The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

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Robert K S
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The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by Robert K S »

[Note: This post was originally made to the Sony message board on 2008-01-17. It has been recovered from archive.org and reposted here.]

The NBC Master Books broadcast logs, which are available on microfilm at the Library of Congress Motion Picture and Television Reading Room on the third floor of the Madison Memorial Building (and possibly also at other reference sites), are the only paper records of the Art Fleming-hosted Jeopardy! in public hands, and since only a handful of Fleming-era shows survive on videotapes and kinescope films, they may be the most complete records of the show extant. For many shows, they list contestant names and production notes, but often the contestant names are illegible or missing. Information about winners and their winnings is almost never included. For a large number of programs, complete teleprompter scripts have been included; they bear the production notes and doodles of some crew member, possibly the assistant director, and are sometimes the most valuable in terms of contemporary information about the show and its context in the 1960s and 1970s. The Master Books have 2-4 days of broadcast log per reel of microfilm and have no index, so locating information is difficult without knowing approximately which dates you need to be looking at, and time consuming even when you do.

The best-preserved information in the Master Books pertains to the television commercials aired with the show. Complete scripts, and frequently photo storyboards, of every television advertisement are retained. Art Fleming often delivered cheeky custom-written segues into the commercials, something that can no longer be done in the modern days of syndication, re-running and market-specific ad-buying. While simply an artifact of the production and record-keeping practices of the network at that time, the irony that the advertisements survive--some of them for brands that no longer do--while most of the program information has been lost reinforces the impression that television programming exists for the purposes of sponsorship rather than vice versa. It says that the ads were then--as they are today--the programming, and the entertainment and information value of our favorite TV show is purely incidental.

Using date information provided by Burns Cameron* from his Tournament of Champions trophy, I was able to locate a lot more information about the Tournament of Champions during the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy! in the NBC Master Books broadcast logs. My findings are produced here. I hope to get information about the remaining Fleming ToCs on return trips to Washington, D.C. in the future.

*On 2007-12-20 at 09:11 PM, Third Degree posted:
Y'know, I have been wrong for a long time. I just looked at the trophy for the first time in a long time and it said October 21, 1966. My original air dates were November 1965 I think. There was no purse for TOC back then. Just what you won. $7070 + $4040=$11110. Hell, it was over 40 years ago. One of my air dates conflicted with a space launch or recovery. I don't remember much about it nowadays.

3D
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Robert K S
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

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1964 Tournament of Champions - first annual
Format
  • 7 undefeated champions and 2 highest money winners among defeated champions were invited to participate.
  • Three semifinal games produced three finalists.
  • The three finalists competed in a two-game, total-point final match. Unlike in the Trebek era, scores were not reset to zero at the beginning of the second final game.
Prizes
  • All players kept their scores as winnings throughout the tournament.
  • The winner of the 2-day finals received a $1,000 bonus + a trophy ("the first annual Griffin Award") + a trip for 2 to San Juan, Virgin Islands aboard Pan Am. The trip featured "swimming at the pool and beach club of the famed Bluebeard's Castle in St. Thomas... overlooking Charlotte Amelie Harbor."
Contestants
#131, recorded in Studio 6A 1964-09-18, aired 1964-09-28
  • Mrs. Helen Beck, a housewife from Jamaica, New York, winner of $2,490
  • Mr. John Murphy, a teacher from Bay Shore, New York, winner of $6,000
  • Mrs. Rosemary Taubert, a housewife from New York City, winner of $4,750
#132, recorded in Studio 6A 1964-09-18, aired 1964-09-29
  • Mrs. Phyllis Gallo, a housewife from Lima, Ohio, winner of $4,090
  • Mr. Pat McDermott, a teacher from New York City, winner of $3,290
  • Mrs. Madeline Von Koch, a convention consultant from Forest Hills, New York, winner of $3,730
#133, recorded in Studio 6A 1964-09-18, aired 1964-09-30
  • Mrs. Terry Thompson, a housewife from Plainsfield, New Jersey, winner of $5,080
  • Mr. Sid Kramer, a waiter from Brooklyn, New York, winner of $2,570
  • Mrs. Ruth Lind, a housewife from Springfield, Virginia, winner of $3,325
#134, recorded in Studio 6A 1964-09-24, aired 1964-10-01
  • Mrs. Phyllis Gallo, a housewife from Lima, Ohio, winner of $4,870
  • Mr. John Murphy, a teacher from Bay Shore, New York, winner of $6,890
  • Mrs. Terry Thompson, a housewife from Plainsfield, New Jersey, winner of $6,080
#135, recorded in Studio 6A 1964-09-24, aired 1964-10-02
  • Mrs. Phyllis Gallo, a housewife from Lima, Ohio, winner of $4,870
  • Mr. John Murphy, a teacher from Bay Shore, New York, winner of $6,890
  • Mrs. Terry Thompson, a housewife from Plainsfield, New Jersey, winner of $6,080
[No final score information is given, so the winner is not determinable from the Master Books log. However, a contemporaneous article unearthed after Arthur Chu's run confirms that Swarthmore graduate Terry Armstrong Thompson was the winner. (See below in this thread.) The article corroborates her 5-day total of $5,080. Presumably, her cumulative score over her ToC appearances was $2,510, since the article reports that her ToC cash take was $3,510. Since we know her winning semifinal score was $1,000, her two-day finals total must have been $1,510. The record indicates that 3 brand new contestants appeared in the following game.]

