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This is a timeline for the syndicated version of Jeopardy! hosted by Alex Trebek, which includes the two pilots. The 1974-1975 nighttime version hosted by Art Fleming is not included in the timeline.

Pilot 1 (September 18, 1983)

  • The taping of the first Jeopardy! pilot takes place at the now defunct TAV Celebrity Theater, on Vine Street in Hollywood, California. This Jeopardy! episode never actually aired in syndication.
  • Pilot 1 is announced by Jay Stewart, who also announced on Let's Make a Deal and later all game shows produced by Barry & Enright Productions from 1977-1981. At the time, he was also the announcer for $ale of the Century. Johnny Gilbert will be taking over as the announcer on the second and final Jeopardy! pilot on January 9, 1984.
  • The theme music is "January, February, March", written by show creator Merv Griffin, which had earlier been the opening theme of the 1978-79 revival, The All-New Jeopardy!. The music was used when the show went away and came back from commercial breaks, which is "Night Walk", a prize cue written by the late Merv Griffin for the syndicated version of Wheel of Fortune was used.
  • The first pilot set is now consisted of two giant PCs with smaller PCs for contestants podiums with a blue background, and a gray, red bordered set piece with the Jeopardy! logo as a contestant backdrop. Contestants are now standing, instead of sitting, and Alex Trebek enters from the "Disk Drive" of the clue board and stands at the raised decimal key on the number pad at the base of the clue board.
    • The PCs on the set pay homage to the technology era of the 1980s.
  • The original yellow scrambled letter logo is still in use on this pilot.
  • In the opening credits, the Jeopardy! logo appears in red, superimposed over a white board illustration on a navy-blue background. Jay Stewart's opening spiel is "Now entering the studio are today's contestants." And then he says: "From [city/state], [first contestant's name]. From [city/state], [second contestant's name]. And... from [city/state], [third contestant's name]. These 3 contestants will compete today on Jeopardy! And now, here's the host of Jeopardy!, Alex Trebek!".
  • At the beginning of each round, a shot of the contestants at their podiums behaves like an opening door which opens to reveal the shot of the game board.
  • An electronic sound effect is used which is much different from that used on the eventual series.
  • This pilot's board retains the late Art Fleming era's use of pull cards.
  • The category and clue cards are the same as those on The All-New Jeopardy!.
  • The same $25-$125 values seen on The All-New Jeopardy! are in place in the Jeopardy! round and doubled to $50-$250 during Double Jeopardy! However, the dollar value cards here are yellow on black backgrounds and use bolder text.
  • The Daily Double card is the same one used on The All-New Jeopardy!.
  • For the Daily Doubles themselves, the card showing the clue is initially displayed on camera.
  • The Final Jeopardy! segment is displayed in yellow mixed-case text in Helvetica Bold.
  • The contestants write Final Jeopardy responses and wagers on slates, rather than light pens and monitors. The monitors didn't display their names; instead, these are shown in white atop the contestant podiums above their scores, which themselves are initially displayed using eggcrate displays, as on The All-New Jeopardy!.
  • At the end of the first pilot, the 1975-1983 Merv Griffin Productions logo appeared onscreen, with the text reading "A MERV GRIFFIN PRODUCTION" above it in a font resembling Impact. It then fades out, at which point the words "Distributed by KING WORLD, Inc." fade in at the bottom of the set in a bold version of Helvetica. Jay Stewart announces, "This has been a Merv Griffin Production, distributed by King World, Inc."

Pilot 2 (January 9, 1984)

  • The second and final pilot is announced by Johnny Gilbert, who becomes the full-time announcer for Jeopardy!. The show will make its syndication debut on September 10, 1984 with the episode Greg/Lois/Frank.
  • The set is redesigned by Henry C. Lickel. It is now consisted of a neon band appearance in yellow, red and orange with orange carpeting. The contestant podiums now display names in monitors surrounded by yellow and brown padding. The Jeopardy! logo changes its color to a Helvetica-style font, but is still displayed in red on a navy blue background. Nine-foot orange neon letters reading Jeopardy! become the set's centerpiece; these are displayed in the "Gyparody" font, derived from a prototype face that is one of URW++'s many digitization from the film font era. Each letter now turns off and flashes one at a time left to right during the introduction and going away and coming back from commercial breaks.
  • Johnny Gilbert's opening catchphrase looks similar to Jay Stewart's, but unlike Jay Stewart, Johnny Gilbert gives the contestants' occupations before telling where they're from. In the "These three contestants..." line, "contestants" is changed to "people".
  • Johnny Gilbert introduces Alex Trebek by saying, "And now, here is the host of Jeopardy!, Mr. Alex Trebek!", similar to how original Jeopardy! and longtime Saturday Night Live announcer the late Don Pardo would introduce the late Art Fleming and his contestants as "Mr." as well as "Mrs."
  • Although this Jeopardy! episode never actually aired, it appears to have a returning champion named Jack Campion, who previously appeared in Pilot 1 and numerous other game show pilots from the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Blank Check (1975), Second Chance 3rd pilot, 1976, Card Sharks 1st pilot, 1978, Sale of the Century (1982) and Press Your Luck (1983). Campion is stated by Johnny Gilbert to have won over $17,600 in cash winnings after two matches.
  • At the beginning of the show, Alex Trebek explains the game using a very similar spiel to that given by the late Art Fleming. The main theme is now a rendition of "Think!", which carried over into the actual series.
  • Alex Trebek's podium is now consisted of a Jeopardy! logo. The contestants' scores changed to vane display, which carries over into the actual series and remains until November 2002.
  • The game board gets its first permanent look, they no longer used the pulling cards, so the game board is changed from the pulling cards to 30 television monitors, so they started using the television monitors to display the clues and the dollar amounts. The television monitors consisted of a red frame with yellow padding around them. Categories are now back-lit on cards above the television monitors. The categories are written in black Helvetica Condensed text on yellow backgrounds.
  • The clue monitors, for their part, use white Korinna font on blue backgrounds, a motif which remains to this day. The dollar values are doubled to $50-$250 for the Jeopardy! segment and $100-$500 for the Double Jeopardy! segment. They now appear on screen with a whooshing sound and a globe effect, and then pop in onto the screen, initially using a whirring sound effect.
  • They are still displayed on black backgrounds, but the text used for them is now white, and is changed to Hector Regular, a font which carries over into the actual series and remains until 1991.
  • The Daily Double card changes to white Gyparody letters against a blue screen.
  • The transition effect for going away and coming back from commercial breaks is the camera shot shattering into pieces which then move off screen coming out as well as onscreen going in.
  • The time's up buzzer at the end of each segment sounds just like the all-strings piece from the shower scene in Psycho, but uses horns, rather than string instruments.
  • Contestants now write their Final Jeopardy! responses on an electronic tablet using a light pen, a practice which carries over into the actual series.
  • The contestants' responses and winners initially display onscreen on blue rounded rectangle boxes with red frames. Like the displays of clues on the monitors, the onscreen display of the Final Jeopardy! segment is changed to Korinna, which carried over into the actual series and remains until 1996.
  • The Final Jeopardy! segment display also changes color, from yellow to white.
  • Johnny Gilbert's closing catchphrase looks just like Jay Stewart's, but instead of "King World, Inc." Johnny Gilbert said "King World Productions."
  • The Merv Griffin Productions logo is in the style of the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo used on 1984-1993 episodes, featuring an illustration of a griffin a Greek mythological creature with the wings and head of an eagle, and the body, hind legs, and tail of a lion in a sky blue-framed stained glass box with the sky-blue text "MERV GRIFFIN PRODUCTIONS", all on a black background.
  • The KingWorld closing card is the text "KING WORLD PRODUCTIONS, INC." appearing in the center, in white center-aligned Helvetica text on a navy blue background.
  • The exact taping date of this Jeopardy! pilot is never actually aired, but it is believed to be in December 1983 and January 1984. The show will make its syndication debut on September 10, 1984 with the episode Greg/Lois/Frank.
  • One of the clues is about Lech Walesa's wife accepting the Nobel Peace Prize December 10, 1983, and a picture from another pilot, in which Cynthia was the returning champion, appeared in an issue of the magazine originally titled Broadcasting, which is later changed to Broadcasting & Cable, which is published in January 1984.

Season 1 (1984-1985)

Jeopardy Set 1984-1985

Season changes:

  • The neon bands of the Jeopardy! set changes its color to white, maroon, and blue with the contestant podiums being updated to match. The orange Jeopardy! lettering changes its color to red. The carpet changed its color to red, while the studio backdrop changed its color to blue. Also, the clue board changes its color to a white frame. The show's logo is redesigned to the Gyparody font, as seen on the set. The nine-foot neon letters now stay permanently lit through entire episodes.
  • This is the only season to use the 1984-1985 set.
  • This is the first season where Alex Trebek didn't wear any glasses.
  • The contestants names don't appear onscreen, and the winning graphic flashes onscreen.
  • This is the first season, in which the show aired for 195 half-hour episodes.
  • This is also the first season, in which the closing credits appear in white Korinna font, the same font used for the clues. This remained in use until Season 12 (1995-1996).
  • This is the first season to use the 1984-1992 Jeopardy! theme song, and the 1984-1997 "Think" music. The 1984-1997 "Think" music would remain in use until the Season 13 finale, which aired on July 18, 1997.
  • This is the first season to be produced by Merv Griffin Enterprises, in which Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune continued to be produced until Season 10 (1993-1994).
  • Metromedia Square in Hollywood became the new taping location for Jeopardy!.
  • At the beginning of the Jeopardy! and the Double Jeopardy! round segments, each of the following monitors displays a red Jeopardy! logo on a light blue background in Double Jeopardy!, this graphic features white text reading "DOUBLE" in Futura above the Jeopardy! logo. These graphics dissolve with a whoosh sound, and then the dollar amounts appear one by one, each with a corresponding electronic musical note.
  • Additionally, the dollar amounts began to display on a blue background.
  • The categories in the Jeopardy! segment now have clues worth $100 to $500 in $100 increments.
  • The Double Jeopardy! segment, these amounts are doubled to $200 to $1,000 in $200 increments.
  • The Daily Double card is completely redesigned. The word "DAILY" changed its color to yellow in Futura and it now consists of a red "DOUBLE!" in the Gyparody font. The background changes to a brighter blue.
    • There are now also separate cards for Audio Daily Doubles.
    • The word "AUDIO" is added on top of a shrunken "DAILY", but the rest of the logo remains unchanged.
  • The categories are backlit up on cards with red text bordered by red neon lights which stay on permanently.
  • The contestants make their Final Jeopardy! wagers during the commercial break, after the category is revealed and before the clue is revealed.
  • The contestants' names now appear in the podium monitors. The Daily Double sound effect is changed to a whooshing sound. The end of round sound effect is changed to ten low-pitched beeps. The sound effects are now generally electronic.
  • Each episode began with a shot of the empty set, while Johnny Gilbert said "This is Jeopardy!", and the audience can be heard chattering before the show starts. After that, the audience stopped chattering, and the Jeopardy! theme began to play, while a blue Jeopardy! globe graphic fades in. The "These three people..." phrase was not used in Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase, and Johnny Gilbert did not introduce Alex Trebek as "Mr."
  • A ticket and contestant plug is shown during the second commercial break.
  • Alex Trebek makes his entrance with a microphone in his hand, similar to how Bob Barker and Drew Carey used the microphone on the CBS daytime game show The Price is Right, but on some episodes, Alex Trebek began wearing a clip-on microphone.
  • The onscreen display text for the Final Jeopardy! clue changed its color back to yellow as in Pilot 1, and initially only appears when the second verse of the "Think" music plays.
  • The sponsor list, eligibility disclaimer, credits, and copyright notice are initially displayed in Korinna.
  • The sponsor list initially begins with "THE FOLLOWING HAVE PAID AND OR FURNISHED PRIZES TO THE PRODUCTION COMPANY FOR PROMOTING THEIR PRODUCTS", please note the omission of the slash between AND and OR, and the first eligibility disclaimer is "PRIZE WINNERS MUST MEET ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS".
  • The wardrobe provider credit reads "Alex Trebek's Wardrobe furnished by MR. GUY of Beverly Hills".
  • Initially, Merv Griffin's creator credit appears for the first time in the closing credits list.
  • Alex Trebek is the first producer for Jeopardy!, and he would remain in use until 1987, when George Vosburgh took over as producer.
  • The syndicated version's first director is Dick Schneider, who remains as director for the show's first eight seasons, until his associate director, Kevin McCarthy took over as director in 1992.
  • Other prominent members of the first syndicated Jeopardy! production team include production executive David S. Williger, production manager Jack Reynolds, stage manager Keith Richmond, lighting director Vincenzo Cilurzo, and technical directors Dave Bachman and Vince Mack.
  • The first writing supervisor is Jules Minton who is labeled as an "Answer & Question Supervisor".
  • The first production crew consisted of Steven Dorfman, Harry Eisenberg, Barbara Heller, Michele Vaughn Johnson, Gary Lee, and Suzanne Stone.
  • Authentication of materials is initially provided by encyclopedia publisher World Book.
  • At this point, Merv Griffin has expanded his company as Merv Griffin Enterprises. To reflect this, Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase is changed to "Jeopardy! is a production of Merv Griffin Enterprises, distributed by KingWorld".
  • In the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo, the griffin now winks at the camera, and the text is animated.
  • The KingWorld logo is changed to a new "Stars and Stripes" design, which features the name in Serpentine Italic, with a set of three bars underneath and a star in the middle of them. Also, there was a small white text above it reading "Distributed by". This is followed by a copyright/title screen which fades out along with the closing theme music.
  • The original copyright card shows the Jeopardy! name in all caps Gyparody lettering with a white blue red border, on a sky blue background. The original copyright notice is in blue Korinna font, and reads "(c) 1984 All Rights Reserved.", with no copyright holder named. But on later episodes of this season, the text read "(c) 1984 JEOPARDY PRODUCTIONS, INC." in Serif Gothic font.

