Jeopardy! is an international television quiz game show, originally devised by Merv Griffin. The show originated in the United States, where it
first ran on NBC from March 30, 1964
until January 3, 1975; in a weekly syndicated version from September 9, 1974 to September 7, 1975; and in a retooled
revival from October 2, 1978 to March
2, 1979. Its most successful incarnation is the current Alex
Trebek-hosted syndicated version, which has aired continuously since September 10,
1984. The show is shot at Stage 10 on the Sony Pictures
Studios lot in Culver City, California, with production offices also on
the lot in the Robert Young building.
Jeopardy! is a game of trivia, covering topics such as history, literature, pop culture,
and science. During the game, three competing contestants select clues from a game board, up to 61 clues per game, each clue in
the form of an answer to which they must supply correct responses, each response in the form of a question. The conceit of "questioning answers" is original to
Jeopardy! and, along with its theme music, remains the most enduring and distinctive
element of the show.
Since the 1980s, the Trebek version has consistently placed weekly among the top-rated shows in syndication. In January 2001,
TV Guide ranked it #2 among the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time. Esquire magazine readers named it their "favorite game show", and in the summer of 2006, it was
also ranked #2 by GSN on their list of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time.
Broadcast history
-
Jeopardy! has a more than 40-year broadcast history in the United States since being created by Merv Griffin in the early 1960s in response to the quiz show
scandals of the 1950s.
Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, circa 1986
Gameplay
The Jeopardy! Round
Each day, there are three contestants, one of whom is usually the defending champion (and
is always introduced last and is at the podium on the viewer's left), who play a three-round game. The first round is simply
called the Jeopardy! Round.
Six categories are announced, each with a column of five trivia clues (phrased in answer form), each one valued, in dollars,
incrementally more than the previous, ostensibly by difficulty. Each category is a topical category, and the categories change on
each show; frequently, they contain puns or other wordplay. The names of the six categories are
sometimes related in some way (e.g., titles of Shakespeare plays, although only one may
actually concern the famous playwright).
Jeopardy! Round clue values
| 1964-1975 |
1978-1979, 1st Trebek pilot |
2nd Trebek pilot |
1984-2001 |
2001-present |
1990 Super Jeopardy! tournament |
| $10 |
$25 |
$50 |
$100 |
$200 |
200 points |
| $20 |
$50 |
$100 |
$200 |
$400 |
400 points |
| $30 |
$75 |
$150 |
$300 |
$600 |
600 points |
| $40 |
$100 |
$200 |
$400 |
$800 |
800 points |
| $50 |
$125 |
$250 |
$500 |
$1,000 |
1000 points |
The answer board (Season 19-22
Jeopardy! set).
The returning champion or the new challenger in the first position (standing at the leftmost lectern from Trebek's point of
view) begins the game by selecting a category and monetary value (e.g. "PRESIDENTS for $200"). The host then reads the clue ("He
was the father of our country; he didn't really chop down a cherry tree"), after which any of the three contestants may ring in
using a hand-held signaling device. The host recognizes the first contestant to successfully ring in following the host's reading
of the clue, and that contestant must then respond generally in the form of a question ("Who was/Who is/Who's George
Washington?"). (See Phrasing below).
A correct response earns the dollar value of the clue, and gives the "questioner" the right to select the next clue. If he/she
is incorrect or fails to answer in time, that amount is deducted (hence, the dollar amount was always in jeopardy) and his/her
opponents may ring in and respond. If none of the contestants gives a correct response, the correct response is read, and the
player who originally chose that question maintains control of the board.
The current scores are shown on the front of each player's lectern. In the Art Fleming run, positive scores had plus signs
next to them, while negative scores had minus signs next to them; in the Trebek version, no plus sign is used for a positive
score, but the minus sign remains. On the current set, scores in the plus column are displayed on a blue background, negative
scores on a red one.
Daily Doubles
In each game, three clues are designated "Daily Doubles" (a name taken from
horse racing): one in the Jeopardy! Round and two in the Double Jeopardy! Round. Only the
contestant who selects a Daily Double may respond to its clue. The player may wager as much as the maximum amount of a clue on
the board (currently $1000 in the Jeopardy! Round and $2000 in the Double Jeopardy! Round) or as much as he or she has
accumulated, whichever is greater, but must wager at least $5. [1] Players may also indicate that they wish to make it a "True Daily Double", meaning that they are
risking all the money that they have accumulated up to that point. Daily Doubles are sometimes designated with special tags, such
as "Audio Daily Double" (in which a sound clip is played as part of the clue), "Video Daily Double" (in which a video clip is
played as part of the clue), "Celebrity Daily Double" (in which a celebrity delivers the clue), etc. Such a tag is displayed as
soon as the Daily Double has been selected, and may serve as a hint to aid the contestant in his or her wagering.
Ringing in
Before the 1985–1986 season, contestants could ring in any time after the clue was revealed. Ever since, in order to give all
three contestants a fair shot at the clue, players are required to wait until the host finishes reading the clue and the lights
surrounding the board are illuminated before they can ring in. Pressing the signaling button too soon locks the player out for
one quarter of a second. For easy clues, ringing in at the right moment is important, as it is presumed that all three
contestants will be able to respond correctly. Many Jeopardy! players comment that the use of the signaling device was the
most important aspect in the play of the game.
