Jeopardy!

The layout of the Jeopardy! game board since November 26, 2001, showing the dollar values used in the first round (in the second round, the values are doubled). Categories at the top of the board vary between each round and episode.

The Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! rounds each feature six categories, each of which contains five clues, which are ostensibly valued by difficulty.[4] The dollar values of the clues increased over time. On the original Jeopardy! series, clue values in the first round ranged from $10 to $50.[6] On The All-New Jeopardy!, they ranged from $25 to $125. In the two pilots that led to the 1984 series, the first kept the $25–$125 values for the Jeopardy! round, while the second doubled these to $50–$250. The 1984 series' first-round originally ranged from $100 to $500 (doubled again from the second pilot),[4] and was doubled to $200–$1,000 on November 26, 2001.[7]

The Jeopardy! round begins when the returning champion selects any position on the game board (for games when there is no returning champion, the starting player is chosen by a random draw). The underlying clue is revealed and read aloud by the host, after which any contestant may ring-in using a hand-held signaling device. The first contestant to ring-in successfully is prompted to respond to the clue. If the contestant responds correctly, the clue's dollar value is added to the contestant's score, and they may select a new clue from the board. An incorrect response, or a failure to respond within five seconds, deducts the clue's value from the contestant's score and allows the other contestants the opportunity to ring in and respond. Excessively mispronounced responses are usually judged incorrect, particularly if they are missing syllables, contain excessive syllables, or (when relevant) pronounced in the singular form when the only correct form is plural (or vice versa). If the response is not technically incorrect but otherwise judged too vague to be correct, the contestant is given additional time to provide a more specific response.[4] Whenever none of the contestants ring in and respond correctly, the host gives the correct response, and the player who selected the previous clue chooses the next clue.[8]

Contestants are encouraged to select the clues in order from lowest to highest value, as the clues are written in each category to flow from one to the next, as is the case with game shows that ask questions in a linear string. Contestants are not required to do so unless the category requires clues to be taken in order; the "Forrest Bounce", a strategy in which contestants randomly pick clues to confuse opponents, has been used successfully by Arthur Chu and the strategy's namesake Chuck Forrest, though Trebek noted that the strategy not only annoyed him but the staffers as well since it also disrupts the rhythm that develops when revealing the clues and increases the potential for error.[9] Another unorthodox strategy is to sweep through the highest values on the board first; if successful, this has several advantages: the player will have more money to wager on Daily Doubles, and other players will have to answer more questions correctly to earn the same amount of money. James Holzhauer, whose April–June 2019 winning streak included the ten highest single-day game totals, regularly used this strategy, in conjunction with the Forrest Bounce and aggressive Daily Double wagering.[10]

From the premiere of the original Jeopardy! until the end of the first season of the 1984 syndicated series, contestants were allowed to ring in as soon as the clue was revealed. Since September 1985, contestants are required to wait until the clue is read before ringing in. To accommodate the rule change, lights were added to the game board (unseen by home viewers) to signify when it is permissible for contestants to signal;[11] attempting to signal before the light goes on locks the contestant out for half of a second.[12] The change was made to allow the home audience to play along more easily and to keep an extremely fast contestant from potentially dominating the game. In pre-1985 episodes, a buzzer sounded when a contestant signaled; according to Trebek, the buzzer was eliminated because it was "distracting to the viewers" and sometimes presented a problem when contestants rang in while Trebek was still reading the clue.[11] Contestants who are visually impaired or blind are given a card with the category names printed in Braille before each round begins, and an audible tone is played after the clue has been read aloud.

The second round, Double Jeopardy!, features six new categories of clues. Clue values are doubled from the Jeopardy! round.[4] The contestant with the least amount of money at the end of the Jeopardy! round makes the first selection in the Double Jeopardy! round;[8] if there is a tie, the tied contestant standing at the leftmost lectern (from the host's perspective) selects first.

A "Daily Double" is hidden behind one clue in the Jeopardy! round, and two in Double Jeopardy![4] The name and inspiration were taken from a horse-racing term.[13] Daily Double clues with a sound or video component are known as "Audio Daily Doubles" and "Video Daily Doubles" respectively. Before the clue is revealed, the contestant who selects the Daily Double must declare a wager, from a minimum of $5 to a maximum of his/her entire score (known as a "true Daily Double") or the highest clue value available in the round, whichever is greater.[8][14] The contestant is given the exclusive right to answer the clue but must do so; a correct response adds the value of the wager to the contestant's score, while an incorrect response deducts it. Not answering the Daily Double also deducts the wager. Whether or not the contestant responds correctly, he or she chooses the next clue.[8] Daily Doubles are usually hidden behind higher-valued questions, and almost never on the top row (only eight of the over 11,000 Daily Doubles since November 2001, 0.07%, have been in that location).[15]

During the Jeopardy! round, except in response to the Daily Double clue, contestants are not penalized for forgetting to phrase their response in the form of a question, although the host reminds contestants to watch their phrasing in future responses. In the Double Jeopardy! round and in the Daily Double in the Jeopardy! round, the phrasing rule is followed more strictly, with a response not phrased in the form of a question counting as wrong if it is not re-phrased before the host or judges make a ruling.[14]

If it is determined that a previous response was wrongly ruled correct or incorrect during the taping of an episode, the scores are adjusted at the first available opportunity (typically after the Jeopardy!, Double Jeopardy! rounds, the first break, or a Daily Double break). If an error that may have affected the result is not discovered until after taping of an episode is completed, the affected contestant(s) are invited back to compete on a future show, complying with federal quiz show regulations.[16]

Contestants who finish Double Jeopardy! with $0 or a negative score are automatically eliminated from the game at that point and awarded the third-place prize. On at least one episode hosted by Art Fleming, all three contestants finished Double Jeopardy! with $0 or less, and as a result, no Final Jeopardy! round was played.[17] This rule is still in place for the Trebek version, although staff has suggested that it is not set in stone and that executive producer Harry Friedman may decide to display the clue for home viewers' play if such a situation were ever to occur.[18] During Celebrity Jeopardy! games, contestants with a $0 or negative score are given $1,000 for the Final Jeopardy! round.