This season:

  • Jeopardy! made its syndication debut on September 10, 1984, and Alex Trebek became the program's host, and now, Alex Trebek is joined by Johnny Gilbert as the show's announcer. On the series premiere episode Greg/Lois/Frank, Greg Hopkins became the first returning champion on Jeopardy! to win $8,400. The theme song plays in a repeated loop from 1:16 to 1:44 during the consolation prize segments, and during the closing credits. On this episode:
  • The categories in the Jeopardy! round segment consisted of the following: "Lakes & Rivers", "Inventions", "Animals", "Foreign Cuisine", "Actors & Roles", and "Number Please".
  • The first clue that Alex Trebek answered in the "Animals" category is "These rodents first got to America by stowing away on ships", and the first correct response is "What are rats?". The second clue that Alex Trebek answered in the same "Animals" category is "There are about 40,000 muscles & tendons in this part of an elephant's body", and the second correct response is "What is the elephant's trunk?". The third clue that Alex Trebek answered in the "Actors & Roles" category is "Video in which Michael Jackson plays a werewolf & a zombie". The correct response is "What is Thriller?".
  • The categories in the Double Jeopardy! round segment consisted of the following: "The Bible", "'50s TV", "National Landmarks", "Weights & Measures", "Notorious", and "4-Letter Words".
  • The first Final Jeopardy! category that Alex Trebek revealed at the end of this episode is "Holidays".
  • On the September 11, 1984 episode Greg/Lynne/Paul, all three contestants have $0 at the end of the game, the first in the Alex Trebek era. Each contestant lost that day's Final Jeopardy! and wagered their entire earnings. Alex Trebek nearly forgets to reveal the correct response until someone reminds him offstage.
  • On the September 12, 1984 episode Gunther/Nancy/Michael, Michael became the first contestant in the Alex Trebek era to be disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy! due to finishing Double Jeopardy! with -$1,300.
  • In the October, 1984 episode, Elise Beraru became the first five day Jeopardy! champion of the Alex Trebek era, winning $47,350.
  • On the October 4, 1984 episode, Elise Beraru wins $23,800, a record which would stand until the following year.
  • By the November 26, 1984 episode:
    • The neon letters now flash off one by one in order from left to right during the introduction, the closing and goes into and comes out of commercial breaks.
    • The back light on the category card turns off when all the clues have been read.
    • The first Daily Double whoosh sound is changed to the 1984-present siren.
    • The first end of round sound effect is changed to sixteen high-pitched beeps, eight of which are heard twice.
    • The ring-in sound is not used.
    • The whoosh sound at the start of the Double Jeopardy! segment is not heard, and the dollar figures simply pop in.
    • The onscreen display of the Final Jeopardy! segment now appears about 10 seconds sooner than it did originally.
    • The copyright notice is changed to Futura, and "All Rights Reserved" is changed to the copyright holder name "Jeopardy Productions, Inc." in uppercase letters.
  • On the December 4, 1984 episode, Richard Landon, who won four games a week prior, is brought back due to an error on his original fifth appearance aired November 27, 1984.
  • The episode aired on March 12, 1985, which has Steve Rogitz as the champion, and it has a full credit roll. During the closing credits, a camera zooms into Rogitz and then zooms back out.
  • Also by the March 15, 1985 episode:
    • The neon lights now flash considerably faster.
    • The whoosh sound is not used in the opening, but it is still heard at the start of the Jeopardy! segment when the dollar values pop in.
    • The globe logo during the opening credits now flies toward the screen. The letters in the logo changed its color to red.
    • The closing KingWorld logo is changed to a more elaborate animated version against a purple gradient background, without the "Distributed by" text.
    • The logo is changed to light blue, while the rays are crossed about and the company name slides in and zooms away, while the star moves from the viewer and the bar draws under the company name and the left and right of the star.
    • The copyright card is changed to blue with a large silver Jeopardy! logo.
    • The copyright notice is changed to white Helvetica sentence case text, and now takes up one line instead of two.
  • Season 1 of Jeopardy! wraps up on June 7, 1985.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on June 10, 1985.

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 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 indigo gradient, white text on silver, silver text on blue, 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.
  • 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 semifinalists 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 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 kicks off on June 9, 1986.

Season 3 (1986-1987)

Season changes:

  • At the start of this season, the nine-foot Jeopardy! logo changed its color from white to yellow. This remained in use until the end of the set's run in 1991.
  • This is the first time that the show has taped for 230 half-hour episodes, rather than 195 half-hour episodes in the first two seasons. In this season only, a Coca-Cola byline is seen in the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo.
  • Alex Trebek no longer makes his entrance with a microphone in his hand, so Alex Trebek makes his entrance, and goes straight to the set.
  • Starting with this season, Jeopardy! begins a long-standing tradition of making seasons consist of 46 weeks, and 230 half-hour episodes, which is starting on the second Monday in September and ending on the third Friday in July.
  • The globe opening credits at the start of every episode changed its color to feature yellow Jeopardy! letters on a blue sphere with black lines divided into squares, rotating at warp speed. And then, it explodes to reveal the 1985-1991 set.
  • When the contestants make their entrance at the beginning of the show, their names now started to appear onscreen in gold Korinna font. This remained in use until Season 12.
  • The title cards for rounds and Daily Doubles changed its color to gold text on a silver backgrounds; the "DOUBLE" and "FINAL" in Double and Final Jeopardy!, as well as the Daily Double name, now use Gill Sans. For Video and Audio Daily Doubles, a navy-blue banner is featured with neither "VIDEO" nor "AUDIO" in white text, also using Gill Sans. On-screen displays of Daily Doubles and the Final Jeopardy! clue are now surrounded by blue backgrounds.
  • This is the last season to feature Alex Trebek as the show's first producer. He has been with us since the show debuted on September 10, 1984. Starting in Season 4, George Vosburgh became producer, who replaced Alex Trebek in seasons 1-3.
  • The title cards that appear when the show went away and came back from commercial breaks are the same as last season.
  • The primary color of the box displaying the contestants' Final Jeopardy! wagers and responses changed its color back to blue.
  • During the 1986 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, the Merv Griffin Enterprises text is missing from the logo; all that appears below the griffin is "A Unit of The Coca-Cola Company", in red with the company name in Coca-Cola's proprietary script font and the rest of the text in Helvetica.
  • After the 1986 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, the Merv Griffin Enterprises text returned and started to be shown between the griffin and the Coca-Cola byline.
  • For the 1986 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions only, Johnny Gilbert's closing catchphrase is changed to "Jeopardy! is produced by Merv Griffin Enterprises, and it is distributed by KingWorld".
  • On the November 14, 1986 episode, Chuck Forrest, who had the highest score in regular competition, won the Tournament of Champions.
  • On the February 2, 1987 episode, the KingWorld part of the closing catchphrase is slightly changed again to say "and is distributed by KingWorld".
  • At some point between February 3, 1987 and the end of the season, the byline below the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo changes to "A unit of Coca-Cola TELEVISION", again using the proprietary Coca-Cola script font for the beverage brand's name.
  • In some episodes, the sponsor list and eligibility disclaimer appear in Helvetica font, while the closing credits still use Korinna.
  • On the February 16, 1987 episode, the Teen Tournament made its debut, and Michael Galvin became the first champion to win $25,000.
  • The copyright card is the same as in the later portions of Season 2.
  • In May of 1987, the Senior Citizens Tournament is held for the first time.

This season:

  • Season 3 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 8, 1986.
  • For the rest of the entire season, the blue coloration changes its color to teal, the lines are less pronounced, the letters are bolder, and the globe rotates at normal speed. A closed captioning bug is added to the opening credits. This lasted until the 1985-1991 set is retired in 1991, when the 1991-1996 set designed by Ed Flesh was used.
  • The first Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions consists of 14 men and 1 woman Beryl Arbit.
  • The first Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions is also the first Tournament of Champions to feature a distinct logo for the Tournament—featuring a bronze Jeopardy! word mark on a silver banner, accompanied by light blue banners with gold text reading "$100,000" and "Tournament of Champions!", both in varying widths of Futura.
  • Season 3 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 24, 1987.
  • Summer reruns kicks off July 27, 1987.

Season 4 (1987-1988)

Season changes:

  • At the beginning of this season, the neon borders are added to the category cards.
  • The opening credits remains the same as the rest of Season 3.
  • The Jeopardy! logo is changed to curved letters, and the Jeopardy! logo is changed to a shorter exclamation mark. The title card for segments changed its color to an aquamarine-blue gradient, with the more familiar Jeopardy! logo in white and the "DOUBLE" and "FINAL" in Double and Final Jeopardy! in red.
  • On the November 13, 1987 episode, this episode consists all of the Jeopardy! segment categories that begin with the letter "A" and all of the Double Jeopardy! segment categories that begin with the letter "T", referencing Alex Trebek.
  • From January 25, 1988 until the February 5, 1988 episode, during the closing credits, the Final Jeopardy! logo flashes on the game board's monitors instead of the show's logo.
  • The color scheme for the Daily Double title card has changed its color to red text on a gold background with a blue banner.
  • At the beginning of this season, George Vosburgh became producer. Later, in the second half of this season, the byline changes, making it read "A unit of Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.", is orange and the same font used for the aforementioned Merv Griffin text, instead of italics under the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo.
  • At the start of this season, verification of questions is provided by Facts on File.
  • The copyright card is the same as the rest of Season 2 and all of Season 3.

This season:

  • Season 4 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 7, 1987.
  • A full credit roll is featured at the end of the episode Cheryl/Michael/Ron in 1988.
  • All the contestants in the Tournament of Champions are men.
  • Bob Verini, won the Tournament of Champions by a margin of $1 trailing Dave Traini who was in second place in the 2nd final game.
  • On the July 5, 1988 episode, Kevin Frear sets a new one-day record of $27,800.
  • Season 4 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 22, 1988.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 25, 1988.

Season 5 (1988-1989)

  • Season 5 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 5, 1988.
  • The opening credits remains the same as the rest of Season 3.
  • Starting with this season, the 1984-1992 Jeopardy! theme song had the first 19 seconds removed.
  • This is the last season where Alex Trebek didn't wear any glasses.
  • On early episodes of this season, the copyright card is the same as the rest of Season 2, and all of both Seasons 3, and 4. On later episodes of this season, the copyright card has changed its color to the shrunken Jeopardy! logo in gold, with backgrounds varying depending on the episode.
  • Mark Lowenthal won the Tournament of Champions.
  • Stock footage from the January 30, 1989 episode was featured in the 1992 film Breaking the Rules
  • On the December 30, 1988 episode, the 1,000th episode aired on this date.
  • On the May 8, 1989 episode, the Jeopardy! College Championship made its debut.
  • Season 5 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 21, 1989 with the Senior Citizens Tournament.
  • From there until Season 11, each season wrapped up with the Senior Citizens Tournament.
  • Summer reruns kicks off after the tournament which is July 24, 1989.

Season 6 (1989-1990)

Season changes:

  • The category cards have a more rectangular shaped look.
  • This is the last season to have the KingWorld "Stars and Stripes" logo.
  • Alex Trebek starts wearing glasses in this season, so he can read the clues to the contestants.
  • Stock footage from the March 16, 1990 episode was featured in the 1992 film Breaking the Rules.
  • The short-lived Super Jeopardy! debuted in the summer of 1990, and the Jeopardy! set consisted of four contestant podiums, instead of three. The short-lived Super Jeopardy! ended that same year in 1990.

This season:

  • Season 6 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 4, 1989.
  • On the September 12, 1989 episode, Bob Blake sets a new five-day winnings record of $82,501.
  • In the November 1989 episode, Tom Cubbage was the only college winner to win the Tournament Of Champions.
  • On the January 15, 1990 episode, Frank Spangenberg sets a new one-day record of $30,600, and a new 5-day winnings record of $102,597.
  • For some reason, on the May 5, 1990 episode, the contestants are seen standing next to their contestant podiums. However, they couldn't do that until Season 17.
  • Season 6 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 20, 1990.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 23, 1990.

Season 7 (1990-1991)

Season changes:

  • Shortly after the start of this season, the lights started to go dark during the Final Jeopardy! round segment, as the contestants started writing their final responses. This was carried over from Super Jeopardy!.
  • This is the first season to have the 1990-1998 KingWorld "Spotlights" logo.
  • This is the last season to use the 1985-1991 Jeopardy! set, with its last appearance on the 7th season finale episode, which aired on July 19, 1991.
    • The carpet/Plexiglas floor has a grayer look to it.
    • The circles underneath the contestant podiums are removed.
    • The blue parts of the contestant podiums are given new paint jobs.
  • The white outline around the contestants' score displays changed its color to a thicker silver outline; this outline was seen during the Super Jeopardy! tournament, and it has a marble textured look.
  • The copyright card is changed to a rotation of red and blue. "All Rights Reserved" begins appearing in the copyright card for the first time since 1985.
  • On early episodes of the season, the copyright card had a upside down triangle with the Jeopardy! logo on the banner. This was also used for the show's 10th anniversary logo in 1993.

This season:

  • Season 7 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 3, 1990.
  • On the October 30, 1990 and October 31, 1990 episodes, a full credit roll is shown two days in a row.
  • In the November, 1990 episode, Bob Blake won the Tournament of Champions.
  • Season 7 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 19, 1991.
  • Summer reruns kicks off July 22, 1991.