1965 Tournament of Champions - second annual
Format
  • 9 champions were invited to participate.
  • Three semifinal games produced three finalists.
  • The three finalists competed in a two-game, total-point final match. Unlike in the Trebek era, scores were not reset to zero at the beginning of the second final game.
Prizes
  • All players kept their scores as winnings throughout the tournament.
  • The winner of the 2-day finals received a $1,000 bonus + a trophy ("the second annual Griffin Award") + a trip for 2 to San Juan, Virgin Islands aboard Pan Am.
Contestants
#406, recorded in Studio 6A 1965-10-05, aired 1965-10-18
  • Mr. Lou Ehrlich, a teacher from Queens Village, New York, winner of $3,780
  • Mrs. Pat Day, a housewife from Pearl River, New York, winner of $3,650
  • Mr. Bob Wilder, an air line representative from Fairfax, Virginia, winner of $3,850
#407, recorded in Studio 6A 1965-10-05, aired 1965-10-19
  • Mrs. Doris Sullivan, a business woman from New York City, winner of $3,890
  • Mr. Jim Cahill, a business man from Farmingdale, New York, winner of $3,450
  • Mrs. Babs McClellan, a housewife from Auburn, New York, winner of $5,250
#408, recorded in Studio 6A 1965-10-05, aired 1965-10-20
  • Mr. Bob Law, a retired service man from Brooklyn, New York, winner of $3,400
  • Miss Carolyn Benson, a literary researcher from New York City, winner of $3,855
  • Mr. Earle Codrington, a stripper from New York City, winner of $2,010
#409, recorded in Studio 6A 1965-10-07, aired 1965-10-21
  • Miss Carolyn Benson, a literary researcher from New York City, winner of $4,255
  • Mr. Bob Wilder, an air line representative from Fairfax, Virginia, winner of $4,930
  • Mrs. Babs McClellan, a housewife from Auburn, New York, winner of $6,425
#409, recorded in Studio 6A 1965-10-07, aired 1965-10-22
  • Miss Carolyn Benson, a literary researcher from New York City, winner of $4,255
  • Mr. Bob Wilder, an air line representative from Fairfax, Virginia, winner of $4,930
  • Mrs. Babs McClellan, a housewife from Auburn, New York, winner of $6,425
[The record indicates that Babs McClellan won this tournament, but no final score information is given. Babs went on to become a wildcard semifinalist in the 1991 Seniors Tournament during the Trebek era. During her contestant interview segment with Alex Trebek in her quarterfinal game, she indicated that in the ToC she had won $3,970 and a trip to St. Thomas. Note that St. Thomas is one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Doing a little math, she appears to have won $6,425 - $5,250 = $1,175 in the first round of the 1965 ToC, and $3,970 - $1,175 - $1,000 bonus = $1,795 over the two finals matches.]

