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The game shows that have become a staple of UK television — from Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? to The Chase — follow a familiar format: answer questions, win prizes.
However, the long-running US show Jeopardy! does things differently, giving players the answers and inviting them to guess the questions.
Those who take part stand to win thousands, with it all coming down to ‘final Jeopardy’ as those left in the game wager their winnings on getting the correct answer.
If they get it wrong they risk going home empty-handed —as was the case in a resurfaced clip of the show which dates all the way back to 1984.
While the show had already been on the air in some form or another since 1964, it entered syndication in 1984 with Alex Trebek taking over as the new host of the revamped show.
Just two shows into his tenure when, with one round to go, the contestants were faced with the final answer: ‘Calendar date with which the 20th Century began’.
Sounds easy, right? And the trio of contestants, who were on earnings of $1,100, $5,000 and $9,500 respectively, certainly seemed to think so as every one of them wagered all of their money and all gave the same question: ‘What is January 1 1900?’
Except they were all wrong. Which meant they all lost every penny of their winnings. And Trebek seemed just as shocked as they were.
‘I’m at a loss for words, but in a situation like this…hey folks, easy come, easy go!’ he told the viewers.
It wasn’t all bad news for the contestants as they were still given consolation prizes, while Greg, the previous day’s champion, still went home with the $8,400 that he had already bagged.
So, what was the correct question? Give yourselves a pat on the back if you got it right, because it was actually ‘What is January 1 1901?’
By way of an explanation, while 1900 may sound like the start of a new century, the Gregorian calendar we use actually began in the year 1 A.D rather than zero – meaning that the 20th Century ran from January 1, 1901, until December 31, 2000.
Likewise, the third millennium and 21st Century officially began on January 1 2001, while everybody freaked out about the ‘millennium bug’ the previous year.
While those contestants may have crashed out, it’s a different story for one currently taking part in the show, which is still going strong over four decades later under host Ken Jennings.
Current champion Jamie Ding is dominating proceedings, having won 15 consecutive editions of the show.
The law student from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, has so far pocketed an enormous $428,000 and has become one of only 20 ‘super-champions’ – those who win more than 10 shows – in series history.
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