Jeopardy! History Wiki
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Season 2 (1985-1986)

Season changes:

  • The set is overhauled into the form, and it would remain in use until 1991, when the 1991-1996 set designed by Ed Flesh was used.
  • This is the first season to use the 1985-1991 set.
  • This is the last season, in which the show aired for 195 half-hour episodes.
  • The neon bands changed its color to pale yellow and blue. The nine-foot letters of the Jeopardy! logo are closed in so that the light tubes are removed from the set. For this season only, the nine-foot Jeopardy! logo changed its color from red to white. Beginning in Season 3 and ran until the end of the set's run, the nine-foot Jeopardy! logo changed its color from white to yellow.
  • Contestants began making their entrance through the archway during their introductions, just behind the exclamation point.
  • The color of the clue board's frame changed its color from red to gray.
  • At the beginning of this season, the show moved to Hollywood Center Studios, and continues to be taped there until 1994, when the show moved to Stage 10 at Sony Pictures.
  • This is the last season where Alex Trebek makes his entrance with a microphone in his hand.
  • This is also the last season where the contestants names don't appear onscreen.
  • Contestants now must wait until Alex Trebek finishes reading the answers before buzzing in.
  • A white perimeter light around the categories and clues on the board lights up to indicate when a contestant can ring in, this would be rarely shown on camera. If a contestant buzzes in too early, they are "locked out" for 1/8 of a second. A contestant now has five seconds to respond after ringing in on a clue. Nine lights are added atop the contestant lecterns. These lights indicate how much time a player who rang in on a clue has to respond.
  • For each second that goes by, two lights on either side dim. If the central light goes out, time is up.
  • At the beginning of this season, the color of the Jeopardy! set background changed its color from blue to red for the Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy! segments. This remained in use until the Celebrity Jeopardy! sportscasters episode, which aired on January 23, 1998.
  • During the first week of this season, the champion began standing at the right contestant podium, rather than the left contestant podium.
  • The opening credits have changed slightly with the globe changing its color to blue with red letters. The graphic is now accompanied by a whooshing sound before Johnny Gilbert says "This is Jeopardy!" in a slower, more dramatic manner. Then, the Jeopardy! globe explodes as the theme music starts playing, and the rest of Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase continues as normal.
  • At the beginning of this season, the color of the Jeopardy! dollar amounts on 30 television monitors of the 1985-1991 Jeopardy! set changed its color from white to yellow.
  • The title cards for the Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy! segments, and the Jeopardy! title card appears, when the show went away and came back from commercial breaks, use various color schemes: white text on a red and indigo gradient, white text on silver, silver text on blue, gold text on a magenta and dark blue gradient, red text on a gray checkerboard, etc.
  • The Daily Double clue card is never shown on camera. Instead, the clue itself now displays onscreen as a chyron graphic, with white Korinna text.
  • The ticket and a contestant plug now appears during the last commercial break.
  • The onscreen display of the Final Jeopardy! segment changed its color to white, as in Pilot 2.
  • The primary color of the box displaying the contestants' Final Jeopardy! wagers and responses changed its color from blue to black for this season only.
  • Beginning with this season, Jeopardy! announcer Johnny Gilbert signs off at the end of each episode. Starting with the January 3, 2000 episode, he no longer signs off at the end of each episode.
  • At the beginning of the closing credits, a new version of the Mr. Guy credit appears with the fashion label's logo, and "of Beverly Hills" was changed to "Beverly Hills, California".
  • At the start of this season, Alex Trebek's wardrobe provider credit only says, "Alex Trebek's wardrobe by".
  • The sponsor list lead-in changes to the current one: "THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES HAVE FURNISHED PRIZES OR PAID A FEE FOR THEIR PROMOTION ON THE PROGRAM". In the eligibility disclaimer, "PRIZE WINNERS" is changed to "CONTESTANTS". This season is also the first to feature an editing disclaimer reading, "PORTIONS OF THE PROGRAM NOT AFFECTING THE OUTCOME OF THE COMPETITION HAVE BEEN EDITED."
  • At the beginning of this season, the show's first stage manager Keith Richmond leaves the show, and now, John Lauderdale became the new stage manager for Jeopardy!.
  • The copyright card is recycled from the most recent used in Season 1.