1966 Tournament of Champions - third annual
Format
  • 9 champions were invited to participate.
  • Three semifinal games produced three finalists.
  • The three finalists competed in a two-game, total-point final match. Unlike in the Trebek era, scores were not reset to zero at the beginning of the second final game.
Prizes
  • All players kept their scores as winnings throughout the tournament.
  • The winner of the 2-day finals received a trophy ("the third annual Griffin Award") + a trip for 2 to "a vacation paradise" aboard Pan Am.
  • There may not have been a $1,000 bonus for the winner this year. There is no record of it being given, and Burns Cameron claims it was not.
Contestants
#666, recorded in Studio 6A 1966-10-06, aired 1966-10-17
  • Mrs. Leona Huerbach, a housewife from Plainfield, New Jersey, winner of $2,750
  • Mr. Tye Heckman, [occupation not filled in] from Wadesville, Indiana, winner of $5,160
  • Mrs. Sarah Moore, a housewife from Kansas City, Missouri, winner of $3,350
#667, recorded in Studio 6A 1966-10-06, aired 1966-10-18
  • Mr. Pat Rohan, a businessman from New York City, winner of $3,400
  • Mrs. Phyllis Grant, a housewife from Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, winner of $2,780
  • Mr. John Schenck, a copywriter from Bronxville, New York, winner of $3,570
#668, recorded in Studio 6A 1966-10-06, aired 1966-10-19
  • Mr. Bob Bovard, a teacher from Hauppage, New York, winner of $2,980
  • Mrs. Fran Winnick, a teacher from Hollis, New York, winner of $4,100
  • Mr. Burns Cameron, an engineer from Larchmont, New York, winner of $7,070 [later appeared on Show #2000 to play for charity]
#669, recorded in Studio 6A 1966-10-07, aired 1966-10-20
[No contestant information recorded]
#670, recorded in Studio 6A 1966-10-07, aired 1966-10-21
[No contestant information recorded]
[Winner and winnings indeterminable, but I believe that Burns Cameron really is the winner of this tournament, since he has the trophy! Maybe Burns can chime in if he remembers who his two co-finalists were.]
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

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1967 Tournament of Champions - fourth annual
Format
  • 9 undefeated champions were invited to participate.
  • Three semifinal games produced three finalists.
  • The three finalists competed in a two-game, total-point final match. Unlike in the Trebek era, scores were not reset to zero at the beginning of the second final game.
Prizes
  • All players kept their scores as winnings throughout the tournament.
  • The winner of the 2-day finals received a $1,000 bonus + a trophy ("the fourth annual Griffin Award") + a 2-person cruise to the West Indies aboard Holland-America.
Contestants
#926, recorded in Studio 8G 1967-10-12, aired 1967-10-16
  • Eleanor Endsley, a housewife from Indianapolis, Indiana, winner of $4,560
  • Frank Gray, a businessman from Ridgewood, New Jersey, winner of $3,740
  • Sheila Gabriel, a businesswoman from Forest Hills, New York, winner of $4,650
#927, recorded in Studio 8G 1967-10-12, aired 1967-10-17
  • Rosemary Marnell, a housewife from San Diego, California, winner of $3,200
  • Harry Murtha, a businessman from Clifton, New Jersey, winner of $3,910
  • Libby Dyer, a housewife from Louisville, Kentucky, winner of $4,000
#928, recorded in Studio 8G 1967-10-12, aired 1967-10-18
  • Dr. Gail Berry, a psychiatrist from New York City, winner of $4,210
  • Howard August, a salesman from Los Angeles, California, winner of $3,930
  • Anne Fried, a translator from New York City, winner of $2,610
#929, recorded in Studio 8G 1967-10-13, aired 1967-10-19
  • Eleanor Endsley, a housewife from Indianapolis, Indiana, winner of $5,460
  • Harry Murtha, a businessman from Clifton, New Jersey, winner of $4,260
  • Anne Fried, a translator from New York City, winner of $2,850
#930, recorded in Studio 8G 1967-10-13, aired 1967-10-20
  • Eleanor Endsley, a housewife from Indianapolis, Indiana, winner of $5,460
  • Harry Murtha, a businessman from Clifton, New Jersey, winner of $4,260
  • Anne Fried, a translator from New York City, winner of $2,850
[Winner and winnings indeterminable. Eleanor Endsley's obituary (date of death 2008-09-17, age 78) indicates that she was a runner-up.]

