Jeopardy!

"Jeopardy" redirects here. For other uses, see Jeopardy (disambiguation).

Jeopardy!
Genre	Game show
Created by	Merv Griffin
Written by	Kathy Easterling (1992–2009) Debbie Griffin (1992–present) Steve Tamerius (1992–present) Michele Loud (1997–present) Jim Rhine (1997–present)
Directed by	Bob Hultgren (1964–1971) Eleanor Tarshis (1971–1972) Jeffrey L. Goldstein (1972–1975, 1978) Dick Schneider (1978–1979, 1984–1992) Kevin McCarthy (1992–present)
Creative director	John M. Pritchett (1997–1999)
Presented by	Art Fleming (1964–1975, 1978–1979) Alex Trebek (1984–present)
Narrated by	Don Pardo (1964–1975) John Harlan (1978–1979) Johnny Gilbert (1984–present)
Theme music composer	Julann Griffin (1964–1975) Merv Griffin (1978–1979, 1984–1997) Steve Kaplan (1997–2008) Chris Bell Music & Sound Design, Inc. (2008–present)
Opening theme	"Take Ten" (1964–1975) "January, February, March" (1978–1979) "Think!" (1984–present)
Ending theme	"Take Ten" (1964–1975) "Frisco Disco" (1978–1979) "Think!" (1984–present)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	NBC (1964–1975): 2,753 Syndicated (1974–1975): 39 NBC (1978–1979): 108 Syndicated (1984–present): 6,475 (as of February 8, 2013) Total: 9,375
Production
Executive producers	Robert H. Rubin (1973–1975) Merv Griffin (1984–2000) Harry Friedman (1999–present)
Producers	Robert H. Rubin (1964–1973) Lynette Williams (1973–1975) George Vosburgh (1978–1979, 1987–1997) Alex Trebek (1984–1987) Harry Friedman (1997–1999) Lisa Finneran (1997–2006) Rocky Schmidt (1997–2006) Gary Johnson (2000–2006) Deb Dittman (2006–present) Brett Schneider (2006–present)
Production locations	NBC Studios New York, New York (1964–1975) NBC Studios Burbank, California (1978–1979) Metromedia Square Hollywood, California (1984–1985) Hollywood Center Studios Hollywood, California (1985–1994) Sony Pictures Studios Culver City, California (1994–present)
Cinematography	Marc Hunter Ray Reynolds Jeff Schuster Mike Tribble
Editor	Billy Wisse
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	22–26 minutes
Production companies	Merv Griffin Productions (1964–1975, 1978–1979) Merv Griffin Enterprises (1984–1994) Columbia TriStar Television (1994–2002) Sony Pictures Television (2002–present)
Original release
Network	NBC (1964–1975, 1978–1979) Syndicated (1974–1975, 1984–present)
Release	NBC Daytime March 30, 1964 (1964-03-30)–January 3, 1975 (1975-01-03) Weekly Syndication September 9, 1974 (1974-09-09)–September 5, 1975 (1975-09-05) NBC Daytime October 2, 1978 (1978-10-02)–March 2, 1979 (1979-03-02) Daily Syndication September 10, 1984 (1984-09-10) – present

Jeopardy! is an American television quiz show created by Merv Griffin. Like most programs of its genre, it features trivia in a wide variety of topics, including history, language, literature, the arts, the sciences, popular culture, geography, and wordplay; however, it has a unique answer-and-question format in which contestants are presented with clues in the form of answers, and must phrase their responses in question form.

The show's broadcast history in the United States spans nearly five decades. The original version debuted on NBC on March 30, 1964, and was part of the network's daytime lineup until January 3, 1975. A weekly nighttime syndicated edition of the show aired from September 9, 1974 to September 5, 1975. A revival, The All-New Jeopardy!, ran as a daytime series from October 2, 1978 until March 2, 1979. These three versions were hosted by Art Fleming, with Don Pardo serving as announcer for the first two, and John Harlan announcing the 1978–79 version.

On September 10, 1984, Jeopardy! returned to television as a daily syndicated series with Alex Trebek as host and Johnny Gilbert as announcer. Since its debut, this version of the program has gone on to win a record 30 Daytime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award, and both TV Guide and GSN have ranked it as the second greatest game show of all time. In addition, the program has gained a worldwide following with a multitude of international adaptations.

The current version of the show is produced by Sony Pictures Television (previously known as Columbia TriStar Television, the successor company to original producer Merv Griffin Enterprises), and is copyrighted by a separate company known as Jeopardy Productions, Inc., which, like SPT, also operates as a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. The rights to distribute the program on television in the United States are currently owned by CBS Television Distribution (CTD), the successor to original distributor King World Productions. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment owns the rights to distribute the program on DVD, though it has only released a five-episode collection featuring some of the most memorable episodes of the current run. Jeopardy!'s 29th season premiered on September 17, 2012.

Origins

In a 1964 Associated Press profile released right before the original Jeopardy! series premiered, Griffin explained the show's origins as follows:

My wife Julann just came up with the idea one day when we were in a plane bringing us back to New York from Duluth. I was mulling over game show ideas, when she noted that there had not been a successful "question and answer" game on the air since the quiz show scandals. Why not do a switch, and give the answers to the contestant and let them come up with the question? She fired a couple of answers to me: "5,280" – and the question of course was "How many feet in a mile?". Another was "79 Wistful Vista"; that was Fibber and Mollie McGee's address. I loved the idea, went straight to NBC with the idea, and they bought it without even looking at a pilot show.

Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories. Taking inspiration from horse racing, he also decided to add three "Daily Doubles", clues in which a contestant could wager any amount of his or her money. Griffin originally titled the show What's the Question?, but ended up discarding that initial title when skeptical network executive Ed Vane rejected his original concept of the game, claiming, "It doesn't have enough jeopardies."

Broadcast history

Main article: Jeopardy! broadcast history

Jeopardy! has enjoyed a long life in various incarnations over the course of nearly a half-century. The show spent 11 years as a daytime network program on NBC, which spawned a weekly syndicated version and an unsuccessful revival. The most successful incarnation of the show is the current syndicated version, which debuted on September 10, 1984.