Phrasing
In the Jeopardy! Round, players are not penalized for forgetting to phrase a response in the form of a question; Trebek will
give a reminder to contestants who do not correct themselves before their time runs out. In the Double Jeopardy! Round, adherence
to the phrasing rule is followed more strictly, but players are still permitted to correct themselves before their time runs
out.
On occasion, players have couched their phrasing in languages other than standard English without penalty:
- In show #4604, aired September 16,2004: SPEAKING IN
TONGUES $800: A 1996 Oakland School Board decision made many aware of this term for African-American English
- In show #4657, aired November 30,2004: A CATEGORY ABOUT
NOTHING $400: En español
- In show #4752, aired April 12,2005: FROM THE FRENCH $1200
(DD, wager $2000): It's a hint or trace of something (sounds like of Campbell's)
- Steve Chernicoff responded, "Qu'est-ce que c'est qu'un soupçon?"[4]
Although contestants must respond in the form of a question, rules do not require that it be the "What is..." or "Who is..."
form that is most often used. On at least one occasion, a contestant has responded with "Is that an..." instead of "What is
an..." and was ruled correct[citation needed]. In a regular season game in 2000, contestant Jeremy Bate responded to a
question asking for a certain British rock band with "Who?" and was ruled correct.[citation needed] On October 24,2006, contestant John Bowen was ruled correct with a response of
"How about architect, now?" after using the aforementioned guess incorrectly earlier in the category.[5] In 1984, contestant Ron Black was given credit for a correct response with the
question, "Would you believe Get Smart?" [citation needed] In a celebrity tournament from the Fleming version, Gene Shalit was having trouble with a clue about the figure that accompanied a music jingle, he finally
retorted "Has anyone around here seen the very famous NBC peacock?" which resulted in him being ruled correct.[6]
The Double Jeopardy! Round
The second round, Double Jeopardy!, works like the first round, with the following exceptions:
- Six new categories are used.
- There are two Daily Doubles in this round.
- The value of each clue is double what it was in the first round (except in the case of the 1990 Super Jeopardy!
tournament):
| 1964-1975 |
1978-1979, 1st Trebek pilot |
2nd Trebek pilot |
1984-2001 |
2001-present |
1990 Super Jeopardy! tournament |
| $20 |
$50 |
$100 |
$200 |
$400 |
500 points |
| $40 |
$100 |
$200 |
$400 |
$800 |
1,000 points |
| $60 |
$150 |
$300 |
$600 |
$1,200 |
1,500 points |
| $80 |
$200 |
$400 |
$800 |
$1,600 |
2,000 points |
| $100 |
$250 |
$500 |
$1,000 |
$2,000 |
2,500 points |
- 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 the trailing position, the player to the host's left selects first.
- From 1985 to 1997, the set would change from blue to red starting with this round. When the show finished (Season 13), the
set would change back to blue.
- Also, in the 1978–1979 version only, only the two highest-scoring players at the end of Round 1 played Double Jeopardy!; the
third-place player was eliminated before the start of the round.
- The response must be phrased in question form (see Phrasing above).
Finishing Double Jeopardy! with $0 or less
Sometimes, contestants will finish Double Jeopardy! with either $0 or a negative score. If that happens, they are
automatically eliminated from the game and not allowed to participate in the game's final round, Final Jeopardy! In this case,
the contestants still receive consolation prizes, which (as of 2002)
are $1000 for third place and $2000 for second place. In the original 1964 version, no money was awarded if a contestant finished
with zero dollars or in the red, but he/she did receive parting gifts. If a returning champion finished in the red, it did not
count against their previously accumulated winnings. In other words, any cash they had previously won was theirs to keep. In
Celebrity Jeopardy!, contestants are allowed to participate in Final
Jeopardy! under all circumstances, and such contestants are granted nominal scores with which to wager for Final Jeopardy! (as
the celebrity contestants are competing on behalf of charitable foundations, rather than personal gain).
Usually, it is only one contestant (if any) that is eliminated before Final Jeopardy! However, on rare occasions, two
contestants have been disqualified from playing, leaving the first-place player to provide a question to the Final Jeopardy!
answer alone. The last show where two contestants finished in the red aired on February 23,
2005 during the Ultimate Tournament of
Champions (only Jeff Richmond advanced to Final Jeopardy!).[7]
In the 1984 syndicated version, there has never been an instance where all three contestants finished Double Jeopardy!
with $0 or less, thereby disqualifying everyone from Final Jeopardy! A three-way disqualification from Final Jeopardy! did happen
at least once on the 1964 NBC version sometime between 1968 and 1975. During the commercial break between Double Jeopardy! and
Final Jeopardy!, an audience member suggested that they could simply replay the game (with different categories) as if the
embarrassing result had never happened. But the staff onstage said that this was not permitted by NBC's rules.[citation needed] The time normally used to play Final
Jeopardy! was filled with chitchat between Art Fleming and the contestants. For the following telecast, three new contestants
were featured.
