Jeopardy!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jeopardy! | |
|---|---|
 Jeopardy! Season 23 logo |
|
| Genre | Game show |
| Creator(s) | Merv Griffin |
| Starring | Alex Trebek (1984–present) Art Fleming (1964–1975; 1978–1979) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 5,000 (as of 25 September 2006) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC (1964–1975, 1978–1979) Syndicated (1974–1975; 1984–present) |
| Original run | March 30, 1964 – present |
| Links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Jeopardy! is a popular international television quiz game show, originally devised by Merv Griffin, who also created Wheel of Fortune. 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. This version of Jeopardy! began its 23rd season in syndication on September 11, 2006 with its first broadcast in HDTV.
Jeopardy! is a game of trivia, covering topics such as history, literature, and pop culture. Science and sports topics are also covered occasionally. 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.
[edit] Broadcast history
Main article: Jeopardy! 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.
[edit] Gameplay
[edit] 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 'answers' (i.e., questions written in answer form), ostensibly graded by difficulty. Each category is a topical category, and the categories change on each show; frequently, they contain puns or other wordplay. (Column number 6, the one furthest to the right, usually contains the wordplay category.) 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).
The values of each of the five answers are thus:
- 1964–1975: $10, $20, $30, $40, $50
- 1978–1979: $25, $50, $75, $100, $125
- 1984–2001: $100, $200, $300, $400, $500
- 2001–present: $200, $400, $600, $800, $1000 (these values were also used for the 1990 Super Jeopardy! tournament during the Jeopardy! round, except that scores were kept in points.)
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 ("PRESIDENTS for $200"). The host then reads the 'answer' ("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. The host recognizes that contestant, who must then phrase his or her response in question form ("Who was/is or Who's George Washington?").
A correct response wins the dollar value of the clue, and gives the "questioner" the right to select the next clue. If he/she is incorrect or failed 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 all three contestants fail to respond or give wrong questions, the correct response is read, and the player who gave the last correct response chooses the next clue.
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 with a blue background, negative scores with a red one.
[edit] 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. 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.
[edit] 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 buzzer was the most important aspect of the show.
[edit] 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 should a player not correct him- or herself before his or her time runs out after ringing in.) In the Double Jeopardy! Round, adherence to the phrasing rule is followed more strictly, but players are still often permitted to correct themselves before their time runs out.
On occasion, players have couched their phrasing in languages other than 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
- Ken Jennings responded, "What be Ebonics?"[1]
- In show #4657, aired November 30, 2004: A CATEGORY ABOUT NOTHING $400: En español
- Ken Jennings responded, "¿Qué es nada?"[2]
- In show #4752, aired April 12, 2005: FROM THE FRENCH $1200 (DD, wager $2,000): 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?"[3]
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.[4] In 1984, contestant Ron Black was given credit for a correct response with the question, "Would you believe Get Smart?"[citation needed]
[edit] 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: $20, $40, $60, $80, $100
- 1978–1979: $50, $100, $150, $200, $250
- 1984–2001: $200, $400, $600, $800, $1000
- 1990 Super Jeopardy! tournament: 500 points, 1000 points, 1500 points, 2000 points, 2500 points
- 2001–present: $400, $800, $1200, $1600, $2000
- 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. If a correct response is given in improper form, it is treated as an incorrect response; however, the contestant does have the opportunity to rephrase before his clock expires.
[edit] 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 $1,000 for third place and $2,000 for second place. 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!).[5]
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. 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.
[edit] 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 (before 1979) 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.
[edit] 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!
The highest possible Coryat score (not counting wagering: Daily Doubles or Final Jeopardy!) is $54,000.
During the 1964 NBC and 1974 syndicated versions, all three contestants kept whatever cash they won. On the syndicated once-a-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 $2,000 and the third place finisher was awarded $1,000. 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.[6]
[edit] 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.[7]
- 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.
- 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 occurred, with each of the contestants ending with $16,000 after the Final Jeopardy! clue.[8] All three contestants returned on the next episode.
- 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).
[edit] 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"?
- 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?)
- CROSSWORD CLUES - Using the first letter given in the category, and the number of letters given in the answer, the question is the completion of a crossword-style clue (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.
- 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).
- STUPID ANSWERS - The correct response is contained in the answer, and the contestant has to find it. (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) )
[edit] Other versions
[edit] 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.
- A number of light bulbs were added to the set.
- Most contestants were previous winners from the daytime show.
