This is both the last season to feature Alex's mustache, and the first season where Alex was clean shaven.
This is both the last season to feature the $100 increments in the first round and the $200 increments in the Double Jeopardy! round, and the first season to feature the $200 increments in the first round and the $400 increments in the Double Jeopardy! round.
This is both the last season to feature vacation packages and merchandise as consolation prizes for the runners-up in 2nd place and 3rd place, and the first season to feature $2,000 for 2nd place and $1,000 for 3rd place as cash for the runners-up.
On the May 16, 2002 episode, after the Million Dollar Masters and the 4,000th episode special, consolation prizes for the runners-up in both 2nd place and 3rd place, which consisted of merchandise and vacation packages, were replaced by cash for the runners-up in both 2nd place and 3rd place, with $2,000 for 2nd place and $1,000 for 3rd place respectively. This would remain in use until the end of Season 39.
This is the last season where Perry Ellis was credited as Alex's wardrobe provider credit.
This is the last full season to use the 1996-2002 sushi bar set.
This is also the last full season where the large Jeopardy! logo appeared on the set, which was removed from the set early in the following season.
This is also the last season to implement the winnings cap with any excess being donated to charity for 5-time champions.
With the start of the season, Jeopardy! introduced the Jeopardy! Clue Crew on the September 24, 2001 episode.
New opening sequence: a black background has pieces of lavender shooting out to form the set visible within it, and the Jeopardy! logo is formed, and then, it wipes away to reveal the 1996-2002 set. The squares contain pictures of show elements within it, similar to that of Season 16.
This is the only season to be produced by Columbia TriStar Domestic Television.
The contestant introductions and Final Jeopardy! winnings appear in a plain font. This would remain in use until the Season 20 finale.
This is also the last season to have the 1999 Jeopardy! Online logo, which appeared in the first two months of this season.
A split-screen for full credit rolls debuted, with the closing act of an episode on the left, and the credits scrolling up on the right.
During this season, Columbia TriStar Domestic Television took over production for Jeopardy! and its sister show Wheel of Fortune. It looks just like the Columbia TriStar Television logo, except the logo is a blue tint and the Sony Pictures Entertainment byline is smaller and the "TELEVISION" text is changed to "DOMESTIC TELEVISION".
On early episodes of this season:
The clue values for the first two rounds are still the same as they were from the September 10, 1984 episode Greg/Lois/Frank, when Alex Trebek began hosting Jeopardy!.
The 1999 Jeopardy! Online logo was still used after the closing credits in the first two months.
Alex Trebek still had his trademark mustache in the first 14 episodes.
Both Jeopardy! and its sister show Wheel of Fortune were still produced by Columbia TriStar Television.
The consolation prizes still featured merchandise for third place in the first three weeks.
The winnings cap with any excess being donated to charity was still implemented.
Chevrolet cars were still the bonus prize for 5-day champions.
From the October 1, 2001 episode to the April 30, 2002 episode, with the exceptions of November 2001 and December 2001; consolation prizes only featured vacation packages for the runners-up in both second place and third place.
On later episodes of this season, Jaguar X-Type replaced Chevrolet.
This is the last season where Lisa Finneran, Rocky Schmidt, and Gary Johnson are credited as producers.
This is the first season not to have any Celebrity Jeopardy! tournaments.
It was the season with the fewest champions in a five-game winning streak, and only three players succeeded in winning five in a row. Also, 2002 was a year of fierce competition to the extent that there were only two champions with a five-game winning streak.
September 3, 2001: Season 18 premieres. For the first week of the season, the intro and winning graphics are used from the previous season.
September 4, 2001: The folder graphics are introduced, animating the same way as in the previous season.
September 11, 2001: Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune do not air due to the news coverage of the Attack on America on New York City and Washington, D.C. It first airs on GSN on June 21, 2005.
September 20, 2001: Mark Dawson retires undefeated with $52,599, and a new Chevy Corvette.
September 21, 2001: There is a cold open of Alex shaving off his signature mustache to give a clean shaven look before the show starts; Alex tells Cherie that he's working real fast today as he was running late, but Cheri Whitaker-Rossi tells Alex to be careful, and tells Cheri that he's okay.
