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Jeopardy! - Then & Now

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rebelwrest:

--- Quote from: SuperMatch93 on July 28, 2020, 05:11:29 PM ---Years ago when I first saw the premiere at the Museum of Broadcast Communications here in Chicago, and having not known about the old rules for buzzing in, it was distracting for me as a viewer and made it more difficult to play along, so on that basis I would say it was a good idea to change them. They were signaling so quick that at first I thought the buzz-in sound effect was for revealing the clue.

--- End quote ---

They ended up removing the buzz in sound during the first season.  Here's an episode from March of 1985 now with the more familiar Daily Double sound effect:

calliaume:

--- Quote from: JasonA1 on July 28, 2020, 04:36:52 PM ---re: #1, for myself, I think whatever benefit those rules had got chucked out the window once only the winner kept their cash. Checking a 1974 episode on YouTube, the players seemed to buzz-in at a point they could speed-read enough of the answer to want to ring in. On the 1984 episodes we were treated to, they were buzzing in right at the reveal.

--- End quote ---
There were a few episodes by the end of the 1964-75 Fleming run where they were buzzing in at the reveal as well--I guess the logic was that if you knew enough about the category, you could think through the answer while Art was reading the question. On a personal note, I remember this because a few months later, I was in a Krypto (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krypto_(game)) championship--7th grade vs. 8th grade--and we did the exact same thing.

But honestly, that didn't make for a very good game for either Jeopardy or Krypto.

TLEberle:
To part one that Curt alluded to--every time a contestant moves his or her thumb it's an implicit bet that he or she will be able to come up with the correct question. It's just that sometimes the bet is effectively blind. Really when it's the top of the board I can understand it. (It's less frustrating than watching at home when my Dad would shout the questions while the clue was still on-screen and rarely in the form of a question. Harrumph.)

As to whether it was a benefit--I think that the best thing Jeopardy did in that interlude to make the show watchable at home is to move the buzzer race to one against the Go Lights. Watching these shows as a near-40-year-old rather than of single digits it is much more gratifying to be able to come up with the correct questions, but also knowing that I don't have to win the buzzer race because most of the time I can read faster than Alex can speak.

PYLdude:

--- Quote from: TLEberle on July 30, 2020, 12:33:08 AM --- (It's less frustrating than watching at home when my Dad would shout the questions while the clue was still on-screen and rarely in the form of a question. Harrumph.)
--- End quote ---

You’d hate watching with me then. Not so much for the former instance but the latter. (Never really did answer in question form unless I had to, either playing the board game or trying out.)

Neumms:
1. I've felt the rule change made reflexes weigh too heavily over knowledge. You're reacting to the light on the board rather than the light bulb in your brain. But seeing the statistic on first-season runaways, yeah, the change worked out.

2. I'm one of those who liked that they didn't clear the board. Another way they've sped up: starting Double Jeopardy sooner after the commercial.

One more note: They shouldn't have scrapped the original think music. That was charmingly retro, a really cool choice when they modernized so much else. The redone version was dated the moment they introduced it, as is the syrupy rather than dramatic theme.

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