Season 8 (1991-1992)

Season changes:

  • At the beginning of this season, Jeopardy! introduced a brand new state-of-the-art set designed by art director Ed Flesh. It consisted of a metal grid taking place on a blue set background, where the Jeopardy! logo lights up in a rotation of colors, such as neutral white and red. During the Double Jeopardy! and the Final Jeopardy! round segments, the set background changed to red, as the Jeopardy! logo lights up in a rotation of colors, such as neutral white, and blue. It was used during the contestant introductions, in and out of commercial breaks, and during the closing credits. The contestant podiums had a brand new look, same with Alex Trebek's podium. On early episodes of this season, the Jeopardy! logo lights up in a rotation of colors, such as of neutral white, blue and red. The 1991-1996 set would remain in use until the November 8, 1996 episode, when the 1996-2002 set debuted.
  • This is the first season to use the 1991-1996 set.
  • Also at the beginning of this season, the 1984-1992 Jeopardy! theme song is lower pitched.
  • This is the last season to have the 1984-1992 Jeopardy! theme song. It has been in use since the show debuted on September 10, 1984.
  • The opening credits have changed to a new version of the Jeopardy! globe, and it has a marble textured look, and it spins around on the game board. The whoosh sound is heard when the new Jeopardy! globe zooms out on the game board. And then, it explodes to reveal the 1991-1996 set, where contestants make their entrance. A photograph of Alex Trebek appeared on the game board after the contestant introductions, as Alex Trebek makes his entrance.
  • The game board consisted of 36 stacked up TV monitors, with the category names appearing on the top of 36 stacked up TV monitors, with various types of animation as the category names appear. On early episodes of this season, the categories popped in on the monitors; On later episodes of this season, they zoomed in from the center of each television monitor. So the contestants can see the clues more sleeker.
  • The contestant score displays are changed to an incandescent seven-segment display, so that the scores can still be seen when the lights go dark during the Final Jeopardy! segment.
  • Only in this season, the contestant podium monitors stayed blue throughout the whole show.
  • The copyright card is changed to a big yellow Jeopardy! logo featuring various backgrounds, spotlights, etc., with the copyright notice beneath the logo.
  • The whoosh sound is not heard when the dollar figures pop in on the Jeopardy! round board; the dollar figures simply pop in on the Jeopardy! round board.
  • This marks the last season to have the Daily Double clue shown in full screen. It was changed to having the Daily Double clue showing right next to the contestant's right shoulder during the 1992 Teen Tournament.
  • When the 1991-1996 set debuted, the Daily Double graphic didn't dissolve after the clue was read. It would dissolve when the camera turns to the contestants, as well as to Alex Trebek.
  • On early episodes of the season, the contestant's current cash winnings totals were shown in Korinna, and it has a star animation, the star animation was removed shortly before the 1992 Teen Tournament.
  • The winner's post-Final Jeopardy! total graphics are now in a Korinna font, but it no longer flashes.
  • Jim Scott won the Tournament of Champions.
  • In the Teen Tournament, the contestant interviews are conducted at the conclusion of the first round; it was only done for that tournament only this season. It would not become a regular practice until the following season.
  • This episode, which aired on May 18, 1992, in which, Jerome Vered made his Jeopardy! debut, and it has a full credit roll with camera shots dissolving to reveal other camera shots and the Jeopardy! logo.
  • On the May 4, 1992 episode, Chris Montplasir became a semi-finalist winner by answering the tiebreaker clue at the end of the game in the first quarterfinal game of the College Championship when she defeated Ken Kansa and Margaret Bickers.
  • Three separate tiebreaker clues had to be played before Chris Montplaisir was declared the winner over Ken Kansa, but the first two tiebreakers were omitted from the broadcast game because neither player gave a correct response to either of them. The whole exercise turned out to be moot, because Ken's score earned him a wildcard spot into the semifinals. Neither player advanced to the finals.
  • This is the last season where Alex Trebek's wardrobe was furnished by Mr. Guy.

This season:

  • Season 8 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 2, 1991.
  • On the May 21, 1992 episode, Jerome Vered sets a new one-day record of $34,000.
  • At this point, Jeopardy! became the most episodes of any syndicated game show.
  • Season 8 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 18, 1992, which marks the last time, the 1984-1992 Jeopardy! theme song was used.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 21, 1992.

Season 9 (1992-1993)

Season changes:

  • The Merv Griffin Enterprises logo is now consisted of the Sony Pictures Entertainment byline, rather than the Columbia Pictures Entertainment byline.
  • The opening credits remains the same as Season 8.
  • Beginning with this season, the name of the categories are broken into pieces to reveal their category names, rather than letting the categories pop in, and zoom in from the center of each monitor.
  • The clue text for Daily Doubles appear on the left side of the contestant's right shoulder, and then it dissolves after the clue is read, rather than showing it in full screen.
  • On early episodes of this season, the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo is changed. The Columbia Pictures Entertainment byline was changed to the Sony Pictures Entertainment byline in the 1984-1992 logo. Also on early episodes of this season, Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase remains the same as in early 1987.
  • On later episodes of this season, Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase is changed by saying "This is Johnny Gilbert speaking. Jeopardy! is a production of Merv Griffin Enterprises. Distributed by KingWorld."
  • Similar to Johnny Gilbert's closing catchphrase from 1987, this new closing catchphrase is prerecorded.
  • A timpani drumroll is heard after the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo, and before the KingWorld logo.
  • To accommodate the change, the copyright card is moved from the end to between the two logos. This feature remained like this until the end of Season 10.
  • The music of the KingWorld logo sounded creepier from this time until 1994.
  • Bongos were added to this version of the theme music starting with this season. This remained in use until the Season 13 finale, which aired on July 18, 1997.
  • Also at the beginning of this season, Alex Trebek's wardrobe was furnished by Perry Ellis, and the wardrobe provider credit has a Grief Companies byline.
  • On later episodes of this season, the Merv Griffin Enterprises logo is changed to a style of the Columbia Pictures Television logo from 1992, except the letters on top is missing, and the griffin no longer winks at the camera.
  • The Celebrity Jeopardy! tournament is held for the first time in October of 1992. It featured celebrity contestants who supply questions for answers, which looks just like the regular Jeopardy!, but with celebrities from various TV shows, instead of regular contestants.
  • Leszek Pawlowicz won the Tournament of Champions.
  • In this season's College Championship, they gave away a Dodge Shadow car. Phoebe Juel makes her first appearance on the show, where she was wearing white pants while attending Grinnell College.
  • The contestant interview segment is now done right after the completion of the Jeopardy! segment and before the second commercial break it was first done this way only for the previous season's Teen Tournament.
  • The contestant podium monitors changed its color from blue to red in the Double Jeopardy! round and Final Jeopardy! round segments, rather than staying blue through out the whole show. This remained in use until the end of the set's run on November 8, 1996.

This season:

  • Season 9 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 7, 1992.
  • On early episodes of this season, Johnny Gilbert's prerecorded catchphrase remains the same as in early 1987, and the copyright card still appears after the logos.
  • On the January 19, 1993 episode, Darryl Scott, an Air Force lieutenant colonel originally from Washington, D.C., wins the game with $1.
  • On the June 17, 1993 episode, the theme plays in its entirety during the closing, ending at the Merv Griffin Enterprises part of Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase.
  • On the June 17 and the June 18, 1993 episodes, a full credit roll is shown two days in a row.
  • Season 9 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 23, 1993, in which the 2,000th episode aired on this date.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 26, 1993.

Season 10 (1993-1994)

Season changes:

  • At the beginning of this season, Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase is changed to say at the start of every episode, which is: "Celebrating its 10th year, as America's favorite answer and question show, This is Jeopardy!".
  • This is the last season to be produced by Merv Griffin Enterprises, which had been in use since the first season.
  • The opening credits have changed to the Jeopardy! 10th anniversary logo on the game board. After that, the Jeopardy! 10th anniversary logo zooms out, and stays onscreen, and then, it breaks into pieces.
  • The copyright card looks similar to early Season 7 episodes, but with a cloud background, and an upside down triangle that has a light in it, and the rectangle is blue and larger.

This season:

  • Season 10 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 6, 1993.
  • The Jeopardy! 10th anniversary championship was supposed to be a tournament featuring the first nine Tournament of Champions winners from the first nine seasons of Jeopardy!. However, they couldn't do it that way because the first two Tournament of Champions winners, the late Jerry Frankel died of aids on July 13, 1987, and Chuck Forrest had to work overseas.
  • From November 1, 1993 to November 4, 1993, whichever contestant becomes Jeopardy! champions gets a chance to select which 1 of the 9 participants from each Tournament of Champions semi-finals and finals will compete in the 10th anniversary championship, which came after the Tournament of Champions.
  • Tom Nosek won the Tournament of Champions and went on to be a participant in the 10th anniversary championship.
  • The week of the November 29, 1993 episode, which is the 10th Anniversary Tournament, featuring semi-finalists and finalists from past Tournament of Champions.
  • On the December 23, 1993 episode, during the Video Daily Double segment, we have the Merv Griffin Enterprises griffin, the Columbia Pictures torch lady, and the TriStar Pictures Pegasus, and TriStar wins as the best answer.
  • In this season's College Championship, the winner was awarded with a dodge prize along with the trophy and $25,000. It was going to be the car or the pickup truck.
  • Jeff Stewart, a Brigham Young University chose the pickup truck.
  • On later episodes of this season, Johnny Gilbert said the 1992 catchphrase.
  • Season 10 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 22, 1994.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 25, 1994.

Season 11 (1994-1995)

  • Starting with this season, and during the first half of Season 13, a new version of the Jeopardy! globe intro was shown. The Jeopardy! logo became 3D, and the Jeopardy! logo gave a yellow and orange gradient on a blue globe. The globe explodes, and the Jeopardy! logo zooms in by cutting through the "A" to reveal the 1991-1996 set.
  • This is the last season, in which the closed captioning bug appeared in the opening credits.
  • This is the first season to be produced by Columbia TriStar Television, after Merv Griffin Enterprises went out of business.
  • At the beginning of this season, Johnny Gilbert's opening catchphrase changed back to say "This is Jeopardy!" at the start of every episode. This is the last season, in which the audience can be heard chattering before the show starts.
  • Also at the beginning of this season, the show moved to Stage 10 at Sony Pictures.
  • On early episodes of this season, the new Jeopardy! globe logo changed its color to a bright blue sky background, and the Daily Double graphic changed its color a bright red sky background, and it does not have a shadow outline.
  • Also, on contestant plugs for the Teen Tournament and College Championship for this season, the full bright blue sky background is used.
  • During the College Championship, the winner takes home a Volvo car. This would remain in use until Season 20.
  • On the July 4, 1995 episode, Isaac Segal makes his first appearance on the show. This episode first aired when Bob Ross, the host of The Joy of Painting died of lymphoma at the age of 52.
  • On later episodes of this season, a shadow outline is added to the globe logo, and the blue sky background became darker. Also, a shadow outline is added to the the Daily Double graphic, and the red sky background became darker. Also on later episodes of this season, the Greif Companies reference is no longer used on Alex Trebek's wardrobe provider credit.
  • During this season, the first Columbia TriStar Television logo consisted of a blue background, with the Columbia Pictures torch lady, and the TriStar Pictures Pegasus, and the text reading "Columbia TriStar Television" in yellow, with the the text reading the Sony byline, also in yellow, and the music is a bombastic horn fanfare.
  • On early episodes of this season, Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase was changed to say "This is Johnny Gilbert speaking. Jeopardy! is a production of Columbia TriStar Television. Distributed by KingWorld."
  • At the beginning of this season, Jeopardy!, and its sister show, Wheel of Fortune are now produced by Columbia TriStar Television, after Merv Griffin Enterprises went out of business.
  • The music of the KingWorld logo sounds truncated from this time until 1996.
  • On later episodes of this season, the closing credits had "Created by Merv Griffin" appear after the closing credit scroll.
  • Also on later episodes of this season, Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase was changed to say at the end of each episode: "This is Johnny Gilbert speaking. Jeopardy! was created by Merv Griffin. Produced by Columbia TriStar Television. Distributed by KingWorld."

This season:

  • Season 11 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 5, 1994.
  • Season 11 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 21, 1995.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 24, 1995.

Season 12 (1995-1996)

Jeopardy1995

Season changes:

  • This is the most popular season with the 1991-1996 set. A brand new globe intro was used at the beginning of this season. This time, the Jeopardy! logo in 3D gave a yellow and orange gradient with a white shadow sliding out on the Jeopardy! globe, which is light blue. The globe explodes, and the Jeopardy! logo zooms in by cutting through the "A" to reveal the 1991-1996 set. An Atlanta 1996 logo can be seen during the introductions on Olympics tournament episodes.
  • On Olympics tournament episodes, the Atlanta 1996 logo appeared onscreen, followed by the Jeopardy! logo spinning around the globe, after the Atlanta 1996 logo disappeared.
  • The closed captioning bug does not appear in the opening credits, but it was used on Olympics tournament episodes.
  • At the beginning of this season, the audience can no longer be heard chattering before the show starts, when Johnny Gilbert said "This is Jeopardy!". But the chattering was only used on Olympics tournament episodes.
  • This is the last season, in which the contestants names appeared onscreen in gold Korinna font.
  • This is also the last season, in which Alex Trebek enters the Jeopardy! set. This season also marked the last time, the closing credits appeared in a white Korinna font, which had been in use since season 1.
  • Johnny Gilbert did a slight variation on the Jeopardy! opening catchphrase, which is: "An official sponsor of the 1996 Olympic games, This is Jeopardy!. It was only used on Olympics tournament episodes.
  • Beginning with this season, Jeopardy!, and its sister show, Wheel of Fortune moved to Sony Pictures Studios' Stage 11 in Culver City.
  • On the October 31, 1995 episode, Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune makes an appearance in the clues for their "Halloween/Costume" category.
  • The Senior Citizens Tournament was held for the last time in December of 1995.
  • On the May 17, 1996 episode, the second final game of the 1996 Teen Tournament was to determine the overall winner between Derek Bridges and Amanda Goad. Derek had a high enough score going into Final Jeopardy! to wager for the win, but mistakenly wagered for the tie, rather than the win. Both of them took home $31,200. Amanda Goad responded correctly and went on to become a 1996 Tournament of Champions semifinalist.
  • An Olympics tournament is held from July 15, 1996 to July 18, 1996, followed by the last episode of the 12th season of Jeopardy!, which is the season finale, that aired on July 19, 1996.

