I was very sad to hear this morning about the tragic passing of insightful gameshow commentator and once-frequent contributor to this site, Travis Penery, just before his 30th birthday. He will be sorely missed by a lot of people. I regularly had interesting chats with him on Twitter, and I was often blown away by his extensive knowledge. I initially heard the news from a tweet by the Banker, which was echoed by many TV executives and across the gameshow community, which shows the huge impact he had and how respected his opinion was.

I won't forget his kindness in taking the time to send me copies of Italian Deal last year. It's a shame his final tweet was to me berating a certain person's comments here. We should realise, today of all days especially, life is too short for trivial squabbles.

Rest in peace, bud.

I heard this earlier after the Banker tweeted it, and was sad to hear this news.

My condolences to his family, and those that knew him.

I never met Travis but if I knew half the stuff that he knew about all things gameshow, I'd be happy.

Having read his blogs, I know how close he was to his father who passed away last year. I hope they are now together in the gameshow audience in the sky.

RIP

Sad news. RIP

I've just found out the news and was rather shocked by it. I only ever knew Travis online - firstly through the forum back in 2006 and, more recently, on Twitter - and he always seemed to be a nice fellow.

I regularly conversed with him about DoND both on here and privately on MSN, and his knowledge and enthusiasm was infectious and helped to build my own interest about the show in its early days. His passion for DoND and other gameshows - including gameshows from many other countries - was admirable.

RIP Travis - you will be missed.

I'll offer my condolences, too; it's a sad day for the forum, and undoubtedly, with Christmas so close, an awful time for his family and friends. I recall him from the heady days of 2006 here, but he had been semi-active more recently, and Travis was clearly held in high esteem both here and elsewhere. Things like this remind me of the fragile nature of our life, and, thus, of our duty to make of it as much as we possibly can.

I think it goes without saying that Travis leaves behind him a legacy; as a commentator, a font of knowledge, and to many, a friend.

Rest in peace.

It's a shame that Travis had to die a VERY premature death.

Condolences.

If we're in favour, I propose we dedicate tomorrow's show - or parts of it, the commentary perhaps - to Travis' memory.

Travis and I have had somewhat of a history here. He would frequently call me out about my behaviour, both publicly and via private message. His advice was one of the reasons why I decided to change my ways. He helped me to see the light at a time when others were calling for my head.

I know there are a few people here, myself included, who follow BuzzerBlog, a game show news site where Travis often posted about UK and international game shows. He was a very insightful person, and I personally enjoyed reading his posts.

From what I've read, Travis was quite respected within the game show community, and one of its more vocal commentators. He will be sadly missed. I offer his family my deepest sympathies and condolences.

That's shattering news. My thoughts and feelings are with his loved ones at this difficult time.

In many ways, Travis is why we've come together here. It was his copy of an Australian episode that was the basis of the Bother's Bar feature in 2005 that built up excitement for the show there to the point of there being daily commentaries. That mantle has long since passed to this site, but it began there, and it began because of him.

He will be sorely missed.