The Final Jeopardy! Round
In the Final Jeopardy! Round, the host first announces the category, then the show goes into a commercial break (during which the staff comes on stage and advises the contestants while
barriers are placed between the players to discourage looking at one another's answers). The contestants then risk as little as
$0 or as much money as they have accumulated, by writing it on a card (in the 1964-1975 version) or electronic tablet (since
1984). After the final commercial break, the Final Jeopardy! clue is revealed and read by the host, following which contestants
have 30 seconds to write a response on a card/electronic drawing board, again phrased in the form of a question. The
light pen is automatically cut off at the end of the 30 seconds (this was not the case during
the first syndicated season; because a number of contestants went overtime, leading to judgement dilemmas if their response was
correct, the second season saw the addition of an electronic switch to Trebek's podium, which allowed him to turn the light pens
on and off at the appropriate times). With rare exception, the "Think!" music is played during this 30-second period.
Other Final Jeopardy! response methods are occasionally used:
- Blind contestants (including 5-time champion Eddie Timanus and 2005 Teen Tournament
quarterfinalist Kerri Regan) utilize a keyboard with Braille keys. Entered text will be
displayed in a typed font rather than the contestant's handwriting.
- In the event of a malfunction of the handwriting input, contestants respond using a marker and paper tablet.
As with the rest of the show, Final Jeopardy! responses must be phrased in the form of a question. During the first two
seasons, a few contestants lost their games solely because they had forgotten to do this. As losing a game because of forgetting
two words made for bad television, contestants have been instructed to write the appropriate preface (What is, Who is, etc.) of
their Final Jeopardy! responses during the commercial break after the Double Jeopardy! Round since the beginning of the 1986–1987
season.
Cash prizes
The top money-winner at the end of Final Jeopardy! is the day's champion and returns to the next show. The value of the
theoretical maximum one-day winnings is $566,400 ($28,320 from 1964-1975 and $283,200 from 1984-2001), provided:
- All clues are revealed in both the Jeopardy! Round and the Double Jeopardy! Round
- One player gives the correct response to every clue
- All three Daily Doubles are hidden in the boards' top row (lowest dollar amount)
- The Daily Doubles are the last clues to be uncovered in each round
- Each time a Daily Double is revealed, the player wagers all of his or her winnings on it
- The player also wagers all his or her winnings on Final Jeopardy!
During the 1964 and 1978 NBC and 1974 syndicated versions, all three contestants kept whatever cash they won. On the 1974
syndicated version, the winner also received a bonus prize or cash (see entry in "Other versions" for more information).
Starting in 1984, rather than receiving their scores in cash, runners-up were awarded consolation
prizes; typically, a vacation package for the second-place player and merchandise for the third-place player. This changed
on May 16,2002; thereafter, the second-place finisher was awarded
$2000 and the third place finisher was awarded $1000. Since the show did not provide airfare or lodging for challengers (airfare
was provided for returning champions' subsequent flights to L.A.), these cash consolation prizes alleviated the financial burden
of appearing on the show.
The greatest amount won by an individual in a day was $75,000, by Ken Jennings, on July 23,
2004.[8]
Special cases
- If no contestant finishes Final Jeopardy! with a positive total (i.e., at least $1), then nobody wins and three new
contestants appear on the following show; in such cases the three players will participate in a backstage draw to determine
player position. The three-way loss has happened three times since 1984, the first occasion being on the second episode; the
number of times this occurred during the 1964 NBC version is undetermined.[9]
- If two or more contestants tie for first place, they each win the money and come back, assuming that they each have at least
$1. There have been few players who have held the co-champ title twice.
The final scores of the episode of
Jeopardy! that was broadcast on March 16, 2007. The three contestants (L to R: Scott
Weiss, Jamey Kirby & Anders Martinson) finished with identical final scores of $16,000.
- If there is a tie in a tournament episode, a tiebreaker question is played, but this has
only happened on a few occasions. In case of a three-way loss in a tournament, nobody advances, and an additional wild card is
added in the tournament. (A wild card is one of the usually four non-winners with the highest scores in the opening round of a
tournament to advance. There has been one triple loss in a tournament, and a fifth wild card was added.) Scores coming to Double
Jeopardy! break ties for a wildcard position.
- On March 16, 2007, the first three-way tie for 1st place in
the history of the show aired, with each of the contestants (Scott Weiss, Jamey Kirby & Anders Martinson) ending with $16,000
after the Final Jeopardy! clue.[10] However, this was not
an accidental tie. The leader going into Final Jeopardy! (computer science professor Weiss) wanted to make history after hearing
that it had never happened before, and he made the appropriate wager. All three contestants returned on the next episode, with
Kirby becoming sole champion, winning an additional $22,677. [11]
- Only one contestant in the Trebek era has won a game with only $1 (on the January 19,
1993 program by then Air Force Lt. Col. Daryl Scott; he won another $13,401 the next day).
Recurring categories
Some categories have special rules pertaining to them. In each case, contestants and viewers are told the specific format
required to get the clue correct.
