had 2 children ... Matthew and Emily.

He was 80.

Here's hoping this is the last we'll have to hear about "fake news" for a long time -- which, ironically enough, is coming to us courtesy of President Trump's own campaign staffers.

The Trump campaign's Communications Director, Tim Murtaugh, tweeted out a photo this weekend that showed the walls of the interior of their headquarters in Arlington, VA completely plastered with copies of a newspaper front page that read, "President Gore."

The paper was supposedly the front page of the Washington Times from 2000 -- Tim was trying to show they got it wrong and called a Gore win prematurely. He wrote, "Greeting staff @TeamTrump HQ this morning, a reminder that the media doesn't select the President."

The problem ... that front page is FAKE, and the outlet actually called him out over it on Twitter -- noting the photos/headline were doctored, and NOT what they ran at the time.

Of course, somebody tracked down the actual front page TWT ran in 2000 after Election Day, and sure enough ... they actually called it for George W. Bush (which, while still premature the day after, ended up being correct in the end). In other words, actual fake news that Team Trump fell for, and taped up in their offices. Murtaugh eventually deleted his post.

It's just a testament that Trump's delusion about this election and his unfounded claims of a rigged system and voter fraud runs deep through his ranks ... which is not a good sign of what's to come.

You might've heard "Y.M.C.A." being played A LOT lately from both Dems and Republicans -- a testament that it's still got pull on both sides of the aisle ... according to the guy who wrote it.

Village People founder Victor Willis -- the cop in the group -- tells TMZ ... he just loves the fact his band's iconic earworm has seeped into the political arena this election cycle -- even if that means it was heavily kickstarted by Donald Trump at rallies.

In case you hadn't noticed, Trump was big into incorporating "Y.M.C.A." as a go-to tune during his final blitz across the country -- often dancing to it on stage, which actually got made into a 2-minute long compilation clip in sync with the song. So, yeah ... it's been revived.

Of course, on Saturday ... the song was sorta hijacked by Biden supporters in Philly who danced to it while trolling Trump supporters from across the street (who were actually playing it) ... this as Joe Biden was announced as the projected winner of the 2020 election.

On that front, Victor tells us that's A-OK too ... everyone's invited to sing it. So long as the track continues to get play -- not to mention climb back up on the charts, which it's also doing for the first time in literally decades -- he's good with anybody getting down to "Y.M.C.A.'

As we told you, Victor had already signaled it was cool for DT to use the track -- and he reiterated that here with us as well ... saying he had no plans to sue Trump or his campaign.

If anything, it sounds like Victor is grateful to Trump for resurrecting not just "Y.M.C.A" ... but also "Macho Man," another Village People classic. Alec Baldwin even sang a rendition of it on 'SNL' this weekend, so it's all Village People all the time, it seems, these days.

To Victor, that just speaks to the universality of his music -- and the message of overcoming obstacles that apply to just about any and everybody who's going through adversity.

Joe Biden beelined it Sunday from church to the gravesite of his beloved son, Beau, who, on his death bed, implored his dad not to give up on public service.

Biden and family attended services at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church in Greenville, Delaware. After church, the group walked to Beau's gravesite.

Beau, who died from brain cancer at 46 back in 2015, wanted to make sure his dad didn't retreat after his death, and although Biden decided not to run in 2016, Beau clearly inspired him during his presidential run.

After Joe's victory speech last night, Coldplay's "Sky Full of Stars" rang out at the venue. It was Beau's favorite song. As a matter of fact, when lead singer Chris Martin found out how much Beau loved that song, he sang it at Beau's funeral.

This is one of the most joyful celebrations we've seen in the wake of the Biden/Harris victory ... and it went down at, of all places, a gas station.

A group of revelers danced their asses off as they sang to Kelly Clarkson's, "Since U Been Gone." When they sang certain verses, like "I can breathe for the first time," and "You had your chance and blew it," you could feel the energy and glee.

But, they weren't done. When night fell at the 76 Station in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, the crowd broke into Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You." In other words, Christmas came early in the form of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

It's pretty incredible that Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump character is not really a caricature ... because he's really like that.

Trump flew off the Twitter handle again, lashing out at voting officials in big cities, saying, "We believe these people are thieves. The big city machines are corrupt. This was a stolen election."

Trump tweeted this before heading out for his second day of golfing in a row.

Trump goes on to quote a British pollster, whom he says also called it a stolen election, adding, "it's impossible to imagine that Biden outran Obama in some of these states." Of course, a pollster from Great Britain doesn't know the mechanics of vote processing in America.

