This Is Jeopardy! The Story of America’s Favorite Quiz Show

This week, we meet the Clue Crew — the intrepid team that brought Jeopardy! viewers to all reaches of the globe. 

From a nationwide search for talent to secret auditions, learn how four individuals came together, traveled to 300 cities, all 50 states, 45 countries, and seven continents, in the hopes of finding more eye-catching clues for the big blue game board.

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You knew Alex Trebek as the host of Jeopardy! — poised, polished, professional. But what was he like before a curtain call? What about after? Hear about a typical day in the life of Alex, from some of the people who saw him up close and personal when the cameras weren’t rolling.

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In 2011, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter faced off against an unlikely Jeopardy! opponent: the IBM supercomputer known as Watson. The size of 10 refrigerators — Watson was designed to be a “question answering machine” that could take on the likes of Jeopardy!’s fiercest super champs. 

This week, hear about how Jeopardy! became the next frontier for testing the limits of artificial intelligence. Plus, what our human players remember about that fateful match.

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Ken Jennings has another title — one he doesn’t relish: dasher of dreams.

During his historic 2004 run, Jennings defeated 148 opponents on the Jeopardy! stage.

Many of them faded into obscurity as his star rose. In this episode, we hear directly from among the 148 contestants who battled to best him — the “roadkill” that Ken Jennings left in his wake.

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It’s 2004. Up until a year before, Jeopardy! had a rule: contestants could only win five consecutive games. After the fifth win, they had to leave. But now there was no limit, and everyone wanted to know, who would be the first contestant to go the distance? Cue: Ken Jennings, aka “The Professor.” His historic 74-game winning streak, culminating in over $2.5 million dollars in winnings, would permanently change the game by creating a new type of fandom.

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Hair and makeup. Buzzer practice. Lights and cameras. Nerves. Adrenaline. Joy. Disappointment. Follow along in the life of a Jeopardy! contestant as we go behind the scenes on a typical tape day, starting on stage 10 of the Sony lot.

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There are game show hosts, and then there's Alex Trebek. In this episode, we revisit the signature stylings of Jeopardy!’s inimitable quizmaster and his transformation from public figure to icon.

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How did an eight-inch long tube of plastic — Jeopardy!’s famed “signaling device” — become one of the most consequential parts of the game? Some contestants train for the buzzer like they’re training for a marathon. It’s a source of obsession, and sometimes fear — but as Fritz Holznagel says, “The buzzer is your friend.”

In this episode, hear from Holznagel, a former champion who’s studied buzzing timing more than almost anyone, from Matt Amodio, whose buzzer excellence manifested itself in a 38-game streak, and from Michael Harris — the “Enabler” himself, who controls the buzzer from off stage.

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It was 1979 and Jeopardy! was going off the air… again. Merv Griffin had tried to revive it after the original run was canceled. Art Fleming was still at the helm. But daytime soaps were dominating the airwaves and the fate of the quiz show was uncertain.

In 1984, however, a syndication deal brought Jeopardy! back… for a third time! And things were different. There was a new set, a new synthy-sound, and most importantly, a brand new host.

In this episode, we meet the man behind the lectern at the beginning of his Jeopardy! career, Canada’s answer to Dick Clark, the one and only Alex Trebek. And we learn how he and the Jeopardy! revival found their sea legs together.

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Alex Trebek. SNL parodies. A big blue game board. These are some of the things that probably spring to mind when you think about Jeopardy!. But you might not know about a grand jury investigation, a fateful airplane ride, a piano from Marlon Brando, and a little studio inside 30 Rock.

In this episode, we’ll travel back to the 1960s, and learn how one of the biggest television scandals actually led to the creation of America’s favorite quiz show.

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