The All-New Jeopardy! (lost unsold pilot for NBC game show; 1977)

The only available image of the pilot.

Status: Lost

The All-New Jeopardy! is the second iteration of the popular game show Jeopardy!, which premiered on NBC on October 2, 1978. Hosted by Art Fleming, the series lasted for roughly 100 episodes and ended on March 2, 1979. Five years after its one-season run had ended, the franchise was brought back. It has been in syndication ever since, consistently amongst the top-rated TV audiences among all syndicated programs in the United States.

History

In March 1977, an unsold pilot episode for the series was taped and pitched to CBS. The pilot was hosted by Art Fleming, who was both the host for the 1964 series, as well as the host for the eventual 1978 reboot. Announcing was Charlie O’Donnell, who, at the time, was announcing for Wheel of Fortune, a job which he would have until his passing in 2010. The contestants for this pilot are Joan, Stan, and Debbie (last names unknown).

The pilot was similar to the eventual NBC reboot but with various differences. The set was formatted in a way quite similar to the 1978 series and had a similar logo. The first round was unlike anything from the other series, however, as the game started with each contestant having a penalty-less 30 seconds to rummage the board gathering money to start with. After this mini-opening round, the first main round would start, with contestants picking from the remaining clues (in this pilot’s case, 18 clues remained after the rummage portion). After the first round, the contestant in third place was dismissed from play, which is a rule which carried over to the 1978 series.

The “Double Jeopardy!” round was played identically to how it was played in the 1978 reboot, with the contestant in second place at the end of the round getting dismissed. However, the round was cut short due to time constraints (likely due to the mini-round to start the game). The final round, “Super Jeopardy!” (a bingo-type round), was played in a similar way to how it was in the reboot. The main difference between the pilot and the NBC reboot was that the contestant had 90 seconds to make a bingo, as opposed to the “three strikes and you’re out” ruleset which was eventually implemented. Stan, the contestant who made it to the final round, made a bingo within the 90-second time limit and won the $5,000 bonus, ending the episode.

Availability

The pilot is believed to be in the UCLA archives. Only one screenshot from the pilot exists, which comes from the opening sequence and showcases the pilot’s logo. This available screenshot can be sourced back to the website itwasathingontv.com. There is also a second pilot, taped in 1978. Which would end up being the one that was picked up by NBC. Most details about this pilot are unknown and it is also completely lost.

See Also

• Jeopardy! (found unaired pilots of game show; 1983-1984)
• Jeopardy! (partially lost "Barbara Lowe" episodes of quiz show; 1986)
• Jeopardy! (found unaired pilot of NBC game show; 1964)
• Jeopardy! (found episode of quiz show featuring Nickelodeon characters; 2003)