September 24-28, 2001: Back to School Week is held.
October 2001[]
October 10, 2001: The whoosh sound came back to the introduction.
On later episodes of this season, the 1999 Jeopardy Online logo was removed after the Tournament of Champions.
November 2001[]
October 22-November 2, 2001: The Tournament of Champions are held. During the quarter-finals week of the Tournament of Champions, Johnny introduced, on each episode, three of last year's champions, by announcing the contestants' names and without announcing the total winnings that they earned since their last appearance on the show. Brad Rutter won the tournament and took home the $100,000 top prize. This was the first of several prestigious tournaments won by Rutter.
November 7-20, 2001: The College Championship was held at the UCLA.
November 23, 2001: Trevor Norris retires undefeated with $54,604 and a new Chevy Tahoe. He is also the last 5-time champ before the clue values were doubled, and the last 5-time champ to win a Chevrolet. It was also the last episode to feature the $100 increments in the Jeopardy! round and the $200 increments in the Double Jeopardy! round.
November 26, 2001: The new dollar amounts are introduced: $200 to $1,000 in $200 increments for the Jeopardy! round and $400 to $2,000 in $400 increments for the Double Jeopardy! segment. At the top of the episode, the old Jeopardy! round clue values of $100 to $500 are already in the monitors; as Alex mentions the new clue values the monitors make the usual transition: The old values are replaced with new Jeopardy! round values. With this doubling of the dollar amounts, the winnings cap which stood at $75,000 from 1984-1990, then $100,000 from 1990-1997, and $200,000 from 1997-2001, with any excess being donated to charity is abolished completely. In addition, the $100, $300, and $500 values were retired, replaced by the $1,200, $1,600, and $2,000 values, when the $100 increments were retired and replaced by the $400 increments. As a result, the $200 increments were moved from the Double Jeopardy! round to the Jeopardy! round.
December 2001[]
December 7, 2001: Kathy Cassity retires with $59,200, despite losing her fifth game.
December 11, 2001: In the category U.S. BUILDINGS, the first clue of the Double Jeopardy! round was about the Pentagon, which was taped before the September 11 attacks. After the Final Jeopardy! category was revealed, Alex Trebek goes into the last commercial break, and said, "We just had a clue about the Pentagon, ladies and gentlemen; I want to point out that this program was taped prior to the unfortunate events of September 11th."
December 17-21, 2001: The champion's winnings were matched to the Families of Freedom Scholarship with a minimum of $10,000, in response to the September 11 attacks. (Raising $86,701 for the September 11 attacks) The episodes were dedicated to the memory of all the people who lost their lives in the September 11 attacks.
December 19, 2001: The Los Angeles Spirit Chorale appeared in the closing credits.
December 20, 2001: The 2001-2008 theme does not appear in this episode. Instead, Clue Crew member Cheryl Farrell joins The Los Angeles Spirit Chorale to perform "Carol of the Bells" during the closing credits.
December 21, 2001: Cheryl Farrell and The Los Angeles Spirit Chorale performed "Silent Night" when the show returned from the last commercial break, and the rest of the song is heard for 30 seconds instead of the "Think!" music, after Alex reads the Final Jeopardy! clue. The song is also performed by Cheryl Farrell and The Los Angeles Spirit Chorale during the closing credits, after which applause from the audience is heard.
December 24-28, 2001: Holiday Kids Week is held.
January 2002[]
January 7, 2002: Mark Lee retires with $67,500, despite losing his fifth game.
January 11, 2002: Show #4000 airs, which is the 3,935th episode.
February 2002[]
February 4-15, 2002: The Teen Tournament airs.
February 7, 2002: Alex announces the first three contestants play, the other twelve contestants are locked in a deliberation room. This is so that the contestants won't know what score to beat to be in the semifinals as one of the four wildcard spots of high scores among the non-winners. Starting with this tournament, all of the clues in quarterfinal games are played to ensure a fair wildcard score for all of the contestants.
March 2002[]
March 11, 2002: Jason McCune retires with $90,041, despite losing his fifth game.
April 2002[]
April 12, 2002: The real 4,000th episode of Jeopardy! airs, which is Show #4065.