As you know by now, Trump has offered no concrete evidence of fraud and has been booted out of court. True enough ... he could probably get this before the U.S. Supreme Court, but even with the addition of Amy Coney Barrett, it's highly unlikely the Court will overturn election results. Above all else, the SCOTUS cares about its legitimacy, and by siding with Trump on flimsy to no evidence, the justices know it would result in an uprising and almost certainly court-packing.

And, there's this ... Trump has a voter fraud hotline which has been inundated with prank calls from Biden supporters. The Biden folks would call in, laughing and gloating over Trump's loss ... this according to ABC News.

The stakes in this election were life and death, which is obvious from watching this elderly woman break down in tears as she watched the news project Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election.

The 86-year-old was watching TV intently from her kitchen when the news flashed on the screen that Biden was Prez elect. She begins to sob uncontrollably, but not just because she's happy Biden won or Trump lost. For her, it's about her health and ability to pay for food, rent and other necessities of life.

And, then she got on the horn and called someone to celebrate with, and she broke out into "Happy Days Are Here Again."

Short story ... she cried because her hope and security had been renewed.

Eddie Van Halen was honored at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Saturday night ... as one of the greatest guitar players in the history of music.

The tribute is incredible and shows Eddie's miraculous talent.

Some of the greatest living guitarists, including Slash and Tom Morello, paid tribute to the man who was one of 2 guitarists in competition for the G.O.AT. title -- the other, of course, being Jimi Hendrix.

Tom Morello, from Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, called Eddie, "The Mozart of our generation. He had the kind of talent that maybe comes around once a century."

Slash said, "His style and his sound were completely unique to him. He had a massive impact on guitar playing."

The sounds emanating from Eddie's guitar were like none heard before. The ferocious sounds hit like a nuclear bomb and were subsequently mimicked by many -- but no one had Eddie's touch.

You gotta watch the video to remember how inspiring Eddie was on the guitar.

As you know by now, Eddie died last month after a long battle with cancer at 65.

The inductees Saturday night were Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, Notorious B.I.G. and T-Rex.

Supermanager Irving Azoff and producer Jon Landau received the Ertegun Award award.

'SNL' was hilarious Saturday night, as Jim Carrey (Biden), Maya Rudolph (Harris) and Alec Baldwin (Trump) mimicked the candidates, but the most puzzling part ... how did the show find the real-life wardrobe so damn fast!!!

The open began with an exhausted Wolf Blitzer throwing to a mangled John King ... both of whom clearly got very little sleep for the week following election day.

Carrey was hysterical ... saying the wait was like having sex with Sting -- but, as he said, what a release!!!

Maya Rudolph has nailed Kamala Harris' speech patterns, but how on earth did 'SNL' find a replica of the Veep-elect in a New York minute?

And, of course, Alec Baldwin nailed Trump. You gotta see his version of "Macho Man." Wow, the Village People were the winners in this race.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris both gave rousing speeches to an enormous crowd as they declared victory in the 2020 Presidential election.

Biden sprinted to the podium, then told the crowd his victory was clear and convincing. He was clearly messaging that Donald Trump's challenges will amount to nothing.

He then got presidential, telling the crowd he will restore respect for America around the world. He said he was heartened by the joy he's observed today all over the world.

Biden then laid out the work ahead, starting with subduing the COVID pandemic, restoring the economy, and on and on.

Kamala Harris introduced Biden. She came out to thunderous cheering and honking, to Mary J Blige's "Work It,"and began her speech by referencing the late John Lewis, who said ... "Democracy is not a state. It's an act." As Harris explained, there's no guarantee that democracy will endure ... it's all about action.

Harris took some oblique shots at Trump, saying voters chose hope, unity, decency, science and truth. But, most of what she did was inspirational, talking about her historic rise and her late mother's mantra that anything is possible.

Her most memorable line ... "I may be the first [female Veep] in this office. I will not be the last."

Norm Crosby, one of the top comedians in the '60s and beyond, has died.

Crosby's wife said her husband succumbed to heart failure.

His moniker was malaprops ... the misuse of words that were absolutely hilarious. He would muse that he went to the tailor for some altercations. And, this is hysterical ... he once joked folks who can't read or write are victims of illegitimacy!

Norm was a staple on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson ... appearing more than 50 times. He made the rounds for sure, also appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," "Roseanne," "The Larry Sanders Show," and, of course, "The Love Boat."

Norm recently appeared in "Grownups 2" ... he played a Kmart worker. He was also in "8 Crazy Nights."

And, Crosby was a regular on the roasting circuit, appearing often on Dean Martin's Celebrity Roasts. He was also the host of the TV series, "The Comedy Shop." Norm also helped Jerry Lewis with the hosting duties in his annual Labor Day Telethon.

