This... is... Jeopardy!
In the 1990s, there were some truly amazing gameshows in the UK. Blockbusters, Bullseye and The Krypton Factor were very popular with viewers. Gameshows these days seem to be all about ruthless and greed. This special feature on TV Live crosses the pond to bring you a feature on one of the USA's most popular gameshows. A show that has produced many memorable moments in the last quarter of a century. A show that was even sold to the UK, and was actually quite awful. This... is... Jeopardy!
This show was aired in the US on 6th October 2009 and contains spoilers, so if you don't want to know the result, please leave the page now.
Since 1984, Jeopardy in the USA has been hosted by Alex Trebek. Previous to this, the show was presented by Art Fleming between 1964 and 1979. Merv Griffin devised the show. Speaking shortly before his death, he said:
I was mulling over game show ideas, when my wife noted that there had not been a successful 'question and answer' game on the air since the quiz show scandals. Why not do a switch, and give the answers to the contestant and let them come up with the question? She fired a couple of answers to me: '5,280' and the question of course was 'How many feet in a mile?'. Another was '79 Wistful Vista.' That was Fibber and Mollie McGee's address. I loved the idea, went straight to NBC with the idea, and they bought it without even looking at a pilot show.
The opening introductions are voiced by the legendary Johnny Gilbert, who is still going strong at the age of 85. All three contestants are introduced, with the returning champion announced last. Up until 2003, players could only win 5 games before having to retire, this rule is no longer in effect. View video of opening title sequence.
The three contestants playing the game. The returning champion is introduced last and always stands at the podium to the left of the screen. Then Alex makes his entrance...
The board being loaded for the Jeopardy! round, and an example category, and the board in full.
The rules of the game are extremely straightforward. Alex reads the answer or "clue" and the contestants must respond with the correct question, beginning with the words "Who" or "What". There are 3 rounds in total. The first round is known as the Jeopardy! round. The first two rounds have 6 categories, with 5 clues in each category. Clues range from $200 - $1000 in this round. Contestants pick the category and Alex reads the clue. Once the clue is read, the contestants may buzz in with a response. One interesting note, is that the buzzers don't actually make a sound, but the contestants podium lights up to signify who rung in. Get the clue right, and the contestant wins the relevant amount of cash. Get it wrong, and they lose it. The other contestants are free to ring in if a player gives the wrong response. There is a commercial break about halfway through the round, after which Alex gets to chat to the contestants before resuming the round. One clue in this round is designated as a "Daily Double". Only the contestant who selects a Daily Double may respond to its clue. The contestant may wager any part or all of their current score on the clue, with a minimum wager of $5. If they get it right, they get the cash, get it wrong, they lose it. Play continues until either all the clues have been given, or there's no time left. Another commercial break takes place at the end of the round.
The first clue of the game is read out, and a player ringing in with a response.
Player landing on the Daily Double clue. The clue appears in a window to the left of the screen. Daily Double clues could sometimes be Video or Audio clues depending on the category.
Round Two is called "Double Jeopardy". This is where the clue values are doubled to between $400 and $2000. There are also two daily doubles on the board to make the stakes even higher. The round is played in the same vein as the first round.
The board for the Double Jeopardy! round.
The third and final round is called "Final Jeopardy". In this round, contestants wager all, some, or none of their winnings on the correct response to a final clue. Contestants are given the final category and write their wagers down during the final commercial break. Once the clue has been given they have 30 seconds to write down their response on an electronic tablet. When time is up Alex reviews the responses, and whoever has the most money at the end of the round wins the game, the cash they've accumulated and gets to come back next time. Second place gets $2000 and third gets $1000, so everyone's happy.
The show's biggest moment occured in 2004 when a software engineer by the name of Ken Jennings won 74 consecutive games of Jeopardy, and was defeated by an estate agent on the 75th show. He won over $2,500,000 during his run, and won a further $500,000 by finishing second in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, which was won by Brad Rutter. Other notable contestants include Eddie Timanus, who won 5 consecutive games in 1999 despite being totally blind, and Dan Melia, who was the first person to get married on the Jeopardy set.
With opportunities for college students and even children to play the game, Jeopardy is America's best loved gameshow. The annual Tournament of Champions is the most popular event of the year on the Jeopardy calendar, where 15 of the best players compete to win $250,000. The 2009 event was held in Las Vegas (where the current set was actually introduced months before the start of the current season).
Of course, Jeopardy's popularity has extended around the world. with other countries trying out the Jeopardy format. Here in the UK, we've had 3 different versions of the show and 4 hosts. Derek Hobson first hosted the show for Channel 4 in 1984. The format was then picked by the former ITV broadcaster TVS in 1990 with Chris Donat and then Steve Jones in the role. Sky then took on the show with Paul Ross as host. The UK versions were not a patch on the original US version which offered much higher stakes, and the Steve Jones era of the show was just awful and is not really worth writing about here.
So, that's Jeopardy! A great gameshow in the US, but could have done so much better in the UK if they didn't dumb it down so much.