This season:

  • Season 12 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 4, 1995.
  • Season 12 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 19, 1996.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 22, 1996.

Season 13 (1996-1997)​​

Season changes:

  • Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase on early episodes of the season is "From the Sony Studios, this is Jeopardy!". The opening credits remains the same as Season 11, which is also the last season to use the globe intro. Johnny Gilbert no longer says "This is Johnny Gilbert speaking" at the end of each episode. This the last season to have the closing animations between Trebek and the day's winners, which was discontinued after the 1991-1996 set discontinued.
  • When the 1996-2002 set debuted, the Jeopardy! theme had the first five seconds removed, and it fades in; and the whoosh sound is removed from the introduction. Johnny Gilbert began saying "Jeopardy! was created by Merv Griffin" at the end of each episode. The camera no longer zooms in on the top and bottom dollar values, and the closing animations between Trebek and the day's winners are discontinued, so now the camera would show various shots of Trebek and the day's winners.
  • This is also the last season, in which the monitors on the contestant podiums changed its color from blue to red for the Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy! segments. For the rest of the entire season, the contestant podium monitors no longer changed its color from blue to red, as the contestant podium monitors changed its color back to blue. The closed captioning bug came back to the opening credits starting with this season.
  • This season is both the last season to use the 1991-1996 set, and the first season to use the 1996-2002 set. This is also the last season to use the bongo version of the theme song, it has been in use since Season 9.
  • On later episodes of this season, the word "Pictures" was added to Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase. The catchphrase was changed to: "From the Sony Pictures Studios, this is Jeopardy!".
  • The opening credits have changed to a flyover of the Sony Pictures Studio complex, and the television monitor zooms out by passing through the dollar figures from the Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! rounds popping on the television monitors passing through a Jeopardy! logo at the end. The Jeopardy! logo zooms in by cutting through the "A" to reveal the 1996-2002 set.
  • This is the last season to use the microphones on the contestant podiums.
  • The font for the contestant introductions were changed to Compacta-D at the beginning of the season.
  • On early episodes of this season, announcer Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase remains the same as it was in early 1995. Johnny Gilbert said "This is Johnny Gilbert speaking" for the last time.
  • Starting with the November 4, 1996 episode, Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase was changed to say "Jeopardy! was created by Merv Griffin" at the end of each episode. After Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase, the King World logo appears first, followed by the Columbia TriStar Television logo.
  • The music from "Think!" is played during the KingWorld logo.
  • On the episode aired November 11, 1996, the 1996-2002 set made its debut, and was the first of several sets designed by art director Naomi Slodki. This set would remain in use until November 8, 2002, a couple weeks before it was replaced by the 2002-2009 set.
  • Sliding doors behind Alex Trebek's podium were added to the Jeopardy! set starting this season. This would remain in use until the end of the 1996-2002 set's run. Also at the beginning of this season, Trebek made his entrance through the sliding doors of the "P" and "A" by walking down a small staircase.
  • The 1996-2002 set consisted of a wood-like appearance with the nine-foot Jeopardy! logo with the sliding doors of the "P" and "A" where Trebek makes his entrance by walking down a small staircase. The contestant podiums had a brand new look, same with Alex Trebek's podium. Additionally, the contestant backdrop consisted of glass panels and resembled the interior design of a sushi bar, which holds true to the set's nickname the sushi bar set.
  • On some episodes during the Celebrity Jeopardy! tournament, celebrities made their entrance through the sliding doors of the "P" and "A" by walking down a small staircase, and to their contestant podiums.
  • The contestant interviews segment is right after the first commercial and before concluding the last segment of the Jeopardy! segment, and then, going into the second commercial break.
  • But when this is done, Alex Trebek began standing near the contestant podiums, rather than near his podium like he did in the first eight seasons.
  • Stock footage from the December 6, 1996 episode was featured in the 1999 film Baby Geniuses.
  • On the December 25, 1996 episode, the "Merry Christmas" banner can be seen behind a decorated Christmas tree with the Jeopardy! logo on a red background is shown on the game board during the introductions, in and out of commercial breaks, and during the closing credits.
  • The first semifinal game of the 1997 College Championship, which aired on the May 19, 1997 episode, and they had to determine who, between Steven Bevier and Brian Chan, would go on to become a finalist.
  • Both were tied at $6,500 going into Final Jeopardy! and $13,000 coming out of it.
  • Steven responded correctly and went on to become the 1997 College Championship 2nd runner-up.
  • Columbia TriStar Television changed its logo on later episodes of this season. It is changed to the Columbia torch lady zooming away from us, and the TriStar Pegasus is different and flying across, and the clouds on the second box zooms away slowly and the background is a blue cloudy sky, and a light blue background. Also, the boxes and text were in bluish tint and all text is navy blue.

This season:

  • Season 13 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 2, 1996.
  • On early episodes of the season, the contestants' names and total winnings are changed to the Compacta-D font, the 30-second thinking period of Final Jeopardy!, as well as the sponsor list and closing credits, still used the Korinna font.
  • On later episodes of this season, the sponsor list and the closing credits were changed to Compacta-D, and the clue text in the Final Jeopardy! round segments changed to Clarendon.
  • By the November 4, 1996 episode, the sponsor list moved to the bottom of the screen and changed to Compacta-D. However, the text used for clues as they appear on monitors still used the Korinna font to this day.
  • The November 8, 1996 episode marks the last time, the 1991-1996 was used. The 1996-2002 set will make its debut on the November 11, 1996 episode. The 1991-1996 lasted for five seasons, and 1,151 episodes. So on Monday, we'll come back with the Celebrity Jeopardy! tournament, and a brand new set, which is called the sushi bar.
  • At the beginning of this episode, and just before the Final Jeopardy! segment, Alex Trebek acknowledges the viewers that this is the last time, in which the 1991-1996 set was used for five seasons, and 1,151 episodes.
  • At the end of this episode, Alex Trebek took home the microphone and sheets from the podium, and then, a preview of the 1996-2002 set is shown during the Celebrity Jeopardy! tournament.
  • Starting with the November 12, 1996 episode, the set changed back to blue for the closing credits.
  • On the November 13, 1996 episode, all three celebrity male contestants wound up with $0 at the end of the show.
  • During this season's Teen Tournament, the set changed its color to an unusual shade of pink for the closing credits.
  • On the February 6, 1997 episode, during the Teen Tournament, the set was filled with tribble invasion creatures Star Trek all over.
  • On the April 1, 1997 episode, Pat Sajak hosted the show as an April fools joke. That same day, Alex Trebek hosted Wheel of Fortune, where Pat Sajak and Vanna White were contestants, and Pat's wife Lesley Sajak touched the letters. On this episode:
  • After Johnny introduced the contestants (Christian/Lori/Paul), Charlie O'Donnell said "And now, here is your host: Pat Sajak!". Pat does his entrance solo, and welcomes the viewers while pointing out to the audience.
  • The joke categories in the Jeopardy! round makes a reference to Wheel of Fortune including Buy a Vowel, Lose a Turn, Book & Author, Husband & Wife, Before & After, which became a recurring Jeopardy! category itself, and Say "Jack", where all the correct responses contain the word "Jack".
  • The joke categories in the Double Jeopardy! round is a play on the word "fool", which consisted of the following: Hoaxes & Frauds, April, Fuels, Shakespearean Fools, Fool's Errands, and "Fool"ish Songs.
  • The Final Jeopardy! category joke at the end of this episode is Trinidadian Amateur Ichthyologists.
  • No credit is given for Pat's wardrobe, but for Alex Trebek instead.
  • On the May 1, 1997 episode, the Law & Order theme plays, as all three celebrity contestants are actors on the show.
  • The week of the May 5, 1997 episode is the semi-final, and the final matches of the International Tournament are held in Stockholm, Sweden. This is the first time in the show's history that Jeopardy! is taped on the road.
  • Season 13 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 18, 1997, which also marked the last time, the 1992-1997 bongo theme, and the 1984-1997 "Think!" music is used.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 21, 1997.

Season 14 (1997-1998)

Season changes:

  • At the beginning of this season, the 1997-2001 Jeopardy! theme, and the 1997-2008 "Think!" music debuted, and was composed by Steve Kaplan.
  • The opening credits have changed to the same flyover of the Sony Pictures Studios complex, and a cube zooms out with the Jeopardy! logo flying over the floating cubes. The Jeopardy! letters fly away, and a cube zooms in to reveal the 1996-2002 set.
  • This is also the last season, in which the set changed its color from blue to red for the Double Jeopardy! and for the Final Jeopardy! segments, which was used for the last time on the January 23, 1998 Celebrity Jeopardy! sportscasters episode. For the rest of the entire season, the set no longer changed its color from blue to red in the Double Jeopardy! round and Final Jeopardy! round segments, as the set changed its color back to blue.
  • This is also the last season, in which the dollar figures popped in during the Double Jeopardy! segment. On later episodes of this season, the dollar figures no longer popped in during the Double Jeopardy! segment, they are already present when the show came back from commercial breaks.
  • At the beginning of the season, all five time champions win one of the three Chevrolet cars. It could be the Corvette, Tahoe, or a pair of Cameros.
  • Also at the beginning of this season, the category screen effects are covered by a Jeopardy! logo, as well as the Double Jeopardy! logo, a Final Jeopardy! logo, and the Jeopardy! logo used for particular tournaments.
  • The contestant podium microphones were gone from the set, so Alex Trebek and the contestants began wearing clip-on microphones, which gave the audience a more question-and-answer friendly atmosphere.
  • The studio audience can be seen during Alex Trebek's entrance, in and out of commercial breaks, and during the closing credits. This remained in use until Season 16.
  • Many of the categories are now unique and obscure.
  • Video clues were introduced in this season, so that the contestants can see it more visible.
  • The background color for Daily Double clues changed its color to red.
  • Starting with this season, the Final Jeopardy! category appeared onscreen where contestants began writing their final responses.
  • This is the first time, that the College Championship began taping in a college campus.
  • This is also the first time, Alex Trebek introduced the new black college trophy to the viewers and contestants. That was a small and big trophy. This would remain in use until Season 24.
  • Starting with this season, and it would remain in use until 2001, a Game Show Network logo appears during the closing credits in some episodes. Other episodes don't have the Game Show Network logo. The first promo is the ID with a voice-over saying "It's the only network you can play at home, Game Show Network, where it's all play, all day! Buzz your cable company and get in the game!".
  • The contestants' names and winnings in the introductions, as well as the graphic showing the Final Jeopardy! winner's new winnings count for the day, are changed to CG Omega, which continues to be used for them until Season 18.
  • CG Omega became the new font for video clues, as well as the clue text in the Final Jeopardy! segments, and remains as such through most of Season 20.
  • Additionally, the sponsor list, closing credits, and a copyright notice are changed to CG Omega as well, and continue to use that font until the end of Season 25.