In addition to its main broadcast history, Jeopardy! has also enjoyed two spin-offs: Rock & Roll Jeopardy!, a music-intensive program; and Jep!, a version featuring preteen contestants.

Personnel

Hosts and announcers

Art Fleming hosted both NBC versions and the 1974–1975 syndicated version. He was joined by Don Pardo as his announcer into 1975. When NBC's revival The All-New Jeopardy! launched in 1978, John Harlan took over announcing duties from Pardo, as this version was taped in Burbank, California, rather than New York City, where Pardo resided.

Since 1984, Alex Trebek and Johnny Gilbert have served as host and announcer, respectively, for the current syndicated version of the program.

Producers and directors

Robert H. Rubin was the producer of the original Jeopardy! series for its first nine years, before being promoted to executive producer in 1973. Griffin later served as the executive producer of the current syndicated version from its 1984 debut until his retirement in 2000. Since 1999, the title of executive producer has been held by Harry Friedman, who had shared the title with Griffin for his first year, and had earlier served as a producer for two years.

After Rubin's promotion to executive producer, the original Jeopardy! series was produced, for its final two years, by Lynette Williams. The All-New Jeopardy! was produced by George Vosburgh, and the first three seasons of the current syndicated version were produced by Trebek himself, before he handed producer duties back to Vosburgh while simultaneously becoming the host of Classic Concentration on NBC during the next four years. In 1997, Vosburgh was succeeded as producer by Friedman, Lisa Finneran (currently Lisa Broffman), and Rocky Schmidt; after Friedman became sole executive producer, Gary Johnson became the new third producer for the show. Finneran, Schmidt, and Johnson were promoted to supervising producers in 2006; Johnson left the show in 2009. The current (non-supervising) producers are Deb Dittman and Brett Schneider.

The original Jeopardy! series was directed by Bob Hultgren into 1971, by Eleanor Tarshis in the 1971–1972 season, and by Jeffrey L. Goldstein for its final three seasons. Dick Schneider, who had earlier directed episodes of The All-New Jeopardy!, also directed episodes of the current syndicated version's first eight seasons; those duties are now handled by Kevin McCarthy, who had been associate director from 1984 to 1992.

Writing and editorial staff

The Trebek-hosted syndicated version of Jeopardy! presently employs nine writers and five researchers to create and assemble its categories and clues. Jeopardy!'s current writers are Billy Wisse (who also holds the title of editorial producer), Michele Loud (the current editorial supervisor), Steve D. Tamerius, Debbie Griffin, Jim Rhine, Mark Gaberman, John Duarte, Robert McClenaghan, and Friedman. The current research team consists of Matt Caruso, Michael Harris, Eric Johnson, Matthew Sherman, and senior researcher Suzanne Stone.

Former writers and researchers throughout the syndicated Jeopardy!'s history include Steven Dorfman, Kathy Easterling, Frederik Pohl IV, Gary Johnson, Andrew Shepard Price, Sarah Beach, Jeff Pierson, Lorraine P. Axeman, Ryan Haas, Carol Campbell, Ruth Deutsch, Kim Gruenenfelder, Carlo Panno, Harry Eisenberg, Barbara Heller, Gary Lee, and Jules Minton.

Gameplay

The three contestants compete in three rounds: the Jeopardy! Round, the Double Jeopardy! Round, and the Final Jeopardy! Round. If there is a returning champion, he or she occupies the leftmost lectern from the viewer's perspective.

Jeopardy! Round

The basic layout of the Jeopardy! Round game board.

Six categories are announced, each with a column of five trivia clues (phrased in answer form), each one incrementally valued more than the previous, ostensibly by difficulty. The subjects range from standard topics including history and current events, the sciences, the arts, popular culture, literature and languages, to pun-laden titles (many of which refer to the standard subjects), wordplay categories, and even sets of categories with a common theme.

The value of each clue within categories has increased over time; in the Super Jeopardy! specials (explained below), values were in points rather than in dollars.

1964–1975	1978–1979	1984–2001	2001–present	Super Jeopardy!
$10	$25	$100	$200	200
$20	$50	$200	$400	400
$30	$75	$300	$600	600
$40	$100	$400	$800	800
$50	$125	$500	$1,000	1,000

The contestant at the leftmost lectern from the viewer's perspective (the returning champion during non-tournament games) selects the first clue from any position on the game board, and the selected clue is revealed. The host then reads the clue, after which any of the three contestants may ring-in using a hand-held signaling device. The first contestant to ring-in successfully, following the host's reading of the clue, must then respond in the form of a question.

A correct response adds the dollar value of the clue to the contestant's score, and gives them the opportunity to select the next clue from the board. An incorrect response or a failure to respond within a five-second time limit (shown by the red lights on the contestant's lectern) deducts the dollar value of the clue from the contestant's score and gives any remaining opponent(s) the opportunity to ring-in and respond. If none of the contestants give a correct response, the host reads the correct response and the contestant who selected the previous clue chooses the next clue.

Daily Doubles

One clue hidden on the Jeopardy! Round game board is designated a "Daily Double". Only the contestant who selects a Daily Double may respond to its clue. The contestant must first decide how much to wager, from a minimum of $5 up to a maximum of all of their money, or the highest dollar amount in the round, whichever is higher. A wager of all of the contestant's money is known as a "true Daily Double". The contestant maintains control of the board and the right to select the subsequent clue, regardless of whether or not their response to the Daily Double is correct. Daily Doubles accompanied by audio or video footage are designated with appropriate tags which are displayed before the wager is made.

Ringing-in

Contestants must wait until the host finishes reading the clue before ringing in; doing so before this point locks the contestant out for one fourth of a second. Lights mounted around the game board illuminate to indicate when contestants may ring-in, and the contestant has five seconds to offer a response. Additionally, a tone sounds in conjunction with the illuminated lights on episodes that feature visually impaired contestants.

Prior to 1985, contestants were able to ring in at any time after the clue had been revealed, and a buzzer would sound whenever someone rang in. According to Trebek, the buzzer sound was "distracting to the viewers" and sometimes presented problems, as contestants would inadvertently ring-in too soon, or ring in so quickly that by the time he finished reading the clue, the contestant's five-second limit had expired. He also said that, by not allowing anyone to ring in until the clue was finished, home viewers could play along more easily, and faster contestants would be less likely to dominate the game.