The Final Jeopardy! round features a single clue. At the end of the Double Jeopardy! round, the host announces the Final Jeopardy! category and a commercial break follows. During the break, partitions are placed between the contestant lecterns, and each contestant makes a final wager; they may wager any amount of their earnings, but may not wager certain numbers with connotations that are deemed inappropriate (69, 666, and 1488 are among the forbidden wagers, though 13, 420, and 911 are allowed).[19] Contestants write their wagers using a light pen on an electronic display on their lectern.[20] After the break, the Final Jeopardy! clue is revealed and read by the host. The contestants have 30 seconds to write their responses on the electronic display, while the iconic "Think!" music plays in the background.

If either the display or the pen malfunctions, contestants can use an index card and a marker to manually write their response and wager. Visually impaired or blind contestants use a Braille keyboard to type in a wager and respond.

In the rare occurrences where only one contestant remains, that contestant automatically wins unless (s)he wagers his or her entire score (which has never been attempted in such a situation) and loses. Otherwise, contestants' responses are revealed in order of their pre-Final Jeopardy! scores from lowest to highest. Players who are tied after Double Jeopardy! have their responses revealed from right to left from the viewer's perspective. Once a correct response is revealed the host confirms it; otherwise, the host reveals the correct response if all contestants responded incorrectly. A correct response adds the amount of the contestant's wager to his/her score. A miss, failure to respond, insufficiently specific response, or failure to phrase the response as a question (even if correct) deducts it.[8] Misspelling is not penalized so long as the pronunciation is not affected.[21]

The contestant with the highest score at the end of the round is that day's winner. If there is a tie for second place, consolation prizes are awarded based on the scores going into the Final Jeopardy! round. If all three contestants finish with $0, no one returns as champion for the next show, and based on scores going into the Final Jeopardy! round, the two contestants who were first and second receive the second-place prize, and the contestant in third receives the third-place prize.

The strategy for wagering in Final Jeopardy! has been studied. If the leader's score is more than twice the second place contestant's score, the leader can guarantee victory by making a sufficiently small wager.[22]^:269 Otherwise, according to Jeopardy! College Champion Keith Williams, the leader usually wagers such that he or she will have a dollar more than twice the second place contestant's score, guaranteeing a win with a correct response.[23] Writing about Jeopardy! wagering in the 1990s, Gilbert and Hatcher said that "most players wager aggressively.”[22]^:269

The top scorer in each game is paid their winnings in cash and returns to play in the next match. Previously, in case of a tie, all tying top scorers were paid their winnings.[4] However, starting in 2016, a single tie-breaker question is offered to break the tie.[24] Non-winners receive consolation prizes instead of their winnings in the game. As of May 16, 2002, consolation prizes have been $2,000 for the second-place contestant(s) and $1,000 for the third-place contestant.[25] Since travel and lodging are generally not provided for contestants, cash consolation prizes offset these costs. Production covers the cost of travel for returning champions and players invited back because of errors who must make multiple trips to Los Angeles. Production also covers the cost of travel if a tournament travels (does not stay in Los Angeles) on the second week.[26]

During Art Fleming's hosting run, all three contestants received their winnings in cash (contestants who finished with a negative score were not required to pay) and parting gifts, usually an encyclopedia set. This was changed at the start of Trebek's hosting run to avoid the problem of contestants who stopped participating in the game, or avoided wagering in Final Jeopardy!, rather than risk losing the money they had already won. This also allowed the increase to clue values since only one contestant's score is paid instead of three.[27] From 1984 to 2002, non-winning contestants on the Trebek version received vacation packages and merchandise, which were donated by manufacturers as promotional consideration. Since 2004, a presenting sponsor has provided cash prizes to the losing contestants. (As of 2019, GEICO serves as the presenting sponsor of the consolation prizes, except for the Tournaments, which are sponsored by Consumer Cellular.)[28]

The winner of each episode returns to compete against two new contestants on the next episode. Originally, a contestant who won five consecutive days retired undefeated and was guaranteed a spot in the Tournament of Champions; the five-day limit was eliminated at the beginning of season 20 on September 8, 2003.[29]

Since November 2014,[30] ties for first place following Final Jeopardy! are broken with a tie-breaker clue, resulting in only a single champion being named, keeping their winnings, and returning to compete in the next show. The tied contestants are given the single clue, and the first contestant to buzz-in must give the correct question. A contestant cannot win by default if the opponent gives an incorrect question; that contestant must give a correct question to win the game. If neither player gives the correct question, another clue is given.[31] Previously, if two or all three contestants tied for first place, they were declared "co-champions", and each retained his or her winnings and (unless one was a five-time champion who retired prior to 2003) returned on the following episode. A tie occurred on the January 29, 2014, episode when Arthur Chu, leading at the end of Double Jeopardy!, wagered to tie challenger Carolyn Collins rather than winning; Chu followed Jeopardy! College Champion Keith Williams's advice to wager for the tie to increase the leader's chances of winning.[32][33] A three-way tie for first place has only occurred once on the Trebek version, on March 16, 2007, when Scott Weiss, Jamey Kirby, and Anders Martinson all ended the game with $16,000.[34] Until March 1, 2018,[30][35] no regular game had ended in a tie-breaker; however, numerous tournament games have ended with a tie-breaker clue.