This season:

  • Season 2 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 9, 1985.
  • Shortly after the start of the season, the globe's color scheme changes its color to white with red letters.
  • A number of alternate color schemes are experimented with over the course of the season, including a red globe with blue letters.
  • By the September 16, 1985 episode, the champion is now standing at the left podium.
  • On the October 4, 1985 episode, Chuck Forrest sets a new five day winnings record of $72,800.
  • Also by the October 4, 1985 episode:
    • Alex Trebek's wardrobe provider credit again says "Alex Trebek's Wardrobe furnished by".
  • On the November 7, 1985 episode, Harvey Becker sets a new one-day winnings total with $25,400. This record would stand for nearly three years.
  • On the November 11, 1985 episode, a two-week long $100,000 Tournament of Champions made its debut, and it features all 15 undefeated five-time champions from the show's first season.
    • The quarterfinal matches last through the entire week with the winner of each automatically advancing to the semifinals. The other four spots are wild cards and go to the four highest-scoring players among non-winners.
    • The three winners of the semifinal matches face each other in the finals where the contestant with the highest score after two games wins the $100,000 top prize. Each runner-up in the finals receives the two-day total they accumulated. All semi-finalists receive $5,000, and all quarter-finalists leave with $1,000.
    • Each episode starts with a yellow "$100,000" graphic which zooms on screen accompanied by "Tournament of Champions"; in white words both are in Korinna. The Jeopardy! globe logo does not appear in this tournament.
      • When the show goes into and comes out of commercial breaks, a title card displays that reads "$100,000 TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS" in purple Korinna text with white outlines, on a blue-and-red gradient background.
      • At the start of episodes during the finals week, the television monitors display "T OF C FINAL" in Korinna.
      • During the quarterfinals week, after Johnny Gilbert says, "This is Jeopardy!s $100,000 Tournament of Champions", instead of "Now entering the studio are today's contestants", he said "Now entering the studio are three of last year's five day undefeated champions."
      • On the November 22, 1985 episode, The late Jerry Frankel won the first Tournament of Champions. However, he died of AIDS on July 13, 1987.
      • The Sheraton Premiere Hotel provides some hotel accommodations for the cast and crew during at least the inaugural Tournament of Champions.
      • The Tournament of Champions was held every year in November until 1996.
      • On the last quarterfinal game of the Tournament of Champions, after the game is played and he congratulates that contestant for being a semifinalist, he says, "Here are the 9 semi-finalists who will be playing on Monday for $100,000/$25,000. On my right, we have (Contestants name) (Location) and so on." When he announced the 4 wildcard spots he says, (contestants name), (location), (how much $$ they earned in 2nd or 3rd place). Then he concludes by saying, "And there you go ladies and gentlemen, these are the nine semifinalists who will be playing on Monday for $100,000/$25,000 in cash. Have a good weekend and we will see on Monday. So long." Then the closing theme plays. This applied for the Teen Tournament, College Championship, and Seniors Tournament. This type of practice has been done until Season 13.
  • By the November 28, 1985 episode:
    • The KingWorld part of the closing announcement is slightly changed to say "...and distributed by KingWorld". The copyright card is changed to silver with a pink Jeopardy! logo. Later on this season, the copyright card is changed to bright blue with a shiny silver Jeopardy! logo, flanked by a silver star.
  • On the December 24, 1985 episode, a Video Daily Double is used for the first time. The card is similar to the Audio Daily Double graphic, except "VIDEO" takes the place of "AUDIO."
  • On the January 29, 1986 episode, only one player had enough money to qualify for Final Jeopardy!.
  • On this episode, which aired on February 10, 1986, before the closing credits, Johnny Gilbert said: "Due to an error, contestant's score following Double Jeopardy! was corrected."
  • Season 2 of Jeopardy! wraps up on June 6, 1986.
  • Summer reruns air from June 9-September 5, 1986. Reruns later air from 1986-1987 on weekends in all markets (and weekdays in only some markets).
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