Phrasing and judging

All responses must be phrased in the form of a question. For example, a contestant might select "Presidents for $200", and the resulting clue might be "The Father of Our Country; he didn't really chop down a cherry tree", to which the contestant would respond "Who is George Washington?" Griffin had originally intended for the phrasing to be grammatically correct (e.g., not accepting any phrasing other than "Who is..." for a person), but after finding that grammatical correction slowed the game down, he decided that the show should instead accept any correct response that was in question form.

During the Jeopardy! Round, contestants are not penalized for forgetting to phrase a response in the form of a question, although the host will remind contestants to watch their phrasing on future clues. During the Double Jeopardy! Round, or on Daily Doubles (regardless of the round), adherence to the phrasing rule is followed more strictly, but contestants are still permitted to correct themselves before their time runs out.

At times, the show's producers may determine that a response previously given by a contestant was wrongly ruled correct or incorrect. When this happens, the scores are adjusted at the first available opportunity. If, after a game is over, a ruling change is made that would have significantly altered the outcome of the game, the affected contestant(s) are invited back to compete on a future show.

Double Jeopardy! Round

The second round, Double Jeopardy!, is played largely like the first round. In it, a new set of categories is revealed, and the value of each clue is doubled (except during Super Jeopardy!). In addition, Double Jeopardy! has two Daily Doubles on the board instead of one. The contestant with the lowest amount of money at the end of the Jeopardy! Round makes the first selection in Double Jeopardy! If there is a tie for second place or a three-way tie for first place, the contestant with the tied score standing at the left-most lectern selects first.

Again, the value of each clue within categories has increased over time.

1964–1975	1978–1979	1984–2001	2001–present	Super Jeopardy!
$20	$50	$200	$400	500
$40	$100	$400	$800	1,000
$60	$150	$600	$1,200	1,500
$80	$200	$800	$1,600	2,000
$100	$250	$1,000	$2,000	2,500

Finishing Double Jeopardy! with $0 or a negative score

Contestants who finish the Double Jeopardy! Round with $0 or a negative score are not allowed to participate in the Final Jeopardy! Round. Instead, they leave the game and receive the third place prize, which has been $1,000 since May 16, 2002. On episodes of Celebrity Jeopardy!, in which celebrities compete against each other for charity, contestants are granted nominal scores ($1,000) to compete in Final Jeopardy! should their score fall below $0. These episodes also feature a "house minimum" of $25,000. On at least one Fleming-hosted episode, all three contestants finished Double Jeopardy! with $0 or less, and as a result, no Final Jeopardy! round was played that day.

Final Jeopardy! Round

Once the Double Jeopardy! Round is concluded, the Final Jeopardy! category is announced by the host, and a commercial break follows. During the break, barriers are placed to separate each of the contestant lecterns from one another, and each contestant is asked to make one final wager (between $0 and their total score), writing it down. After the final commercial break, the Final Jeopardy! clue is revealed and read by the host. The contestants are given a time limit of thirty seconds to write their responses, again phrased in the form of a question. During the time in which the contestants write their responses, the iconic "Think!" music plays in the background. Those contestants who provide the correct response are awarded the values of their respective wagers, while those who fail to respond to the question correctly or to phrase their response in the form of a question (even if the response itself is correct) have that amount subtracted from their total scores.

Since the Trebek version premiered in 1984, contestants have used a light pen to write down their Final Jeopardy! wagers and responses. Contestants are also provided with a pen and index card in the event of a malfunction with the light pen; this occurred on one episode that aired in May 2008. The light pen is automatically turned off at the conclusion of the 30-second period. A keyboard with Braille keys is also provided to assist those contestants who are visually impaired; one such player notable for his appearances on the program is Eddie Timanus, who competed on five episodes that originally aired in October 1999.

Final Jeopardy! betting has been discussed by mathematicians as an exercise in game theory.

Tiebreaker Round

During tournaments, if two or three contestants are tied for first place with a positive score at the conclusion of the Final Jeopardy! Round, a one-clue tiebreaker round is played. The tied contestants are presented with a category and the clue is then revealed. The contestant who rings-in and provides the correct response becomes the champion and moves on to the next round of play. Contestants are not eliminated from play for providing an incorrect response and are not allowed to win by default. If a non-tournament game ends in a tie for first place after Final Jeopardy!, the tied players become co-champions, keep their winnings, and return for the next episode.

Cash prizes

The top scorer on each show keeps his or her winnings and returns as the champion in the next match, and non-winners receive consolation prizes. The current prizes are $2,000 for the second-place contestant and $1,000 for the third-place contestant. Since the show does not provide airfare or lodging for most contestants (with the exception of returning champions who have to make multiple flights to the Los Angeles area), these cash consolation prizes alleviate the financial burden of appearing on the show. Prior to May 16, 2002, the second-place contestant typically received a vacation package or merchandise and the third-place contestant received lesser-value merchandise. On the Fleming versions, all contestants kept their winnings, and contestants who finished with scores below $0 received consolation prizes.

When the Trebek version began, the show's producers decided to award full winnings only to the champion as a means of making the game more competitive, so that the final outcome is not always evident until the end of the game. On the Fleming versions, some contestants would occasionally decide that they only wanted to win a certain amount of money and then stop ringing-in when they reached that amount, instead of attempting to become a returning champion, while others would refuse to write down a question for Final Jeopardy! if another contestant had a significant lead.

Returning champions

If no contestant finishes Final Jeopardy! with a positive total, nobody wins and three new contestants appear on the following show. In such cases, the three new contestants participate in a backstage draw to determine their positions at the contestant lecterns. There have been three cases of triple-zero or both surviving contestants scording zero when one did not make final Jeopardy! in regular play, and two cases in tournaments. This first happened on the second episode of the current run, on September 11, 1984, and most recently in a regular game on June 12, 1998.

There have been two cases of a triple-zero score during tournaments, once during the 1991 Seniors Tournament during the first round, and during the 2013 Teen Tournament during the semi-final match.