If no contestant finishes Final Jeopardy! with a positive total, there is no winner. This has happened on several episodes,[36][37] most recently on January 18, 2016.[38] Three new contestants appear on the next episode. A triple zero has also occurred twice in tournament play (1991 Seniors and 2013 Teen), and also once in a Celebrity Week episode in 1998.[39] All consolation prize money (regular play, with two $2,000 prizes and one $1,000 prize, and celebrity play, prize money for charities) are based on standard rules (score after Double Jeopardy!). In tournament play, an additional high scoring non-winner advances to the next round (but all three players with a zero score in that game are eligible for that position should the score for that non-winner be zero; all tie-breaker rules apply).

A winner unable to return as champion because of a change in personal circumstances – for example, illness or a job offer – may be allowed to appear as a co-champion in a later episode.[40][41][42]

The two challengers participate in a backstage draw to determine lectern positions. In all situations with three new contestants (now a rare occurrence in regular games since the five-episode limit on returning champions was removed, but still routine for first-round games in unseeded tournaments), the draw also determines who takes the champion's position and select first to start the game. In tournament play, the player scoring the highest in the preceding round is given the chance to select first in the semi-final and finals.

Tournaments generally run for 10 consecutive episodes and feature 15 contestants. The first five episodes, the quarter-finals, feature three new contestants each day. Other than in the Tournament of Champions, the quarter-finals are unseeded and contestants participate in a random draw to determine playing order and lectern positions over the course of the five games. The Tournament of Champions is seeded based on total winnings in regular games to determine playing order and lectern positions, with the top five players occupying the champion's lectern for the quarter-final games. Since the removal of the five-game limit in regular gameplay, in the unlikely case of a tie in total winnings between two Tournament of Champions players the player who won the most games receives the higher seed. If still tied, seeding is determined by comparing the tied players' aggregate Double Jeopardy! and (if still tied) Jeopardy! round scores.

The winners of the five quarter-final games and the four highest-scoring non-winners ("wild cards"), advance to the semi-finals, which run for three days. The semi-finals are seeded with the quarter-final winners being seeded 1–5 based on their quarter-final scores and the wild cards being seeded 6–9. The winners of the quarter-final games with the three highest scores occupy the champion's lectern for the semi-finals. The winners of the three semi-final games advance to play in a two-game final match, in which the scores from both games are combined to determine the overall standings. This format has been used since the first Tournament of Champions in 1985 and was devised by Trebek himself.[43]

To prevent later contestants from playing to beat the earlier wild card scores instead of playing to win, contestants are "completely isolated from the studio until it is their time to compete".[44]

If there is a tie for the final wild-card position, the non-winner that advances is based on the same regulations as two contestants who tie for second; the tie-breaker is the contestant's score after the Double Jeopardy! round, and if further tied, the score after the Jeopardy! round determines the contestant who advances as the wild card.

If two or more contestants tie for the highest score (greater than zero) at the end of the match (first round, semi-final game, or end of a two-game final), the standard tiebreaker is used. However, if two or more contestants tie for the highest score at the end of the first game of a two-game final, no tiebreaker is played.

If none of the contestants in a quarter-final or semi-final game end with a positive score, no contestant automatically qualifies from that game, and an additional wild card contestant advances instead.[45] This occurred in the quarter-finals of the 1991 Seniors Tournament and the semi-finals of the 2013 Teen Tournament.[45]

In the finals, contestants who finish Double Jeopardy! with a $0 or negative score on either day do not play Final Jeopardy! that day. Their score for that leg is recorded as $0.

Art Fleming hosted the NBC and syndicated versions from 1964 to 1975, and again from 1978 to 1979.

Alex Trebek hosted the daily syndicated version from 1984 until his death in 2020.

The first three versions of Jeopardy! were hosted by Art Fleming. Don Pardo served as announcer for the original NBC version and weekly syndicated version,[6] but when NBC's revival The All-New Jeopardy! launched in 1978, Pardo's announcing duties were taken over by John Harlan.[52]

Alex Trebek served as host of the daily syndicated version from its premiere in 1984 until 2020,[53] except when he switched places with Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak as an April Fool's joke on the episode aired April 1, 1997.[54]

The announcer introduces the challengers followed by the returning champion, stating the champion's total winnings thus far. The announcer then introduces the host. The announcer provides voice-overs during lead-ins to and exits from a commercial break. Additional duties include announcing any consolation prizes offered and fee plugs for sponsors. Before taping, the announcer handles warm-up duties, exciting the crowd before the commencement of taping. In the daily syndicated version's first pilot, from 1983, Jay Stewart served as the announcer, but Johnny Gilbert took over the role when that version was picked up as a series and has held it since then, although Sarah Whitcomb Foss of the Clue Crew has replaced him in selected taping sessions in recent years, as Gilbert has reduced his schedule because of his age.[53] In episodes where Foss is the in-studio announcer, Gilbert's announcing of the contestants and host are added in post-production and is heard in the television broadcast.[55]

