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Jeopardy!First Aired in 1964 Notice: The 22nd season premiere of Jeopardy! started Monday, September 12, 2005. The show first aired in March 1964 and lasted nearly 11 years on NBC daytime (ironically, its current companion in syndication, Wheel of Fortune, replaced the daytime Jeopardy!); the show resurfaced in a modified format in 1978, and then came back in syndication in 1984, where it continues to enjoy long-term success. This simple "reverse quiz" formula resulted in one of the most successful game shows in TV history. Answer: "Legend has it that game show host and TV personality Merv Griffin created this reverse quiz show after complaining about the poor quality of game shows since the Quiz Show Scandals; his then-wife suggested giving the players the answers and having them come up with the questions." Question: "What's the story behind the birth of Jeopardy!?" The original 1964 rules were as thus: Three contestants, including a returning champion compete. Six categories are announced (e.g., Science, Television, Starts with "A," Art World, World Literature and Presidents), each having five answers ostensibly graded by difficulty, from $10 to $50. The champion chose a category and dollar amount (e.g., "Presidents for $10"), to which the host reads the answer ("He was the Father of our Country; he didn't really chop down that cherry tree"). The contestant had to reply in question form ("Who was George Washington?") ; if correct, they won the value of the question; if he/she was incorrect, failed to answer in time or phrase in the form of a question, that amount was deducted (hence, the dollar amount was always in jeopardy) and his/her opponents could answer; having enough incorrect answers led to negative scores, which was very common. Thereafter, the contestant providing the last correct question selected next, and the process repeated; some answers made use of audio and/or video clues. Hidden behind one of the answers was a Daily Double space, with the contestant selecting that space able to wager up to all his/her current winnings or up to $50 if he/she had less) on the answer. After all 30 answers have been revealed (or sometimes, an undefined time limit expired), the game moved into Double Jeopardy! Gameplay was the same in Double Jeopardy! except six new categories were announced and the answers had values of $20 to $100 and two Daily Double spaces were hidden (with contestants able to wager up to $100 if they had less). At the end of the Double Jeopardy! round, all contestants with at least $1 were eligible to play Final Jeopardy! However, anyone with $0 or a negative score was disqualified from further play; though it happened just once or twice, all three players were disqualified from Final Jeopardy! due to negative scores. One final category was announced, and the contestants (before seeing the answer) wagered up to everything they had on their ability to answer. Contestants had 30 seconds to write what they believed was the correct question. Those who were correct had the amount they wagered added to their winnings; however, any incorrect questions or failing to phrase properly lost what they wagered. Everyone kept what they won, and the contestant with the most cash was champion and returned the next day to face two new challengers. Champions competed until they were defeated or won five shows. Starting in the late 1960s, all five-time champions and other high-scoring contestants over a period of time participated in a Tournament of Champions, the winner earning an additional $25,000; there were also college tournaments and celebrity shows conducted (the celebrities all played for charity, while the top college winner played in the Tournament of Champions). The original Jeopardy! lasted on NBC until January 1975; a once-a-week syndicated version ran during the 1974-1975 season, with the show's winner after Final Jeopardy! allowed to pick one of 25 squares on the board; behind each square hid a grand prize such as a car, trip or cash amounts (the two best were $10,000 and $25,000). Jeopardy! returned to NBC in a modified form in 1978. The basic rules were unchanged (e.g., phrase in the form of a question; Daily Doubles), but there were several major differences. Jeopardy round had values from $25-$125 while Double Jeopardy! had $50-$250. Most notably, only the top two scoring contestants after the first Jeopardy round moved to Double Jeopardy!, and the leader after that second round moved to a new Super Jeopardy! bonus round (even if he/she had a negative score). In the Super Jeopardy! round, the player had to complete a row of five questions either across, up and down or diagonally, before getting three strikes (for incorrect questions). Each box was worth $250, and getting five in a row was worth $5,000 (plus $2,500 for each show the bonus was not claimed). Contestants competed until defeated or winning five shows. Jeopardy! returned in 1984, where it has remained among the most popular syndicated shows to this day. The rules reverted to the tried and true format, except cash amounts for each question were raised to $100-$500 for the first round, and $200-$1,000 for Double Jeopardy! and that only the daily champion kept his/her winnings. With the Daily Doubles in this version, if the player has less than $500, he/she can risk up to $500. With less than $1,000 or negative