In regular play, if two or three contestants tie for first place, they are declared co-champions; each keeps his or her winnings and comes back on the following episode. Four contestants have each finished two games as co-champions: Dane Garrett on episodes aired in September 1985, Sara Cox on episodes aired in December 1990, Dan Girard on episodes aired in July 1998, and Kristin Morgan on episodes aired in January 2013. A three-way tie for first place has only occurred once on the Trebek version—on March 16, 2007, when Scott Weiss, Jamey Kirby, and Anders Martinson all ended the game with the same shared total of $16,000. In tournament play, the contestants involved in the non-zero tie will be given one final clue. The player who responds correctly to the final answer will advance to the next round.

The only contestant on that version to win a game with the lowest amount possible ($1) was U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Darryl Scott, on the episode that aired January 19, 1993. As of 2002, it is now no longer possible to win an amount this low, because of the minimum prize being at $1,000 thanks to rules that were set that year.

Special considerations are also given for contestants who are unable to return as champion because of circumstances beyond their control, such as illness, military commitments, or unusual delays. Taping typically takes place with a week of games in a taping day, with two weeks taped in one two-day span, and up to six weeks of episodes taped every month, there are times where a long break may take place between tapings. This occurred for the first time in Season 25: three new contestants appeared on the January 19, 2009 episode, owing to the previous show's champion, Priscilla Ball, who won on the January 16 episode, unable to make the taping of the January 19 episode because of illness. At the top of the episode, Trebek explained that in such a case, the contestant would return at a later date as a co-champion. Ball returned on the episode that aired April 9, 2009.

Until 2003, a contestant who won five consecutive days retired undefeated, with a guaranteed spot in the next Tournament of Champions; three new contestants would appear on the following show. From 1997 until 2001, an undefeated champion was also awarded his or her choice of Chevrolet cars or trucks. From 2001 to 2003, the winner won a Jaguar X-Type. Similarly, as part of the deal with Ford Motor Company for the 2001–2002 season, Ford also added a Volvo to the Teen Tournament prize package.

From 1984 until 1990, champions kept all winnings up to a limit of $75,000; any amount above that was donated to a charity of the champion's choice. The limit was increased to $100,000 in 1990, after Bob Blake ($82,501) and Frank Spangenberg ($102,597) exceeded the old amount, and raised again to $200,000 in 1997.

In September 2003, with the start of Season 20, the show eliminated both the five-episode limit on returning champions and the total cash winnings limit. Champions can now remain on the program indefinitely until defeated, although champions who appear on five or more consecutive episodes no longer receive an automobile.

Winnings records

Ken Jennings, one of Jeopardy!'s most notable contestants.

Jeopardy!'s record for the all-time longest winnings streak is held by Ken Jennings, who, taking advantage of the newly implemented rule changes explained above, competed on the show from June 2 through November 30, 2004, winning 74 matches before being defeated by Nancy Zerg in his 75th appearance. He amassed $2,520,700 over his 74 wins as well as a $2,000 second-place prize in his 75th appearance, thus earning the record as the highest money-winner ever on American game shows, and his winning streak increased the show's ratings and popularity to the point where it became TV's highest-rated syndicated program. Jennings later went on to compete in the show's Ultimate Tournament of Champions and win the $500,000 second-place prize, and even later, to win half of a $300,000 prize in The IBM Challenge which aired in February 2011, increasing his Jeopardy! earnings total to $3,172,700.

The biggest all-time money winner on Jeopardy! is Brad Rutter, who has won a cumulative total of $3,455,102 on the show. He became an undefeated champion in 2000 and subsequently won an unprecedented three Jeopardy! tournaments: the 2001 Tournament of Champions, the Million Dollar Masters Tournament, and the Ultimate Tournament of Champions. Following his third tournament win, in which he defeated Jennings and Jerome Vered in the finals, Rutter broke Jennings' all-time game show winnings record. Jennings subsequently regained his record by appearing on various other game shows, culminating in an appearance on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on October 10, 2008, but Rutter still retains the record for Jeopardy! winnings.

The all-time record for single-day winnings on Jeopardy! is currently held by Roger Craig. On the episode that aired September 14, 2010, he amassed a score of $47,000 after the game's first two rounds, then wagered and won $30,000 in the Final Jeopardy! round, and in doing so, he broke the previous single-day record of $75,000 which had been held by Jennings.

Special programming

Main article: List of Jeopardy! tournaments and events

Regular tournaments and events

Starting in 1985, a "Tournament of Champions" has been held annually (except in Seasons 17, 20, 23, and 27), featuring the top fifteen champions and other biggest winners who have appeared on the show since the last tournament. A top prize of $250,000 (formerly $100,000, from 1985 to 2002) is awarded to the winner. The tournament runs for ten consecutive episodes in a format devised by Trebek himself: five quarter-final games, three semifinals, and a final consisting of two games with the scores totaled. The nine players in the semifinals are the five quarter-final game winners and, as wild card entrants, the other four highest scorers from all five quarter-final games. From the semifinals, only the winners advance to the final.

In case of a tie at the end of a match, one final clue is read to the contestants involved in the tie; the player who gives the correct question advances. In case of a tie in a wild card spot, the player with the highest score of the tied players advances to the next round. In the rare case all players finish with zero in a game, one additional wild-card entrant will be added. This has occurred in two cases, the 1991 Seniors Tournament first round (four winners and five wild cards) and the 2013 Teen Tournament semifinal (two winners and one wild card).

Beginning in 1992, "Celebrity Jeopardy!" has featured celebrities and other notable individuals competing for charitable organizations of their choice (or, in the cases of public officials, relevant charities chosen by the Jeopardy! production staff). Celebrity matches have traditionally been broadcast annually as a week-long event, and on occasion there has been a special version of this event, called "Power Players Week", which centers around competition between personalities in politics and journalism.

First aired in 1987, the "Teen Tournament" features competition between fifteen high school students, with the winner receiving $75,000 and, in some years, a new car. Until 2001, the winner was also invited to participate in the Tournament of Champions.