On a Fox News program in July 2018, Trebek said the odds of his retirement in 2020 were 50/50 "and a little less". He added that he might continue if he's "not making too many mistakes" but would make an "intelligent decision" as to when he should give up the emcee role.[56] In November 2018, Trebek renewed his contract as host through 2022,[57] stating in January 2019 that the work schedule consisting of 46 taping sessions each year was still manageable for a man of his age.[58] On March 6, 2019, Trebek announced he had been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer (the same one that claimed Fleming's life on April 25, 1995). In a prepared video statement announcing his diagnosis, Trebek noted that his prognosis was poor but that he would aggressively fight the cancer in hopes of beating the odds and would continue hosting Jeopardy! for as long as he was able, joking that his contract obligated him to do so for three more years regardless of health.[59]

Trebek was still serving as host when he died on November 8, 2020. His last episodes were taped on October 29, 2020. At the time, producers declined to discuss any plans to introduce his successor while stating that they had enough new episodes with Trebek as host to run through Christmas Day.[60]

On November 9, 2020, the first episode after Trebek's death, executive producer Mike Richards paid tribute to Trebek, after a few seconds of silence where the lights on the Jeopardy! set slowly dimmed.[61] That episode, as well as subsequent episodes that aired after Trebek's death, also included a dedication screen at the end of the credits, "Dedicated to Alex Trebek: Forever in our Hearts, Always our Inspiration."[62]

To compensate for the delay caused by cancellation of most November production dates (Season 37 production had previously been delayed by the pandemic) and pre-emptions caused by holiday week specials and sports, Sony announced on November 23, 2020, that the air dates of Trebek's final week were postponed, with episodes scheduled for the week of December 21–25 being postponed to January 4–8, 2021. Reruns of episodes in which Trebek recorded clues on location[63] aired from December 21 to January 1, before his final episodes aired January 4–8, 2021. Production resumed on November 30, 2020 with a planned group of guest hosts from the staff, with those episodes commencing January 11, 2021. Sony announced the hosts will come from "within the Jeopardy! family," with Ken Jennings announced as the first interim host.[64][2] Between January and February 2021, additional guest hosts were announced, including executive producer Mike Richards, television news personalities Katie Couric, Bill Whitaker, Savannah Guthrie, Sanjay Gupta, and Anderson Cooper, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Dr. Mehmet Oz and actress Mayim Bialik. More guest hosts will be announced later on.[65][66]

Kelly Miyahara of the Clue Crew at the International CES in Winchester, Nevada

The Jeopardy! Clue Crew, introduced on September 24, 2001, is a team of roving correspondents who appear in videos, recorded around the world, to narrate some clues.[67] Explaining why the Clue Crew was added, executive producer Harry Friedman said, "TV is a visual medium, and the more visual we can make our clues, the more we think it will enhance the experience for the viewer."[68]

Following the initial announcement of auditions for the team, over 5,000 people applied for Clue Crew posts.[68] The original Clue Crew members were Cheryl Farrell, Jimmy McGuire, Sofia Lidskog, and Sarah Whitcomb.[67] Lidskog departed the Clue Crew in 2004 to become an anchor on the high school news program Channel One News, and a search was held to replace her in early 2005.[69] The winners were Jon Cannon and Kelly Miyahara, who formally joined the crew starting in season 22, which premiered on September 12, 2005.[70] Farrell continued to record clues for episodes aired as late as October 2008,[71] and Cannon continued to appear until July 2009.[72]

The Clue Crew has traveled to 280 cities worldwide, spanning all 50 of the United States and 44 other countries. In addition to appearing in Jeopardy! clue videos, the team's members also travel to meet fans and future contestants. Occasionally, they visit schools to showcase the educational game Classroom Jeopardy![73] Miyahara also serves as announcer for the Sports Jeopardy! spin-off series.[74]

Robert Rubin served as the producer of the original Jeopardy! series for most of its run and later became its executive producer.[75] Following Rubin's promotion, the line producer was Lynette Williams.[75]

Griffin was the daily syndicated version's executive producer until his retirement in 2000.[76] Trebek served as producer as well as host until 1987, when he began hosting NBC's Classic Concentration for the next four years.[76] At that time, he handed producer duties to George Vosburgh, who had formerly produced The All-New Jeopardy! In the 1997–1998 season, Vosburgh was succeeded as producer by Harry Friedman, Lisa Finneran, and Rocky Schmidt. Beginning in 1999, Friedman became executive producer,[77] and Gary Johnson became the third producer. In the 2006–2007 season, Deb Dittmann and Brett Schneider became the producers, and Finneran, Schmidt, and Johnson were promoted to supervising producers.[75]

The original Jeopardy! series was directed at different times by Bob Hultgren, Eleanor Tarshis, and Jeff Goldstein.[75] Dick Schneider, who directed episodes of The All-New Jeopardy!, returned as director for the Trebek version's first eight seasons. From 1992 to 2018, Kevin McCarthy served as director, who had previously served as associate director under Schneider.[76] McCarthy announced his retirement after 26 years on June 26, 2018, and was succeeded as director by Clay Jacobsen.[78]

As of 2012, Jeopardy! employs nine writers and five researchers to create and assemble the categories and clues.[79] Billy Wisse and Michele Loud, both longtime staff members, are the editorial producer and editorial supervisor, respectively.[80] Previous writing and editorial supervisors have included Jules Minton, Terrence McDonnell, Harry Eisenberg, and Gary Johnson.[75] Trebek himself also contributed to writing clues and categories.[81]

Naomi Slodki is the production designer for the program.[80] Previous art directors have included Henry Lickel, Dennis Roof,[82] Bob Rang,[75] and Ed Flesh (who also designed sets for other game shows such as The $25,000 Pyramid, Name That Tune, and Wheel of Fortune).[83]

On August 1, 2019, Sony Pictures Television announced that Friedman would retire as executive producer of both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune at the end of the 2019–20 season.[84] On August 29, 2019, Mike Richards was announced as Friedman's replacement at the start of 2020–21 season.[85]

Various sets used by the syndicated version over the years. From top to bottom: 1984–85, 1985–91, 1991–96, 1996–2002, 2002–06, and 2009–13.

