CONCLUSION

the life of a television show is usually short; only a handful last longer than a dozen years. Fashions change and interests evolve. Cast and crew look for new challenges. The familiar becomes too familiar. Audiences constantly chase what is fresh and new.

And then there is Jeopardy!, one of the few exceptions to the rule.

As it enters its thirty-fifth season, it has outlasted nearly all TV shows. It is that rare show for all seasons. Alex Trebek proclaims that, even now, it is a show at the top of its game.

“I think we are in our golden period,” Trebek said. “I don’t think we have started to go down yet, though that may happen at some point.”

He compares Jeopardy! to Meet the Press, the long-running Sunday morning news talk show on NBC.

“We’re just as solid in our appeal, and we are timeless in terms of our material. We’re not a product of the rock-and-roll generation. We’re not a product of the people who love Westerns. We’re not a product of the people who like hard-core dramas. We are universal in our appeal.”

He might add that Jeopardy! diligently searches for new ways to appeal to new generations.

Initially, Trebek recalled, Jeopardy! struggled to find enough women to fill even one-third of the contestant spots. Now, he said, there are more women than men applying to be on the show.

Longtime fans also know that the clues Trebek reads are not their grandfather’s clues.

“We were into harder subjects then,” Trebek recalled. “We’re more into pop culture than we were at the beginning.”

The average contestant is younger than those in the past. At the same time, the average age of the show’s viewers has increased, a phenomenon typical for TV shows fortunate enough to stay on the air for a long time. “We have a great cross section,” Trebek said.

What’s more, he added, Jeopardy! does its best to be inclusive. “If you have a physical disability, we’ll do our best to accommodate you. We’ve had blind contestants. We’ve had contestants in wheelchairs. We’ve had contestants who could barely walk. It doesn’t matter.”

Viewers consider Jeopardy! a constant in their lives, though the show continues to evolve. Sets have been redesigned and new technology has been incorporated into every facet of the program.

“I talk to a lot of people who make the assumption that after thirty-four years on the air, the show takes care of itself. Nothing could be further from the truth,” reflected Grant Loud, promotions director, who has worked at Jeopardy! for more than twenty years.

“Everyone on the team approaches the work as if they were starting on day one,” he said. “Harry [Friedman] sets the direction and the tone. From there, there’s always a better way to frame a clue, host a local event, share a Facebook post. It keeps the show exciting and challenging for us. Hopefully that comes across.”

In its thirty-fifth season, the show continues to drink from the fountain of youth with a thirst that seems unquenchable.

So if the clue is, “It entered its golden age at thirty-five.” The response is, “What is Jeopardy!?”

The host of Jeopardy! for thirty-five years, Alex Trebek!