- Any player who correctly answered all 5 questions in a category received a bonus prize (originally a Chevrolet Vega, later a trip to London)
- Originally, the winning contestant picked a number from 1-30 off the Jeopardy Jackpot Board; it could be worth a new car, a luxury vacation, bonus money, or the grand prize of $25,000 (though the latter took up two spaces, each corresponding one half, and could only be won if the contestant found both halves)
- Later, the Jackpot Board was dropped, and the champion's bonus prize or cash was based on their final score:
- Less than $1,000 - Chevrolet Vega
- $1,000-$1,499 - Chevrolet Caprice
- $1,500-$2,000 - $10,000 cash
- More than $2,000 - $25,000 cash
(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 and was cancelled after only one season (it could also be argued that this version was little more than an attempt to keep the show going, with its cancellation by NBC just around the corner).
[edit] 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.
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 $5,000 to a first-day champion, with the jackpot increasing by $2,500 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 ($5,000 + $7,500 + $10,000 + $12,500 + $15,000). If a player struck out, he/she still received $100 for each correct response given.
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.
[edit] 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 awarded $5,000 to the winner; subsequent seasons were played for a $5,000 house minimum.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
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.
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.
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).
[edit] Tournaments
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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]
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.)
[edit] 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.
[edit] Special non tournament play
[edit] Celebrity Jeopardy!
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 ($5,000, e.g.). Regis Philbin and Carol Burnett have made the most appearances on Celebrity Jeopardy!, with three appearances.
[edit] 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 $1,000, second place receives $2,000, 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.
[edit] Special tournaments
There have been a number of special tournaments featuring the greatest players during the history of Jeopardy! These are listed below.
[edit] Super Jeopardy!
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.
[edit] Tenth Anniversary Tournament
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 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 $7,500 third place prize, which exceeded her score of $4,499.
The semi-final losers were: Roy Holliday, Steve Rogitz, Mark McDermott, Doug Molitor, Robert Slaven and Lionel Goldbart, who each won $5,000.
[edit] Teen Reunion Tournament
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.
[edit] Million Dollar Masters
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.
[edit] Ultimate Tournament of Champions
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 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, with Jennings a close second with $3,022,700.
[edit] Audition process
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.
[edit] 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), 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 has estimated that the Jeopardy! theme song has earned him somewhere between $70 and $80 million in royalties.[citation needed]
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, 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, 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 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.
[edit] The set
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.
[edit] International adaptations
| Country | Title(s) | Network(s) | Host(s) | Dates aired |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Jeopardy! | Channel 4, ITV1, Sky One | Derek Hobson | 1984 |
| Chris Donat | 1990 | |||
| Steve Jones | 1991-1993 | |||
| Paul Ross | 1995-1996 | |||
| Australia | Jeopardy! | Network Ten | Tony Barber (former Sale of the Century host) | 1993 (canceled after six months) |
| New Zealand | Jeopardy! | TVNZ | Mark Leishman (his brother Phillip hosted Wheel of Fortune) | 1992 |
| Sweden | Jeopardy![?] | TV4 | Magnus Härenstam | 1991-2005 |
| Adam Alsing | 2006-present | |||
| Quebec (French Canada) | Jéopardy![?] | TVA network | Réal Giguère | 1991-1993 |
| Germany | Riskant! | RTL | Hans-Jürgen Bäumler | 1990-1992 |
| Jeopardy! | Frank Elstner | 1994-1998 | ||
| tm3 | Gerriet Danz | 2000-2001 | ||
| Russia | Svoya Igra | NTV | Pyotr Kuleshov | 1994-present |
| France | Jéopardy![?] | TF1 | Philippe Risoli (host of Le Juste Prix, the French version of The Price is Right) | Early 1990s |
| Denmark | Jeopardy! | TV2 | Søren Kaster | 1995-2000 |
| Lasse Rimmer | 2000-2003 | |||
| Lars Daneskov | 2003-present | |||
| Israel | Melech Ha'Trivia | Israel 10 | Ronny Yovel | 1997-? |
| Estonia | Kuldvillak | TV3 | Mart Mardisalu | Early 2000s |
| Poland | Va Banque | TVP2 | Kazimierz Kaczor | 1996-? |
| Netherlands | Waagstuk | SBS6 | Albert Verlinde | 1995-? |
| Mexico | Jeopardy! | TV Azteca | Omar Fierro | 1998-? |
| Argentina | Jeopardy![?] | Canal 13 | Fernando Bravo (host of El Precio Justo, the local version of The Price is Right) | 2006-? |
| Finland | Jeopardy![?] | Nelonen | Ismo Apell | January 2007- |
| Turkey | Riziko | Kanal D | Serhat Hacıpaşalıoğlu | 1995-? |
| Hungary | Mindent vagy Semmit! | RTL Klub | István Vágó | 1993-2000 |
| Croatia | Izazov | HRT 1 | Joško Lokas | At least early 2000s |
| Belgium | Jeopardy![?] | VTM | Walter Grootaers | ? |
| Norway | Jeopardy![?] | TV 2 | ? | ? |
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.