Various technological and aesthetic changes have been made to the Jeopardy! set over the years. The original game board was exposed from behind a curtain and featured clues printed on cardboard pull cards which were revealed as contestants selected them.[6] The All-New Jeopardy!'s game board was exposed from behind double-slide panels and featured flipping panels with the dollar amount on one side and the clue on the other. When the Trebek version premiered in 1984, the game board used individual television monitors for each clue within categories. The original monitors were replaced with larger and sleeker ones in 1991.[92] In 2006, these monitors were discarded in favor of a nearly seamless projection video wall,[93] which was replaced in 2009 with 36 high-definition flat-panel monitors manufactured by Sony Electronics.[94]

From 1985 to 1997, the sets were designed to have a background color of blue for the Jeopardy! round and red for the Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy! rounds. At the beginning of season 8 in 1991, a brand new set was introduced that resembled a grid.[92] On the episode aired November 11, 1996, two months after the start of season 13, Jeopardy! introduced the first of several sets designed by Naomi Slodki, who intended the set to resemble "the foyer of a very contemporary library, with wood and sandblasted glass and blue granite".[95]

Shortly after the start of season 19 in 2002, another new set was introduced,[96] which was given slight modifications when Jeopardy! and sister show Wheel of Fortune transitioned to high-definition broadcasting in 2006.[93] During this time, virtual tours of the set began to be featured on the official web site.[97] The various HD improvements for Jeopardy! and Wheel represented a combined investment of approximately $4 million, 5,000 hours of labor, and 6 miles (9.7 km) of cable.[93] Both programs had been shot using HD cameras for several years before beginning to broadcast in HD. On standard-definition television broadcasts, episodes continue displaying with an aspect ratio of 4:3.

In 2009, Jeopardy! updated its set once again. The new set debuted with special episodes taped at the 42nd annual International CES technology trade show, hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester (Las Vegas Valley), Nevada, and became the primary set for Jeopardy! when production of the 26th season began, which premiered on September 14, 2009.[94] It was significantly remodeled when season 30 premiered on September 16, 2013.[98]

Major modifications to the set were implemented in Season 37, to start September 14, 2020, with a wider studio without any studio audience (Season 36 finished behind closed doors), and new lecterns for contestants and the host. The lecterns are spaced considerably apart to comply with California state regulations imposed when filming resumed after the coronavirus pandemic ended Season 36 early.[99]

Since the debut of Jeopardy! in 1964, several songs and arrangements have been used as the theme music, most of which were composed by Griffin. The main theme for the original Jeopardy! series was "Take Ten",[100] composed by Griffin's wife Julann.[101] The All-New Jeopardy! opened with "January, February, March" and closed with "Frisco Disco", both of which were composed by Griffin himself.[102]

The best-known theme song on Jeopardy! is "Think!", originally composed by Griffin under the title "A Time for Tony", as a lullaby for his son.[103] "Think!" has always been used for the 30-second period in Final Jeopardy! when the contestants write down their responses, and since the syndicated version debuted in 1984, a rendition of that tune has been used as the main theme song.[104] "Think!" has become so popular that it has been used in many different contexts, from sporting events to weddings;[105] "its 30-second countdown has become synonymous with any deadline pressure".[106] Griffin estimated that the use of "Think!" had earned him royalties of over $70 million throughout his lifetime.[107] "Think!" led Griffin to win the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) President's Award in 2003,[108] and during GSN's 2009 Game Show Awards special, it was named "Best Game Show Theme Song".[109] In 1997, the main theme and Final Jeopardy! recordings of "Think!" were rearranged by Steve Kaplan, who served as music director until his December 2003 death.[110] In 2008, Chris Bell Music and Sound Design overhauled the Jeopardy! music package for season 25.[111]

For the original Jeopardy! series, prospective contestants contacted the production office in New York to arrange an appointment and to preliminarily determine eligibility. They were briefed and auditioned together in groups of ten to thirty individuals, participating in both a written test and mock games. Individuals who were successful at the audition were invited to appear on the program within approximately six weeks.[112]

Since 1984, prospective contestants begin with a written exam comprising 50 questions. This exam is administered online periodically, as well as being offered at regional contestant search events. Since season 15 (1998–99) a Winnebago recreational vehicle dubbed the "Jeopardy! Brain Bus" travels to conduct regional events throughout the United States and Canada.[113] Participants who correctly answer at least 35 out of 50 questions advance in the audition process and are invited to attend in-person group auditions throughout the country. At these auditions, a second written exam is administered, followed by a mock game and interviews. Those who are approved are notified at a later time and invited to appear as contestants. Eligibility is limited to people who have not previously appeared as contestants, and have not been to an in-person audition for at least 18 months.[114]