Beginning in 1989, the "College Championship" features college students competing for a $100,000 prize. The tournament pits fifteen full-time undergraduate students from colleges and universities in the United States against one another in a two-week tournament, identical in format to the Tournament of Champions. The winner is also invited to participate in the next Tournament of Champions. Each College Championship aired between 1997 and 2008 was taped on location at a college campus.

Beginning in 1999, "Kids Week" features competition between school-age children aged 10 to 12. The winners keep all of their winnings, with minimum guarantees of $15,000 ($10,000 from 2000 to 2009, and $5,000 in the first two tournaments), but do not return to play another game. The first four times the event was held, the player who had the highest winning score during the week was also awarded a bonus of $5,000.

Ten "Seniors Tournaments" were held for a top prize of $25,000 (or the contestant's two-game total, whichever was greater) between 1987 and 1995. The tournaments featured contestants over the age of 50. Typically this tournament aired as the last two weeks of a season prior to a six-week-long summer break, with the winner earning an invitation to the next Tournament of Champions. Since the last Seniors Tournament in December 1995, contestants older than 50 years regularly appear on the program in non-tournament games.

Three "International Tournaments", held in 1996, 1997, and 2001, featured one-week competitions between champions from each of the international versions of Jeopardy!. Each of the countries that aired their own version of the show in those years could nominate a contestant. The format was identical to the semifinals and finals of the Tournament of Champions. In the first two tournaments, the winner received $25,000, and for the third, the top prize was doubled to $50,000.

The "Teachers Tournament", introduced in May 2011 to commemorate the Trebek version's 6,000th episode, features fifteen teachers competing for $100,000 in a format identical to the Tournament of Champions. The winner also receives a spot in the next Tournament of Champions.

Special events

There have been a number of special tournaments featuring the greatest contestants during the history of Jeopardy! The first of these "all-time best" tournaments, Super Jeopardy!, aired in the summer of 1990 on ABC. It featured 37 top contestants who had competed on the program from 1984–1990, plus one notable champion from the original 1964–1975 version, all competing for a top prize of $250,000. In 1993, a "Tenth Anniversary Tournament" was conducted over five episodes and aired following the conclusion of that year's regular Tournament of Champions. In May 2002, to commemorate the Trebek version's 4,000th episode, the show invited fifteen champions to play for a $1 million bonus, in the "Million Dollar Masters" tournament, which took place at Radio City Music Hall. The "Ultimate Tournament of Champions" aired in 2005 and pitted 145 former Jeopardy! champions against each other, with two winners moving on to face Jennings in a three-game final for a $2 million top prize, the largest in the show's history. Overall, the tournament spanned 76 shows, starting on February 9 and ending on May 25.

The "Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational" was a special edition of Celebrity Jeopardy! played during the 2009–2010 season. It featured twenty-seven celebrity contestants from past Celebrity Jeopardy! episodes competing for a grand prize of $1,000,000 for charity. The grand prizewinner was Michael McKean, who was playing for the International Myeloma Foundation.

In November 1998, contestants from the 1987, 1988, and 1989 Teen Tournaments (including the champions) were invited to Boston to play in a special "Teen Reunion Tournament". In September 2008, Jeopardy! celebrated its landmark 25th anniversary season by holding a special "Kids Week Reunion" tournament featuring 15 former Kids Week alumni from the 1999 and 2000 Kids Weeks competing against each other.

"The IBM Challenge", aired February 14–16, 2011, featured IBM's Watson computer facing off against Jennings and Rutter in a two-game match played over three shows. This was the first man-vs.-machine competition in Jeopardy!'s history. Watson locked up the first game and the match to win the grand prize of $1 million, which IBM divided between two charities (World Vision and World Community Grid). Jennings, who won $300,000 for second place, and Rutter, who won the $200,000 third-place prize, both pledged to donate half of their total winnings to their respective charities. The competition brought the show its highest ratings since the Ultimate Tournament of Champions.

Production information

Audition process

Main article: Jeopardy! audition process

File:Jeopardy Brain Bus.jpg

The Jeopardy! Brain Bus

In the 1964–1975 version, prospective contestants called the Jeopardy! office in New York to arrange an appointment and to preliminarily determine eligibility. Prospective contestants were briefed and auditioned together in groups of ten to thirty individuals, participating in both a written test and mock games. Following the audition, successful contestants were invited to appear on the program within approximately six weeks.

Since 1984, prospective contestants are given a fifty-question written exam. The questions cover various topics (including traditional academic information, popular culture, lifestyle and wordplay categories), and the number of questions in each topic has been modified throughout the years. Those who pass the exam by providing at least thirty-five correct responses advance in the audition process and compete in mock games.

Contestant searches for the current syndicated version were initially only held in southern California but have been conducted regionally (sponsored by local affiliates that air the program) since 1985. Invitations to audition were originally awarded by postcard drawings and other types of contests. Prospective contestants can now obtain the location of regional contestant searches or register to participate in an online test via the official website.

Internet screenings have also been conducted for prospective contestants that previously registered on the official website, with a random selection of those obtaining a passing score invited to participate in additional regional contestant searches.

Brain Bus

The Jeopardy! Brain Bus is a 32-foot (9.8 m) Winnebago recreational vehicle, used by the show since Season 15 (1998–1999). Its main purpose is to travel to regional locations in the United States and Canada to conduct contestant searches, while attendees not wishing to compete for a chance to appear on the show can also play a shortened game of Jeopardy! for prizes such as t-shirts, hats, water bottles, etc., with the Jeopardy! logo.

Clue Crew

Kelly Miyahara of the Clue Crew at the International CES in Winchester, Nevada.

The Jeopardy! Clue Crew, introduced on September 24, 2001, is a team of roving correspondents who tape videos from around the world to display alongside clues given during the show. Over 5,000 people applied for Clue Crew posts within weeks of the announcement of auditions for that team.

Executive producer Harry Friedman further explained the reasoning behind the Clue Crew's formation as follows:

TV is a visual medium, and the more visual we can make our clues, the more we think it will enhance the experience for the viewer.