April 29, 2002: Ben Sternberg sets a new one-day record of $38,400.
April 30, 2002: The consolation prizes were announced by Johnny Gilbert for the last time.
May 2002[]
May 1-14, 2002: The Jeopardy! Million Dollar Masters was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Brad Rutter won this tournament, becoming the game show's first-ever millionaire, and became Jeopardy!'s biggest money winner until Ken Jennings made 74 appearances.
May 15, 2002: The 4,000th episode special aired after the Jeopardy! Million Dollar Masters tournament ended. In reality, this is marked as the 4,023th episode to air, which is Show #4088. On this episode:
This episode takes place on the same set where the Jeopardy! Million Dollar Masters tournament was held.
Alex Trebek presented clips in a documentary style with no gameplay involved.
Johnny's opening announcement was: "From New York City's Radio City Music Hall, this is Jeopardy!'s 4,000th episode special". The Jeopardy! 4000 logo appeared during the intro, and we see a montage of Alex through the years before introducing Alex.
Johnny introduces AlexTrebek as he takes the stage to introduce announcer Johnny Gilbert, the Jeopardy! 4000 logo appeared on the podiums. After introducing Johnny, Alex talks about how Jeopardy! began as the daytime quiz show on NBC on March 30, 1964; with Art Fleming as the show's host, producing in a studio about a hundred feet from where he stands; so Jeopardy! comes all the way home again, a clip from the 1964 Jeopardy! test pilot episode is shown, featuring the categories: "Television", "U.S. Geography", "Women", "Bits & Pieces", "Politics", and "The Funnies".
After a clip from the 1964 Jeopardy! test pilot episode, Alex talks about how the daytime version lasted for 11 seasons until January 3, 1975, and then on September 10, 1984, Jeopardy! debuted as a syndicated program. The first montage is set to the 1997-2001 theme composed by Steve Kaplan, followed by "Start the Commotion" by The Wiseguys.
Alex introduces an interview with creator and talk show host Merv Griffin, who was the host of The Merv Griffin Show, he created two game shows; Wheel of Fortune in 1975, and Jeopardy! in 1964. In the interview segment, Merv talks about how no networks buy a quiz program due to the game show scandals, prompting his wife Juliann Wright to suggest a game show about questions and answers. He once considered the bland title "What's The Question?", which was then switched to the popular "Jeopardy!", when the networks said that the game at first didn't have any "jeopardies".
Alex talks about the ideal contestant must be "dignified and grounded", as he shows clips of nervous, elated, and tongue-tied contestants, set to "Weird Al" Yankovic's "I Lost On Jeopardy". Alex then talks about the celebrity episodes raising for various charities, such as Charles Barkley missing a Michael Jordan question. Alex shows clips of categories and clues that often involve puns, and Jeopardy! got involved with the United Service Organizations (USO).
Alex then talks about the developments over the years, including the recent decision to double the clue values in every category, and the creation of international games, college championships, teens and kids shows, and the Clue Crew. In the final segment, Alex talks about how Jeopardy! became a pop culture icon, displaying a series of TV shows and movies. The closing credits feature the same montage of Alex through the years in the opening. After the closing credits, we see the text "IN LOVING MEMORY OF GEORGINA WARWICK".
May 16, 2002: The cash for runner-ups is used for the first time, and the second-place runner-up earns $2,000, while the third-place runner-up earns $1,000. On the same episode, Ben Tritle made his debut.
May 22, 2002: Ben Tritle retires undefeated with $78,600, and a Jaguar X-Type, which is the new car from this point to the end of the next season. He is the first 5-time champion after clue values were doubled on November 26, 2001, and longest gap between 5-time champions under the "5-time Champ Rule" (101 games).
June 2002[]
June 3, 2002: Jill Bunzendahl Chimka retires with $85,099 despite losing her fifth game plus $1,000 for finishing in 3rd place.
June 26, 2002: Eric Floyd retires with $97,800 despite losing his fifth game plus $2,000 for finishing in 2nd place.
July 2002[]
July 16-September 23, 2002: The champion changed 14 times in a row, the longest in history.
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