Today’s Almanac-March 30, 2010-Part 2
And speaking of Holy Days, geeks everywhere are celebrating the first presentation of Jeapardy! on March 30, 1964. The game show went a long way to making creator erstwhile big band boy singer and TV impresario Merv Griffin one of the richest men in show business. According to Griffin, he was bemoaning the lack of smart question and answer game shows in the aftermath of the quiz show scandals of the ‘50’s. His wife suggested instead of asking questions, why not give the answers and have the contestants figure out the questions? It was such a good idea that he sold it to NBC without even producing the customary pilot. Griffin picked Art Fleming, a strapping 6’4” former college football player and World War II Navy dive bomber pilot to host the show. Fleming had experience as a radio announcer, TV pitchman-he intoned the famous “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should”-and middling actor, but had never hosted a game show. He was a natural, both warm and authoritative. Fleming he never missed a show taping on his watch, which included the NBC daily run from 1964 to 1975, a weekly syndicated version in ’74 and ’75, and a brief revival in ’78-’79. While the show went off the air for a while, Griffin was constantly asked when it would come back. In 1984 he launched a new daily syndicated version hosted by Canadian Alex Trebek, a handsome host with long experience as a game show emcee on both sides of the border. Jeapardy! became one of the most successful syndicated programs of all time and is still in production with Trebek as host. Over the years the famous answer board has become more high tech and the set glitzier. But the answers are still challenging lots of geniuses-on-the-couch, each of whom believes he could become another Ken Jennings if only he could somehow get on the show and master the thumb buzzer. And now your Final Jeopardy Answer is: Brad Rutter. You have thirty seconds. Make sure your response is in the form of a question.