By Ann von Dehsen, November 19, 2020 — The news of Alex Trebek’s passing brought back memories of the original Jeopardy when Art Fleming was the host and the show looked a lot different. I know this because in 1964 my Girl Scout leader took our troop to a taping in New York City. As I remember it, the 3 contestants each sat at a small desk and the playing board was revealed as a pair of drapes swung open. The money values for Jeopardy went from 10 to 50 dollars and 20 to 100 dollars for Double Jeopardy. I’m pretty sure the windows of the board were operated manually from behind by a stagehand. High tech did not exist in 1964.
Very coincidentally, one of the contestants was from our own small town and whose children many of us had babysat. Being Jersey girls, we clapped and cheered loudly each time she gave the correct question. Having no idea that she now had hometown groupies in the audience, she looked really confused and surprised as we cheered. Our verbal support was ended though when, during the first commercial, Art Fleming climbed the stairs to tell us that this was not the type of show that encouraged cheering and asked us very nicely to please stop. We obliged and quietly enjoyed the rest of the show, although our hometown hero did not win. At the end of taping Art Fleming climbed the stairs again and thanking us for our improved behavior, invited us to stay for the next two tapings.
I think Art Fleming and Alex Trebek were cut from the same cloth. [They were both] gentleman with class, intellect, and kindness and I hope that fabric is still available for the next host.