Many of the contestants who appear on the series, including a majority of Teen Tournament contestants and nearly half of all College Tournament contestants, participated in quiz bowl competitions during their time in high school. The National Academic Quiz Tournaments has been described by Ken Jennings as a de facto "minor league" for game shows such as Jeopardy![115]

Only a small number of episodes of the first three Jeopardy! versions survive. From the original NBC daytime version, archived episodes mostly consist of black-and-white kinescopes of the original color videotapes.[139] Various episodes from 1967, 1971, 1973, and 1974 are listed among the holdings of the UCLA Film and Television Archive.[140] The 1964 "test episode", Episode No. 2,000 (from February 21, 1972, in color), and a June 1975 episode of the weekly syndicated edition exist at the Paley Center for Media.[141] The 1975 series finale, also in color and containing two short clips from the 1967 "College Scholarship Tournament" and Gene Shalit's appearance on an early version of Celebrity Jeopardy! also exists in its entirety. Incomplete paper records of the NBC-era games exist on microfilm at the Library of Congress. GSN holds The All-New Jeopardy!'s premiere and finale in broadcast quality, and aired the latter on December 31, 1999, as part of its "Y2Play" marathon.[121] The UCLA Archive holds a copy of a pilot taped for CBS in 1977,[140] and the premiere exists among the Paley Center's holdings.[141]

GSN, which, like Jeopardy!, is an affiliate of Sony Pictures Television, has rerun ten seasons since the channel's launch in 1994. Copies of 43 Trebek-hosted syndicated Jeopardy! episodes aired between 1989 and 2004 have been collected by the UCLA Archive,[140] and the premiere and various other episodes are included in the Paley Center's collection.[141]

Starting in 1985, the show has held an annual Tournament of Champions featuring the top fifteen champions who have appeared on the show since the last tournament. The top prize awarded to the winner was originally valued at $100,000,[126] and increased to $250,000 in 2003.[156] Other regular tournaments include the Teen Tournament, with a $100,000 top prize;[127] the College Championship, in which undergraduate students from American colleges and universities compete for a $100,000 top prize; and the Teachers Tournament, where educators compete for a $100,000 top prize.[157] Each tournament runs for ten consecutive episodes in a format devised by Trebek himself, consisting of five quarter-final games, three semi-finals, and a final consisting of two games with the scores totaled.[43] Winners of the College Championship and Teachers Tournament are invited to participate in the Tournament of Champions.

Non-tournament events held regularly on the show include Celebrity Jeopardy!, in which celebrities and other notable individuals compete for charitable organizations of their choice;[158] and Kids Week, a special competition for school-age children aged 10 through 12.[159]

Three International Tournaments, held in 1996, 1997, and 2001, featured one-week competitions among champions from each of the international versions of Jeopardy! Each of the countries that aired their own version of the show in those years could nominate a contestant. The format was identical to the semi-finals and finals of other Jeopardy! tournaments.[95][126] In 1996 and 1997, the winner received $25,000; in 2001, the top prize was doubled to $50,000. The 1997 tournament was recorded in Stockholm on the set of the Swedish version of Jeopardy!, and is significant for being the first week of Jeopardy! episodes taped in a foreign country.[95] Magnus Härenstam, the host of the Swedish version of Jeopardy! at the time, introduced the first episode of the 1997 tournament, including Alex Trebek. In addition, prior Final Jeopardy! each day, a video clip of Härenstam showing Trebek around Stockholm was shown.

There have been several special tournaments featuring the greatest contestants in Jeopardy! history. The first of these "all-time best" tournaments, Super Jeopardy!, aired in the summer of 1990 on ABC, and featured 35 top contestants from the previous seasons of the Trebek version and one notable champion from the original Jeopardy! series competing for a top prize of $250,000.[119] In 1993, that year's Tournament of Champions was followed by a Tenth Anniversary Tournament conducted over five episodes.[160] In May 2002, to commemorate the Trebek version's 4,000th episode, the show invited fifteen champions to play for a $1 million prize in the Million Dollar Masters tournament, which took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.[161] The Ultimate Tournament of Champions aired in 2005 and pitted 145 former Jeopardy! champions against each other, with two winners moving on to face Ken Jennings in a three-game final for $2,000,000, the largest prize in the show's history;[119] overall, the tournament spanned 15 weeks and 76 episodes, starting on February 9 and ending on May 25.[162] In 2014, Jeopardy! commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Trebek version with a Battle of the Decades tournament, in which 15 champions apiece from the first, second, and third decades of Jeopardy!'s daily syndicated history competed for a grand prize of $1,000,000.[163] On November 18, 2019, an announcement of Jeopardy! returning to ABC for a primetime "Greatest of All Time" tournament was made beginning January 7, 2020, which was to include Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer. The event used a multi-night format, with each episode featuring a two-game match. The contestant with the higher cumulative point total across both games was declared the winner of the match. The first to win three matches received a $1,000,000 prize.[164] The tournament concluded on January 14, 2020, after four matches, with Ken Jennings winning three matches to Holzhauer's one and Rutter's zero wins.[165] Rutter and Holzhauer each received $250,000 for their participation.