Norm is survived by his wife, Joan, 2 children and 2 grandkids.

He was 93.

Shots rang out in Vegas Saturday night in the middle of a massive brawl ... and 3 people ended up with bullet wounds.

It went down at 7:30 PM at the Adventure Dome in the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino.

The video begins with a fight. You hear screaming, people falling to the ground and running. Then, at the end of the video, you hear gunshots. It appears the fight started with 2 juveniles but then grew.

It's unclear what started the fight and, so far, cops haven't ID'd a shooter. Police do, however, say they have a person of interest in custody.

A police spokesperson said, "We do believe this is an isolated incident involving a fight between two different groups of individuals inside the Adventure Dome. This is not an active shooter, and we do believe that there is no further threat at this time to anyone else in the public."

It seemed like an eternity from Election Day, to the day Joe Biden was declared the projected winner, and while voters stressed over results, they turned to an old friend to help pass the time ... wine.

TMZ hit up some wine companies and asked how sales have been since the election, and the resounding answer was ... up, up, up!!!

Cellars Wine Club reported the biggest increase in sales over the prior week at 113%, but the company president noted ... heading into cooler weather may have contributed to the boost ... along with election anxiety.

Wine Insiders says it also saw a serious sales bump this week -- a 65% increase -- and like Cellars Wine Club ... its buyers were ordering reds over whites at a 3 to 1 margin.

Other nationwide wine companies reporting a 40% increase include Acker and Shoe Crazy Wine. A rep from Acker told us its increase was compared to the same time frame in 2019, but business definitely spiked over the past few days ... and customers were buying an average of 1 more bottle per transaction than usual.

The Acker rep added that these spikes have been observed in the past "anytime there is any form of uncertainty in the world." So, Election 2020 ... check!

Britney Spears might want her father, Jamie Spears, out of the business of managing her conservatorship — but he says there wouldn't be much of a business without him in charge the last 12 years.

Jamie has filed new court docs in Britney’s conservatorship case, firing back at Britney's attorney, Sam Ingham, for recently asking a judge to kick Jamie out of his role as co-conservator of the estate. He makes numerous points for why this would be a bad idea.

For one, Jamie says he's doing everything he's supposed to be doing managing the estate  -- and that includes keeping it thriving and bridging the gap on any hiccups that could cost his daughter a fortune, including making sure a biz manager's in place.

Case in point ... Jamie says he has years-long record of managing her business affairs and assets incredibly well, and that he actually pulled her out of significant debt and looming lawsuits when he took over and got the estate to its current status of being worth around $60 million.

Jamie claims that financial ruin was avoided on his watch -- and that there's no substantive reason to ask that he be removed now. As for getting a new business manager in place after Britney's old managing entity, Tristar, recently exited the role ... Jamie says, technically, he and the other folks helping manage the estate aren't obligated to give Ingham any notice.

With that said, he explains why they departed -- which he says wasn't sudden at all, but gracious and well-planned. Basically, Jamie says a person named Lou Taylor -- who was a key player in managing Britney's business affairs -- was getting major death threats.

As such, he and the team started looking for a replacement -- for Taylor's sake -- and found someone they liked in Michael Kane. You’ll recall, this is the guy Ingham mentioned in his docs, complaining that his hiring didn’t give Britney any chance to explore alternatives.

The iconic Victorian home famously used for exterior shots for "Full House" and "Fuller House" is no longer on the market -- as in, potential buyers can cut ... it ... out.

The four-bedroom, 3,728-square-foot home on San Francisco's picturesque "Postcard Row" sold last month for a cool $5,350,000.

"Full House" creator and executive producer Jeff Franklin had owned it since 2016, and put it on the market last summer. He had intended to make it look exactly like it did on TV. In fact, he started by painting the front door it's familiar red shade from the show, but as you can see, the door is now black.

Neighbors raised a fuss over Jeff's renovation plans due to a potential increase in tourists, and his building permits got pulled. With his dreams dashed, he put the home up for sale ... and now it's off his hands entirely.

The three-story interior, which was not ever seen on the show (it was filmed in a Hollywood studio) ... features a master suite on the top level, complete with a fireplace, walk-in closet, spa-like bath and views of San Francisco Bay.

Do not let these two almost identical images of Emily Ratajkowski have you starting to see double ... Take another look at these snaps and see if you can spot any sneaky switches that have been made to this tricky pic!

The mama-to-be was photographed popping into a car in New York City with her baby bump on display ... and we have made a few changes to this model moment! Grab your detective hats and start searching around these two photos! Try your best to find all the differences between these two super similar snaps!