This is...



Now entering the studio is the host of Jeopardy!...



Broadcast History:
NBC Daytime March 30, 1964-January 3, 1975
Host: Art Fleming
Announcer: Don Pardo
Packager: Merv Griffin Productions


Jeopardy!, the classic quiz game created by Merv Griffin, is best known today as the nightly series hosted by Alex Trebek. A large, flashy set, TV monitors, and large cash payoffs have been staples of this version, which debuted in 1984. Jeopardy!'s beginnings were much more humble, however, with a small, primitive set and very small cash payoffs. It was the show's intellectual element, and unique yet simple format, that led to it becoming a daytime staple on NBC in the mid-1960s.



Merv Griffin, with a little help from his wife, came up with the idea of a quiz show where contestants were given answers and had to come up with questions, in 1963. NBC added the series to its lineup on March 30, 1964, and it became an afternoon phenomenon among houswives, retirees, and college students.



The original format for the series was basically the same as the current version. Three contestants competed for cash by questioning anwers that were arranged into 6 columns of categories. Each category contained 5 answers, with the answers ranging from $10 to $50 in the first round, and $20 to $100 in the "Double Jeopardy!" round. The answers increased in difficulty as their dollar value increased. If a contestant rang in with a correct question, they earned the dollar amount the answer was worth; if they gave an incorrect question, however, that amount would be deducted from their score. Contestants were always required to phrase their answer in the form of a question, i.e., if the clue read "He was President of the United States during the Civil War," the contestant would have to phrase their answer as, "Who is Abraham Lincoln?"



Each round contained at least one "Daily Double" on the board. This would be hidden behind one of the answers on the board. Any contestant who found this would be allowed to wager any or all of their earnings on a single answer that only they could question. A correct question netted them the amount of their wager, while an incorrect question deducted the amount of their wager from their score. In the first round, one Daily Double was placed on the board; in Double Jeopardy!, two would be placed on the board.

At the conclusion of Double Jeopardy!, contestants would move on to "Final Jeopardy!". Since contestants had the value of any incorrect questions deducted from their score, it was possible for them to end up $0 or even a negative amount; any contestant who finished in negative territory was eliminated from contention and not allowed to participate in Final Jeopardy!.



Contestants who finished in positive territory took their earnings into the Final Jeopardy! round, and would be told the category of a single answer they would be given. The players would then secretly wager any or all of their earnings on that answer, which would then be revealed to them. They would have 30 seconds to write down a question on a card. Fleming would then reveal the questions they had written, then reveal their wagers. Correct questions earned the contestant the amount of their wager; incorrect questions deducted that amount from their winnings. After all three contestants had their answers revealed, the one with the most money would be declared the champion and be allowed to return the next day. Any contestant who won five consecutive games would be retired as an undefeated champion. If two contestants finished the game in a tie, they would be declared co-champions and both would return on the next day's show.

Although the actual gameplay in the classic version of Jeopardy! was very similar to today's version, there were several subtle differences. The most notable of these is that contestants did not have to wait for the host to finish reading the answer card before ringing in. Quite often, contestants would ring in before Art Fleming had finished reading the clue, though Fleming would always finish reading the card before calling on the contestant who had rung in. One major difference between Fleming's version and the current Trebek incarnation was that contestants got to keep the money they finished with at the end of Final Jeopardy!, regardless of whether or not they had won the game. Contestants would nearly always finish an individual game with less than $1,000.

In February 1972, Jeopardy! celebrated its 2,000th episoded with a special game that featured a visit from Mel Brooks playing the 2,000-year-old man. The game's three all-time top champs returned for this game to play against each other, with their winnings going to a charity of their choice. The still shots seen below are from that episode:



Jeopardy! became a phenomenal success and was a fixture on NBC's daytime lineup for nearly 11 years. Its ratings finally began to take a hit in the early 1970s when ABC put its new version of Password against it. NBC responded by moving Jeopardy! around to different time slots, but its ratings eroded even further. In November 1974, NBC announced the end of an era when they revealed that a new game show called Wheel of Fortune would soon be taking Jeopardy's place on the daytime lineup. Art Fleming signed off as host for the final time on January 3, 1975, after 2,753 shows. Sadly, like most daytime TV from that era, only a handful of these episodes still exist today, including the 2,000th show and the finale.

NBC attempted a revival of Jeopardy! in 1978, with Art Fleming returning as host. To learn about this short-lived version of the series, click here.


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