Recurring categories are:
- "Quotation mark" categories - In these categories, a letter or group of letters will be placed inside quotation marks
in the category name; correct responses will begin with or contain that letter or group of letters. For example, if the category
title is THE "EYES" HAVE IT: This popular fight song talks about the 30 million of these in this, the second most populous state.
Correct response: What are "The Eyes of Texas"?
- CROSSWORD CLUES - A specialized "quotation mark" category, in which the category title gives the first letter; the
question is the completion of a crossword-style clue that gives the number of letters in the correct answer (Clue: Late-night
hunger pains (8); Response: What are munchies?, where the category is CROSSWORD CLUES "M"). Previously known as STARTS
WITH a given letter of the alphabet, was a standard Jeopardy! clue and did not give the number of letters in the
question.
- RHYME TIME - Two consecutive words in the correct response rhyme with each other (Clue: A chilly swimming basin;
Response: What is a cool pool?). Popular variants include CELEBRITY RHYME TIME and BEASTLY RHYME TIME.
- NAME'S THE SAME - The two nouns given share either the first or last word (Clue: Close, Frey; Response: Who is Glenn?,
where the category is First Name's the Same).
- POTPOURRI (sometimes called HODGEPODGE) - A variety of topics inside one category. This category almost always
appears in the sixth (rightmost) column on the board. One variant is LEFTOVERS, which are simply clues that went unpicked
in previous shows as time ran out.
- COMMON BONDS - Three items are listed, having something in common. (Clue: Bad habits, footballs, buckets; Response:
What are things you kick?)
- BEFORE & AFTER - Inspired by a Wheel of Fortune category, the first and second parts of the question join
together via a mutual word (Clue: The time it takes an element to lose 50 percent of its radioactivity in a 1979 Monty Python
movie; Response: What is Half Life of Brian? (half-life, Life of Brian). A common variant is BEFORE, DURING &
AFTER, which contains two such joinings (Clue: On the body of water near Duluth, a place of justice employs this
person for amusement; Response: What is Lake Superior Court jester?).
- STUPID ANSWERS - Contestants can find the correct response within the clue itself. (Clue: Name of the hotel and office
complex where the Watergate break-in occurred; Response: What is Watergate?) The correct response may be hidden discreetly to
challenge the contestants.
- SPELLING (aka THE DREADED SPELLING CATEGORY) - The correct response must be spelled out. Generally, the answer
is given, but not shown on the board (Clue: Get hooked on the spelling of... is shown, the word "Phonics" is given; Response:
What is P-H-O-N-I-C-S?)
- POTENT POTABLES - The ingredients of an alcoholic drink are given, and the player must guess the name of the
drink.
- ADD A LETTER - The player must guess which letter has to be added to a certain word to turn it into a new one. (Clue:
Add this letter to CRAM and you get a charley horse; Response: What is P? (CRAM + P = CRAMP))
- N-LETTER WORDS - The correct word has to be N letters long, N being at least two. (Clue in the category 16- (YES, 16-)
LETTER WORDS: In boxing, do something crazy like, I don't know, biting a guy's ear off
& you'll get a DQ, this; Response: What is "disqualification"?) Variations to this category include "2-Letter Abbreviations"
and "3-Letter Body Parts."
Other versions
Host Art Fleming in a 1974 episode of
Jeopardy!
1974-75 weekly syndicated version
The game was essentially the same as the NBC version, but with several notable changes/additions:
- Art Fleming always wore a tuxedo with a check-patterned jacket.
- A number of flashing light bulbs were added to the set.
- Most contestants were previous winners from the daytime show.
- Any player who correctly answered all five questions in a category received a bonus prize, originally a Chevrolet Vega, later a trip to London (as opposed to a cash
bonus on the daytime edition).
- Originally, the winning contestant picked a number from 1-30 off the Jeopardy Jackpot Board; possible prizes included a new
car, a luxury vacation, or bonus money, with the grand prize being $25,000 (though the latter took up two spaces, each
corresponding one half, and could only be won if the contestant found the second half on an additional pick)
- Later in the show's one-season run, the Jackpot Board was dropped, and the champion's bonus prize or cash was based on his or
her final score:
- Less than $1,000 - Chevrolet Vega
- $1000-$1499 - Chevrolet Caprice
- $1500-$2000 - $10,000
- More than $2,000 - $25,000
(it was also at this point that the aforementioned "maingame category sweep" bonus prize was changed to the London holiday)
However, it failed to catch on in the ratings or garner enough stations (mainly due to a glut of other weekly versions of
network daytime games that stations ran in their Prime Time Access early-evening
timeslots, such as Price is Right and Let's Make a Deal) and was cancelled after only one season. In all likelihood, this version was
basically an attempt to keep the show going, with its cancellation by NBC imminent at the time of its premiere in September.
During the previous season, packagers of Dating Game and Sale of the Century had tried to keep their shows alive in syndication as well; neither of those
games were successful either.
The All-New Jeopardy!
During the short-lived 1978–79 series, the lowest-scoring contestant was eliminated after the Jeopardy! Round; whoever was
ahead at the end of the Double Jeopardy! Round became the champion.
