‘Jeopardy!’ Celebrates ‘JeoparDAY!’ With This Special Nod to Alex Trebek
Though Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik are both stellar guest hosts on Jeopardy!, viewers still mourn the loss of game show legend Alex Trebek, who died in November 2020. With March 30 being the 58th birthday of Jeopardy!, producers are celebrating JeoparDAY! which gives fans the opportunity to take the Anytime Test – literally any time on this one day – to attempt a spot on the show while honoring Trebek’s legacy.
‘JeoparDAY!’ marks the game show’s 58th birthday
Executive Producer Michael Davies took to Jeopardy!’s website to explain how the game show got its original start 58 years ago.
“Jeopardy! was born March 30, 1964, when the first-ever episode aired at 11:30 a.m. on NBC,” Davies wrote on Jeopardy.com. “The birth parents were Merv and Julann Griffin and attending was Art Fleming. The NBC daytime version of the show (which ran until 1975) paved the way for the current syndicated program that debuted in 1984.”
Davies promises Jeopardy! viewers that JeoparDAY! will now be an annual celebration in honor of the game show’s continued legacy.
“Jeopardy! has never celebrated its birthday before, and we have decided to change that,” Davies remarked. “So, we’re going to celebrate the show’s 58th birthday with JeoparDAY! on March 30, 2022, and we plan to continue the tradition every year moving forward.”
Alex Trebek Fund will receive ‘JeoparDAY!’ donations
Aspiring contestants are permitted to take Jeopardy!‘s Anytime Test once per year. In celebration of JeoparDAY!, fans are invited take a crack at the test on March 30, even if they have already attempted it within the past year. Jeopardy! is contributing a specific amount of proceeds in honor of the late game show icon. Davies added some information on a special viewing opportunity as well.
“The show will donate $5.80 each for the first 10,000 tests to the Alex Trebek Fund at Stand Up to Cancer,” Davies wrote. “We hope you’ll join in the celebration, including the watch party we’re hosting on our YouTube channel on March 30, 2022 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. We’ll be showing the unaired pilot from 1964!”
The dollar amount of the donations is reflective of the show’s 58th birthday. Jeopardy!’s website also highlights an interview with Mary Cabell Eubanks, the very first winner of the game show that aired on March 30, 1964. Eubanks raked in a jackpot of $345.
‘Jeopardy!’ GOAT honored Alex Trebek on his first day guest hosting
Jennings was the first to take over Jeopardy!’s legendary lectern after Trebek’s passing. Addressing viewers on Jan. 11, 2021, the Jeopardy! GOAT paid tribute to the late television icon.
“Sharing the stage with Alex Trebek was one of the greatest honors of my life,” Jennings said on the air. “Not many things in life are perfect, but Alex did this job pretty much perfectly for more than 36 years, and it was even better up close. We were dazzled by his intelligence, his charm, his grace — really, there’s no other word for it.”
He added, “Like all Jeopardy! fans, I miss Alex very much and I thank him for everything he did for all of us. Let’s be totally clear. No one will ever replace the great Alex Trebek, but we can honor him by playing the game he loved.”