1968 Tournament of Champions - fifth annual
Format
  • 9 undefeated champions were invited to participate.
  • Three semifinal games produced three finalists.
  • The three finalists competed in a two-game, total-point final match. Unlike in the Trebek era, scores were not reset to zero at the beginning of the second final game.
Prizes
  • All players kept their scores as winnings throughout the tournament.
  • The winner of the 2-day finals received a $1,000 bonus + a trophy ("the fifth annual Griffin Award") + a 2-person cruise to the West Indies aboard Holland-America.
Contestants
#1192, recorded in Studio 8G 1968-10-17, aired 1968-10-28
  • Mr. Red Gibson, winner of $4,680
  • Mrs. Fran Fisk, winner of $4,210
  • Bill Martin, winner of $4,240 [A contemporary newspaper account from the 1968-02-15 Suffolk County News noted that William Martin, a music teacher from Ronkonkoma, New York, had the previous Friday "completed a five day appearance by winning a total of S4,240 and becoming the 43rd undefeated champion". ]
#1193, recorded in Studio 8G [it actually says "8H"--probably a typo] 1968-10-17, aired 1968-10-29
  • Mrs. Penny Costigen, winner of $4,850
  • Mr. John Miller, winner of $3,670
  • Miss Marcia Bikalis, winner of $5,690
#1194, recorded in Studio 8G 1968-10-17, aired 1968-10-30
  • Judy Gex [no winnings listed]
  • Alan Shephard (introduced as "Shep Shepherd") [no winnings listed, but a contemporary newspaper profile from the 1968-02-05 Schenectady Gazette notes that Allan M. Shepherd (note correct spelling) was a sales manager for the Boston and Maine Railroad who "retir[ed] as an undefeated champion after winning several thousand dollars, the third-highest all-time winner, and the then all-time winner of the most money for a single show, $2,160."]
  • Sally Hickman [no winnings listed]
#1195, recorded in Studio 8G 1968-10-18, aired 1968-10-31
  • Red Gibson, winner of $5,080
  • John Miller, winner of $4,300
  • Alan Shepard (introduced as "Shep Shepherd"), winner of $6,270
#1196, recorded in Studio 8G 1968-10-18, aired 1968-11-01
  • Red Gibson, winner of $5,080
  • John Miller, winner of $4,300
  • Alan Shepard (introduced as "Shep Shepherd"), winner of $6,270
[Winner and winnings indeterminable, though Red Gibson is cited as having won this tournament in TV Game Shows.]