This season:

  • Season 14 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 1, 1997.
  • On the season premiere, the new theme song ends before Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase.
  • Only applause from the audience is heard over the KingWorld logo.
  • On the September 2, 1997 episode, the theme song ends a few seconds before Johnny Gilbert's catchphrase.
  • The categories for the Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! round segments flip over until Season 17.
  • As with the season premiere, only applause from the audience is heard over the KingWorld logo at the start of this season.
  • On the September 11, 1997 episode, oddly, the copyright date and "Created by Merv Griffin" credit are done in Compacta-D, as was the case for much of Season 13.
  • Starting with the September 15, 1997 episode, the "Think!" music is rerecorded by adding a piano lead in the first verse and a trumpet lead in the second verse, replacing the other version which only had a piano lead. This would remain in use until the end of Season 24.  
  • On the September 19, 1997 episode, the 3,000th episode aired on this date. On this episode:
  • Johnny Gilbert appeared on camera to announce: "This is the 3,000th show of Jeopardy!".
  • After the announcement, a clip from the first episode is shown.
  • The contestants are standing at their podiums for the second time. However, they didn't do that until season 17.
  • Johnny Gilbert said "Now once again, here is the host of Jeopardy!: Alex Trebek!" as he makes his entrance by walking down a small staircase as the 1997-2001 theme plays. After that, Alex Trebek said: "That was our very first show in 1984. As you can see, very little has changed, I'm still wearing the same clothing, I'm happy to say it still it fits. But my foreign is a little higher nowadays, and they do have to adjust the lighting from time to time, to take the glare off of my gray hair. But the game remains exactly the same, as it always been".
  • The Jeopardy! round categories are the same on the very first episode.
  • The "Actors & Roles" category consisted of video clues from the Celebrity Jeopardy! tournament.
  • The Double Jeopardy! round categories are related to the milestones.
  • The Final Jeopardy! round category is the same one on the very first episode.
  • Beginning with the October 6, 1997 episode, the set no longer changed its color from blue to red in the Double Jeopardy! and for the Final Jeopardy! segments, as the set changed its color back to blue.
  • On the October 31, 1997 Halloween episode, Alex Trebek wore a Statue of Liberty costume.
  • The second week of the Teen Tournament and Power Players Week, aired in November, 1997, are held at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. This is the first time in the show's history that Jeopardy! took place in Washington, D.C.
  • Instead of Alex Trebek announcing the nine semi-finalists who will be playing next week, while the contestants walk up on stage, each player will say their name and location and so on followed up an applause from the audience. This applied for the four wildcard spots. And also they did the same practice for the three finalists. This practice has been done for the Tournament of Champions, College Championship, Teen Tournament, and finally, Teachers Tournament, since then.
  • The December 15, 1997 episode marked the first time, the Final Jeopardy! category appeared onscreen at the upper left side of the screen during the Final Jeopardy! round segment as the lights went dark while the contestants wrote their final responses.
  • The December 16, 1997 episode marked the the first appearance of the "Bonus" category. In this category, each clue consisted of two correct responses. If a contestant gave the correct response, they can choose to give the other correct response, as well as passing it to another contestant. However, if they chose to gave the incorrect response, they lost the value from the correct response, so they are basically playing for double the clue value.
  • On the December 19, 1997 episode, the real 3,000th episode of Jeopardy! airs.
  • The December 31, 1997 episode marked the second appearance of the "Bonus" category.
  • The set changed its color from blue to red in the Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy! segments for the last time on the Celebrity Jeopardy! sportscasters episode, which aired on January 23, 1998.
  • The February 10, 1998 episode marked the last appearance of the "Bonus" category.
  • During the quarterfinals week of the Tournament of Champions, after the first round categories are revealed. Instead of Alex Trebek saying, "(Contestant's Name), you had the high score in the regular competition, you go first." He says, "(Contestant's Name), you won the toss, you go first."
  • On later episodes of this season, the dollar figures no longer popped in on the Double Jeopardy! board, they are already present coming back from the second commercial break. This was first done in February during the Tournament of Champions before becoming permanent in March. And speaking of Tournament of Champions, this event was held in February 1998 and February 1999.
  • On the March 2, 1998 episode, all three celebrity female contestants each had zero dollars at the end of the match.
  • On the June 12, 1998 episode, all three contestants have zero dollars at the end of the game the first known instance since the 2nd show.
  • Season 14 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 17, 1998.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 20, 1998.

Season 15 (1998-1999)

Season changes:

  • The opening credits have changed to the same flyover of the Sony Pictures Studios complex, and a yellow glow appears when the Jeopardy! logo zooms out, and then, it fades to reveal the 1996-2002 set.
  • The background color for Daily Double clues are still red from the previous season. But on later episodes, they have reverted back to blue. On top of that, the Daily Double logo makes a diagonal animating appearance and then it flips around to reveal the Daily Double clues. After that, it dissolves in the same animating effect in reverse. It would continue this feature all the way until Season 22.
  • This season is both the last season to have the 1990-1998 KingWorld "Spotlights" logo, and the first season to have the 1998-2006 KingWorld "Star Shooter" logo.
  • During this season, the logo for Game Show Network is changed to letter tiles popping up with a ball and hand with mixed up letters appears: M, A, H, and E in the 1st row and W, S, and G in the 2nd row. The ball hits the scrambled letters to change the letters to the word GAME in the 1st row and the letters S, H, and W in the 2nd row, with the ball appearing between the H and the W. The plug has a different voice-over, and "Buzz your cable or satellite provider and get in the game!" is changed to "Buzz your cable company and get in the game!".
  • From this season until December 1999, the first Jeopardy! Online logo appears after the closing credits. A pop style tune plays over the logo, ending with the last four notes of the Jeopardy! theme song.
  • Until early 1999, the music continues into the 1990-1998 King World logo, and the last four notes of the show's theme song can be heard during the logo.
  • In early 1999, the music for the Jeopardy! Online logo ends when the promo does, and the KingWorld music returns.
  • In late 1999, the KingWorld "Spotlights" logo is changed to the 1998-2006 KingWorld "Star Shooter" logo, which shows a computerized golden-brown sky background complete with thunderclap.
  • The KingWorld logo completely changed its color from silver to blue.
  • The closed captioning sponsor is broadcast right after the last commercial break right before the Final Jeopardy! round.
  • The Priceline.com sponsor is announced by Johnny Gilbert right before the Double Jeopardy! round.

This season:

  • Season 15 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 7, 1998.
  • The weeks of November 9, 1998 and November 16, 1998 are taped at the Wang Center for Performing Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.
  • The November 9, 1998 episode is Boston Week, and the November 16, 1998 episode is the Teen Reunion Tournament.
  • The Armed Forces Week was held during the week of June 28, 1999.
  • Season 15 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 23, 1999.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 26, 1999.

Season 16 (1999-2000)

  • Season 16 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 6, 1999.
  • The opening credits were changed to a new flyover past the Sony Pictures Studios complex. We zoom out on a TV tube shape to show various photographs from the show on some TV tubes, which moves from right to left. As this happens, gold letters pop in one by one to spell out Jeopardy!, then one final TV tube floats from the right, and zooms in to reveal the 1996-2002 set.
  • At the beginning of this season, Jeopardy! and its sister show Wheel of Fortune are now presented in WebTV interactive. This was done, because WebTV wanted to play online with Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.
  • This is the last season to have Johnny Gilbert's opening catchphrase "Now entering the studio are today's contestants", in which the contestants entered the studio during their introductions. Starting in Season 17, the contestants no longer entered the studio at the beginning of the show, they are now standing behind their podiums.
  • This is also the last season, in which Johnny Gilbert said "From the Sony Pictures Studios, this is Jeopardy!" at the start of each episode.
  • This is also the last season, in which Jeopardy! announcer Johnny Gilbert signs off at the end of each episode. Starting on the January 3, 2000 episode, he no longer signs off at the end of each episode.
  • On the December 8, 1999 episode, Alex Trebek explains to the viewers at home of what the crew do during the commercial break, just right before the Final Jeopardy! segment.
  • It includes two contestant coordinators, a stage manager, and an electronic scorekeeper.
  • Harry Friedman became executive producer.
  • On the season premiere week, the Game Show Network logo is changed to the "Ball Maze" logo with the voice-over saying "Why just watch television when you can play from home? Game Show Network! Buzz your cable company to get in the game!". No music plays at all during the plug.
  • In the late October 1999 episode, Eddie Timanus became the first blind contestant to appear on the Jeopardy! set. During his appearance, the contestants are standing at their podiums for the second time. This change becomes permanent next season.
  • The weeks of the November 8, 1999 episode, and the November 15, 1999 episode are taped at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
  • November 8 'til November 12, 1999 was the semi-final and final episodes of the Teen Tournament, and from November 15 'til November 19, 1999 was Celebrity Jeopardy!.
  • The College Championship was held in February 2000 in Sony Pictures Studios, Sound stage 10 with a college themed set. Janet Wong from Drew University won the college tournament of $50,000, a Volvo S40 sedan followed by a college trophy.
  • By the December 27, 1999 episode, the Jeopardy! Online logo changed to a "Play Online and Win" logo. The logo is in a blue text on a yellow oval. The music from the first logo is remixed, with some parts added to it as the letters of "Play Online and Win" pop in one by one.
  • Johnny Gilbert signs off for the last time on the December 31, 1999 episode. Therefore, his voice won't be heard starting on the January 3, 2000 episode.
  • In the February 2000 episode, Jeopardy! announcer Johnny Gilbert makes an onscreen appearance after reading the clues for a Poetry category.
  • In the May 2000 episode, the Tournament of Champions is held in Atlanta at the Atlanta Civic Center.
  • During the first quarter final games of that episode, after Johnny Gilbert said, "From Atlanta, Georgia, this is the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions!". Then five seconds later, after the audience applause, then he introduced Alex Trebek on stage first before introducing the contestants. This is because Alex Trebek wanted to explain to the viewers at home that this is the first time that they taped the Tournament of Champions on the road.
  • Then they showed the fifteen champions on the game board followed by an applause.
  • This year's Tournament of Champions included two Teen Tournaments, 2 College Championships, and 11 5-time champions.
  • It was the last time, the Teen Tournament victors are eligible for the Tournament of Champions.
  • The first three competed in the first match with Johnny Gilbert's introduction followed by the game.
  • The dollar figures for the first round on the game board was already set up during the introduction. They didn't pop in. They did it like that for Season 25. This was the last time that Johnny Gilbert announced how much winnings these champions earned on their last appearance of the show during the quarter final introductions after their name.
  • Robin Caroll, from Marietta, Georgia, won the $100,000 Tournament of Champions in her hometown.
  • On the June 30, 2000 episode, Alex Trebek brings his kids, Matthew Trebek and Emily Trebek, onstage with him at the beginning of this episode.
  • On the July 5, 2000 episode, Johnny Gilbert accidentally announced himself as "Glen Trebek".
  • Season 16 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 21, 2000.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 24, 2000.

Season 17 (2000-2001)

  • Season 17 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 4, 2000.
  • The main theme is truncated, and it had the first six seconds removed, by adding a wind blowing sound.
  • This is also the last season, in which Jeopardy!, and its sister show, Wheel of Fortune were both presented in WebTV interactive.
  • This is the last season of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune to be produced by Columbia TriStar Television. Columbia TriStar Domestic Television will be taking over production of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune in 2001.
  • The opening credits have changed to a blue background with the Jeopardy! logo sliding out, and it was being formed on a yellow rectangle. The Jeopardy! logo zooms in by cutting through the "A" to reveal the 1996-2002 set.
  • The categories for the Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! round segments now fade in Starting on the week of October 9th with the exception of the week of December 25th Kids Week and the week of October 16th.
  • A wind blowing sound is used in the introduction at the start of this season, and it would remain in use until the April 20, 2001 episode.
  • Starting with this season and continuing into today, Johnny Gilbert's introduction changed back to the classic opening catchphrase which is: "This is Jeopardy!" for episodes taped in Culver City.
  • The contestants were now standing behind their podiums, rather than walking onto the set in the first 16 seasons.
  • Beginning with this season, Johnny Gilbert began using a rotation of catchphrases, such as: "Please welcome today's contestants" (Monday), "Introducing today's contestants" (Tuesday), "Here are today's contestants" (Wednesday), "Today's contestants are..." (Thursday), and "Let's meet today's contestants" (Friday).
  • When the returning champion is introduced, his/her number of games won thus far is now shown onscreen.

This season:

  • In October 2000, eventual all-time money winner Brad Rutter is a five-time undefeated champion
  • On the episodes, which aired in February 2001, Celebrity Jeopardy! and the International Tournament are held at the Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada. On these episodes, the 2001-2008 theme music debuted.
  • April 20, 2001 marks the last time the 1997-2001 theme is used.
  • On the episode aired April 23, 2001, the 2001-2008 theme is put permanently into use, and the wind blowing sound effect is removed from the introduction.
  • The copyright notice is changed to a trademark notice, which continues to use it to this day.
  • Season 17 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 20, 2001.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 23, 2001.

Season 18 (2001-2002)

  • Season 18 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 3, 2001.
  • This season is both the last season to feature Alex Trebek's trademark mustache, and the first season where Alex is seen without his mustache. This remained in use until season 34.
  • The opening credits have changed to a black background, with pieces of a very pale lavender shooting out to form the background of the set visible within it, and the Jeopardy! logo is formed in silver.
  • Due to the financial dispute with Sony at the beginning of this season, WebTV interactive has pulled Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune away from Microsoft.
  • This is the first and only season of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune to be produced by Columbia TriStar Domestic Television. Starting in Season 19, Sony Pictures Television will be taking over production of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.
  • The contestant intros and Final Jeopardy! winnings appear in a plain font similar to Arial. This would remain in use until the Season 20 finale.
  • On early episodes of this season:
    • The dollar values for the first two rounds are still the same as they were on the September 10, 1984 episode Greg/Lois/Frank, when Alex Trebek began hosting Jeopardy!.
    • The second and final Jeopardy! Online logo is still in use after the closing credits.
    • Later in the season, the second and final Jeopardy! Online logo is dropped.
    • The Clue Crew is still not present.
  • Jeopardy! does not air on September 11, 2001 due to the news coverage of terrorist attacks on New York City, and Washington, D.C.
  • On the September 21, 2001 episode, it was the first episode where Alex Trebek is seen without his trademark mustache.
  • On the September 24, 2001 episode, the Clue Crew is introduced, and consisted of four members: Cheryl Farrell, Sofia Lidskog, Jimmy McGuire, and Sarah Whitcomb.
  • The pink on the sliding doors are replaced by a very pale lavender, and it would be used for the rest of the 1996-2002 set.
  • The whoosh sound came back to the introduction in the October 2001 episode.
  • The Tournament of Champions was held in the October 2001 episode.
  • A split-screen for full credit rolls are introduced, with the closing act of an episode on the left, and the credits scrolling up on the right.
  • During the quarter-finals week of the Tournament of Champions, Johnny Gilbert 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.
  • On the November 26, 2001 episode, the old dollar amounts are changed to the current amounts: $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 Trebek mentions the new clue values the monitors make the usual transition: The old Jeopardy! round values are replaced with the Jeopardy! logo as the new Jeopardy! round values pop in.
  • On the December 20, 2001 episode, the Los Angeles Spirit Chorale with Cheryl Farrell performed "Carol of the Bells" during the closing credits, instead of the 2001-2008 theme.
  • On the December 21, 2001 episode, the Los Angeles Spirit Chorale with Cheryl performed "Silent Night", which is coming back from the last commercial break, and the rest of the song is heard for 30 seconds, instead of the "Think" music, after Alex Trebek reads the Final Jeopardy! clue.
  • January 11, 2002 is the real 4,000th episode.
  • On the 4th quarterfinal game of the Teen Tournament, Alex Trebek announced at the beginning of the show that when the 1st 3 contestants play, the other 12 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 4 wildcards spots of high scores among the non winners.
  • On the April 29, 2002 episode, Ben Sternberg sets a new one-day record of $38,400.
  • In the May 2002 episode, the Million Dollars Masters Tournament is held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City to honor the show's 4,000th episode.
  • On the May 15, 2002 episode, the 4,000th episode aired on this date. It consisted entirely of clips from the show's history with no gameplay involved. It also had outtakes, behind the scenes, and commentary from Alex Trebek.
  • Starting on the May 16, 2002 episode, the second-place runner-up receives $2,000 and the third-place runner-up earns $1,000.
  • 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, expect the logo is a blue tint and the Sony Pictures Entertainment byline is smaller and the "TELEVISION" text is changed to "DOMESTIC TELEVISION".
  • Season 18 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 19, 2002.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 22, 2002.

