A host of things

News hit today that Alex Trebek had sustained a heart attack, though minor, and for a second my favorite game show flashed before my eyes. After all, can the show Jeopardy! really exist without its urbane host? I suppose it could, but the idea of a show sometimes cannot exist separately from its star. It goes beyond game shows, of course, but it isn't often that a show or a concept becomes so linked to one person -- and vice versa.

1. Alex Trebek and Jeopardy! Condescending, careful and Canadian, the quiz show host is an aloof personality who perfectly fits the content of the high-intelligence show. The concept of the show and the host simply cannot exist separately.

2. Bob Barker and The Price is Right. It's a show about screaming contestants over vehicular prizes, the big wheel and the Showcase Showdown. But as we'll find out, the show will never be the same without Barker, an elderly gentleman who exudes one part Hugh Heffner, one part aging activist and one part nice old man.

3. Kiefer Sutherland and 24. The actor will be notable for several movie roles in his career, but the Jack Bauer phenomenon will define his career. Embracing the real-time format like never before, Fox struck gold with the serial drama, and the pseudo-superhuman Bauer is the majority of it.

4. Simon Cowell and American Idol. The show's popularity has risen to greater than 37 million viewers, gradually improving each year. The dynamic on the show is pivotal, with Ryan Seacrest, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Cowell each playing a specific, carefully cultivated role. Cowell is the heartbeat, though, a rude Brit whose opinions are as blunt and scathing as they are honest. He is entertaining and the perfect villain for the Idol empire.

5. Hugh Laurie and House. I haven't watched the show much, but Laurie's character is part of a school of thought that builds a show around a character rather than building a show with characters. It's a throwback in a way, as ensemble casts have begun to dominate the landscape, even in comedies. House features an idiosyncratic doctor whose brilliance and bizarreness blend together.

6. Steve Carell and The Office. Yet, even in the midst of an ensemble production, there are sometimes characters who are simply in disposable. Try and remove the bumbling office boss from this environment, and the show will not go on. It's not because he's the funniest member of the show or even captures the most attention, but he is the undeniable fulcrum of all humor. I have no idea if fulcrum is a word.

7. Tobin Bell and Saw. The series of movies has done its best to portray their villain as a cancer-ridden maniac with nothing to lose, but they're having a hard time finally pulling the plug with the franchise doing so well. The creepy, matter-of-fact Bell, as Jigsaw, has been the voice and the face of a sequence that modern cinema hasn't seen in years -- the recurring horror role. Jason and Freddy Krueger would be proud.

8. Al Michaels and Monday Night Football. The primetime staple has trotted out a number of color commentators, but the one constant had been Michaels until a shakeup put MNF on cable and switched the Michaels-Madden team to Sunday Night. It's an unfortunate turn of events, but you get the feeling Michaels will be calling one game a week until he dies.

9. Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. Stewart was not the show's original host, but his brash tactics and willingness to step beyond the boundaries of comedy has lifted his Comedy Central show to new heights, and his own profile as well. Few recall the days of Craig Kilborn and few will react warmly should Stewart move on.

10. Oprah and American society. When she goes, so does the world.