It’s a big day for fans of “America’s favorite quiz show.” On this day in 1964, Jeopardy! debuted on television. And while many are celebrating JeoparDAY (the show’s 59th birthday), the show actually went off the air for five years. The hiatus occurred between 1979 to 1984. And, according to Alex Trebek, it wasn’t until the ’80s that hopeful contestants could start earning huge cash prizes for their accomplishments on the show.
Alex Trebek was not the original host of ‘Jeopardy!’
In many ways, Trebek has become synonymous with Jeopardy! Because he hosted the show for so long, many fans associate him with the game. But Trebek actually wasn’t Jeopardy!’s original host. The show was first hosted by Art Fleming from 1964 to 1979. However, Trebek became the face of the new, revitalized, Jeopardy! He began his hosting duties in 1984 and continued them until his death in 2020.
The late host shared that winners could earn huge amounts of money starting in the ’80s
So what were the key differences between the original Jeopardy! and the one Trebek hosted? Back in 1984, Trebek was on AM Chicago, and an audience member asked if there would be differences between the old game show and the new one. The long-time host shared that the key differences involved technology and the amount of cash that contestants could potentially walk away with.
“Only in the respect that we’re going to be giving away a lot more money,” Trebek shared. “We have the same format. The show will look different because we have modernized everything. You’ll recall, on the old Jeopardy!, they had little pull cards, somebody behind a screen and pulling cards to reveal the answer. Now that’s done on computers, on television monitors, and we’re talking big bucks on the program now.”
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Trebek explained the difference in cash prizes over the years
It seems that Trebek wasn’t exaggerating. The late Jeopardy! host quickly shared that a champion from the 80s managed to earn more than 52 times the amount of a champion from the original show. “I watched one of the old shows with Art Fleming the other day on cassette, and the champion walked away with four hundred and twenty dollars,” Trebek shared. “But on one of the shows we taped last week, one of our champions left with twenty-two thousand. So the material is just as difficult as it always was, but the look is more modern, more in keeping with today.”
Trebek championed ‘Jeopardy!’s’ original host, Art Fleming
While Trebek acknowledged that Jeopardy! winners could make more money in the ’80s, he also spoke very fondly of the original show. He recognized that a lot of fans returned to the show because of a feeling of nostalgia. He also championed the show’s original host. “The new audiences who will be watching us now come to our program with a good feeling about Jeopardy!” Trebek explained. “They remember it fondly. And for that, I have to thank Art Fleming, because he was such a good host for twelve years on NBC and helped the show become the hit it was.”
Clearly, Trebek wasn’t exaggerating when he shared that champions could walk away with big bucks. We’re sure that big winners like Ken Jennings appreciate the shift the show made in the ’80s.
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