The original Clue Crew members were Cheryl Farrell, Jimmy McGuire, Sofia Lidskog, and Sarah Whitcomb (now Sarah Whitcomb Foss). Lidskog departed the Clue Crew in 2004 to become an anchor on the high school news program Channel One News, and a search was held to replace her in early 2005. The winners of that search were Jon Cannon and Kelly Miyahara, both of whom formally joined the crew starting in Season 22, which premiered on September 12, 2005. Farrell left the show in Season 24, and Cannon in Season 25.

The Clue Crew has traveled to over 200 cities worldwide, through 45 of the 50 U.S. states, and to 33 countries. In addition to showcasing clues accompanied by video for Jeopardy! itself, the team's members also travel to meet fans of the show, as well as future contestants. Occasionally, they also visit schools to showcase the educational game Classroom Jeopardy! (explained below).

Taping locations

The original Jeopardy! series was taped in Studio 6A at NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. In addition to Studio 6A, Studio 8G was also frequently used to record the show.

The All-New Jeopardy! was taped from NBC Studio 3 in Burbank, California, with a set designed by Henry Lickel and Dennis Roof.

When the syndicated Jeopardy! premiered in 1984, it was taped at Metromedia Stage 7, KTTV-TV, on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. From 1985 to 1994, the show was taped at Hollywood Center Studios' Stage 9.

After the final shows of Season 10 were taped on February 15, 1994, production moved to Sony Pictures Studios' Stage 10 on Washington Boulevard in Culver City, California, where the program has taped its episodes since July 12 of that same year. As of December 26, 2011, the physical mailing address of Jeopardy! is at 10202 W. Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232-3195.

Theme music

Since the debut of Jeopardy! in 1964, several different songs and arrangements have served as the theme music for the show, the majority of which were composed by Griffin. The original Jeopardy! series opened and closed with "Take Ten", composed by Griffin's wife Julann, while The All-New Jeopardy! opened with "January, February, March" and closed with "Frisco Disco", both of which were composed by Griffin himself and arranged by bandleader Mort Lindsey.

The most well-known theme song used by Jeopardy! is "Think!", originally composed by Griffin under the title "A Time for Tony", as a lullaby for his son. That composition has become a staple song of popular culture and is frequently used in such contexts as sporting events and television shows to underscore that a decision or answer must be arrived at quickly. "Think!" has always been used for the 30-second period in the Final Jeopardy! Round in which the contestants write down their answers, and since the syndicated version debuted in 1984, a rendition of that tune has also been used as the main theme song. Griffin estimated that the use of "Think!" had earned him royalties of over $70 million throughout his lifetime. "Think!" led Griffin to win the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) President's Award in 2003, and during GSN's Game Show Awards special in 2009, it was named "Best Game Show Theme Song".

Before Chris Bell Music and Sound Design overhauled the Jeopardy! music package in 2008, the Final Jeopardy! recording of "Think!" had the melody played twice: first in C major, then moving up a minor third to E-flat major. The pre-2008 "main theme" recordings of "Think!" began with a brief introduction (which originally was played in B major and then transposed a half-step (minor second) upward to C major), followed by a main melody that was first performed in F major, then continued in a circle of minor thirds: upward to A-flat major and then B major, then downward to D major, with the F major and A-flat major portions (and in the later arrangements written by Steve Kaplan, the B major portion as well) repeated after that. CBMSD's 2008 Final Jeopardy! recording of "Think!" begins in F major and moves up a minor third to A-flat major, while its "main theme" recording is first performed in C major, moves up a minor third to E-flat major, and then stays in E-flat while various improvisations are performed, before the main melodies return to end the piece.

Set evolution

File:Jeopardy! set evolution (Trebek era).jpg

Various sets used by the syndicated version over the years. From top to bottom: 1984–85, 1991–96, 1996–2002, 2002–06, 2006–09, and 2009–present.

Like the theme music, the Jeopardy! set has also changed over the years. The original game board was exposed from behind a curtain and featured the clues printed on pull cards which were revealed as contestants selected values in each category. The cards were discarded for the 1978 version, replaced by flipping panels that had the dollar amount on one side and the clue on the other; the curtain was also replaced with double slide panels. When the show returned in 1984, the game board was replaced with individual monitors for each clue in a category. As technology has improved since then, the monitors have been upgraded accordingly. The original monitors were replaced in 1991 with larger and sleeker monitors. In 2006, these monitors were replaced with a nearly seamless projection video wall (which originally was used as part of the road show set). In 2009, this video wall was replaced by thirty-six 42-inch high-definition flat-panel monitors.

Other aesthetic changes have been made to the set since the current syndicated version's premiere in 1984. Starting in 1985 and continuing until 1997, the sets were designed to have a background color of blue for Jeopardy! Rounds and red for Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy! Rounds. At the beginning of Season 8 in 1991, a brand new set was introduced that resembled a grid. On the episode aired November 11, 1996, two months after the start of Season 13, Jeopardy! introduced an entirely new set a second time—this one designed by production designer Naomi Slodki, who intended the set to resemble "the foyer of a very contemporary library". Shortly after the start of Season 19 in 2002, the show switched to yet another new set, also designed by Slodki. This set was modified slightly in 2006 when Jeopardy! and its sister show Wheel of Fortune became the first syndicated TV series, as well as two of the first game shows, to air in high-definition. During this time, several virtual tours were featured on the official Jeopardy! web site.

The various high-definition improvements for Jeopardy! and Wheel represented a combined investment of about $4 million, 5,000 hours of labor, and 6 miles (10 km) of cable. Both shows had been shot using HD cameras for several years before beginning to broadcast in HD. On standard-definition television broadcasts, the shows continue to be displayed with an aspect ratio of 4:3.

A new set debuted with the Celebrity Jeopardy! and Tournament of Champions episodes taped in 2009 at the 42nd annual International CES technology trade show, hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester (Las Vegas Valley), Nevada. This set became the primary set for Jeopardy! when Season 26 premiered on September 14, 2009.

International broadcasts

Countries with versions of Jeopardy!

Main article: International versions of Jeopardy!

Since the early days of Jeopardy!, adaptations of the show have been produced in many foreign countries worldwide, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. In addition, the American syndicated version of Jeopardy! is distributed and broadcast internationally, with such rights being held by CTD's overseas distribution division, CBS Studios International.