In the pilot, taped March 6, 1977 for CBS, a sub-round was played before the first round, each player had 30 seconds to answer
any question on the board they wanted, no penalty for an incorrect questions. After each player had a turn, they played regular
Jeopardy! with the clues left on the board.
Instead of Final Jeopardy!, the winner then got to play a bonus round called Super Jeopardy! (no relation to the special summer 1990 tournament of all-time champions as aired on ABC). This round featured a new board of five categories with five clues in each, numbered
1–5 (and unlike the main game, not necessarily increasing in difficulty down the column). The object was for the contestant to
provide any five correct responses in a straight line in a Bingo-like fashion
(horizontally, vertically, or diagonally). Giving an incorrect response, or a pass, earned the player a "strike," and blocked off
that space on the board; three strikes ended the round. Super Jeopardy! was worth $5000 to a first-day champion, with the jackpot
increasing by $2500 each day that champion successfully defended his/her title; with the five-day limit in place, that meant a
potential total of $50,000 in just Super Jeopardy! earnings ($5000 + $7500 + $10,000 + $12,500 + $15,000). If a player struck
out, he/she still received $100 for each correct response given. In the pilot, this was a timed game, the player had :90 to
get the five in a row.
This bonus game proved rather unpopular among long-time fans of the show, and some critics allege that its inclusion, and the
gameplay's elimination structure, doomed the revival to failure. Two sound effects from this version carried over to Sale of
the Century in the 1980s: the correct response bell (a high-pitched ding) and the Daily Double bell, a Family
Feud-esque series of dings.
Rock & Roll Jeopardy!
-
Rock & Roll Jeopardy! was a music-intensive version of Jeopardy! that aired on VH1 from 1998 to 2001. Hosted by Jeff Probst, clues on this version of the show
highlighted post-1950s popular music trivia. Though the host was somewhat looser with the "phrase in the form of a question"
requirement, the gameplay was basically identical to Jeopardy! The first two seasons used points, with $5000 to the
winner; subsequent seasons were played for cash with a $5000 house minimum.
Jep!
-
Jep! was the children's version of Jeopardy!, hosted by cartoon voice artist Bob Bergen. The show aired in 1998 on Game Show Network (now GSN),
and up to late 2004 on Discovery Kids. The show was not well received by fans or critics,
and was cancelled after one season.
Starting in 1999, just after Jep!'s cancellation, Jeopardy! began a "Back-to-School Week", which has easier
clues and more accessible material for the younger contestants, but is otherwise identical to the adult version.
Returning champions
For the first six seasons, winning contestants kept all winnings, with a cap of $75,000. Anything won above $75,000 went to
the champion's favorite charity. The cap was increased to $100,000 starting in Season 7 after Bob Blake ($82,501) and
Frank Spangenberg ($102,597) exceeded the $75,000 cap. In Seasons 14-19 the cap was
raised to $200,000. The cap was eliminated altogether at the beginning of Season 20.
Until Season 20 of the Trebek version of the show, a contestant who won five days in a row would be retired undefeated, with a
guaranteed spot in the next Tournament of Champions.
From Season 14 to Season 17, an undefeated champion would also be awarded a choice of Chevrolet cars or trucks (Corvette, Tahoe, or two Camaros). From Season 18 to Season 19, the
winner won a Jaguar X-Type. Similarly, as part of the deal with Ford Motor Company for the 2001–02 season, Ford also added a Volvo to the Teen Tournament prize package.
To mark the start of the current version's 20th season, in September 2003, the show changed its rules so there is no winnings
limit, and champions' reigns became indefinite; a champion keeps coming back as long as (s)he keeps winning (although automobiles
were no longer awarded for five wins). This rule change led to the remarkable winning streak of Ken Jennings, who currently holds most of the winning records on the show, including greatest number of
appearances and regular season highest total dollar amounts won (excluding tournaments).
Tournaments
The Tournament of Champions
-
Beginning with the 2nd season of the Alex Trebek syndicated version, a Tournament of Champions (ToC) has been
held more or less annually, featuring five-time undefeated champions and other biggest winners to have appeared on the show since
the last ToC.
The ToC format was devised by Alex Trebek, and was as follows:
Fifteen players—five-time champions, and, if there are fewer than 15 five-time champions who have not yet played in a ToC, the
highest scorers among the other game winners are invited to participate.
The ToC lasts two weeks (10 shows), in the following manner:
- Shows 1–5: The quarterfinals, with three new contestants participating each day. The five winners advance to the
semi-finals. Four "wild card" spots are available to those with the highest score among non-winners; ties broken by the highest
score after the Double Jeopardy! Round.
- Shows 6–8: The semifinals. At this point, the game becomes a single-elimination affair, with each winner advancing to the finals. If at any point in
the quarterfinals or semifinals there is a tie for first place, one or more successive Tiebreaker Rounds are played, with the
first player to answer correctly advancing to the next round. (Tiebreaker Rounds have appeared on the show only four times,
thrice in tournaments. In the event of more than one Tiebreaker Round being played in a game, only the deciding Tiebreaker Round
is aired as part of the show broadcast; the others are edited out.)
