The Jeopardy! Sets

These pictures go back a few years. These are shots from the original, classic version of Jeopardy! that aired from 1964-1975 on NBC daytime, hosted by the late, great Art Fleming. Here we see the contestants' sitting area.

In 1978, a few years after the cancellation of the original program, a new daytime version appeared, again with host Art Fleming. It only lasted one season, though, and was pretty lame in comparison to all the other incarnations.

Taken from the first episode, and lasted for the entire first season (1984-85). Although you can't tell from this photo, the red letters are actually lit by a series of neon vertical stripes. The category headings are on printed cards surrounded by red neon. The space in between each clue monitor was filled by a red glitter.

The second season (1985-86) set, in the player area. The overall set is the same as the third season set (below), except that the JEOPARDY! letters are white instead of gold. The category heading neon changed from red to blue.

The third season (1986-87) colors that remained unchanged for a long time. Really only the JEOPARDY! letters changed; plus, an additional set was added just off-stage for the contestant entrance. Towards the end of this set, the category headings changed from surrounding neon to a blue backlight.

And yes, the 'A' does light up; it just wasn't on when I captured the image.

The Super Jeopardy! set from 1990. Basically the same set except that the floor was much more shiny. Oh, and there were four podiums for the quarterfinals :)

The shiny set introduced at the beginning of the 1991-92 season. Very different: the shiny floor became permanent, the wicker frames all around, plus the video wall (probably as a result of the brief competitor The Challengers), which also included monitors for the category headings. Plus the neon letters can light up in red, white, and blue.

The set from the Swedish version of Jeopardy!, used during the 2nd International Tournament.

Another view from the 2nd International Tournament, this time of the contestant's area. The most annoying thing about these shows were the buzzers; they pressed down on large horizontal bars, and when done repetitively, it made a sound that couldn't be ignored.

The sushi bar set (not my term, folks) introduced early in the 1996-97 season (just before the Celebrity Tournament / Tournament of Champions month). The electronic look is gone, and a more "homey" feel replaces it. Gone is all the neon, including those huge JEOPARDY! letters; now the show's title is emblazoned on sliding doors.

I've been to one taping at this set, and I must say, it's very impressive in person.

The set from the first ever remote, the 1997-98 Teen Tournament from Washington, D.C. That's champion Sahir Islam standing at the champion's podium.

This set was only used for the semifinals and finals of that tournament. The following week, though, they remained in Washington for a special Celebrity Tournament, called the Power Players week.

In my opinion, this is one of the classiest sets I've ever seen.

The set from the 1998 College Tournament, Zellerbach Hall on the campus of UC Berkeley.

1998's Teen Reunion Tournament and one week of shows were taped from the Wang Center for the Performing Arts, in Boston, Massachusetts.