In November 1998, Jeopardy! traveled to Boston to reassemble 12 past Teen Tournament contestants for a special Teen Reunion Tournament.[113] In 2008, the 25th season began with reuniting 15 contestants from the first two Kids Weeks to compete in a special reunion tournament of their own.[166] During the next season (2009–2010), a special edition of Celebrity Jeopardy!, called the Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational, was played in which twenty-seven contestants from past celebrity episodes competed for a grand prize of $1,000,000 for charity; the grand prize was won by Michael McKean.[167]

The IBM Challenge aired February 14–16, 2011, and featured IBM's Watson computer facing off against Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in a two-game match played over three shows.[168] This was the first man-vs.-machine competition in Jeopardy!'s history.[169] Watson won both the first game and the overall match to win the grand prize of $1 million, which IBM divided between two charities (World Vision International and World Community Grid).[170] Jennings, who won $300,000 for second place, and Rutter, who won the $200,000 third-place prize, both pledged to donate half of their winnings to charity.[171] The competition brought the show its highest ratings since the Ultimate Tournament of Champions.[172]

In 2019, The All-Star Games had six teams with three former champions each. Each team member played one of the three rounds in each game played. Rutter, David Madden and Larissa Kelly won the tournament.[173]

Jeopardy! has been featured in several films, television shows and books over the years, mostly with one or more characters participating as contestants, or viewing and interacting with the game show from their own homes.

• On "Questions and Answers", a season 7 episode of The Golden Girls aired February 8, 1992, Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur) auditions for Jeopardy!, but despite her excellent show of knowledge, she is rejected by a contestant coordinator who feels that America would not root for her. In a dream sequence, Dorothy competes against roommate Rose Nylund (Betty White) and neighbor Charlie Dietz (David Leisure), in a crossover from Empty Nest. Trebek and Griffin appear as themselves in the dream sequence, and Gilbert provides a voice-over.[194]
• A 1988 episode of Mama's Family titled "Mama on Jeopardy!" features the titular Mama, Thelma Harper (Vicki Lawrence), competing on the show after her neighbor and friend Iola Boylan (Beverly Archer) is rejected.[195] For most of the game the questions given by Mama are incorrect, but she makes a miraculous comeback near the end and barely qualifies for Final Jeopardy! Her final question given is also incorrect, but she finishes in second place by $1 and wins a trip to Hawaii for herself and her family. Again, Trebek guest stars and Gilbert provides a voice-over.
• In the Cheers episode "What Is... Cliff Clavin?" (1990), the titular mailman, portrayed by John Ratzenberger, appears on the show and racks up an impressive $22,000 going into the Final Jeopardy! round, well ahead of his competitors. Despite having a total that his competitors cannot reach in Final Jeopardy!, Cliff risks all of his winnings on the final clue, which is revealed as "Archibald Leach, Bernard Schwartz, and Lucille LeSueur" (the real names of Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, and Joan Crawford, respectively). Cliff's response, "Who are three people who've never been in my kitchen?", is deemed incorrect, and he leaves with no money.[196]
• In "I Take Thee Quagmire", a season 4 episode of Family Guy aired March 12, 2006, Mayor Adam West appears as a Jeopardy! contestant. He spells Trebek's name backward (as "Kebert Xela"), "sending him back" to the fifth dimension, a reference to Mister Mxyzptlk, a nemesis to DC Comics' Superman, who is sent to the fifth dimension when someone makes him say his own name backward.[197]
• Trebek appears as himself on "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace", a season 9 episode of The Simpsons in which Marge Simpson appears on a fictional version of the show, but performs very poorly, leaving with –$5,200. Trebek then demands Marge pay this amount to the show.[198]
• From 1996 to 2002 and again in 2005, 2009, and 2015, Saturday Night Live featured a recurring Celebrity Jeopardy! sketch in which Trebek, portrayed by Will Ferrell, has to deal with the exasperating ineptitude of the show's celebrity guests and the constant taunts of antagonists Sean Connery (played by Darrell Hammond) and Burt Reynolds (Norm Macdonald), the latter of whom at one point insists on being called "Turd Ferguson".[199]
• Since 2013, Saturday Night Live has included the recurring sketch Black Jeopardy!, in which the host and two of the three contestants are stereotypical black Americans and the categories and clues likewise reflect black American culture. The third contestant in Black Jeopardy! provides a contrast to the others, such as a professor of African-American studies (portrayed by Louis C.K.), a Black Canadian (portrayed by Drake), a white Donald Trump supporter (portrayed by Tom Hanks), or the king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda (portrayed by Chadwick Boseman).[200]
• Jeopardy! is featured in a subplot of the 1992 film White Men Can't Jump, in which Gloria Clemente (Rosie Perez) attempts to pass the show's auditions.[201] She succeeds and ends up appearing on the show, winning over $14,000.
• The Univision Deportes program Fútbol Club features a segment similar to Jeopardy! named "Yoperdy!", the name itself a Spanish language parody of the Jeopardy! name.
• Other films and television series in which Jeopardy! has been portrayed over the years include The 'Burbs, Die Hard, Airplane II: The Sequel, Men in Black, Rain Man, Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story, Charlie's Angels, Dying Young, The Education of Max Bickford, The Bucket List, Groundhog Day, Predator 2, Breaking Bad, and Finding Forrester.[202]
• In the David Foster Wallace short story "Little Expressionless Animals", first published in The Paris Review and later reprinted in Wallace's collection Girl with Curious Hair, the character Julie Smith competes and wins on every Jeopardy! game for three years (a total of 700 episodes)[203] and then uses her winnings to pay for the care of her brother, who has autism.[204]
• The Ellen's Energy Adventure attraction at Epcot's Universe of Energy pavilion featured a dream sequence in which Ellen DeGeneres plays a Jeopardy! game entirely focused on energy.[205]
• Fleming makes a cameo appearance reprising his role as host of Jeopardy! in the 1982 film Airplane II: The Sequel.
• The music video "I Lost on Jeopardy", a parody of Greg Kihn's 1983 hit song "Jeopardy", was released by "Weird Al" Yankovic in 1984, a few months before Trebek's version debuted;[206] the video featured cameos from Fleming, Pardo, Kihn, and Dr. Demento.[207]
• The truTV comedy game show Comedy Knockout often features a "Jokepardy" segment, wherein the comedian contestants are given a (usually seemingly-innocuous,) answer and then respond with humorous and/or satirical answer.
• In "Who Knows Better Than I", the season 6 premiere of Orange Is the New Black, Crazy Eyes hallucinates a boxing match, a magic show, and a game of Jeopardy featuring Piper Chapman. The scene includes a cameo from Alex Trebek.
• On the episode of The New Hollywood Squares – whose writing was, incidentally, supervised by future Jeopardy! executive producer Harry Friedman – that aired December 9, 1986,[208] the first game that was played that day incorporated elements of Jeopardy! (said to be panelist Roseanne Barr's second-favorite game) by having panelists, when picked by Squares contestants, choose a clue from a 3x3 Jeopardy! game board mounted behind host John Davidson. Davidson then gave the panelist a clue, which they responded to in the form of a question. The two Squares contestants played this game like any other, agreeing or disagreeing with the panelists' responses when prompted.
• The Shaggy Bark move for Entbrat from My Singing Monsters features the notes for the Jeopardy fanfare.
• The Boomerang series Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? had a Season 2 episode, "Total Jeopardy!", animated and recorded featuring Trebek and Gilbert, with Trebek being a primary character. The animated series also utilised a mockup of the 1964 game board and logo in one sequence. The episode had been slated to air in 2021, but was moved up to November 13, 2020, in the wake of Trebek's death.

