To celebrate Jeopardy!'s 30th anniversary season in syndication, the show unveiled a new set:
The sliding doors behind the host and the contestants were removed from the set, so the ramp behind the game board was added. There are borders on the game board, on top of that, there are three strips and rectangular posts on the sides, which look just like the ones used on its sister show Wheel of Fortune.
The host's podium gained a new look containing strips; and for the first time since the Art Fleming era, the Jeopardy! logo was added to the host's podium. The piano key LEDs were removed from the set, so the contestant podiums were raised to create a single floor. The contestant podiums retain the sideway monitors. The large monitor between the host and the contestants were modified.
This set is still in use to the present day, despite getting modified several times since Season 37.
The opening sequence changed to red spheres on a purple background and meandering lines revealing a CGI rendering of a globe, making the green lands on the blue globe appear; the globe intro makes a comeback on a blue, pink, and orange gradient background. The white Jeopardy! logo and a white "30th Anniversary" byline zoom out to reveal the set.
However, the graphic cards look different, it has the same background as the opening title card, but there is no globe at the bottom, it's just a blue floor.
On early episodes of this season the "FINAL" in Final Jeopardy! is yellow. Later in this season, the text is changed to red.
The backdrop for picture clues, Daily Doubles, on-set branding, and split screen closing credits on episodes with a full credit roll, changed its color to a blue starry background, appearing similar to the one used in Season 24.
Just like in Seasons 26 and 29, there are no road shows to tape. All 230 half-hour episodes are taped in Culver City.
This is the last season until Season 37 to end its original run in August, rather than July.
It is the season that produced the most female champions with five or more wins in a row (4 people) among all seasons, and it is the only season so far that the number of female champions with five or more wins or more exceeds that of male champions.
This is the sixth season not to have Tournament of Champions.
September 2013[]
September 16, 2013: Season 30 kicks off.
September 20, 2013: Jared Hall finishes with a 6-day total of $181,001.
October 2013[]
November 2013[]
November 5, 2013: One of the Jeopardy! round categories is "Old Theme, New Genre", in which the main theme is performed in different music styles. Instead of the 2008-2021 theme, these renditions also play for in and out of commercial break bumpers.
November 11-22, 2013: The Teachers Tournament is held. John Pearson won the tournament and $100,000. Mary Beth Hammerstrom received $50,000 and Becky Giardina received $25,000.
November 26, 2013: Rani Peffer finishes with a 5-day total of $68,701.
December 2013[]
December 3, 2013: Alex announces Andy Westney (1980s), Shane Whitlock (1990s), and Tom Nissley (2000s) as the winners of the Battle of the Decades Fan Favorite online polls.
December 5, 2013: A marriage proposal happens in the studio audience during the commercial break just before the Double Jeopardy! segment. She says "yes" to her fiancée. Congratulations to the couple.
January 2014[]
January 2, 2014: Jerry Slowik finishes with a 5-day total of $121,800, but he was disqualified from participating in the future ToC due to legal issues after being charged with child sexual assault after his appearances, and the episodes in which he appeared in were never rerun.
January 21, 2014: Sarah McNitt finishes with a 5-day total of $89,398.
January 28, 2014: Arthur Chu makes his Jeopardy! debut.
February 2014[]
A special tournament entitled Battle of the Decades is held to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the syndicated run. 45 contestants who all competed in past Tournament of Champions games have been split into three decades 1984 to 1993, 1994 to 2003, and 2004 to 2013. Each competed against other players in the same decade they competed in before; five matches were held for each decade, airing in late winter and early spring. The winners of each match competed in the quarterfinals/semifinals/finals for the grand prize of $1,000,000.
February 3-7, 2014: The Battle of the Decades from the 80's air.
February 10-21, 2014: The College Championship airs. Terry O'Shea won the tournament and $100,000. Tucker Pope received $50,000 and Kevin Shen received $25,000.
March 2014[]
March 3-7, 2014: The Battle of the Decades from the 90's air.
March 12, 2014: Arthur Chu finishes with a 11-day total of $297,200. He is the third 10+ times champ. The television media considered him as the Jeopardy! villain. He is the last male 5-time champion with ties allowed and the co-champion rule in place, and the last 5-time champion to win one game as co-champion.
April 2014[]
March 31-April 4, 2014: The Battle of the Decades from the 2000's air.
April 17, 2014: Sandie Baker finishes with a 6-day total of $140,200.
April 21, 2014: Julia Collins makes her Jeopardy! debut.
May 2014[]
May 5-16, 2014: The Battle of the Decades quarterfinals, semifinals, and two-day finals air. Brad Rutter won the tournament and $1,000,000 for the second time and reclaimed the game show money record, Ken Jennings received $100,000 and Roger Craig received $50,000. Although it has been said the last week of the Battle of the Decades tournament followed by a week of celebrity games would be held in New York City, the tournament ends up all being taped in Culver City, and the celebrity games never get held.
June 2014[]
June 2, 2014: Julia Collins finishes with a 20-day total of $428,100. She surpasses David Madden for the second-longest winning streak, becoming the show's winningest female contestant, beating Stephanie Jass from the previous season.
June 13, 2014: Mike Janela of Guinness World Records presented Alex with a framed certificate recognizing his hosting record: "The most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter same program is 6,829 by Alex Trebek on Jeopardy! in Culver City, California, USA as of 17 April 2014."
July 2014[]
Due to the Battle of the Decades, the Teen Tournament gets held over until the end of regular play.
August 2014[]
July 21-August 1, 2014: The Teen Tournament airs. Jeff Xie won the tournament and $75,000. Alan Koolik received $54,200 for exceeding his minimum and Cooper Lair received $31,200 for exceeding his minimum.
August 1, 2014: Season 30 ends. In the deciding game match between final game 2 leader Jeff Xie and final game 1 high scorer Alan Koolik, they both wagered everything in Final Jeopardy!. Everyone responded correctly. Jeff and Alan were tied with two-game totals of $54,200. A tiebreaker was played. Jeff buzzed in first with the correct question and won the $75,000 Teen Tournament prize.
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