Celebrity Jeopardy!

Celebrity "Jeopardy!" is a special edition of the television game show "Jeopardy!", featuring celebrities as "Jeopardy!" contestants who play for charitable organizations of their choosing (or, in the cases of public officials, relevant charities chosen by "Jeopardy!"). While exceptions exist (see full listing below), celebrity games have by tradition been broadcast annually as a weeklong event, and on occasion have been called Power Players Week (featuring personalities in politics and journalism).

Each player is guaranteed a minimum winnings amount to distribute to his or her charities, and with a higher guaranteed amount going to each game's winner.

Unlike in regular play, in which a player finishing the Double Jeopardy! Round with a zero or negative score is disqualified from playing Final Jeopardy!, any such player in a celebrity match is granted a nominal score with which to wager for Final Jeopardy!

More recent Celebrity "Jeopardy!" episodes feature category names that are puns on the celebrity contestants' names and/or works. For example, in a 2006 episode featuring Curt Schilling, Jane Kaczmarek, and Doug Savant, three of the categories were SHILLING, MALCOLM X IN THE MIDDLE, and SAVANTS. [cite web | url=http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=1364 | title=J! Archive - Show #5099, aired 2006-11-09 | accessdate=2006-11-21 ]

The 2009 Celebrity Jeopardy! competition will be held on the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Origins in the Fleming era

The tradition of celebrity matches dates back to the Art Fleming days of "Jeopardy!" in the 1960s, with appearances by such notable names as Rod Serling, and, for the 2,000th show, Mel Brooks in character as the 2000 Year Old Man. [cite book | last = Fleming | first = Art | authorlink = Art Fleming | coauthors = Richard Chapin and George Vosburgh | title = Art Fleming's TV Game Show Fact Book | year = 1979 | publisher = Osmond Publishing Co. | location = Salt Lake City, Utah | id = ISBN 0-89888-005-X | pages = 4-6 ] Other notables known to have played the game during the NBC era included game show hosts Bill Cullen, Art James, and Peter Marshall (sometime in the early 1970s). [cite book | last = Schwartz | first = David | authorlink = | coauthors = Steve Ryan and Fred Wostbrock | title = The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows, 3rd ed. | year = 1999 | publisher = Checkmark Books | location = New York, New York | id = ISBN 0-8160-3847-3 | pages = 112 ]

List of participants

The following is a list of contestants and the charities they played for, arranged per season. Bold indicates the contestant won his or her game.

eason 23 notes

Alex Trebek announced Julie Bowen as a contestant in a KABC 7 news report aired August 12,2006, but she did not appear on the press release of confirmed contestants. Cookbook author Rachael Ray, host of "Rachael Ray", did appear on the press release, but did not play; Harry Smith took her place.

The winner's charity is guaranteed at least $50,000, while the charities for the non-winners will be guaranteed at least $25,000. $1,000,000 has been given to the charities of the 30 celebrity participants.

Parodies

Celebrity "Jeopardy!" has been spoofed numerous times in "Saturday Night Live" sketches, with Will Ferrell appearing as Trebek, and "SNL" cast members and guest hosts impersonating various celebrities. Sean Connery, as portrayed by Darrell Hammond, appeared recurringly, functioning as Trebek's nemesis. In 2001, "Jeopardy!" acknowledged the spoof by selecting [http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=409 a set of references to the skit] , including THERAPISTS (which Connery interpreted as "the rapists") and THINGS YOU SHOULDN'T PUT IN YOUR MOUTH as Double Jeopardy! categories. Will Ferrell's final episode as an "SNL" cast member featured a Celebrity "Jeopardy!" sketch in which Trebek himself appeared. Ferrell portrayed Trebek once more in 2005, when Ferrell hosted "SNL".

A Celebrity "Jeopardy!" parody with impersonated celebrities has also been a recurring skit on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". These skits usually include an impersonator playing President George W. Bush as a contestant. Clues are sourced from current events. In a twist on the "SNL" parody, even when celebrity contestants supply accurate responses, they are judged incorrect, with the given correct response being the punchline of a joke, in the fashion of the answer-and-question format of Johnny Carson's Carnac the Magnificent character.

References

External links

* [http://www.jeopardy.com Official Jeopardy! website]
* [http://www.jeopardy.com/mini_sites/archive_header/index.html?/mini_sites/powerplayers/ 2004 "Jeopardy!" Power Players Week]
* [http://www.jeopardy.com/mini_sites/celebrity_jeopardy06/index.php 2006 Celebrity "Jeopardy!"]