- Shows 9–10: The two-day finals. Players begin the second final game with their scores reset to $0, and contestants'
totals from both days are added together to determine their final scores. The contestant with the highest cumulative score wins
the grand prize ($100,000 from 1985-2001; $250,000 since 2002). All other players, including the second- and third-place players
in the finals, receive a guaranteed amount based on their finishing positions. In addition, the runners-up in the finals receive
additional cash equal to their score if it exceeds the guaranteed amount.
The Art Fleming era
The structure of the annual best-of-the-best tournaments during the Fleming era differed from the Tournament of Champions of
today. A one-week tournament was held consisting of nine undefeated champions since the last TOC. The first or elimination round
was held over the first three days, with three champions appearing each day. The winners from each day advanced to the final
round which was held over the course of two days. In those matches, the winner won $25,000 and a trophy and was crowned "Grand
Champion".[citation needed] Eleven Grand Champions were crowned during the 11-year NBC run.[citation needed]
The Teen Tournament
-
First aired in 1987, this tournament features high school students, with the winner receiving a cash prize ($75,000 in the
most recent years), and, in some years, a new car. Until 2001, the winner was also invited to participate in the Tournament of
Champions. One of the most notable Teen Tournament champions was Eric Newhouse, who advanced to the finals of the 1989 Tournament
of Champions, was a finalist in the Million Dollar Masters tournament, and participated in the Ultimate Tournament of
Champions.
The College Championship
-
Beginning in 1989 and featuring college students, the College Championship pitted 15 full-time undergraduate students from
colleges and universities in the United States against each other in a two-week tournament, identical to the ToC in format.
Beginning in 1997, the College Championship has been taped at host college campus using the show's traveling set. The winner
earns $100,000, a trophy, and a spot in the next Tournament of Champions. (Tom Cubbage, the very first Jeopardy! college
champion, also won his Tournament of Champions the following season.)
The Seniors Tournament
-
Between 1987 and 1995, the show held 10 Seniors Tournaments for contestants over the age of 50. This tournament was
discontinued after December 1995, purportedly due to advertisers wanting to pull in younger demographics.
Special non tournament play
Celebrity Jeopardy!
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Every so often (usually once a year), celebrity weeks are held in which the contestants are celebrities. Each celebrity chooses a charity (or two) to
sponsor, and that charity is the recipient of the particular celebrity's winnings. Typically, each charity is guaranteed a
certain amount ($20,000, e.g.), with the winner's charity receiving a larger amount ($50,000, e.g.). Contestants ending the
Double Jeopardy! Round with a zero or negative score, who in regular play games would be disqualified from playing Final
Jeopardy!, are given a nominal score with which to wager ($5000, e.g.). Regis Philbin and
Carol Burnett have made the most appearances on Celebrity Jeopardy!, with three
appearances.
Kids Week, Holiday Kids Week, and Back to School Week
Featuring children ages 10 through 12, usually broadcast from the show's main studio in Culver City, though on one occasion,
Kids Week was filmed in Washington, D.C.'s DAR Constitution Hall. Kids Week features five independent shows, three contestants in each. Unlike the
regular Jeopardy! format, the winner of each game does not go on to play another game. The third place winner receives
$1000, second place receives $2000, and first place wins the amount of his or her score, with a minimum guarantee of $10,000.
Additional prizes for all players, such as computers, gift certificates, and trips to local theme parks have been common in the
past.
Special tournaments
There have been a number of special tournaments featuring the greatest players during the history of Jeopardy! These
are listed below.
Super Jeopardy!
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The first of these "all-time best" tournaments, Super Jeopardy! aired in Summer 1990 on ABC. It featured top players
during the first six years of the 1984 syndicated run, plus a notable champion from the original Fleming era. The tournament was
similar to the Million Dollar Masters and Ultimate Tournament of Champions (see below), although it was on a much smaller scale
than that tournament. The Super Jeopardy! tournament also featured 4 contestants per game (in the first round of the
tournament) as opposed to the standard three, and the games were played for points instead of dollars. Bruce Seymour won the
tournament and $250,000.
Tenth Anniversary Tournament
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The Tenth Anniversary Tournament was a short five-day tournament aired in 1993 following the conclusion of the regular
Tournament of Champions. $100,000 Tournament winner Tom Nosek got a free pass into the tournament, the other eight spots were
chosen randomly. The winner of each of the last five regular season games drew one name from each of eight bowls representing the
second through ninth seasons of Jeopardy!. Contestants who had made it to the semi-final round of that year's Tournament of Champions were put in the bowl.
Three regular semifinal matches were played, with the winners competing in a two-day final. Frank Spangenberg won the tournament with a two-game score of $16,800 plus a $25,000 bonus for a total
of $41,800. Tom Nosek finished second with $13,600, and Leslie Frates won the $7500 third place prize, which exceeded her score
of $4499.
The semi-final losers were: Roy Holliday, Steve Rogitz, Mark McDermott, Doug Molitor, Robert Slaven and Lionel Goldbart, who
each won $5000.