scores in Double Jeopardy!, players could risk up to $1,000. Through the years, several changes were made, at first most notably the addition of teen, senior and international tournaments (with each winner earning a spot in the annual Tournament of Champions). Also on occassion, "celebrity guests" read some of the game's answers. Several special "all-time Tournament of Champions" were conducted, with the best players in the show's history invited back. Most notable were Super Jeopardy! for ABC in 1990 (see that title for details), with a $250,000 cash payout to the winner; Another all-time Tournament of champions in 2005 with many of the show's best players playing against each other (with the losers recieving $5000), and in the final round, face Ken Jennings (see below) for $2 million; and the Million Dollar Masters Tournament, with that winner getting $1 million. There have also been occassional International Tournaments of Champions, with the winners from each country's individual tournament invited to play; the 1997 tourney was taped in Stockholm, Sweeden. In 1997, five-time champions won a new car. Then, in the fall of 2001, a Clue Crew was implemented (new regulars illustrating answers in selected categories by going "on location"), and dollar values of answers were doubled from $200 to $1,000 in Jeopardy! and $400 to $2,000 in Double Jeopardy!. With the dollar value changes, the rules for betting on Daily Doubles were also modified to allow for $1,000 bets in the Jeopardy! round if the score was less than that, and $2,000 in Double Jeopardy!. In 2002, the day's third-place contestant received $1,000 and the runner-up $2,000 (instead of consolation prizes). In 2003, champions were allowed to compete until defeated (with no limit in how much they could win). The new rules have allowed for several new winnings and longevity records. None was more famous than Ken Jennings, a software engineer from Salt Lake City, Utah. During his 75-day reign on the show, which lasted from June 2 to Nov. 30, 2004, Jennings had ammassed $2,520,700. Jennings seemed to be able to answer any question on any subject – sports, art, music, food, history, science, the movies, words, Shakesphere ... the list was endless and so was the depth of knowledge – and was able to use his knack for quick recall to easily outdistance most of his opponents. Even when he was seriously challenged, Jennings rose to the occassion. In addition to the longevity record, he set a new record for total game show winnings and a Jeopardy! record for single-day winnings – $75,000 (after tying Brian Wiekle's previous $52,000 record several times). The orignal NBC version's average winnings were a far cry from Jennings' impressive totals. Back in the 1960s, daily champions usually won between $500 and $1,000, with a good five-day champ taking home a check for around $5,000 or so. Runners-up (remember, they won money, too) left with anywhere up to $250 or so. To put it in perspective, had the compete-'til-your-defeat rules been in place back in the NBC original and Jennings been on that version (he wasn't even born yet), he'd still have won $126,035, based on today's inflated values. Celebrities have frequently been invited to play Jeopardy! for charity. Speical weeks were always set aside on the NBC daytime version (one frequently circulating photo from c. 1972 features Bill Cullen, Peter Marshall and Art James on a game show hosts edition). On the syndicated version, in addition to the standard celebrity editions, there was a "Power Players" tournament featuring media superstars, Congressmen and other national figures outside the entertainment industry. Many other versions of Jeopardy have also aired, including Rock & Roll Jeopardy (a popular music version of Jeopardy that aired on VH1, with Jeff Probst as host) and Jep!, a children's version of Jeopardy that aired Saturday mornings (this has been replaced by two weeks of children's shows on the syndicated version). Jeopardy has also international success, with numerous countries – including England, Australia, France, Germany, Norway and others – having their own version. Canadian stations, however, make do with the American version (and yes, Alex Trebek is a Canadian). Like Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! has had much success with merchandising beyond the requisite home board games (and there have been many!). There's also countless editions of video games (handheld and for Nintendo, Sega Genesis, PlayStation and XBOX), with sports and children's versions available. The home board game also has had children's versions out, as well as a Simpsons version (yup, all material from or based on the popular animated sitcom about our favorite dysfunctional family). Also available: clothing, key chains, books about the show (and tips on how to win), and much more! ___________________________ Tickets can be ordered at: JEOPARDY! TICKETS P.O. Box 3763 Hollywood, CA 90028 ___________________________ The "Brain Bus" tour the country to pre-test contestants. The pre-test consists of 10 question. If it is passed you may earn a chance at a contestant audition. If you do well there, you are put in an "active" file for one full year. If you are lucky, you will be informed that you have been chosen to be a contestant on the show. If you see any mistakes on this page or if you have more infomation about this show, please submit a comment |