[edit] Episode status
[edit] Fleming era
[edit] 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.
- A regular play 1974 episode 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 high school tournament, 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.
Some paper records of these games exist on microfilm at the Library of Congress.
[edit] 1978-1979 revival
The status of the 1978 version is unknown.
- GSN aired this version's last episode on December 31, 1999 as part of a marathon of game show finales.
- GSN also has the first episode from this run (October 2, 1978).
[edit] Trebek era
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 which aired only on about 50 syndicated stations due to the September 11, 2001 attacks.[citation needed] Interestingly, when Jeopardy! was named #2 on GSN's 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time, no episode was shown.
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 episode 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,[9] but the 5,000th game hosted by Alex Trebek did not air until September 25, 2006.
[edit] 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.
Three 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.
- Weird Al Yankovic based one of his song parodies on the Fleming version.
[edit] 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 hooked up to a normal TV set for both home and school use. The school version is marketed as Classroom Jeopardy!, while the home version is called Host Your Own Jeopardy! Except for the names, both systems are identical, using a cartridge-based system for the categories and wireless controls for the players and host. The unit itself acts as the scoreboard.
- A DVD titled Jeopardy!: An Inside Look at America's Favorite Quiz Show was released on November 8, 2005, featuring five full episodes of the show—#1 (Trebek premiere), #4657 (Ken Jennings's loss), #4781, #4782, #4783 (the three final matches of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions), the latter of which can be watched through multiple camera angles—and three featurettes—21 Years of Answers & Questions, Jeopardy!: Behind the Answers, and What Does It Take to Get a Clue?[10]
- Annually, Day-to-Day Calendars releases a daily desktop Jeopardy! Calendar, featuring 6 full games-worth of clues presented 1 clue per day (with the correct response on the back of each day's sheet).
- The brand has been licensed for slot machine games at casinos and online.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Show #4604 from the J! Archive
- ^ Show #4657 from the J! Archive
- ^ show #4752 from the J! Archive
- ^ show #5087 from the J! Archive
- ^ show #4718 from the J! Archive
- ^ Show #4595 from the J! Archive
- ^ show #2 from the J! Archive
- ^ Show #5190 from the J! Archive
- ^ Show #5000 from the J! Archive
- ^ Jeopardy!: An Inside Look at America's Favorite Quiz Show promotional web site. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005). Retrieved on December 10, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Official Jeopardy! Web site
- Official Jeopardy! message board
- J! Archive: Clues from all games, starting from Season 21, as well as selected games from the past
- Ronnie O'Rourke's JEOPARCHIVE!: Clues from all Season 20 games
- Jeopardy! Database of Champions: Tournament of Champions results from Seasons 1–15
- Official site for Finland's version of Jeopardy! on Nelonen
- Funny Jeopardy! answers and questions
- Jeopardy! at the Internet Movie Database
- U-gottaseethat.com A website from Sony with classic Jeopardy! video clips
| Preceded by Missing Links |
11:30 a.m. EST, NBC 3/30/64 – 9/24/65 |
Succeeded by Paradise Bay |
| Preceded by Call My Bluff |
12:00 p.m. EST, NBC 9/27/65 – 1/4/74 |
Succeeded by Jackpot |
| Preceded by Baffle |
10:30 a.m. EST, NBC 1/7/74 – 6/28/74 |
Succeeded by Winning Streak |
| Preceded by Three on a Match |
1:30 p.m. EST, NBC 7/1/74 – 1/3/75 |
Succeeded by How to Survive a Marriage |
| Preceded by The Hollywood Squares |
10:30 a.m. EST, NBC 10/2/78 – 1/5/79 |
Succeeded by All Star Secrets |
| Preceded by America Alive! |
12:00 p.m. EST, NBC 1/8/79 – 3/2/79 |
Succeeded by Password Plus |
|
|
|
|---|---|
| Annual tournaments/competitions | Tournament of Champions · College Championship · Teen Tournament · Celebrity Jeopardy! |
| Special tournaments | Super Jeopardy! · Million Dollar Masters · Ultimate Tournament of Champions · International tournaments |
| Related TV series | The All-New Jeopardy! · Rock & Roll Jeopardy! · Jep! |
| Cast and crew | Creator: Merv Griffin Hosts: Alex Trebek · Art Fleming · Jeff Probst · Bob Bergen Announcers: Johnny Gilbert · Don Pardo · Jay Stewart · John Harlan |
| Miscellaneous | Audition process · Set evolution · Video games · Notable contestants · Broadcast history · In popular culture |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1964 television program debuts | 1960s American television series | 1970s American television series | 1980s American television series | 1990s American television series | 2000s American television series | Australian game shows | First-run syndicated television programs | Game shows | Jeopardy! | Mobile phone games | NBC network shows | Sony Mobile games