Teen Reunion Tournament
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In November 1998, players from the 1987, 1988, and 1989 Teen Tournaments (including the champions) were invited to Boston to
play in a special Teen Reunion Tournament of former players of the event. Eric Newhouse won the tournament and later found
himself at two other special tournaments.
Million Dollar Masters
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In May 2002, to commemorate the Trebek version's 4,000th episode, the show invited fifteen champions to play for a $1 million
bonus, under a standard tournament format. The tournament was won by Brad Rutter.
Ultimate Tournament of Champions
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Jeopardy! televised the Ultimate Tournament of
Champions in 2005. This tournament, which was the largest (and longest) in Jeopardy!'s history, pitted 144 former
Jeopardy! champions against each other, with two winners moving on to face Ken
Jennings in a 3-game final.
The final winner was Brad Rutter ($62,000 for the tournament final), winning $2 million,
the second-largest single-game prize in game show history. Jennings placed second (with $34,599) and took home $500,000.
Jerome Vered finished third ($20,600), collecting $250,000.
As a result, Rutter is the all-time highest winner of any game show with $3,270,102 (plus two Camaros), with Jennings a close
second with $3,022,700.
Audition process
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The Jeopardy! staff regularly offers auditions for potential contestants. Unlike the audition process for many game
shows, the Jeopardy! process is in part merit-based, with 50-questions contestant tests administered at local audition
sites and, as of 2006, over the Internet.
Theme songs
"Think!" (originally composed as "A Time for Tony" by Griffin as a lullaby for his son) has served the Final Jeopardy!
countdown music since the show's inception in 1964 (although it was not used in the 1978–79 version, since there was no Final
Jeopardy! in that version), and is also the melody for the current opening theme. In the United States, it has insinuated itself
into everyday communication; the song applies to any situation in which someone is waiting for another to answer a question or
make a decision. For example, the theme is often heard at baseball stadiums when the manager
goes to the pitcher's mound to discuss a replacement, or at football games during instant replay reviews, or on the
Jerry Springer show, a parodied remix is heard when a choice has to be made. A
variation of "Think!" was used as a jewelry prize cue, officially called "A Time for Tony", on Wheel of Fortune in the
1980s.
Griffin estimated that the Jeopardy! theme song earned him over $70 million in royalties.[12]
The main theme song to the original NBC version is called "Take 10", a jazz number composed by
Griffin's wife, Julann. On the final episode, however, Art Fleming walked off the set at the end of the show to the tune of
"Smile", originally composed by Charlie Chaplin.
As the song played, credits rolled over a shot of the darkened set, with no applause.
The main theme to the 1978–1979 revival was called "Frisco Disco" and was composed by Merv Griffin and arranged by
Mort Lindsey (the bandleader on Griffin's syndicated talk show). "Frisco Disco" would also
resurface in 1983 as a prize cue on Wheel of Fortune, and would continue to be used until 1989. The opening theme used was
called "January, February, March" also composed by Griffin and arranged by Lindsey, and was also used as the main theme on the
first pilot of the Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy! in 1983. (Both themes were composed and released in 1976, two years prior
to the revival of Jeopardy! in 1978.)
After a second pilot was made with Alex Trebek in 1984, Jeopardy! went back on the air. An electronic version of the
"Think!" melody became the main theme, while the original recording was recycled for the Final Jeopardy! Round. The main theme
was remixed in 1991 to include a bongo track. In 1997, both the main theme and the "Think!"
music were updated, with jazzy orchestral arrangements by Steve Kaplan. The main theme was
updated again in 2000 & again in 2001, with an arrangement similar to the previous one, but looser and more upbeat. The theme
has gone through some slight re-orchestrations since then.
The electric guitar-based theme from Rock & Roll Jeopardy! has been used
on Jeopardy! leading into and out of commercial breaks during College
Championships, Teen Tournaments, recent Back to School Week/Kids Week,
and November 2006 Celebrity Jeopardy! episodes. (During a few of those tournaments,
it was also played during Final Jeopardy!)
Alternate versions of the Final Jeopardy! music have been performed by the UCLA marching band (during the 2001 College
Championship), the Yale Whiffenpoofs (during the 2003 College Championship), and
organist Trent Johnson during the final Celebrity Jeopardy! show at Radio City Music Hall in 2006. During the show's first trip to New York City, a piano rendition
was used. On an episode aired in May 2007, another piano rendition was used, played by a piano player aboard the Orient Express.
On at least one occasion, the "Think!" theme was not played at all during Final Jeopardy! Before, during, and after Alex
Trebek's reading of the Final Jeopardy! clue for show #3985, aired Friday, December
21,2001, the L.A. Spirit Chorale sang a live, a
cappella rendition of "Silent Night", with Clue Crew member Cheryl
Farrell performing the solo. This appeared to confuse challenger Carly Minner, who looked up from her podium in surprise when it
was announced that time had expired.
The set
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Like the theme music, the Jeopardy! set has also changed over the years. The set currently in use is as of September
11, 2006. For a summary of changes to the set, see Jeopardy! set evolution.
International adaptations
Countries with versions of
Jeopardy!
In addition, the American version of the show is distributed internationally and airs across the world. In Canada, it airs on CTV, and Canadian residents are eligible to be
contestants on the U.S. version.
