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Jeopardy! Timeline (syndicated version)/Season 19

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Season 19 (2002-2003)[]

Season Changes[]

  • Starting with this season, Alex's wardrobe provider credit was removed from the closing credits and the bumper card no longer morphed into individual cards into the monitors on-camera as Alex made his entrance.
  • This is the first full season where Alex Trebek was clean shaven.
  • This is also the first full season to feature $200 increments in the first round and the $400 increments in the Double Jeopardy! round and to feature $2,000 for second place and $1,000 for third place as cash for the runners-up, which would remain until the end of Season 39.
  • On early episodes of this season:
    • Both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune were still produced by Columbia TriStar Domestic Television.
    • The 1996-2002 sushi bar set was still in use.
    • The camera zooms in on the monitor when the Final Jeopardy! clue is revealed.
    • The large Jeopardy! logo still appeared on the set.
    • The closing act of an episode for full credit rolls still has a squish split.
    • The entire game board is shown without zooming in when popping in the dollar figures.
    • The Final Jeopardy! logo has no white strip.
    • The cents are displayed on players' Final Jeopardy! wagers.
  • At the beginning of this season, Columbia TriStar Domestic Television still owns the production of Jeopardy!, and its sister show, Wheel of Fortune until November 8, 2002, then Sony Pictures Television took over production starting with the November 11, 2002 episode. The previous logo still uses the Columbia Tristar Television jingle.
    • On a dark blue screen, we see blue bars with some white and orange inside, and the text "Sony Pictures Television" appears zooming away slowly. The music is a Christmas style tune composed by Mike Jones.
  • New opening sequence: a black background with a lavender color shows the silver letters forming the Jeopardy! logo with some white stars moving on the background. Finally, the silver Jeopardy! logo then zooms forward, revealing the 1996-2002 sushi bar set on early episodes and the 2002-2009 metallic set (SD version) on later episodes.
  • The contestant graphics are slightly altered; the large violet folder now has part of the title screen's background and becomes darker. This is the last season to not have animated graphics around the contestant, with the exception of some road shows.
  • The "FINAL" in Final Jeopardy! appears in red, as do the words "VIDEO" and "AUDIO" in Video and Audio Daily Doubles, while only the "DOUBLE" in Double Jeopardy! appears in yellow.
  • This season is both the last season to use the 1996-2002 sushi bar set since mid-Season 13 and the first one with the 2002-2009 metallic set until the end of Season 25.
  • This is also the last season to implement the five-day limit rule for returning champions.
  • Both the Coming Up Next bumper background and split-screen background for full credit rolls remain the same as Season 18.
  • This is the last full season where Steven Dorfman was credited as the writer before his death from colon cancer on January 4, 2004 at the age of 48. The April 21, 2004 episode in the next season is dedicated to the memory of him after his death.
  • This season is both the last season to be produced by Columbia TriStar Domestic Television since Season 18, and the first season to be produced by Sony Pictures Television.
  • On later episodes of this season:
    • The show uses the 2002-2009 metallic set (standard definition television version).
    • The camera just cuts to the clue without zooming in during the Final Jeopardy! round.
    • The camera is positioned at the lecterns and zooms in on the game board as the dollar figures are popping in.
    • The white strip is added to the Final Jeopardy! logo.
    • The cents are no longer displayed on players' Final Jeopardy! wagers.
    • The closing act of an episode for full credit rolls now has a zoom out split and it was changed to the Clue Crew members presenting on the left for this season only probably due to having the new Jeopardy! set being introduced.
  • Lisa Finneran, Rocky Schmidt, and Gary Johnson were credited as senior producers.