Season 19 (2002-2003)

Season Changes:

  • Starting with this season, Alex Trebek’s wardrobe is removed from the closing credits.
  • At the beginning of this season, Sony Pictures Television took over production of Jeopardy!, and its sister show, Wheel of Fortune. On a dark blue screen, we see bars with orange inside and the text "Sony Pictures Television" appears zooming away slowly. The music is a Christmas style tune composed by Mike Jones.
  • The opening credits were changed to a black background with a lavender color. Next, the show's letters formed the silver Jeopardy! logo at the end. Finally, the Jeopardy! logo then zooms forward, in which the "A" reveals the 1996-2002 set.
  • This season is both the last season to use the 1996-2002 set, and the first season to use the 2002-2009 set.
  • At the beginning of this season, Jeopardy!, and its sister show, Wheel of Fortune are now currently produced by Sony Pictures Television.

This season:

  • Season 19 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 2, 2002.
  • Myron Meyer sets a new one day record of $50,000 on the September 5, 2002 episode.
  • On the September 20, 2002 episode, on the last game of the 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 tie, rather than for the win.
  • Lucky for him, he gave the correct response to the tiebreaker clue.
  • The November 8, 2002 episode marks the last time, the 1996-2002 set was used, so the 2002-2009 set will make its debut on the November 25, 2002 episode.
  • The 2002 College Championship, which is taped in Ohio, and it was aired from November 11, 2002 to November 22, 2002.
  • The Tournament of Champions was held in May 2003 when the champions play for $250,000.
  • On the November 25, 2002 episode, the 2002-2009 set made its debut, and was designed by art director Naomi Slodki. The set consisted of hanging panels with stone-like and metallic-like appearances. The Jeopardy! logo was removed from the set, so the contestant podiums are changed to a trapezoid shaped design. The contestant score displays are changed to LCD 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. The intro shows a time-lapse transition from the 1996-2002 set to the 2002-2009 set.
  • In the January 2003 episode, minor changes are made to the set.
  • Brian Weikle sets a new one-day record of $52,000 on the episode aired April 14, 2003.
  • On the June 19, 2003 episode, John Beck became the last retired 5-time champion.
  • Season 19 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 18, 2003.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 21, 2003.

Season 20 (2003-2004)

Season Changes:

  • The five-day limit is lifted, now contestants can keep appearing on the show as long as they continue to win. Hence, the term "the sky's the limit."
  • Thought of the Day has a unique title card in 2004 and 2014.
  • The opening credits have changed to an orange and blue background, with details of the set visible within it, and the Jeopardy! logo gained a black color scheme. To mark the show's 20th anniversary, a "20th Anniversary" byline is seen in Futura underneath the show's logo.
  • The "DOUBLE" and "FINAL" in Double and Final Jeopardy, as well as the Daily Double text, are changed to Impact; the Daily Double text gained a black color scheme to match the season's title card, while all the rest became red.
  • Starting with this season, the contestant intros were changed to outer box intros.
  • Also, the contestant intro and Final Jeopardy! winnings strips appear slanted, in blue, with black text in a font resembling Helvetica.
  • Lisa Finneran, Rocky Schmidt, and Gary Johnson became senior producers.

This season:

  • Season 20 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 8, 2003.
  • On the December 18, 2003 episode, this episode featured blind contestant, Dave Oberhart.
  • On the January 13, 2004 episode, Tom Walsh became the show's first seven-day champion.
  • Steven Dorfman died of colon cancer on January 4, 2004 at the age of 48. The April 21, 2004 episode is dedicated to him.
  • On the June 2, 2004 episode, Ken Jennings makes his first appearance on the show.
  • For at least the last 30 half-hour episodes of Season 20, the display text for video clues and the Final Jeopardy! thinking period are changed back to Korinna, which remains for the next two seasons.
  • Also, the clue cards themselves changed from smart quotes and custom apostrophes to straight quotes and plain apostrophes, and the category names temporarily changed from Swiss 911 to Helvetica Condensed.
  • Season 20 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 23, 2004, in which Ken Jennings sets a new one-day record of $75,000.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 26, 2004.

Season 21 (2004-2005)

  • Season 21 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 6, 2004.
  • The opening credits have changed to the Jeopardy! logo in gold, which is superimposed over a background in many different shades of blue with cyan Bezier curves in the background.
  • The "DAILY DOUBLE" name and the "DOUBLE" and "FINAL" in Double and Final Jeopardy! again use Impact, as do the words "VIDEO" and "AUDIO" in Video and Audio Daily Doubles; the "DAILY DOUBLE" name now appears in silver, while all the rest remain red.
  • The contestant intros and Final Jeopardy! winnings changed its color to slate blue strips with white borders and white, italicized, shadowed text in Compacta-D.
  • For this season and the next, the category names are switched to Haettenschweiler.
  • This Jeopardy! episode, which is aired on November 24, 2004 has a full closing credit roll; resulting in a rare instance of a large majority of the 2001-2008 theme without saxophones and electric guitars from the first B-major section onward being heard.
  • The Tournament of Champions was held in September 2004.
  • Ken Jennings' winning streak continues until November 30, 2004 when he is beaten by Nancy Zerg, who loses the next day.
  • On the December 1, 2004 episode, Ken Jennings is brought out at the beginning of the show to be recognized for his place in game show history.
  • The Ultimate Tournament of Champions is held from February 2005 to May 2005. Ken Jennings, Jerome Vered, and Brad Rutter face off in the finals.
  • Rutter wins the tournament with a $2,000,000 cash prize, making him the biggest game show money winner at the time; as of today, he is still the biggest money winner on Jeopardy!
  • On the February 23, 2005 episode, this is the first episode where a one-contestant Final Jeopardy! is shown.
  • David Madden made his first appearance on the July 5, 2005 episode.
  • Season 21 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 22, 2005. It also marks the last time that they never used electric guitars, as well as saxophones played during the closing credits.
  • Summer reruns kicks off July 25, 2005.

Season 22 (2005-2006)

  • Season 22 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 12, 2005.
  • The opening credits have changed to a navy-blue background with floating "Q" and "A" letters and many orange, brown, purple, and blue squares moving across the screen, with the Jeopardy! logo again appearing in gold.  
  • This is the last season to have the 1998-2006 KingWorld "Star Shooter" logo.  
  • This is the last season of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune to be broadcast in standard definition television. Starting in Season 23, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune will begin broadcasting in high definition television.  
  • For the "DAILY DOUBLE" and the "FINAL JEOPARDY!" names, the "DOUBLE" and "FINAL" in Double and Final Jeopardy!, the contestant intro and Final Jeopardy! winnings strips and the position strips in the credits are all changed to blue with yellow borders, and the contestant names and winnings counts are written in normal Compacta-D rather than in the italicized version of the font.
  • The "VIDEO" and "AUDIO" in Video and Audio Daily Doubles are now written in yellow script. 
  • Kelly Miyahara and Jon Cannon were introduced as the new clue crew members for the quiz show. 
  • David Madden's win streak ends on the September 19, 2005 episode after winning 19 games.
  • In the first full closing credit roll episode of the season, the background for split-screen closing credits changed to floating Q's and A's in blue, making it to match the background of this season's title card.
  • Starting in the season premiere and continuing until the end of Season 24, the version of the theme with saxophone and electric guitar riffs played during the credits.
  • The Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions was held in May 2006. It was the last time they used a logo different from the regular Jeopardy! logo used as now.
  • By the November 28, 2005 episode, Oxford University Press again provides verification of materials for the show, which it continues to do to this day.
  • On January 6, 2006, Jeopardy! officially launched its YouTube channel.
  • By the January 16, 2006 episode, the audio quality of the show is reasonably modified, making the ticking noise in the Final Jeopardy! "Think!" music sound less audible.
  • Beginning with this season, the set changed its color to red when the lights go dark during the Final Jeopardy! segment.
  • Season 22 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 28, 2006; which is not only the season finale, but it marks the last episode for Jeopardy! to be broadcasted in standard definition television and it was also the last time ever that Enchanted is used on video clues and in the 30-second thinking period of Final Jeopardy!.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 31, 2006.

Season 23 (2006-2007)

Season changes:

  • Both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune began broadcasting in high definition television.
  • Merv Griffin died of prostate cancer on August 12, 2007 at the age of 82. He created two game shows, such as Jeopardy! in 1964, and its sister show Wheel of Fortune in 1975. King World went out of business on August 20, 2007, to become CBS Television Distribution, which currently produced other syndicated shows.
  • This is the last season to be produced by KingWorld, which had been distributed since the first season.
  • The opening credits have changed to a blue starry background, where many photographs are seen throughout before the Jeopardy! logo came into view. When Johnny Gilbert said "This is Jeopardy!", the Jeopardy! logo came into view, and is set on a starry blue and orange background with a grid pattern, with the Jeopardy! logo in blue. Finally, the Jeopardy! logo then zooms forward, in which the "A" reveals the 2002-2009 set.
  • The gameplay round, and Daily Double title cards changed its color to a starry blue background with the text appearing in orange.
  • The contestant intros and Final Jeopardy! winnings strips changes its color to black with white borders, and use Franklin Gothic.
  • Korinna is not used on video clues, as well as in the Final Jeopardy! segments; these are changed back to CG Omega, and continued to use that font to this day.
  • The position labels in the closing credits as well as the copyright notice and the "Created by Merv Griffin" text have their strips removed, and all credits from Executive Producer to Senior Technical Supervisor/Coordinating Producer have their font changed to Helvetica.
  • Lisa Finneran, Rocky Schmidt, and Gary Johnson are promoted to supervising producers.
  • Also, on this episode, which aired on November 6, 2006, Johnny Gilbert is credited as announcer for the first time, and technical supervisor Bob Sofia became associate producer.
  • The set receives a few minor face lifts to accommodate the transition to HDTV.
  • New contestant podiums were added to the set; the contestant podiums were spaced wider apart, so that a camera shot can be trained on a single contestant within a 16:9 ratio frame without showing the other contestants on the sides of the screen.
  • The game board is now consisted of a nearly-seamless projection wall.
  • Also, during the first two weeks of taping, the ring-in lights on the contestant lecterns are in red LED.
  • In the first full closing credit roll episode of the season, the split-screen background changes to a blue star field with light blue bars, one on the top and one on the bottom, with the Sony Pictures Studios credit scrolling to a stop on the center-right.
  • On later full credit rolls of this season, the Sony Pictures Studios credit fades in at the center-right.
  • The last KingWorld logo was used in December 2006, before KingWorld shuts down to become CBS Television Distribution. In this version, the 1998-2006 logo graphic was remade in 3D with a silver trim in the background, the logo text was tilted, and the sky in the background was changed from golden brown to blue and white.
  • The last KingWorld logo, however, does not begin to be used by Jeopardy! until December 25, 2006; even then, it still used the 1998 audio track.

This season:

  • Season 23 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 11, 2006.
  • On the September 22, 2006 episode, the 5,000th episode aired on this date.
  • On the September 25, 2006 episode, the red ring-in lights on the contestant lecterns changed its color to white as they were in the pre-high definition television version of the set due to visibility issues, particularly in standard definition television.
  • The Celebrity Jeopardy! tournament is taped at Radio City Music Hall, and airs from November 8, 2006 to November 21, 2006.
  • On later episodes of this season, the photograph of the Sphinx is changed to a photograph of the Coliseum in Rome, and the unknown statue is changed to a photograph of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France; the elephant and Kremlin photographs were changed to photographs of a tiger, and Stonehenge, respectively; the Kremlin photograph removed the Mount Rushmore photograph, and the volcano photograph is changed to a photograph of a blue butterfly on a leaf; the Great Wall of China removed the Mona Lisa photograph's former position, and the panda photograph is changed to an orangutan; and finally, the photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr. is changed to a photograph of Albert Einstein.
  • On this episode, which aired on March 16, 2007, the first-ever three-way tie for first place occurs with all three contestants winning $16,000.
  • This was the first time, in which two contestants on one previous episode on the April 17, 2006 episode, but returned due to a technical error; Brian Lamb, a former champion, returned on the June 26, 2007 episode and lost a game, and Holly Owens came back on the July 3, 2007 episode and won one game.
  • This is the first and only season where there are two Teen Tournaments occurring in the same season; the first one is in February while the second one is in July.
  • Season 23 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 27, 2007.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 30, 2007.