Jeopardy! has occasionally held international tournaments
that allow the champions of each country's versions to compete with each other.
Episode status
Fleming era
1964-1975
It is believed that only a small number of 2,753 episodes from the original NBC Daytime version of Jeopardy! survive,
mostly as black-and-white kinescopes of the original
color videotapes. In all likelihood, the original
tapes were wiped as they were recorded over by NBC with new programming in an era when videotape
was an expensive commodity.
- A demonstration episode dated March 5,1964 survives as a
black-and-white kinescope. (The first game for broadcast was taped on March 18,1964 and was aired March 30,1964. From the
beginning, the show was recorded and broadcast in color.)
- The Museum of Television & Radio in New York City has the 2,000th episode from 1972, a celebrity match featuring Mel Brooks in character as the 2000 Year Old Man. GSN has aired
this episode in its entirety.
- A clip from an early 1960s episode aired in 2004 during an ABC News
Nightline special on Jeopardy! on the night Ken Jennings lost.
- Two regular play 1974 episodes and the 1975 finale exist among private collectors.
- The UCLA Film and Television Archive has 14 episodes from this era
in their collection: black and white kinescopes of episodes from May 1, 3 and 4 1967 (from the Jeopardy! National College
Scholarship Contest featuring high school seniors), color tapes of episodes from March 8, 16, 24, and April 1 and 9, 1971; March
12, 20, 28, and April 5 and 13, 1973; and April 24, 1974.
Incomplete paper records of the NBC-era games exist on microfilm at the Library of Congress.
1978-1979 revival
The status of the 1978 version is unknown. The first and last episodes of this series are known to exist in broadcast quality;
GSN holds the broadcast rights to these two episodes (and presumably any in between,
although only the two mentioned have been rebroadcast on the channel).
Trebek era
Slate from a Season 8 broadcast
Slate from a Season 23 broadcast
The Trebek version is completely intact. GSN—which like Jeopardy! is an affiliate of Sony Pictures Television—has rerun
approximately 8 seasons to date, although they continuously aired the 1997–98 season (14th season) from June 2001 until
June 13, 2005. Since then, GSN has been rerunning episodes from
the 2001–02 season (Season 18), including a series of 2001 episodes that aired only on about 50 syndicated stations due to the
September 11, 2001 attacks[citation needed].
There exists a 66 game disparity between the show numbers assigned new 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 announcer Johnny 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, but 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, all 65 reruns in Season 1 (1984-1985) were
given new show numbers despite not being new games, and a retrospective clip show that aired May
15, 2002 was also given a show number (#4088). As such, the game with show number #5000
aired on May 12, 2006,[13] but the 5,000th game hosted by Alex Trebek did not air until September 25,2006.
Jeopardy! in popular culture
The show has been portrayed or parodied in numerous television shows, films, and works of literature over the years,
frequently with one or more characters participating as contestants, or as a television show the character(s) watch and play
along with.
Five cultural references stand out among the most popular, having been referenced, in turn, in categories, clues, or interview
segments on Jeopardy! itself:
- In an episode of the series Cheers,
trivia buff Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger)
appeared as a contestant on Jeopardy! Clavin reached the Final Jeopardy! Round all but assured to win, but lost due to a
foolish bet.
- Saturday Night Live has parodied Celebrity Jeopardy! matches, frequently with a twisted version
of Sean Connery as a contestant.
- An episode of Mama's Family aired with Themla as a contestant.
- Weird Al Yankovic based one of
his song parodies on the Fleming version.
- David Foster Wallace writes a fictional short story based around
Jeopardy! called "Little Expressionless Animals," which can be found in his book Girl With Curious Hair.
- In an episode of Family Guy, Brian flashes
back when Mayor Adam West was on Jeopardy. When Adam shows Alex his Final
Jeopardy answer, it reads "Kebert Xela." Once Alex finishes reading his answer, he suddenly vanishes. When the other two
contestants look at Adam surprisingly, Adam replies, "only saying his name backwards takes him back to the 5th dimension, where
he belongs.", a reference to Mr. Mxyzptlk from Superman. One real contestant, who entered Final Jeopardy with $1 and thus had no hope of winning, actually
attempted this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHnX-fqlo1M
Merchandising
The Jeopardy! brand has been used on products in several other formats.
- There have been Jeopardy! video games made on most platforms including
Apple II, Commodore 64, DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Game Boy, Sega Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Super NES, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, game.com,
Sega Dreamcast, Apple Macintosh, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, and mobile phones. A free version of the game can be found at Station.com.
- Tiger Electronics also marketed a hand-held travel version of the game in the late
nineties.
- Several board game versions of the game have been produced over the years by
Milton Bradley, Pressman Toys (including a
Simpsons version), Tyco Toys and
Parker Brothers.
- For the show's fifteenth season in 1998-1999, a watch was released. The watch plays the famous theme song with the push of a
button, and included 25 game cards with the answer-question format.
- Educational toy company Educational Insights (makers of the Geosafari system) has released a
self-contained, programmable Jeopardy! system that can be h
