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The US show is currently hosted by Alex Trebek and Johnny Gilbert is the announcer. The current version debuted on September 17, 1984, and perenially ranks second to Wheel in the Nielsen ratings of syndicated programs. Art Fleming hosted and Don Pardo was the announcer on the original version, which ran from March 30, 1964, to January 3January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 362 days remaining (363 in leap years). Events 1496 Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine 1521 Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther. 1749 Benning Wentworth issu, 1975Events January January 1 Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail on February 21 January 5 The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, i on NBCSteff Geissbuhler. The feathers are said to represent the network's six divisions. NBC Universal Television is an American television network based in New York's Rockefeller Center. As of May 2004, it became part of NBC Universal. NBC supplies programming. He also hosted a short-lived NBC revival, The All-New Jeopardy!, from October 2October 2nd is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 90 days remaining. Events 1187 Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule. 1535 Jacques Cartier discovers Montreal, Quebec. 1780 American Revolu, 1978Events January January 1 The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law. January 1 Air India's Boeing 747 explodes near Bombay 213 dead. January 4 Referendum in Chile supports policies of Augusto Pinochet., to March 2March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). There are 304 days remaining. Events 986 Louis V becomes King of the Franks. 1717 The Loves of Mars and Venus became the first ballet performed in England. 1791 Long dista, 1979Events January-February January 1 Sino-American relations: United States and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations January 4 State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings..
Each day, there are three contestants, one of whom is the winner from the previous show.
The show consists of three rounds. The first one is simply called the Jeopardy! round. The game focuses on a game board (before 1979, it was a grid of pull cards; since 1984, it is a video wall) containing six columns and five rows of trivia "answers" or "clues". Each column is a topical category, and categories change on each show. Recently, it's become popular for the show's producers to make the six categories related in some fashion. Each category has five questions, which are worth certain amounts:
The returning champion starts the game by picking the category and the monetary value. The host reads off the "answer" (which also appears on the game board for that clue), and then any of the three contestants can ring in with a response. Before about 1985, contestants could ring in anytime after the clue was revealed; now, they must wait until the host finishes reading the question before they can ring in, and pressing the signaling button too soon locks it for two-tenths of a second. For easy questions, ringing in at the right moment is important.
The responses must be phrased in the form of a question (usually "What is...?" or "Who is....?" For example, if the clue was, "This city is the capital of the United States", the correct response would be, "What is Washington, DC?" Some contestants have been more creative in responding), and an answer that is itself a question may be given as-is ("What, me worry?" for example).
If the response is correct, the contestant wins the amount of money the question is worth; if it is wrong, he or she loses that amount (hence the "jeopardy") and the other two contestants regain the right to ring in. The current scores are shown on the front of each player's podium. (Negative scores can and do happen often).
The person with a correct response then has the right to choose the next "answer"; if no correct response is given, a buzzer sounds, and the host reads the correct response. Then, the next choice is given to the last person who gave a correct response.
The second round, Double Jeopardy! (a punA pun (also known as paronomasia is a play on words that transposes the meanings of words with similar sounds. This is usually for humorous effect, although one well known pun of serious intent is found in the Bible: Matthew 16. 18: "Thou art Peter [ Gree on double jeopardy), works like the first round, with the following exceptions:
Some spots on the board conceal Daily Doubles. There is one such spot in the Jeopardy! round and two in the Double Jeopardy! round. Only the contestant who selects a Daily Double is allowed to respond to its clue. They can wager as much as the maximum amount of a clue on the board or as much as they have accumulated, whichever is greater. The minimum wager is $5. In the first "Jeopardy!" round, if a player has less than $50, $125, $500, or $1000 (depending on the era), they may risk up to that amount. In "Double Jeopardy!" if a player has less than $100, $250, $1000, or $2000, they may risk up to that amount. A player may also indicate that they wish to make it a True Daily Double, meaning that they are wagering all the money that they have up to this point.
The third round is Final Jeopardy!. Contestants with zero or negative scores are not allowed to participate in Final Jeopardy! and automatically win the third-place (or possibly second-place) prize. The host first announces the category, and the contestants risk as little as $0 or as much money as they have accumulated, by writing it on a card (before 1979) or electronic drawing board (since 1984). Then the clue is revealed. Contestants have 30 seconds to write a response on a card/electronic drawing board, again phrased in the form of a question.
The contestant who wins the most money is the day's champion and usually returns the next day. Before 1979, all contestants won their winnings in cash; since 1984, only the champion wins the amount of money accumulated on the show, and the other two contestants win consolation prizes. In 2002, it was changed so that the second place finisher gets $2,000 and the third place finisher gets $1,000. If more than one contestant ties for first place, they all 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, but there was NEVER a 3-way tie). If all contestants finish at zero or less, then nobody wins and three new contestants appear (it has happened three times since 1984.) If there is a tie in a tournament, a tiebreaker question is played, but this has only ever happened on a few occasions.
During the short-lived 1978-79 series, Final Jeopardy! was not played; instead, whoever was ahead at the end of Double Jeopardy! became the champion. That contestant 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 line). The object was for the contestant to provide any five correct responses in a straight line, Bingo style (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally). Giving an incorrect response 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.
In previous seasons, a contestant who won five days in a row would be retired undefeated, with a guaranteed spot in the next Tournament of Champions. In the later years of this era, an undefeated champion would also be awarded an automobile. To mark the start of the current version's 20th season, in September, 2003, the quiz show changed its rules so there is no winnings limit; a contestant keeps coming back as long as that contestant keeps winning. This led to the remarkable winning streak of Ken Jennings, who currently holds several records on the show, including most money won cumulatively and number of appearances.
The theoretical maximum win for a single day of Jeopardy! is $566,400, but this requires choosing all of the Daily Doubles last and that they're all placed behind the lowest valued clues, which the odds are 3,288,600 to 1 against (assuming they are randomly placed [which they're not]), wagering everything for each Daily Double, and again wagering everything in Final Jeopardy!. Depending on placement and order of the Daily Doubles, a so-called "perfect game" (every question correct, always maximum wager when called to do so) can range from $208,000 to $566,400, with a mean of $374,400.
If you decide ahead of time that your strategy is to go for a perfect game, your chances become much better. In trying for a perfect game, you will not select the low questions ($200/$400) until the end of each round. In the first Jeopardy! round, there is a 1:5 chance of the board being set up to your advantage, and you have a 1:6 chance of choosing the Daily Double last, giving you a 1:30 chance of maxing the first round. In Double Jeopardy!, there is a 1:29 chance of the board being set up right, and a 1:15 chance of choosing the Daily Doubles last. So, if you decide ahead of time to try for a perfect game, and manage to get all the questions, then you have a 1:13050 chance.