Season 24 (2007-2008)

Season changes:

  • At the beginning of this season, after KingWorld went out of business, CBS Television Distribution currently produced Jeopardy!, its sister show Wheel of Fortune, and other syndicated shows. The current CBS Television Distribution logo made its first appearance on the September 27, 2007 episode. The CBS Television Distribution logo is now consisted of a blue water background with a blue light and the styled CBS eye with the text reading "CBS Television Distribution" on the right. For the logo's first appearance, the 1998-2006 KingWorld audio cue is still heard; afterwards, it is discarded in favor of CBS Television Distribution's own music cue, a synthesized violin fanfare.
  • This is the last season to have the 2001-2008 theme, and the 1997-2008 "Think!" cue.
  • The opening credits have changed to a bluish-black starry night background and a game board with orange lines forming the Jeopardy! logo as the camera pans around it. After that, the camera pans out as it reveals the completed Jeopardy! logo in gold. Soon after, the game board dissolves as an orange line quickly forms behind the Jeopardy! logo. In the last stretch, the Jeopardy! logo then zooms forward to reveal the 2002-2009 metallic set.
  • At the beginning of this season, Jeopardy!, its sister show, Wheel of Fortune, and other syndicated shows are now currently produced by CBS Television Distribution.
  • The gameplay round title cards are redone to match the season's title card.
  • The "DOUBLE" and "FINAL" in Double and Final Jeopardy! are changed back to Impact; the "DOUBLE" now appears in gold, while the "FINAL" is reverted to a previous red coloration.
  • The contestant intros and Final Jeopardy! winnings indicators are changed to cyan strips with black text in a font resembling Arial, appearing somewhat similar to the ones used in Season 20.
  • The contestant introductions background resembles a blue grid.
  • The split-screen background changes to the same blue starry background in the first full closing credit roll episode of the season, which is the season premiere, and the Sony Pictures Studios credit fades in on the center-right, then the split-screen still cuts back to the full-screen closing sequence.
  • Over three months into the season, the text on the right becomes larger and the Sony Pictures Studios credit fades out after fading in, before the closing sequence zooms back in to fill the screen.
  • Bob Sofia became coordinating producer.

This season:

  • Season 24 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 10, 2007.
    • The season premiere also kicked off with a full credit roll.
  • On the November 13, 2007 episode, during the second semifinal game of the Tournament of Champions, there was a two-way tie at the end of the Final Jeopardy! round in which Christian Haines and Celeste DiNucci both wagered to cover Double Jeopardy! leader Jeff Spoeri by a dollar in Final Jeopardy!. Should he have wagered nothing? However, only Jeff gave an incorrect Final response.
  • Celeste won the Tiebreaker Round and advanced to the finals, ultimately winning the Tournament of Champions.
  • It was the first time since 2001, that the regular Jeopardy! logo each season is used for the Tournament of Champions and has been used since then.
  • The February 1, 2008 episode has one of the longest full closing credit rolls in the show's history.
  • In May, Larissa Kelly became the highest winning female contestant in the show's history, until Julia Collins wins 20 games in Season 30.
  • Season 24 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 25, 2008, which not only marks the season finale, it marks the last time that the 2001-2008 theme, and the 1997-2008 "Think!" cue is used.
  • Summer reruns begin on July 28, 2008.

Season 25 (2008-2009)

Season changes:

  • Only in this season, the dollar figures are already present in the television monitors following the introductions.
  • This is the last season to use the 2002-2009 set.
  • This is the first season to use the 2008-present theme music and "Think!" cue.
  • The opening credits have changed to gold tiles zooming out from the left on a black background, and flipping over to reveal their blue tiles on the right, and a silver Jeopardy! logo pans out. Finally, the Jeopardy! logo then swings forward, in which the "J" reveals the 2002-2009 set. To mark the show's 25th anniversary, a "25th Anniversary" byline is shown under the Jeopardy! logo in a cursive script.
  • The contestant intros and Final Jeopardy! winnings indicators are changed to darker blue strips with white text in Franklin Gothic font.
  • The contestant introductions background appears similar to the one used in Season 24, but curves near the bottom.
  • Starting with this season and continuing to today, the Final Jeopardy! winnings indicators simply fade in; prior to that, various animations were used.
  • The 25th Anniversary logo sometimes appears during the introductions.
  • The whoosh sound is not used from the introduction.
  • In this season only, a champion update, and an Ask Alex segment was shown.
  • On episodes with a full closing credit roll in this season and the next two seasons, the split-screen backdrop is a blue background with a white blob floating around.
  • Starting with this season, the College Championship is no longer taped at a college campus.
  • Due to the Kids Week reunion in September 2008, Jeopardy! decided to hold a Kids Week competition this year in July and continued every year until July 2013.

This season:

  • Season 25 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 8, 2008.
  • A new version of the main theme and the "Think!" music makes its debut, arranged by Chris Bell Music and Sound Design. Originally, the main theme doesn't use an electric guitar lead until halfway through. The "Think!" cue uses prominent percussion, which gives true to its nickname "leaky faucet".
  • During the second week, there is a Kids Week reunion featuring former contestants from Kids Week 1999 and 2000.
  • On October 6, 2008, the Jeopardy! theme is rerecorded to include an electric guitar lead throughout the entire piece. It alternates with the original version until this version replaces the original for good, however, the original version of the new theme still plays during the closing credits to this day.
  • On the October 13, 2008 episode, The "Think" cue is remixed with the "leaky faucet" percussion dialed out and a more prominent piano lead. This and the leaky faucet version alternate with each other until the leaky faucet version gets dropped for good.
  • Priscilla Ball was a Jeopardy! champion on the January 16, 2009 episode. She was due to return as champion on the next show that aired on the January 19, 2009 episode, but felt ill, so that game began with three new contestants, last time they had three new challengers on Jeopardy! on the June 20, 2003 episode, and Alex Trebek announced that she would return as a co-champion at a later date. Priscilla eventually did come back on the April 9, 2009 episode, and made her second appearance.
  • Celebrity Jeopardy! and the Tournament of Champions are taped at the Consumer Electronics Show and aired March 10, 2009 to March 24, 2009.
  • A brand new set is rolled out, featuring Sony's latest technology. The game board is now consisted of 36 HDTV LCD television monitors. The contestant podiums consisted of LCD television monitors on their sides, and the scores on the contestant lecterns are changed to a different font. And there is a giant monitor between Alex Trebek and the contestants that reveals the Jeopardy! logo, as well as the logo of a particular tournament during most of the game.
  • Additionally, the scores are always on a blue background; while positive scores continue to be white text on a blue background, negative scores are now red text.
  • The Final Jeopardy! category is now displayed on the giant monitor between Alex Trebek and the contestants, although both the category and clue continue to be revealed on the board.
  • During the quarterfinals week of the Tournament of Champions at the Consumer Electronics Show, instead of Johnny Gilbert saying, "Here are three former champions." He said, "Here are today's contestants."
  • Season 25 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 24, 2009, which also marks the last appearance of the 2002-2009 set.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 27, 2009.

Season 26 (2009-2010)

Season changes:

  • The new set that was rolled out, when Jeopardy! taped Celebrity Jeopardy! and the Tournament of Champions at the Consumer Electronics Show in Season 25 becomes the permanent set in the studio.
  • This is the first season to use the 2009-2013 set.
  • The opening credits have changed to flying glass panels with a moving Jeopardy! logo underneath. As more panels are flying over, the Jeopardy! logo is shown at different angles. Then the camera pans out to show the Jeopardy! logo, and then two glass doors close and then open to reveal the 2009-2013 set.
  • The game play round title cards feature the "DOUBLE" and "FINAL" in Double and Final Jeopardy! in red, using an unknown font with similarities to Agency FB.
  • The contestant intros and Final Jeopardy! winnings indicators are purple strips with a white text in the same unknown font.
  • At the start of the Jeopardy! segment, the Jeopardy! logo spans the whole game board except in the monitors that reveal the categories.
  • The dollar figures now appear in five television monitors at this time, accompanied by six futuristic bell style musical notes.
  • The closing credits are changed to a new font; shortly after the start of this season, however, the copyright credits are changed to Arial Black.
  • The Tournament of Champions was held in May 2010 one week after the final week of the Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational.

This season:

  • Season 26 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 14, 2009.
  • From September until May, the Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational takes place the third Thursday of each month, where celebrities are competing for 1 million dollars for their favorite charity.
  • On the first week of May, the semifinals and finals of this event are held. Celebrity Jeopardy! was discontinued.
  • Beginning with this episode, which aired on March 15, 2010, the consolation prizes $2,000 for second place, $1,000 for third place begin appearing in the contestant lectern score displays as blue text on a white background.
  • On April 1, 2010, this episode consisted of the April Fools show with cameo appearances by Will Ferrell, Neil Patrick Harris, Jeff Probst, and Pat Sajak.
  • Season 26 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 30, 2010.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on August 2, 2010.
  • For the first time since Season 12, there are no road shows to tape; all 230 half-hour episodes are taped in Culver City.

Season 27 (2010-2011)

Season changes:

  • The opening credits have changed to multicolored glass panels stacking on top of one another which forms the Jeopardy! logo with the camera panning out from the right. As the Jeopardy! logo is completed, blue glass panels above and below the Jeopardy! logo move in from right and left simultaneously. Then the show's logo zooms forward, in which the "A" reveals the 2009-2013 set.
  • The Teachers Tournament is held for the first time in May.
  • During the quarter-finals week of the opening introduction of the Teachers Tournament, Johnny Gilbert introduces the teacher contestants by announcing a brief description followed by their location and name. It looks just like the Kids Week introduction. This would remain in use until Season 29.
  • The color scheme for picture clues and Daily Doubles changed to light blue with tinted horizontal streaked lines.

This season:

  • Season 27 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 13, 2010.
  • On the September 14, 2010 episode, Roger Craig sets a new one-day record of $77,000, surpassing Ken Jennings' previous record of $75,000.
  • On the October 15, 2010 episode, the 6,000th episode aired on this date. It is actually the 5,935th episode, complete with a full closing credit roll.
  • January 14, 2011 is the real 6,000th episode.
  • On the February 14-16, 2011 episodes, the IBM Challenge is held in upstate New York and is a three-day match between the Watson supercomputer, Ken Jennings, and Brad Rutter.
  • On the March 16, 2011 episode, this is the second episode, where only one-contestant Final Jeopardy! is used.
  • Season 27 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 29, 2011.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on August 1, 2011.

Season 28 (2011-2012)

Season changes:

  • The opening credits have changed to two golden doors opening diagonally to reveal a yellow and purple background and a bird's eye view of the Jeopardy! logo seen from the top of the letters. Then there are flying grid and purple and red panels somewhat similar to the Season 26 intro as the background changes its color to red and purple. The camera comes out of its birds eye view to reveal the Jeopardy! logo as the timer lights below the logo go in reverse direction. Finally, the Jeopardy! logo then zooms forward, revealing the 2009-2013 set through the "A" like in Season 27.
  • Alex Trebek walked onto the set from directly behind the game board, instead of through the sliding doors as he is recovering from his Achilles Tendon injury on his right foot. He began standing at his podium throughout the whole game.
  • On the October 24, 2011 episode, Alex Trebek introduces the newly unveiled Jeopardy! Hall of Fame backstage.
  • Beginning with the December 12, 2011 episode, Alex Trebek walked away from his podium on the Jeopardy! set to begin interviewing contestants, and when the Final Jeopardy! "Think!" music plays.
  • Aleve sponsors the consolation prizes beginning the second week of this season; however, it is only seen on regular play.
  • The closing credits are changed again to a different font, which would be in use until Season 33.
  • On the December 14, 2011 episode, 84-year-old Tampa native Shirley Smallwood attends the taping thanks to Jeremy Bloom's Wish of a Lifetime Foundation.
  • On the December 15, 2011 episode, Alex Trebek's wife Jean Trebek, 91-year-old mother Lucille Trebek, and cousin Dolores Trebek from Florida were featured in the audience.
  • The closed captioning sponsored is announced right before the Double Jeopardy! and right after the second commercial break.
  • On episodes with a full closing credit roll, the split-screen backdrop is light blue with glitters.

This season:

  • Season 28 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 19, 2011.
  • During the Tournament of Champions, in November 2011, in the first of the two-day finals, Roger Craig uncovers both Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy! round, wagers all of his winnings on both, and gives correct responses.
  • This was the first time that there were two tournaments in one month. This includes the College Championship, followed by the Teachers Tournament.
  • The weeks of May 7, 2012 and May 14, 2012 are taped at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. May 7, 2012 to May 11, 2012 is the semi-final and final matches of the Teen Tournament, and May 14, 2012 to May 18, 2012 is Power Players Week.
  • On the May 4, 2012 episode, during the last quarterfinal game in the 2012 Teen Tournament, in DJ! leader Gabriela Gonzales wagered $8,000 instead of the minimum necessary $7,001 to cover second-place player Evan Eschliman, who apparently wagered $1,200. So as to have had an even $15,000 had he gotten the correct response in Final Jeopardy!, but ended up with $12,600 after his miss.
  • To her misfortune, Gabriela's score was coincidentally the same after her miss and over wager.
  • Evan buzzed in first with the correct response to advance to the semifinals, whereas Gabriela's score was insufficient to earn her a wildcard spot.
  • On the Teen Tournament Finals Part 2 which aired on the May 11, 2012 episode, Teen Tournament Winner Elyse Mancuso sets the record of $79,600.
  • This is also the first time the winner has won more than $75,000 in the Teen Tournament.
  • As a matter of fact, all three finalists surpass their respective minimum guarantees.
  • Season 28 of Jeopardy! wraps up on August 3, 2012.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on August 6, 2012.