The American Jeopardy! was broadcast by CBC Television throughout Canada (except in Windsor, Ontario, where broadcast rights are held by WDIV-TV in Detroit), until the Fall 2012 television season when CBC dropped Jeopardy! and Wheel in favor of Canadian-produced progamming. The Canadian broadcast rights to Jeopardy! and Wheel are now owned by CHCH-DT. Prior to 2008, the show aired across Canada on most CTV stations, with the exception of Vancouver's CTV station CIVT-TV.

Episode status

Art Fleming

1964–1975, NBC

Art Fleming hosted Jeopardy! from 1964 until 1979.

Only a small number of the 2,753 episodes from the original NBC daytime version survive, mostly as black-and-white kinescopes of the original color videotapes. Various episodes from 1967, 1971, 1973, and 1974 are listed among the holdings of the UCLA Film and Television Archive, while the 1964 "test episode", Episode #2,000 (from February 21, 1972), and a June 1975 episode of the weekly syndicated edition exist at the Paley Center for Media. Incomplete paper records of the NBC-era games exist on microfilm at the Library of Congress.

After the original series ended, several NBC stations continued airing repeats for a few months in 1975, including Los Angeles-based KNBC, according to TV Guide listings from that time.

The original series' 2000th episode, its finale (show number 2,753), and a few others are held by GSN. However, only the 2,000th episode has been rerun by the network.

1978–1979, NBC

GSN holds The All-New Jeopardy!'s premiere and finale in broadcast quality, and aired the latter on December 31, 1999 as part of its "Y2Play" marathon. The UCLA Archive holds a copy of a pilot taped for CBS in 1977, featuring a "sub-Round 1" in which each contestant "played solo" for 30 seconds (an incorrect response did not deduct from his or her score). The premiere also exists among the Paley Center's holdings, and several other episodes exist among private collectors in varying degrees of quality.

Alex Trebek

Alex Trebek has hosted Jeopardy! since 1984.

1984–present, syndicated

The Trebek version is completely intact, including both pilots. The first featured a set modeled after a computer, the 1978 series' logo and theme, and Jay Stewart as announcer. The second was shot on what eventually became the series' first set with Johnny Gilbert announcing and a different version of the show's theme. GSN, which like Jeopardy! is an affiliate of Sony Pictures Television, has rerun ten seasons since the channel's launch in 1994.

Copies of 43 Trebek-hosted syndicated Jeopardy! episodes aired between 1989 and 2004, as well as a commercial that advertised the show in the 1990s, have been collected by the UCLA Archive. Various other episodes, including the premiere, are included in the Paley Center's collection.

There is a 67-game disparity between the show numbers assigned to first-run Jeopardy! episodes and the actual number of Trebek-era games played. To assist subscribing affiliate stations in airing episodes in the correct order, a show number is read by Gilbert just prior to the taping of each game. This number is audible on the episodes as received by the affiliates and visible on the slate attached to them. The slate is trimmed from the show prior to broadcast. Each new episode receives an integer show number 1 greater than the previous episode; however, the 65 reruns in Season 1 (1984–1985) were given new show numbers despite not being new games; a retrospective clip show aired May 15, 2002 was credited as #4088; and a single game of The IBM Challenge against IBM's Watson computer was broadcast over two shows (#6086, #6087).

1990, ABC

Super Jeopardy! is completely intact. However, only the finale has been rerun (on GSN as part of a special marathon) since the original broadcast.

Reception

Awards

Jeopardy! has won a record 30 Daytime Emmy Awards since 1984. The show holds the record for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show, with thirteen awards won in that category. Another five awards have been won by Trebek for Outstanding Game Show Host. Twelve other Emmy Awards have been won by the show's directors and writers in separate categories until 2006, when the Emmy Awards for Outstanding Direction for a Game/Audience Participation Show (for the directors) and Outstanding Special Class Writing (which the writers competed for and won perennially) were merged into the Outstanding Game/Audience Participation show category. In 2011, Trebek was announced as one of the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony held on June 17, 2011, together with Wheel host Pat Sajak. The following year, the show was honored with a Peabody Award for its role in encouraging, celebrating, and rewarding knowledge.

Critical reaction

In its April 17-23, 1993 issue, TV Guide named Jeopardy! the best game show of the 1970s as part of a celebration of its 40th anniversary. Then, in January 2001, the magazine ranked it #2 among its 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time—second only to The Price Is Right. Esquire magazine readers named the program their "favorite game show", and in the summer of 2006, it was also ranked #2 by GSN on its list of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time.

Other honors

A hall of fame honoring Jeopardy! was added to the Sony Pictures Studios' studio tour on September 20, 2011. This hall of fame features all of the Emmy statuettes awarded to the show, as well as retired set pieces, classic merchandise, video clips, photographs, and other memorabilia related to the show's history.

Portrayals in other media

Jeopardy! has been portrayed or parodied in numerous television shows, films, and works of literature over the years. Most of these portrayals and parodies feature one or more characters participating as contestants, or viewing and interacting with the game show from their own homes.

Television

While several television series (namely The Golden Girls, Mama's Family, The Nanny, and Family Guy) have featured episodes wherein characters either audition for or appear on the show, the most infamous appearance of Jeopardy! in an external television series is in "What is... Cliff Clavin?", a Season 8 episode of Cheers in which the titular mailman, portrayed by John Ratzenberger, appears on the show and racks up an impressive $22,000 going into the Final Jeopardy! Round, well ahead of his competitors, then risks all of his winnings on the Final Jeopardy! clue itself, responding incorrectly and leaving with no money. Trebek also appears as himself on the animated series The Simpsons, in a Season 9 episode titled "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace", in which Marge Simpson appears on a fictional version of the show, only to perform very poorly and end up with -$5,200.

In its second season, Saturday Night Live parodied the Fleming version with a sketch called Jeopardy! 1999. Then, from 1996–2002 and again in 2005 and 2009, the show featured a recurring sketch called Celebrity Jeopardy!, in which Trebek, portrayed by Will Ferrell, had to deal with the constant taunts of antagonists such as Sean Connery (played by Darrell Hammond) and Burt Reynolds (Norm MacDonald).