September 2002[]

  • September 2, 2002: Season 19 premieres.
  • September 2-12, 2002: The champion changed 9 times in a row this season, after 5 more times in a row the last season, the longest in history.
  • September 5, 2002: Myron Meyer sets a new one-day record of $50,000, however he was defeated by Jake Maeroff on the next game. 1-day champion Alba Caraceni is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round in the red with -$2,000.
  • September 6, 2002: Myron Meyer finishes with a 1-day total of $50,000.
  • September 12, 2002: Julie Agnew Thomas is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round in the red with -$5,000.
  • September 13, 2002: Tom Kelso ended the longest one-day champion streak, which is 14 new champions in a row.
  • September 16-20, 2002: Back to School Week is held.
    • September 18, 2002: Kunle DeMuren sets the all-time Kids Week record at the time of $49,000, just $1,000 shy of the all-time one-day record set by Myron Meyer in regular games until Skyler Hornback, who sets the all-time Kids Week record of $66,600.
    • September 20, 2002: On the last game of 2002 Back to School Week, Mike Scott won the game by the tiebreaker round. Mike, who had the lead going into Final Jeopardy! with $10,800 to his nearest opponent's $9,000, wagered only $7,200, playing for a tie, rather than for the win. Lucky for him, he gave the correct response to the tiebreaker clue.
  • September 24, 2002: Tom Kelso finishes with a 3-day total of $83,402.

October 2002[]

  • October 9, 2002: Mark Brown retires undefeated with $68,094 and a new Jaguar X-Type.
  • October 31, 2002: Phillip Steele finishes with a 4-day total of $40,898, but lost his fifth game due to technical error.

November 2002[]

  • November 8, 2002: This was the last episode with the sushi bar set since mid-Season 13.
    • Alex makes his entrance by walking down a small staircase for the last time.
    • The closeups of the clues were shot by a camera for the final time.
    • Columbia TriStar Domestic Television appears for the final time since mid-Season 18.
  • November 11-22, 2002: The College Championship was held at Ohio State University. The incandescent seven-segment displays were used for the last time. Kyle Hale won the tournament, $51,300 for exceeding his minimum, a 2003 Volvo S60 Turbo and a trophy. Mark Kehres received $49,200 for exceeding his minimum and Jara Dorsey received $10,000.
    • November 11, 2002: The Sony Pictures Television logo appears for the first time on Jeopardy!, replacing the previous Columbia TriStar Domestic Television logo after little over a year. This also happens to its sister show Wheel of Fortune.
    • November 20, 2002: Pat Mobley is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round with $0.
    • November 22, 2002: Last episode where the contestants' scores were on an incandescent seven-segment display, as well as the camera zooming into the Final Jeopardy! clue.
  • November 25, 2002: A new set was introduced in this episode after the sushi bar set was discontinued. It was the second set designed by Naomi Slodki, and remained in use (with some modifications made during Season 23 to accommodate for the transition to HDTV that season) until the end of Season 25. Because of the backdrop, it is nicknamed by viewers and fans as the "metallic set". On this episode, Faith Love makes her Jeopardy! debut.
    • A time-lapse montage of the transition to the new set is shown at the beginning of the episode.
    • The new set's backdrop consists of hanging panels with stone and metallic appearances.
    • The large Jeopardy! logo is no longer featured on the set. Instead, there is a smaller version of the logo being used on a small panel behind the host's lectern. The panels also show the appropriate tournament's name during tournament competition.
    • The contestant lecterns had a sepia colored trapezoid-shaped design with silver borders and circle ring-in lights. The host lectern was also updated to match the design of the set and the contestant lecterns.
    • The incandescent seven-segment displays were replaced by LED displays; positive scores are shown in white text on a blue background, while negative scores are shown in a white text on a red background. All of these elements are incorporated on a single Sony PFM42b2 42-inch diagonal plasma monitor.
    • The game board from the previous set was retained. Up until December 9, 2002, the sides on the game board have small white circles with a gray border.
    • During the first week of the set's run, the background changed to red when the lights dim during the Final Jeopardy! segment. It wouldn't happen again until the start of Season 22.
    • Also, the closeups of the clues are now computer-generated rather than being shot by a camera. As well, the camera no longer zooms into the Final Jeopardy! clue when it is revealed and simply cuts into the clue seconds after it is revealed.
  • November 29, 2002: Faith Love finishes with a 4-day total of $40,801. This is also the last episode where cents are displayed on players' Final Jeopardy! wagers.

