Jeopardy (1984-today)
1984 version:
Money values increase to $100-$500 in round one and $200-$1000 in round two. Six categories in each round.
Only the winner keeps the cash. If there is a tie after Final Jeopardy!, those tying keep their cash, and return on the next show as Co-Champions. If all three players end up with $0 or less, there is no winner, and the next show starts with three new contenders.
Tournaments from the Syndicated (current) run:
Teen Tournament: Fifteen teens from 13-17 play. The five winners from week one advance, as do the four high scoring non-winners.
The players eliminated at this point win $2500 (used to be $1000).
The semi-finals are knockout games, with runners-up taking $5000.
The three Finalists play two games with the money totals added. Third place wins $10,000 (used to be $7500) or their score, whichever
is higher; second place wins $15,000 (used to be $10,000) or their score, and the winner is guaranteed $25,000.(Recently increased to $50,000 and a car.)
College Championship: Same structure and prizes as the Teens, but the winner now gets a car, the Jeopardy! trophy, and the schools of
the Finalists win grant money in the amount that their representative racked up in the Finals.
Seniors Tournament:Open to those over the age of 50, now defunct. Same as the other tournaments, with no added prizes.
Celebrity Jeopardy!Fifteen celebrities play in five games. $10,000 is the guarantee for each player, but the champion has their total doubled.
Recently, it has changed to the winner getting a $5000 bonus. Under the old rules, Ed Asner was tops with $35,000; and by the new rules, Mark McEwen is on top
with $26,200.
When Jeopardy! became a sponsor of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, they decided to add an International Tournament to the mix.
Nine champions, each from their respective countries' Jeopardy!, participated in the games. All contestants had to pass an English examination. Ryan Holznagel represented
the U.S. in the first tournament, and Gay Molette represented us in the second. Michael Daunt, a ToC finalist, won $35,000 in the second International Tournament. The games
were just like the second week of Jeopardy!'s tournaments, with a minimum of $25,000 guaranteed.
Super Jeopardy!
Monopoly was coming to ABC Saturday primetime, and Merv wanted something to go with. Jeopardy! had been looking into a Super Tournament for some time. So they did. 27 players from the past six years were sent invitations to compete. Merv said, "Wait a minute, two of my big winners weren't invited. I'd like them to play." Thus Frank Spangenburg, Bob Blake and Tom Cubbage were invited. Now, 36 players were in nine quarter-final matches. Categories had values from 200-1000 points in round one, and 500-2500 in round two. After Final Jeopardy!, only the top winner moved on, the losers got $5,000. With four players, not very hard material and the best players at work, several very good players were eliminated early. In the semi-finals, three players competed. The two losers got $10,000, the three champs competed in the Week 13 final. The third place player (who wound up in the hole, amazingly) won $25,000. Second place won $50,000, and the champ $250,000.
The Million Dollar Masters Tournament
In May 2002, Jeopardy broadcast shows from Radio City Music Hall over three weeks, two weeks of them being the tournament named above. Memorable players from the past 18 years were invited back, such as uberchamp Chuck Forrest (who held the five-day winnings record of $72,800 for over four years), Teen Reunion champ Eric Newhouse, record-setter Frank Spangenburg ($102,597) the legally blind five-timer Eddie Timanus, ToC champions Bob Verini, Robin Carroll, and Brad Rutter. The play was just like any other tournament. Quarter-finals losers collected $10,000 (including Spangenburg and Timanus, who went out swinging on a Hail Mary Daily Double that backfired). Semi-final losers (including Forrest and famous loser Bob Harris, who won $200,000 on Super Greed) won $25,000. The third place player got $50,000; second place $100,000; and the champion won $1,000,000; the largest prize given away by Jeopardy! to this day, and the largest sum given away to a single player on a syndicated game or quiz show.
Rules Changes:
With the beginning of the 1996-1997 season, five-day champions won a car as a bonus prize. Dan Melia (who wound up winning the tournament) won $75,600 and a Corvette). Champions could choose from the Corvette, a Chevy Tahoe, and a pair of Camaros. Season 19 gave the players a new Jaguar.
Toward the end of season 18, the dollar values for clues on the board doubled to $200-$1,000 in round one, and $400-$2,000 in round two. Myron Meyer set the new record with a $50,000 victory, only to have it eclipsed by Brian Weikle, who won $52,000 in one game, and $149,600 and a car in five days.
Starting with the 2002-2003 season, the winner of the annual Tournament of Champions will collect $250,000; second place $50,000 and third $25,000,
The premiere of Season 20 brought another significant rule change, titled "The Sky's The Limit." Champions now can play as long as they keep on winning, with no five day cap, and no car given away for five-day champs. Sean Ryan was the first to come back after a fifth win, and won $123,797 over six days, along with the $2,000 consolation prize for second place.
That record was broken by Tom Walsh, with $184,900 over eight days, then famously by Ken Jennings, who won $2,522,700 over 74 victories and the $2,000 consolation prize.