Season 29 (2012-2013)

Season changes:

  • At the start of this season, VITAC acquired its closed captioning sponsorship for Jeopardy!, and its sister show, Wheel of Fortune.
  • This is the last season to use the 2009-2013 set.
  • The opening credits have changed to a circle zooming out, and it shows the categories and the dollar figures from the Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! round segments driving like a road, and it forms a Jeopardy! logo at the end.
  • This is the last season, in which the sliding doors behind Alex Trebek's podium were used on the Jeopardy! set. Starting in Season 30, the sliding doors are out, and the ramp behind the game board is in.

This season:

  • Season 29 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 17, 2012.
  • At the beginning of the season, Alex Trebek announces special online contestant tests for viewers in Cleveland and Cincinnati markets.
  • On the February 7, 2013 episode, all three contestants have zero dollars at the end of the game; the third known instance of this happening, and the first instance of it happening in a tournament semi-final game.
  • The Tournament of Champions was held right after the Teen Tournament.
  • On the July 31, 2013 episode, Skyler Hornback sets the all-time Kids Week record of $66,600, This is also the third highest one-day record behind Ken Jennings and Roger Craig.
  • Just like in Season 26, there are no road shows to tape. All 230 half-hour episodes are taped in Culver City.
  • Season 29 of Jeopardy! wraps up on August 2, 2013, which also marks the last appearance of the 2009-2013 set.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on August 5, 2013.

Season 30 (2013-2014)

Season changes:

  • Although Jeopardy! did not receive a completely new set as it did at the beginning of Season 26, the set underwent a significant remodeling.
  • The 2013-present set was introduced starting with this season.
  • The sliding doors behind Alex Trebek's podium are out, and the ramp behind the game board is in.
  • There are LED borders on the game board; on top of that, there are three LED strips and rectangular LED posts on the sides, which looks just like the ones used on its sister show Wheel of Fortune.
  • Alex Trebek's podium is now consisted of LED strips to match the game board, and for the first time on the current set, it has the Jeopardy! logo especially for the landmark 30th anniversary season.
  • Additionally, the piano key Light Emitting Diodes are out, so the contestant side was raised to create a single level floor.
  • The contestant podiums resemble the 2006 models, while retaining the sideways monitors introduced in 2009.  
  • And the large monitor between Alex Trebek and the contestants are out, and the new one with a thinner frame is in, and this time mounted on a walrus tusk post.
  • The opening credits have changed to red spheres and meandering lines as the camera pans out to reveal a CGI rendering of a globe; the globe intro makes a comeback. The Jeopardy! logo and 30th anniversary zoom out to the center of the screen from top and bottom respectively, and then the logo zooms forward, cutting to the current set through the "A" like in Seasons 27 and 28.
  • The backdrop for picture clues, Daily Doubles, 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.

This season:

  • Season 30 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 16, 2013.
  • A special tournament entitled the Battle of the Decades was held to celebrate the 30th anniversary season of the current syndicated version of the show.
  • 45 contestants who all competed in past Tournament of Champions games were 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. Each qualifying week aired in the winter/spring.
  • The winners of that match competed in the quarter-finals/semi-finals/finals for the grand prize of $1,000,000.
  • On the November 5, 2013 episode, 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 theme, these renditions also play going into and out of commercial breaks.
  • On the December 5, 2013 episode, a marriage proposal happened in the studio audience during the commercial break just before the Double Jeopardy! segment.
  • She actually said "yes" to her fiancee. Congratulations to the couple.
  • On the February 10, 2014 episode, the first game of the College Championship, Sarah Stevens, a sophomore from the University of Delaware from Dover, Delaware, didn't wear any shoes during her appearance on Jeopardy!. She was just shown barefoot during the closing credits.
  • From April 21, 2014 to June 2, 2014, Julia Collins surpasses David Madden for the second-longest winning streak and becomes the show's winning est female contestant after having won 20 games.
  • From January 28, 2014 to March 12, 2014, Arthur Chu's Jeopardy! reign lasted for 11 matches and lost on his 12th game. The television media considered him as the Jeopardy! villain.
  • Again, there are no road shows to tape. All 230 half-hour episodes are taped in Culver City.
  • 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.
  • On the June 13, 2014 episode, Mike Janela of Guinness World Records presented Alex Trebek 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."
  • Due to the Battle of the Decades, the Teen Tournament gets held over until the end of regular play.
  • On the last episode of Season 30, which aired on August 1, 2014, the deciding game match of the 2014 Teen Tournament, in which both final game 2 leader Jeff Xie and final game 1 high scorer Alan Koolik both wagered everything in Final Jeopardy!, both responded correctly, and became tied with two-game totals of $54,200.
  • Jeff buzzed in first with the correct response to win the $75,000 Teen Tournament prize. What a way to end the regular season.
  • This is the last full season with ties allowed.
  • Season 30 of Jeopardy! wraps up on August 1, 2014.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on August 4, 2014.

Season 31 (2014-2015)

  • Season 31 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 15, 2014.
  • The opening credits have changed to a tower with all the dollar figures from the Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! segmnts fading into various photographs on a sky background, with the Jeopardy! logo in gold on top of the tower. Finally, the Jeopardy! logo then zooms forward, in which the "A" reveals the 2013-present set.
  • Alex Trebek regrew his mustache to kick off the 31st Season of Jeopardy!, only for him to have shaved it off on the October 13, 2014 episode.
  • Aimee Seligstein, who played against Julia Collins last season, joined the Jeopardy! staff as a contestant coordinator sometime before the 2014 Tournament of Champions.
  • Around this time, long-time contestant coordinator Robert James took a leave of absence from the show.
  • The closed captioning sponsors includes not one, but two promos; before the Double Jeopardy! round.
  • On November 24, 2014, after the 2014 Tournament of Champions, ties were no longer allowed in regular play. This occurred after ties resulted in co-champions four times in the first two months. As a result, the tiebreaker rule was put into place.
  • This is both the last season with ties allowed and the first season with tiebreaker rule in place.
  • On episodes with a full closing credit roll, the split-screen backdrop is a blue and orange gradient space backdrop.
  • On the February 6, 2015 episode, the 7,000th episode aired on this date.
  • In this season's Teachers Tournament, during the quarter-finals week, Johnny Gilbert introduces the contestants by their occupation, location, and name instead of announcing a brief description, location, and name.
  • For the 1st time this year, the College Championship has been cancelled due to the cancellation of the online test.
  • The same thing went for the Teen Tournament.
  • On the March 12, 2015 episode, there was a one-contestant Final Jeopardy!, in which Kristin Sausville, a stay-at-home mom and wife of Season 27/28 contestant Justin Sausville, wins her 2nd game.
  • Starting this season, the Sony logo appears on a black background, then a light flashes to reveal an edited version of the Sony Pictures Television logo.
  • In May, Celebrity Week is held for the first time in five years.
  • On May 8, 2015, the real 7,000th episode aired.
  • Season 31 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 31, 2015.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on August 3, 2015.

Season 32 (2015-2016)

Season changes:

  • The opening credits have changed to a museum-like maze, where many photographs are passing through before finally finding its place in the Jeopardy! logo at the end. Finally, the Jeopardy! logo then zooms forward, in which the "A" reveals the 2013-present set.
  • After Final Jeopardy!, in the case of a two or three way tie, tiebreakers are now applied into regular play. However, this was established on November 24, 2014, early in Season 31.

This season:

  • On this episode, which aired on December 21, 2015, there are three new contestants for the first time since January 19, 2009.
  • Claudia Corriere, who won her second game on December 18, 2015 was unable to attend the taping session due a job accepted in between tapings, and thus, her third game was put on hold until at least 2016. From this episode until the first one of 2016, Alex Trebek had successful knee surgery but remained at his podium throughout the whole game like he did the first three months of Season 28, due to mobility issues; he didn't walk onto the set during the introductions, but was already at his podium. Alex used a cane for the closing credits.
  • On later episodes of this season, the copyright credits are now in the same font and color scheme as the contestant intro graphics and Final Jeopardy! winnings indicators.
  • The "Created by Merv Griffin" credit is also changed into the color scheme but is still in the same font used since Season 28.
  • This is the first full season with tiebreaker rule in place.

This season:

  • Season 32 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 14, 2015.
  • On the January 18, 2016 episode, all three contestants, one of whom is Claudia Corriere, who returned for her third game, have zero dollars at the end of the game.
  • The semifinals and finals of the Teachers Tournament and Power Players Week are taped at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
  • Season 32 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 29, 2016.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on August 1, 2016.

Season 33 (2016-2017)

Season changes:

  • The opening credits have changed to a water-like museum, where many photographs are shown in glass cubes before finally finding its place in the Jeopardy! logo at the end. Finally, the Jeopardy! logo then zooms forward, in which the "A" reveals the 2013-present set.
  • There is a new sound effect for the dollar figures popping in on the game board. It is also used for Saturday reruns of Season 32.
  • The gray border around the game board is now beveled.
  • The Teen Tournament finals will have $100,000 for 1st place, $50,000 for 2nd place and $25,000 for 3rd place. Eliminated semi-finalists will get $10,000 and eliminated quarter-finalists will get $5,000. It's the same cash payout format since the 2004 College Championship.

This season:

  • Season 33 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 12, 2016. It was the same premiere date 11 years ago in 2005 for the 22nd season of the show.
  • After a 2 season hiatus, the Teen Tournament will be returning to the tournament rotation.
    • For the Teen Tournament on November 9 through November 22, 2016, all shows took place from DAR Constitution Hall in Washington D.C.
  • On the December 13, 2016 episode, Cindy Stowell was one of the contestants the episode was taped on August 31. Stowell died of colon cancer eight days before that episode aired.
  • At the end of the December 21, 2016 episode, Alex Trebek pays a tribute in memory of Cindy Stowell.
  • Season 33 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 28, 2017. It was the same finale date 11 years ago in 2006 for the 22nd season of the show.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 31, 2017.

Season 34 (2017-2018)

Season changes:

  • The opening credits have changed to various items with written responses depending on the episode airs, and with game board designs behind them before switching over to the Jeopardy! logo at the end, also with a game board design behind it. Finally, the Jeopardy! logo then zooms forward, in which the "A" reveals the 2013-present set.
  • This is the last season, in which Alex Trebek is seen without his trademark mustache.
  • The font for the contestant introductions were changed to Helvetica starting with this season.
  • Korinna came back to the closing credits starting with this season.
  • The copyright notice is changed to a header reading "Follow Us", which is accompanied by icons for the social platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, which is changed to the copyright notice after a few seconds.
  • A rule change that started on November 24, 2014, early in season 31, if two or three regular contestants are tied after the Final Jeopardy! round, a tiebreaker clue will be played, if a contestant rings in the correct response, he or she is the champion. This occurred the first time on March 1, 2018.
  • The Tournament of Champions returned in November after two years of absence.
  • The dividers used during Final Jeopardy! are now retractable.
  • Contestants are now standing behind their podiums during the closing credits, just like they did at the beginning of the show starting in Season 17, rather than walking away from their podiums.
  • On later episodes aired Wednesdays and Thursdays, they don't have Johnny Gilbert saying "Promotional consideration provided by" at the end of each episode other than the consolation cash prizes. For other weekdays, Johnny Gilbert says, "Jeopardy! is also brought to you by" following the sponsoring of consolation prizes.

This season:

  • On the October 17, 2017 episode, Manny Abell, a Naval officer from Lacey, Washington wins the game with $1, the second time it happened in Jeopardy! non-tournament history, and first since the January 19, 1993 episode.
  • Austin Rogers, a bartender from New York, New York wins $411,000 as a 12 day champion and was also a finalist in the Tournament of Champions this year.
  • Due to Alex Trebek's brain surgery, the College Championship is delayed until early April.
  • Season 34 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 11, 2017.
  • Season 34 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 27, 2018.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 30, 2018.

Season 35 (2018-2019)

Season changes:

  • Alex Trebek had a full beard, only for a few weeks before he shaved it off on the September 20, 2018 episode.
  • The opening credits have changed to a blue diamond floor zooming out, which is a room full of 3D animations, such as the thinker, molecules, telescope, drama masks, and archive footage, including Alex Trebek's podium from 2006 to 2009, his trademark mustache from 1984 to 2001, and the day where Trebek shaved it off on the September 21, 2001 episode, and the Jeopardy! categories falling into place. The diamond zooms out to reveal a six-pointed star shaped floor with a hexagonal border taking its place, again having various objects, this time a violin, a wagon wheel, a light bulb, and the categories, as well as Alex Trebek's current podium, and the Watson supercomputer from the IBM challenge. Then, another diamond shaped floor zooms out, this time with the Jeopardy! logo, and diamond outlines appear. Finally, the Jeopardy! logo then zooms forward, in which the "A" reveals the 2013-present set. Sometimes, "35th Anniversary" can be seen.
  • The contestant introductions and Final Jeopardy! winners changed again in this season.
  • The Final Jeopardy! commercial bumpers changed this season.
  • The Daily Double, Double Jeopardy!, and Final Jeopardy! graphics changed again in this season.

This season:

  • Kyle Jones wins seven consecutive games from September 12 to September 21, 2018.
  • The Jeopardy! All Star tournament is held from February 20 to March 5, 2019, in which six big-time Jeopardy! champions are invited back and are team captains: Buzzy Cohen, Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, Julia Collins, Colby Burnett, and Austin Rogers.
  • On this episode, which aired on September 20, 2018, Alex Trebek reverted back to its clean shaven look since he shaved it off on the September 21, 2001 episode.
  • On the episode aired January 15, 2019, one of the short-lived music cues used the first month of Season 25 plays at the conclusion of the game.
  • Season 35 of Jeopardy! kicks off on September 10, 2018.
  • Season 35 of Jeopardy! wraps up on July 26, 2019.
  • Summer reruns kicks off on July 29, 2019.

Season 36 (2019-2020)

Coming soon in September 2019.

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