December 2002[]

  • December 2, 2002: The set reverts back to staying blue throughout the whole show until the end of Season 21. This is also the first episode where cents are no longer displayed on players' Final Jeopardy! wagers.
  • December 9-13, 2002: Pieces of the former sushi bar set were placed on eBay for auction, with proceeds donated to the charities World Vision, and the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Each of the items from the now-dismantled set were signed by Alex Trebek.
    • December 9, 2002: The main set received some minor changes: the backdrop was slightly altered, the right side on the game board now has four maroon rectangles with a light blue border, and the contestant podiums are now brighter colored with black outlines. The scores on the display now have a larger text.
    • December 11, 2002: 1-day champion Lee Weber is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round in the red with -$1,000.
  • December 23, 2002: The contestant lecterns are now darker colored, the white parts of the lecterns are now colored blue, and the black outlines on them are removed. Also, the closeups of the categories are now computer-generated rather than being shot by a camera.

January 2003[]

  • January 6-10, 2003: Holiday Kids Week is held.
  • January 14, 2003: Penny Frisbie is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round in the red with -$3,800.
  • January 15, 2003: Diane Eads is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round in the red with -$2,800.
  • January 17, 2003: Maggie Linzer is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round with $0.
  • January 28, 2003: Jackie Harrison makes her Jeopardy! debut.
  • January 29, 2003: Eileen Hand is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round in the red with -$2,500.

February 2003[]

  • February 3-14, 2003: The Teen Tournament airs. John Zhang won the tournament with $50,000 and a silver 2003 Volkswagen New Beetle. Tyler Allard received $28,400 for exceeding his minimum and Anthony Valente received $24,799 for exceeding his minimum.
  • February 17, 2003: Jackie Harrison retires with $66,602 despite losing her fifth game.
  • February 24, 2003: Travis Troyer retires undefeated with $83,100 and a new Jaguar X-Type.

March 2003[]

  • March 4, 2003: Anthony Trifilio, who previously appeared in the previous season returned to the show and lost again the next day to Max Levaren.
  • March 10, 2003: Alex enters wearing a rare bow tie.
  • March 11, 2003: Max Levaren retires with $68,801 despite losing her fifth game and she is also disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round in the red with -$600.
  • March 20-21, 2003: Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune were both preempted in most markets due to the news coverage of the United States-Iraq invasion.

April 2003[]

May 2003[]

  • May 5-16, 2003: The Tournament of Champions is held. The top prize is raised from $100,000 to its current amount of $250,000. Eight of the ten players recorded $0, and two players recorded negative scores. The last two wildcards were determined by scores going into Final Jeopardy. Mark Dawson won the tournament and $250,000. Brian Weikle received $56,601 for exceeding his minimum and Eric Floyd received $25,000.
    • May 5, 2003: Kathy Cassity is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round in the red with -$3,000.
    • May 8, 2003: Jason McCune is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round in the red with -$2,000.

June 2003[]

  • June 2, 2003: Jeannette Jargon is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy due to finishing the Double Jeopardy round in the red with -$2,200.
  • June 10, 2003: Jim Stalley retires with $84,100, despite losing his fifth game plus $2,000 for finishing in 2nd place.
  • June 19, 2003: John Beck retires undefeated with $117,099 and a new Jaguar X-Type. He is also the last 5-time champion to retire undefeated in the show's history, as well as the last to win a car.
  • June 20, 2003: Three new contestants appear on the program for the last time after the prior champion retired undefeated. This doesn't happen again until January 19, 2009 (Season 25), when returning champion Priscilla Ball felt ill and returned to the show on April 9, 2009.
  • June 30, 2003: Seth Alcorn retires with $106,400 despite losing his fourth game plus $1,000 for finishing in 3rd place.

July 2003[]

  • July 18, 2003: Season 19 ends. Sam Ott makes her first appearance on the show.
  • July 21-September 5, 2003: Summer reruns air.
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