‘Jeopardy!’ Boss Announces Game Board Is Changing to ‘Single, Giant Monitor’ – See Photo & Debut Date
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Jeopardy! is taking after Wheel of Fortune and making a major set change. While fans aren’t in for the full facelift that happened next door at Studio 11, a new game board (the quiz show’s centerpiece) is coming very soon.
The announcement was made on Monday’s Inside Jeopardy! podcast co-hosted by longtime producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss and (now-retired) contestant Sam Buttrey.
He explained that the new game board was initially built for Pop Culture Jeopardy! (debuting December 4 on Amazon Prime Video) which has a fully redone set, but the producers decided to keep it for the syndicated (or nightly) show.
“I don’t know if folks know, one of the exciting things about the Pop Culture set is the debut of the electronic board,” Sam shared.
“Yes, this was where you first got to get a look at that game board,” Foss confirmed. “No longer 36 monitors; a single, giant game board.”
“It will debut in syndicated Jeopardy! next week on [Monday] October 14,” she confirmed.
That means this coming Monday, fans will be seeing an all-new game board in action every time a player selects a clue.
Earlier this month, fans got their first look at the new set for Pop Culture Jeopardy!, and that game board will be the same one used for the nightly show going forward:
Season 41 of Jeopardy! has an interesting production schedule; the episodes fans are seeing were taped last season before the annual summer hiatus. For the first few weeks of Season 41, Pop Culture Jeopardy! was being taped in its entirety. This means October 14’s episode will be the first that’s fully fresh, with clues that weren’t written last season – and there’s one more cosmetic change.
Foss shared that there will also be a new Final Jeopardy monitor, AKA the screen where Ken Jennings reveals the final category before the last commercial break and the clue after the break.
Foss explained on the podcast that Pop Culture Jeopardy! doesn’t have a Final Jeopardy monitor because the contestant podiums (for the teams of three) were too hunky for it to fit.
While nothing else will remain from the Pop Culture set, in addition to the new game board comes a new Final Jeopardy monitor.
“I will tell you though,” she continued on the podcast, “The Final Jeopardy monitor does come back in syndication, but it’s a new and improved Final Jeopardy monitor.”
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