Jeopardy!, the American television game show, has been portrayed and parodied in many works of fiction over the years, and has made many lasting marks on society. From television shows and movies, to theme park attractions and literature, the series has had an indelible impact on popular culture.
References to the original series
In movies
The original Jeopardy! has been referenced in movies multiple times since it returned to television in 1984. According to the Internet Movie Database, the only movie reference to the Art Fleming era was a spoof in the movie Airplane II: The Sequel (1982).
In music
- I Lost on Jeopardy
"Weird Al" Yankovic wrote and performed a song called "I Lost on Jeopardy", a parody of "Jeopardy!" by the Greg Kihn Band. The original, found on the Greg Kihn Band's 1983 album Kihnspiracy , was a love song unrelated to the show ("Our love's in jeopardy, baby"). The parody details Al's purported appearance on the Art Fleming edition of the show, including his extraordinarily poor performance and the resulting embarrassment. Don Pardo, the original announcer for the show, provided a voiceover explaining what Al didn't win. A music video was also produced for this song, which featured a close replica of the Fleming-era set, as well as appearances by Fleming and Pardo.
References to the current series
On television
- Cheers
The episode What is... Cliff Clavin? (January 18, 1990) depicted the character Cliff Clavin (a noted trivia buff) making it onto the show. Cliff does very well, but becomes foolishly over-confident in "Final Jeopardy!", and is forced to give an embarrassingly inexact response ("Who are three people who have never been in my kitchen?") when he finds he doesn't know the correct response. Trebek said "Cliff, unless you've done something incredibly stupid like wagering everything, you've won". At this point, Cliff's face shows that he had done just that. Clavin actually would have won if he had wagered nothing in Final Jeopardy! because he had been in a "runaway" situation (having more than twice his nearest opponent's total, making it impossible for them to catch him). Instead, he wagered everything and lost. Trebek visits the bar later in the episode, unaware that it is Clavin's favorite hangout, and makes a deft apology to Cliff while rebuffing his suggestion that he be allowed a return appearance on the show.
Agnes Borsic (Audrey Lowell ) and Milford Reynolds (William A. Porter ) were Cliff's opponents.
After this episode of Cheers aired, Trebek made several references on Jeopardy! to the possibility that a contestant in a runaway situation might "pull a Cliff Clavin." The game show also ran a category called "People who have never been in my kitchen".
Voters at TV Tome have ranked it the series' best episode.
- Saturday Night Live
Several parodies of the show have appeared. One version, aired in 1976, posited a futuristic "Jeopardy! 1999", with Steve Martin appearing as the host, named Art F-114 (after Art Fleming). The series also aired numerous sketches based on Celebrity Jeopardy!, with Alex Trebek played by Will Ferrell and featuring depictions of contestants such as Sean Connery, Burt Reynolds, and French Stewart. SNL's Celebrity Jeopardy! parody centered around the perception (and sometime reality) that this special edition of the show is dumbed-down for celebrities.
See the article entitled Celebrity Jeopardy!.
- Animaniacs
A gameshow segment called Gyp-parody, features a final question, which was to list all fifty US states, and their capitals. Wakko responds with Wakko's America (sung to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw"), but loses in the end, as it is not in the form of a question. See also Pinky and the Brain.
- Arthur
The episode Arthur and the Big Riddle features Arthur appearing on a game show, hosted by Alex Lebek (voiced by Alex Trebek). The episode first aired February 11, 2000.
- Beavis and Butt-head
A spoof of a Jeopardy! episode is seen in one episode. A clue is heard that says, Doctors say that people need one of these once a year, to which Beavis responds, What is a shower?.
- Beverly Hills 90210
Alex Trebek appears in the episode Double Jeopardy, first aired March 29, 1995.
- Family Guy
Peter appears on the gameshow in the episode Brian: Portrait of a Dog. He continually gives the response "Diarrhea".
- Futurama
Set in the 31st century, the show regularly features 20th century celebrities as preserved heads, depicted Jeopardy! as a still-running television show, hosted by the head of Alex Trebek.
- The Golden Girls
A 1992 episode entitled "Questions and Answers" features Dorothy auditioning for the show. In a dream sequence, she is a contestant on the show, and went up against naïve roommate Rose and freeloading neighbor Charlie (from the spinoff series Empty Nest); the Final Jeopardy! answer said "This man is buried in Grant's Tomb." Rose answers "Who is Cary Grant?", Charlie draws a stick figure of a man, and Dorothy answers it correctly. Rose wins, to which Dorothy objects. Merv Griffin comes onto the set to claim that he can say that Cary Grant is buried in Grant's Tomb if he wishes.
- Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi
The Jeopardy! think music is heard on the episode Talent Suckers, after Ami asks, "What did the Talent Suckers steal?". It is also featured in the episode "Dis-Harmony".
- History Bites
This Canadian historical sketch comedy frequently features a parody of Jeopardy! as a way of providing trivia about the time period in question. Series regular Ron Pardo imitates Alex Trebek's voice but is never seen. In most of the sketches the contestants consist of a woman who knows all the answers, Timmy (the village idiot) and usually Leonard, who tries to sound a lot smarter than Timmy but is really just as stupid. One particular variation on this theme was in an episode on the Spanish Inquisition where the show was used to test conversos on their "new found" faith under threat of torture.
- Mama's Family
The episode "Mama on Jeopardy" featured Thelma Harper (Vicki Lawrence) competing on the show. In her usual style, most of her screen time was spent criticizing the other contestants. After barely making it to the Final Jeopardy! round and getting the question wrong, she came in second place with a score of $1. Her disappointment didn't last long, however, as her consolation prize was a trip to Hawaii, a place she'd always wanted to visit.
- Monk
The 2004 episode "Mr. Monk and the Game Show" was about detective Adrian Monk's investigation of a game show scandal, as well as his experience as a contestant. The fictional game show, called Treasure Chest, was a parody of both Jeopardy! and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Additionally, it featured a seemingly unbeatable returning champion, so it may also have been intended to parody Ken Jennings' famous long-running Jeopardy! streak.
- Pinky and the Brain
In another episode, the mouse pair Pinky and the Brain go on Gyp-parody in an attempt to win enough money to realize Brain's constant dream of world domination. As in every episode, they didn't succeed. Brain's missed answer came in Final Jeopardy!, where it referred to Ralph Kramden's catchphrase on The Honeymooners, ironically the very catchphrase Pinky had been annoying Brain with for the entire episode. Even though Brain's name was clearly spelt B R A I N on his podium, everyone called him Brian.
- Rugrats
The episode "Game Show Didi" featured a Jeopardy! parody. The episode was about Didi Pickles' experience on a game show called Super Stumpers, which bore a resemblance to Jeopardy! Alex Trebek guest-voiced on the episode as the show's host, humorously named Alan Quebec. The parody was most evident when Didi rang in with the answer, "What is a torque wrench?", to which Alan replied, "Very good. And Didi, you don't have to phrase your answer in the form of a question."
- Seinfeld
The game show played a role in at least two episodes of Seinfeld. In the episode "The Virgin", Jeopardy! is one of the shows that Kramer watches at Jerry's apartment while he is without his own TV. Throughout a scene of dialogue between other characters, Kramer repeatedly interjects with correct responses to Jeopardy!, which humorously belies the perception of him as dim. In the episode "The Abstinence", George almost absent mindedly gives correct answers to Jeopardy! questions while he is busy solving a Rubik's Cube. Normally George would not be bright enough to answer the questions or solve the puzzle, but his mental accuity was sharpened considerably during a period of abstinence forced by his girlfriend's suspected mononucleosis.
- The Simpsons
The episode "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" featured a parody where Marge Simpson goes on Jeopardy! to earn money for her struggling family (they spent $15,000 from the whole town after they were apparently robbed, but after Bart told the truth, the town demanded their money back). Instead, Marge loses in spectacular fashion, with a final score of -$5,200. After the show, Alex Trebek has two "judges" attempt to collect the money from Marge, but the family is able to escape.
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Jay Leno is host to parodies of Jeopardy! Celebrity contestants (impersonated by other actors) have included George W. Bush, SpongeBob SquarePants (played by Gilbert Gottfried in the skit).
- Other game shows
In addition, the format of Jeopardy! – in which contestants must respond in the form of a question – has occasionally had humorous effects on other game shows, when contestants have sometimes instinctively (and unnecessarily) given responses in this manner. One such show was Win Ben Stein's Money, which featured a similar three-contestant format and trivia questions; the occurrence of contestants reflexively answering in the form of a question became common enough that host Ben Stein routinely laughed off the first time a contestant did it, but became increasingly astonished when the occasional player seemed unable to answer in any other manner, sometimes jokingly throwing objects at the offender. Eventually, the poor offender would be forced to wear a dunce cap for the duration of the round.
In movies
- Finding Forrester
The movie features a segment where Sean Connery's character watches Jeopardy! with his friend. This scene is a tongue-in-cheek reference at Saturday Night Live's Celebrity Jeopardy which features an actor playing Sean Connery.
