Broadcast History:
NBC Daytime October 2, 1978-March 2, 1979
Host: Art Fleming
Announcer: John Harlan
Packager: Merv Griffin Productions

In October 1978, Jeopardy! returned to NBC's daytime schedule after a nearly 4-year absence. Art Fleming returned as host, with John Harlan replacing Don Pardo as announcer.



The new version of Jeopardy! debuted at 10:30 a.m. EST on October 2, 1978. The series displaced daytime veteran Hollywood Squares, which moved to 1 p.m. EST to replace the cancelled soap opera For Richer or Poorer.

When the new series debuted, Art Fleming stepped onto the stage as the show's emcee for the 2,754th time and received a standing ovation. Merv Griffin had re-tooled the game's format, adding what Fleming called "some exciting new features" and updating the set as well. The dollar values were also increased from between $10 and $50 in round one to between $25 and $125, and from between $20 and $100 in round two to between $50 and $250.

The "Jeopardy!" round was played much the same way as in the original, with three contestants questioning answers arranged in six categories for cash. Any incorrect questions resulted in the value of the answer being deducted from the player's score. As in the previous version, the "Jeopardy!" round contained one "Daily Double", which allowed the contestant who found it to risk any or all of their earnings.



At the end of the first round the new features kicked in. Only the top two scoring players advanced to the "Double Jeopardy!" round, with the third place contestant eliminated from contention, though they would still be allowed to keep any cash they had accumulated up to that point. Dollar amounts in Double Jeopardy! were doubled and two "Daily Doubles" were placed on the board as well. The two remaining contestants competed for the chance to move on to the "Super Jeopardy! bonus round, which offered a cash prize of $5,000.



At the conclusion of the Double Jeopardy! round, the contestant with the most cash went on to play the new bonus round. As in the main game, questions were arranged into categories, with five categories in all and each category containing five answers. The answers in each category were numbered from "1" to "5", and players had the opportunity to win $5,000 (with the amount increasing by $2,500 with each subsequent win) by trying to get a row of five correct questions in a bingo-style fashion, either across, up-and-down, or diagonally in any direction. Thus, they could win by either questioning all five answers in a single category or questioning one answer in each of the five categories. Players were allowed to question any answer at any time and did not have to wait for host Art Fleming to finish reading the card.



If a player gave an incorrect question or passed, that number on the board would be a "STRIKE" and the player would have to start a new row. Three strikes resulted in the contestant losing the bonus round and being awarded $100 for each correct question on the board.

Art Fleming was clearly happy to be back hosting Jeopardy! again, but unfortunately his second tenure with the show would be short-lived. The reincarnated version of the series failed to buoy NBC's struggling lineup and was cancelled after a brief 6-month run. Fleming would rarely be seen on TV afterwards, making only occasional appearances until his death from pancreatic cancer in 1995.

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