Merv Griffin's Game Show Jeopardy - Research Paper Example

Jeopardy Table of Contents Introduction Discussion Conclusion Works Cited Introduction This paper is a research undertaking on the debut of theMerv Griffin game show Jeopardy on the television network NBC, with Art Fleming being the pioneer host. The quiz show is touted as the most popular among game shows in television history, with the format being the reverse of a traditional question and answer quiz format, and answers are given to questions that contestants in turn have to provide. Merv Griffin, in partnership with Julann Griffin who was his wife, formulated the game show concept in 1963, and made its debut on NBC on the 30th of March, 1964. Don Pardo was the first announcer, and Art Fleming was the original host. Fleming would go on to host the show from that point all the way to 1974, and would likewise be the host when the show was first syndicated, from 1974 all the way to 1975. When the show returned to NBC to be part of the network’s daytime programming in 1978, Fleming likewise made a return to the show. It is noteworthy that far from the game format becoming stale and obsolete with the passage of time, and the growing prevalence of the Internet and mobile telephony with apps, Jeopardy has remained relevant and vibrant at present, even though Fleming was replaced by the long-standing host Alex Trebek. Trebek has come to represent Jeopardy as its official face especially among the younger set, who was not there for the most part when Fleming hosted the show for those many years in the 60’s and the 1970’s. The identity of the show then can be divided between that of Fleming and the old order that that represented, and the new order of Trebek, who has been witness to Jeopardy’s seeming perennial relevance and popularity, and the small and large changes wrought by history over the years that Trebek has been host (“Jeopardy!”; Associated Press; Thomas; Answers Corporation; Rossen; Prager; TVGameShows.net; Murphy). 2 Discussion It is an understatement to say that Jeopardy’s pioneer show at NBC was a succes, with Fleming as the host. Fleming’s success is measured in terms of the initial success of the game show itself, and the long run of the show under Fleming’s helm, to the point where those who got to know the game first-hand during the show’s first decade came to identify Fleming with the show, in much the same way that those who came in later, at the time of Trebek’s first year as host onwards, have come to identify Trebek as the face of the show. Before there was Trebek in this role there was Fleming, and Griffin himself admitted that a large portion of the show’s early success owes from the large following of Fleming even before the first show aired. Griffin notes that the idea to get Fleming to host the show came to Griffin when he first saw Fleming in a TV commercial for an airline. There the producer noted how Fleming stood out as being in command and possessing just the right looks to be the face of the show, something that was borne out by the unfolding of the show’s history in its early years and the way the crowds warmed up to the unique set of personality traits that Fleming brought with him to the set of the show. It was part affability and part being able to convincingly play the part of an intelligent task master that are said tp have contributed to Fleming fitting in in an excellent way to the show. In the pilot episode most especially, with Fleming’s reputation and celebrity status overshadowing that of Jeopardy’s which was just starting, Griffin and company must have relied very largely on Fleming’s cachet as a celebrity to pull audiences into the show and to give the show the credibility and the elan to draw television audiences and make the pilot show the success that it was to become (Thomas; Associated Press; TVGameShows.net; Murphy). Looking back to the time when Jeopardy made its debut in 1965, it is now hard to imagine that the show would achieve the kind of longevity and success that it had garnered, and even harder to imagine that Fleming’s long tenure at the show would be overshadowed to the point of being forgotten by contemporary crowds who have had an even longer relationship with the show under Trebek’s watch. This may be partly due to the absence of good archival footage of those early Fleming years, save for some random clips that have been salvaged from the film archives of Jeopardy for the 60s and early 70s. That success therefore can only be now extrapolated in the main from the success that the show had garnered from the Trebek era, and from the testimonies and recollections of those who were witnesses to the spectacular success that the show was able to generate from having Fleming as host. As discussed earlier, even Griffin admitted that it was Fleming who was instrumental to the show’s gaining traction when everything was shaky for the show in the early goings. Fleming’s star power was an anchor of stability in the pioneer run and in the early years of the show. Moreover, fond recollections from fans, though rarer with the passing of the years, seem to indicate a level of success for the pilot run from the point of view of fans who were first-hand witness to the arrival of the show as a kind of one of a kind event in the history of American TV programming, outlasting anything that had been on TV from the time of the show’s debut on to the present time. It is true too that from Fleming to Trebek, from that pioneer episode onwards, there have been noted changes in the execution of the show, even as the fundamental format of answer and question and the contestants bidding to ask the right question has been preserved. Then too, the performances of the two faces of the show, Fleming and Trebek, have been analyzed and debated on, with the debate divided between the two as to which better suits the hosting role for Jeopardy! (Thomas; Associated Press; TVGameShows.net; Murphy). Conclusion The pilot show and the first years of Jeopardy! under Fleming’s watch, and with Don Pardo at the announcer role, was arguably made a success certainly by the appealing format of the show and the genius of the format invented by Griffin, but arguably also by the draw of Fleming’s personality and star appeal especially when the show was still establishing a reputation and trying to gain control of its own footing so to speak. Griffin had come up with the winning format, and can also be credited with finding the perfect man to play the hosting role for the show, true, but it was up to Fleming to live up to that role and to make sure that the role was credible and acceptable to the American psyche. One can say that without Fleming the results may have been different, and that Jeopardy’s pilot run would not have met the same kind of success that it did with Fleming in there doing his thing. Meanwhile, it is the perfect confluence of Fleming as host, the show format of Griffin, and the early support of the American audience and the TV network that can be said to have paved the way for the long-term success of the show, extending up to the present day (Thomas; Associated Press; TVGameShows.net; Murphy). 3 Works Cited Answers Corporation. “Jeopardy!”. Answers.com. 2014. Web. 21 April 2014. . Associated Press. “Art Fleming, 70; Original Host of ‘Jeopardy!’ TV Game Show”. Los Angeles Times. 26 April 1995. Web. 21 April 2014. . “Jeopardy!”. AnswerNote. 30 March 2007. Web. 21 April 2014. Murphy, Eliza. “‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Misses an Answer Even Though She’s Wearing It”. ABC News. 17 April 2014. Web. 21 April 2014. Prager, Felice. “Who Was Art Fleming?”. Rewind the Fifties. 2008. Web. 21 April 2014. . Rossen, Jake. “A Brief History of Jeopardy!”. Mental Floss. 2014. Web. 21 April 2014. . Thomas, Robert. “Art Fleming, 70, Television Host Who Gave Polish to ‘Jeopardy!’”. The New York Times. 27 April 1995. Web. 21 April 2014. TVGameShows.net. “4 Forgotten Emcees: A Sad Commentary on Contemporary TV: Art Fleming: Mr. Jeopardy!”. The Game Show Fix. 22 July 2008. Web. 21 April 2014. Read More