Over the years, the Jeopardy! brand has been licensed for various products. From 1964 through 1976, with one release in 1982, Milton Bradley issued annual board games based on the original Fleming version. The Trebek version has been adapted into board games released by Pressman Toy Corporation, Tyco Toys, and Parker Brothers.[209] In addition, Jeopardy! has been adapted into a number of video games released on various consoles and handhelds spanning multiple hardware generations, starting with a Nintendo Entertainment System game released in 1987.[210] The show has also been adapted for personal computers (starting in 1987 with Apple II, Commodore 64, and DOS versions[211]), Facebook,[212] Twitter, Android, and the Roku Channel Store.[213]

A DVD titled Jeopardy!: An Inside Look at America's Favorite Quiz Show, released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on November 8, 2005, features five curated episodes of the Trebek version (the 1984 premiere, Jennings' final game, and the three-game finals of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions)[214] and three featurettes discussing the show's history and question selection process.[215] Other products featuring the Jeopardy! brand include a collectible watch, a series of daily desktop calendars, and various slot machine games for casinos and the Internet.

Jeopardy!'s official website, active as early as 1998,[216] receives over 400,000 monthly visitors.[217] The website features videos, photographs, and other information related to each week's contestants, as well as mini-sites promoting remote tapings and special tournaments. As the show changes its main title card and corresponding graphics with every passing season, the Jeopardy! website is re-skinned to reflect the changes, and the general content of the site (such as online tests and promotions, programming announcements, "spotlight" segments, photo galleries, and downloadable content) is regularly updated to align with producers' priorities for the show.[218] In its 2012 "Readers Choice Awards", About.com praised the official Jeopardy! website for featuring "everything [visitors] need to know about the show, as well as some fun interactive elements", and for having a humorous error page.[219]

In November 2009, Jeopardy! launched a viewer loyalty program called the "Jeopardy! Premier Club", which allowed home viewers to identify Final Jeopardy! categories from episodes for a chance to earn points, and play a weekly Jeopardy! game featuring categories and clues from the previous week's episodes. Every three months, contestants were selected randomly to advance to one of three quarterly online tournaments; after these tournaments were played, the three highest-scoring contestants would play one final online tournament for the chance to win $5,000 and a trip to Los Angeles to attend a taping of Jeopardy![220] The Premier Club was discontinued by July 2011.[221]

There is an unofficial Jeopardy! fansite known as the "J! Archive", which transcribes games from throughout Jeopardy!'s daily syndicated history. In the archive, episodes are covered by Jeopardy!-style game boards with panels which, when hovered over with a mouse, reveal the correct response to their corresponding clues and the contestant who gave the correct response. The site makes use of a "wagering calculator" that helps potential contestants determine what amount is safest to bet during Final Jeopardy!, and an alternative scoring method called "Coryat scoring" that disregards wagering during Daily Doubles or Final Jeopardy! and gauges one's general strength at the game. The site's main founding archivist is Robert Knecht Schmidt, originally a student from Cleveland, Ohio when he started the site around 2003, and then a patent attorney, and supported by a team of moderators.[222][223] Schmidt himself appeared as a Jeopardy! contestant in March 2010.[224] Most new shows are automatically added to the archive through both machine-assisted tools and a team of moderators, while older shows must be manually archived from old recordings. The J! Archive has been mentioned as a resource by past winners of the show, including Ken Jennings and David Madden, and the archive was used as part of the material to prepare IBM's Watson for its appearance on the show.[223] Before J! Archive, there was an earlier Jeopardy! fansite known as the "Jeoparchive", created by season 19 contestant Ronnie O'Rourke, who managed and updated the site until Jennings's run in 2004 made her disillusioned with the show.[222]