What’s…
Merv Griffin didn’t have the title “Jeopardy!” in thoughts for the long-lasting sport present when he created the idea. In truth, he had a wildly completely different title picked out.
Griffin’s first selection was “What’s the Question?” and the way the long-running NBC present’s title got here to be is kind of the story.
Whereas brainstorming concepts for a brand new sport present along with his spouse, Julann, all the way in which again in 1963, Griffin reportedly started mulling over the earlier scandals that plagued different quiz reveals.
Within the Nineteen Fifties, producers on well-liked reveals “Twenty-One” and “The $64,000 Question” have been referred to as out for giving their favourite contestants solutions to the questions. The misconduct left a foul style in viewers’ mouths, with many at residence believing the applications might now not be trusted.
Whereas Griffin stewed on the controversies, his spouse made a joke that modified the trajectory of his thought and the present.
Julann jokingly proposed that her husband create a present the place contestants are given “the answers to start with,” Griffin revealed within the ahead of 1990’s “The Jeopardy! Book.”
“She was kidding, but the thought struck me between the eyes,” he famous.
The early model was nonetheless being developed underneath “What’s the Question?” and had a number of similarities to what “Jeopardy!” is right this moment, solely it included one spherical of 100 questions.
The questions have been displayed on a big board and arranged into 10 classes with 10 clues in every, which was a priority to executives.
The bosses at NBC had a optimistic response to the trial run; nevertheless, they weren’t positive Griffin’s 10-by-10 sport board would match a TV display.
The sport present creator continued to fine-tune his thought, squashing the considerations by dividing the classes into shorter rounds of play.
However it wasn’t till NBC producer Ed Vane went over his notes with Griffin that “Jeopardy!” turned the clear front-runner.
Vane “told me that he liked the premise but that it lacked enough ‘jeopardies,’” Griffin shared in his 2007 memoir, “Merv: Making the Good Life Last.”
That’s when Griffin carried out the idea that contestants would lose cash in the event that they buzzed in and gave the improper reply.
Griffin, who died in 2007, stated that Vane had “inadvertently given me the perfect name for the show.”
“Jeopardy!” debuted on March 30, 1964, with the unique host, Artwork Fleming.
Whereas the sport present has had 5 official hosts over its 39-season span, the preferred host was Alex Trebek.
He hosted “Jeopardy!” for 36 years, from 1984 till his loss of life. Trebek handed away from pancreatic most cancers in November 2020, along with his final episode airing the next month.
“Jeopardy!” is now famously hosted by Ken Jennings after he shared on-camera duties with “The Big Bang Theory” alum Mayim Bialik.
