Why? Are you saying the only possible options are
a) grossly unfair to 2/3 of the contestants, to minimize the corrections
or
b) a scrupulously fair complete reboot of the game?
I still say that
c) while it admittedly wouldn’t restore the game to scrupulous fairness, adding one more correction (gasp!) would at least restore integrity and fairness to the score/point totals.
It doesn’t punish them. No one (I assume) is talking about going back to actually deduct money from their balance as though they had answered the clue wrong (which would mean deducting $1,000 if the clue was $500). And the person you think this is unfair to still gets to keep the advantage they held by getting to control the board at that time.
The player you think is being treated unfairly here didn’t ring in fast enough to get the first shot at that clue. But then they got to ring in again even after it was actually answered correctly by the person who did ring in faster. Why on earth should they get to keep that $500?
FYI, an autobiography by Alex Trebek is scheduled for publication on Tuesday, July 21. Here (New York Times paywall warning) is an article about it.
Yesterday, one day after releasing a statement about how well he’s doing, Trebek issued a far less optimistic followup:
Today the 4-week “From the Vault” series of reruns began, with the very first episode from 1984. Really fun to watch.
Most of the questions seemed much easier than they are now, with an insanely simple FJ. (Though possibly somewhat less so at the time, but all three players did get it right.)
It struck me that the pace of play seemed much faster than it is now, yet many more clues were left unread than usual. Have they increased the time allotted per round over the years?
Alex was certainly talking much faster than he does today. I remember watching for the first time in 1984 and thinking “Art Fleming never spoke that fast!”
I’m glad they quit allowing players to ring in while the question was being asked - that was distracting and annoying!
It was signed into law in 1983, but was first celebrated in 1986, (part of the clue), so I don’t think it was insanely simple. I did like how Alex had to figure out himself if their answer was sufficient.
That first show seemed faster - but Alex was talking a lot more - certainly when a contestant was wrong. There were also contestants who rang in early (before the question was read) and then saying nothing - adding to the accumulated time taken. In those days (and the Art Fleming days) - rarely was the board cleared before the commercial break.
(I still remember “Compton’s Pictured Encyclopedia is the source authority for the questions and answers used on ‘Jeopardy’”)
Today they showed the second episode ever. The leader before Final Jeopardy had $9500, and the second-place contestant had $5000. Everybody got the FJ clue wrong. Obviously the leader only should have bet $501, but he bet everything. Everybody finished with $0.
There were a couple moments where two people buzzed in nearly simultaneously, and both podia lit up. Then Alex had to explain who had rung in first.
Funny, I could have sworn that during Alex’s introductory remarks to the first show ever yesterday, he said that was a kink they got worked out after that episode. Then today, when they showed the 2nd episode ever, they were still doing it. So when did they actually stop?
You would think someone smart enough to get on Jeopardy wouldn’t make an illogical Final Jeopardy wager, but I guess in those early days the standards and precedents of the gameplay were still being worked out. That does remind me, though, of how I’ve been surprised, watching more Jeopardy lately, that when the leader has turned the game into a runaway, Alex will sometimes (but not always) point that out before the contestants have made their Final Jeopardy wagers. I would think that in the interests of strict neutrality, the producers would tell him not to do that. While again, anyone who’s gotten that far should be smart enough not to do this, he could at least theoretically be influencing the behavior of someone who might otherwise have pulled a Cliff Clavin!
I too would be interested in knowing why, despite the pace of play seeming much faster in the early days, many more clues were typically left on the board.
It’s been interesting to be reminded of what the show used to look like. I remember well the tension-building prelude to the theme music as the contestants were introduced, and the “beep beep boop boop” sounds as the dollar values were added to the board. Didn’t they continue both of those things until well into the nineties? Come to think of it, when exactly did they switch from having the contestants walk on as Johnny says “now entering the studio are today’s contestants,” to having the contestants already at their podiums at open?
He didn’t have a runaway - $501 is a better bet than going all in, but it isn’t flat out illogical.
I did like at the end where an audience member yelled out “what’s the answer?” the audience has definitely become less involved over the years.
Man, that was a freakin’ Train Wreck tonight!
Can you imagine the outcry if Alex would question gender-roles for occupation these days?
Also, the original version of Jeopardy! aired on-and-off from 1964 to 1979. 1984’s contestants likely had all seen it and were at least somewhat familiar with the rules and strategies, making the 0-0-0 fiasco all the more surprising.
I believe he said they “fixed” it in the second season.
Dunno whether Alex had an extremely late puberty — or perhaps mic quality that was much inferior to what we’re used to — but compared to current episodes he certainly sounds like he whiffed helium during commercial breaks.
People’s voices do change as they get older. I’m sure at 65, I don’t sound the way I did when I was 40. The voices of men and women both get deeper and raspier as they age (especially if they’re smokers).
It’s the way he talks that gets me—so fast and excited. I think it’s due to his having hosted other game shows in the past that were less “prestigious” than Jeopardy! When Art Fleming hosted the show, he gave it a sense of gravitas that was apparent from the beginning (or so I remember).
That’s correct. Awhile ago, Netflix had the first episode of every season of Jeopardy available to watch. Alex specifically announced the change to the practice of ringing in early in the second season premiere, and said that it was done to make it easier for viewers at home to play along.
I think summing up, I would say that in these early episodes, Jeopardy! looked a lot more like a typical game show of that day, and less like the “prestige” game show it’s become over the years. Alex’s faster delivery, the more vocal audience reactions, even the “lovely consolation prizes.” All of those are the kind of thing you would have seen on something like “The Price Is Right” or “Card Sharks” or “Press Your Luck.”
You can tell Alex wasn’t used to the formula, since he didn’t automatically give the right answer when no one got it. Good thing there was no social media in those days–the Jeopardy! Facebook page, had such a thing existed then, would have been arguing for weeks about whether the 20th century started in 1900 or 1901! 
This apparently was common knowledge 100+ years ago. (Or at least it was more common than it is today.) I’ve seen photos of the “official” New Century celebrations (in Washington, I think), and the year written everywhere was 1901.
I suspect there’s a couple factors - 1: More clues, all three contestants are getting a go - probably because there are fewer ‘leading’ clues. 2: More audience reaction. 3: More chatter. Which all adds up to feeling like more is happening, but less actually happening.