- Groundhog Day
This movie, about weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) caught in a one-day time loop, featured a Jeopardy! scene. Phil, after reliving the same day (and watching the same Jeopardy! episode) numerous times, had memorized the questions and impressed his fellow inn guests with his perfect knowledge of obscure North American lakes.
- Jury Duty
Pauly Shore movie. The main character's dog is obsessed with Jeopardy! In one scene, the Final Jeopardy! category was Poland.
- Little Nicky (2000)
Two angels are discussing God's brainpower comment; one says "God is so smart!", the second replies "Like Jeopardy smart!"
- Men in Black
When Men in Black agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) inspect the site of a meteor crash, K's scanner lights up green. When K asks J what that means, J sarcastically jokes that he saw that answer on Jeopardy! last night.
- Rain Man
Raymond Babbitt (Dustin Hoffman) was an autistic man who always had to watch Jeopardy! at 5:00 and got nervous if he thought he was going to miss it.
- Truth or Consequences, N.M.
A Kiefer Sutherland movie.
- White Men Can't Jump
Gloria Clemente (Rosie Perez) tries out for Jeopardy!, and wins on the show.
- The show is also featured in the movies
- It is spoofed in the movies
- The Joe Piscopo Video (1985 video release)
- Nightmare at Noon (1988)
- Career Opportunities (1991)
- Spy Hard (1996)
- Half Baked (1998)
- Inspector Gadget (1999)
- Bring It On (2000)
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
- Scary Movie 3 (2003)
- Other references appear in
- Spies Like Us (1985)
- Running Scared (1986)
- The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
- Lethal Weapon (1987)
- Die Hard (1988)
- Dying Young (1991)
- Brother's Keeper (1992)
- Boris and Natasha (1992)
- Breaking the Rules (1992)
- Another Stakeout (1993)
- Short Cuts (1993)
- The Santa Clause (1994)
- French Kiss (1995)
- Batman Forever (1995)
- The Prosecutors (1996 TV movie)
- DNA (1997/I)
- The Postman (1997)
- Sliding Doors (1998)
- Twilight (1998)
- Analyze This (1999)
- Random Hearts (1999)
- Scalpers (2000)
- The Princess Diaries (2001)
- Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal (2003 TV movie)
- S.W.A.T. (2003)
In literature
- Little Expressionless Animals
A short story by David Foster Wallace revolving around a woman who wins Jeopardy! every day in succession for an entire year. The story got an extra boost of recognition when the media parallel it with record-holding contestant Ken Jennings, during his 75-episode appearance.
- The Moving Finger
A short story by Stephen King, found in the collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes, about a man who spends all his days watching Jeopardy!, lamenting what he perceives as the stupidity of the contestants, since he himself always gets the answers right before the contestants answer. His TV watching is interrupted by the eponymous finger, emerging from the drain of his bathroom sink. Jeopardy! plays in the background throughout the story.
In theme park attractions
- Ellen's Energy Adventure at Epcot in Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida
Ellen Degeneres dreams that she is a contestant on an episode of Jeopardy! where all the categories are about sources of energy. Ellen's co-contestants are Jamie Lee Curtis and Albert Einstein. After she gets trounced in the first round, Bill Nye intervenes and takes her on a tour of many different sources of energy while explaining their benefits and drawbacks, allowing her to rally in the second half of the game. [1]
In television advertisements
- Holiday Inn Express
Aired in 2004, this ad features a very foolish-looking man competing on the show, and he tells Alex that he is starting the seventh grade. Nonetheless, he is winning hands down over the other two contestants, and remarks to Alex that "I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night," which Holiday Inn markets as something that "smart" people do. The 30-second ad was filmed in the Jeopardy! studio, with Alex Trebek hosting.
- Taco Bell
Near the start of the Taco Bell chihuahua ad campaign, the chihuahua is walking through an apartment and pauses to 'question' a Jeopardy answer: "What is a logarithm?"
Use of the format for education
The format of Jeopardy! has become a popular way for teachers to informally test their students knowledge of a subject, or multiple subjects. It also is widely used by students as a presentation format. Schlessinger Media has actually liscenced the Jeopardy! brand, creating a computer based system for Jeopardy games. [2]
In fact, of Google's Top 10 result for the word "Jeopardy" (as of January 13, 2005), four of them are educationally-based. Within this section alone, the topics range from decimals and whole numbers, to psychology (University of Northern Iowa), and the library science (University of Maryland).
References