Films

Jeopardy! is featured in a subplot of the 1992 film White Men Can't Jump, with the character of Gloria Clemente, portrayed by Rosie Perez, making attempts to pass the show's auditions. Several films, including The Bucket List and Diner, have demonstrated the intelligence of characters by showing them watching Jeopardy! on television and guessing the correct response to every clue. In Groundhog Day, Bill Murray's character impresses other watchers of the show by correctly responding to every clue, some before they are even read. In 1982's Airplane II: The Sequel, when Steve McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges) tells Ted Striker (Robert Hays) that he is putting the airplane passengers in jeopardy, some of the passengers are seen playing a game of Jeopardy! with Fleming as the host.

Literature

The show is the setting for the David Foster Wallace short story "Little Expressionless Animals", which was first published in The Paris Review, and was later reprinted in Wallace's collection Girl with Curious Hair. The story centers around Julie Smith, a Jeopardy! contestant who competes and wins on every game for three years, and uses her winnings to pay for the care of her autistic brother.

In the Jodi Picoult novel Salem Falls, the game of Jeopardy! becomes part of a tense prison bet for protagonist Jack St. Bride, who is an avid watcher of the show. If he proves himself capable of supplying the correct responses before the contestants, he will be left alone by a fellow prisoner.

Other

The Epcot attraction Ellen's Energy Adventure features a dream sequence in which Ellen DeGeneres plays a Jeopardy! game in which all the categories are about energy. The music video "I Lost on Jeopardy", a parody of Greg Kihn's 1983 hit song "Jeopardy", was recorded by "Weird Al" Yankovic in May 1984, shortly before Trebek's version debuted, and featured cameos from Fleming and Pardo, among others.

Merchandise

Over the years, the Jeopardy! brand has expanded beyond television and been licensed into products of various formats.

Games

The earliest board games based on Jeopardy! were produced by Milton Bradley, which produced thirteen such games throughout the course of the original Fleming version's run (issued annually from 1964 through 1976); these games were numbered 1–12 and 14, skipping 13. The Trebek version has also seen various board game adaptations of its own, marketed at different times by Pressman Toy Corporation, Tyco Toys, and Parker Brothers.

Jeopardy! has also been adapted into a number of video games for various consoles and handhelds spanning multiple hardware generations. Milton Bradley produced an 8-track cartridge game based on the show for its Omni Entertainment System in the early 1980s. Then, from 1987 to 1990, Rare Ltd. developed a series of three Jeopardy! games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. A number of Jeopardy! games for various platforms were released afterwards by GameTek, for seven years from 1991 until the company's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1998. After this, Hasbro Interactive (later sold to Infogrames, which went on to become the current Atari) produced several Jeopardy! video game adaptations of its own for Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation consoles. Most recently, THQ has released video games based on Jeopardy! for all three of the major seventh-generation consoles, as well as Nintendo's Wii U console and DS portable game system.

Tiger Electronics released five electronic games based on the show: one in 1995, one in 1999, and the remaining three (a pocket game, a remote game, and a handheld game) in 2003. Then, in 2007, MGA Entertainment released the Jeopardy! DVD Home Game System, which allows groups of players to play the game of Jeopardy! from home with a similar experience to appearing on the actual show.

Classroom Jeopardy!

In 2002, in response to educators praising the longevity of the show's popularity and their students creating their own versions of the game to encourage student participation in class, educational toy company Educational Insights (which markets the GeoSafari system) released Classroom Jeopardy!, a self-contained, programmable game system based on Jeopardy! designed for use in schools. With this system, the teacher plays the role of host, while students can play the game on a normal classroom television set or an interactive whiteboard. Teachers are permitted to either use standardized games created for the grade levels of their classes, or write customized games of their own covering material that they are teaching at the moment.

The success of Classroom Jeopardy! led to the production of a home version called Host Your Own Jeopardy!, which was released in 2004. An updated version of the system was released in 2011.

Other merchandise

A DVD titled Jeopardy!: An Inside Look at America's Favorite Quiz Show was released on November 8, 2005 and features five of the most memorable episodes of the current run (four featuring Ken Jennings), along with three featurettes discussing the show's history and question selection process. The Jeopardy! brand has also been licensed into a collectible watch, a series of daily desktop calendars, and various slot machine games for casinos and the Internet.

eBay set auction

In December 2002, having introduced a new set for Season 19, Jeopardy! producers auctioned off portions of the show's previous set, including the contestants' lecterns, on eBay. Proceeds from the auction were donated to two charities, World Vision and the Motion Picture & Television Fund.

References

• Trebek, Alex (1990). The Jeopardy! Book: The Answers, the Questions, the Facts, and the Stories of the Greatest Game Show in History. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-096511-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Eisenberg, Harry (1993). Inside "Jeopardy!": What Really Goes on at TV's Top Quiz Show (first ed.). Salt Lake City, Utah: Northwest Publishing. ISBN 978-1-56-901177-5.
• Richmond, Ray (2004). This is Jeopardy!: Celebrating America's Favorite Quiz Show. Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN 978-0-76-075374-3.
• Harris, Bob (2006). Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy!. Random House Digital. ISBN 978-0-30-73395-60.
• Jennings, Ken (2006). Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs. Random House Digital. ISBN 978-1-40-00644-58.
• Young, Shaun P. (2012). Jeopardy! and Philosophy: What is Knowledge in the Form of a Question?. Open Court Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-81-26979-95.

Further reading

• Forrest, Chuck (1992). Secrets of the Jeopardy Champions. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-0-44-639352-2.
• Eisenberg, Harry (1995). Jeopardy!: A Revealing Look Inside TV's Top Quiz Show, Contestants, and Question Selection Process Unveiled. Lifetime Books. ISBN 978-0-81-190861-0.
• Dupée, Michael (1998). How to Get on Jeopardy!—and Win!: Valuable Information from a Champion. Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-80-651991-3.

External links

• Official website
• Jeopardy! (original series) at IMDb
• Jeopardy! (current series) at IMDb
• The All-New Jeopardy! at IMDb
• Super Jeopardy! at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show