1969 Tournament of Champions - sixth annual
Format
  • 18 undefeated champions were invited to participate; tournament expanded to two weeks (10 games).
  • Six quarterfinals produced six semifinalists.
  • Two semifinals produced two finalists and a wildcard finalist (the highest-scoring nonwinner).
  • The three finalists competed in a two-game, total-point final match, with every clue based on a Final Jeopardy! clue from 1964 and 1965. Unlike in the Trebek era, scores were not reset to zero at the beginning of the second final game.
Prizes
  • All players kept their scores as winnings throughout the tournament.
  • The winner of the 2-day finals received a $1,000 bonus + a trophy ("the sixth annual Griffin Award") + a trip for 2 to Hawaii on Pan Am with 5 days spent at Kona Village on Hawaii and 5 days on Maui. "All meals, relaxation and fun in the Hawaiian tradition."
Contestants [Information from a contemporary newspaper report has been added in brackets. According to the report, they had "won a total of more than $75,000 to date".]
#1432, recorded in Studio 8G 1969-10-20, aired 1969-10-27
  • Mr. Larry Schiller [Dr. Larry Schiller of San Francisco, Calif.] [no winnings listed because of contestant substitution]
  • Mrs. Joan Nephew [of Garden City, N.Y.], winner of $2,890
  • Mr. Jay Wolpert [of Glen Cove, N.Y.], winner of $5,160
#1433, recorded in Studio 8G 1969-10-20, aired 1969-10-28
  • Captain John Gridley [of Sioux Falls, S.D.], winner of $2,330
  • Miss Judy Rubin [of Bronx, N.Y.], winner of $1,590 [scheduled to play the first game, replaced with Schiller, who was scheduled for #1434]
  • Dr. Nick Rorick [Dr. Nicholas Rorick of Bridgeport, Conn.], winner of $5,510
#1434, recorded in Studio 8G 1969-10-20, aired 1969-10-29
  • Mr. Grant Willis, winner of $4,500 [apparently an alternate for Miss Lane Stalbird of New York City, who was reported as a contestant in the newspaper account]
  • Mrs. Jane Gschwend [of Lancaster, Pa.], winner of $8,250 [later appeared on Show #2000 to play for charity, which, in her case, was the English House Fund at Hiram College in Ohio]
  • Mr. Jack Gurner [of New York City], winner of $4,230
#1435, recorded in Studio 8G 1969-10-21, aired 1969-10-30
  • Mr. Mendy Snyder [of New York City], winner of $2,210
  • Miss Ann Baker [of New York City], winner of $5,240
  • Dr. Burt Sherman [of Valley Stream, N.Y.], winner of $3,430
#1436, recorded in Studio 8G 1969-10-21, aired 1969-10-31
  • Mr. Elliot Baritz [of Roslyn, N.Y], winner of $3,430
  • Mrs. Pat Dougiallo [of Hazleton, Pa.], winner of $3,960
  • Mr. Jay Hayes [of Rutland, Vt.], winner of $3,910
#1437, recorded in Studio 8G 1969-10-21, aired 1969-11-03
  • Miss Judy Reimer [of Philadelphia], winner of $3,610
  • Dr. Elliot Shteir [of Somerville, N.J.], winner of $8,230 [later appeared on Show #2000 to play for charity]
  • Mrs. Joan Lawrence [Mrs. Judy Lawrence of Short Hills, N.J.], winner of $6,490
#1438, recorded in Studio 8G 1969-10-23, aired 1969-11-04
  • Mr. Elliot Baritz, winner of $3,730
  • Mrs. Jane Gschwend, winner of $8,750
  • Mr. Nick Rorick, winner of $6,560
#1439, recorded in Studio 8G 1969-10-23, aired 1969-11-05
  • Mr. Jay Wolpert, winner of $5,970
  • Miss Ann Baker, winner of $5,905
  • Dr. Elliot Shteir, winner of $10,110
#1440, recorded in Studio 8G 1969-10-24, aired 1969-11-06
  • Mr. Jay Wolpert, winner of $5,970
  • Dr. Elliot Shteir, winner of $10,920
  • Dr. Nick Rorick, winner of $8,060
#1441, recorded in Studio 8G 1969-10-24, aired 1969-11-07
  • Mr. Jay Wolpert, winner of $5,970
  • Dr. Elliot Shteir, winner of $10,920
  • Dr. Nick Rorick, winner of $8,060
[Winner and winnings indeterminable, though Jay Wolpert, who became a game show producer and feature film screenwriter, is cited as having won this tournament in Maxene Fabe's 1979 TV Game Shows book. Dr. Elliot Shteir later became the 1st runner-up ($10,000) in the Trebek era's 1995-A Seniors Tournament in July, 1995, losing to Aaron Klein.]
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by Robert K S »

1970 Tournament of Champions - seventh annual
Format
  • 9 champions were invited to participate.
  • The format was once again one week, but the format details are not recorded in the Master Books, and do not seem to be derivable based on the known contestant information. There seems to have been a weird two-day finals with different players in each game, and quite possibly the second game only had two players.
Prizes
  • No prize information is listed.
Contestants
#1708, recorded in Studio 6A 1970-11-05, aired 1970-11-09
  • Mary Lee Fox
  • Russ Poylo [of New York City]
  • Helen Mabry
#1709, recorded in Studio 6A 1970-11-05, aired 1970-11-10
  • Hunter Farnum
  • Barbara Franco
  • Steve Haufman
#1710, recorded in Studio 6A 1970-11-05, aired 1970-11-11
  • Dolores Henderson [of Brooklyn, N.Y.]
  • Gene Cheatham [of New Orleans, La.]
  • M. McNeil [NOTE: This is Mrs. Mary McNeil of Lansdale, Pa.]
[This game ended in a tie at $740 between Henderson and Cheatham. The two played again, for points instead of dollars, the next day, against Poylo, who was the third highest scorer of the week, for the last spot in the finals. Because the finals were reduced from two days to one, the dollar values were doubled in the one and only final game on Friday.]

#1711, recorded in Studio 6A 1970-11-06, aired 1970-11-12
  • Russ Poylo
  • Dolores Henderson
  • Gene Cheatham
#1712, recorded in Studio 6A 1970-11-06, aired 1970-11-13
  • Mary Lee Fox
  • Barbara Franco
  • [No third contestant listed, but we can infer it must have been Gene Cheatham]
[Winner and winnings indeterminable, but Maxene Fabe records Gene Cheatham was the winner. The following Monday's game was #1699, taped 1970-10-16.]


1971 Tournament of Champions - eighth annual
Format
  • 9 champions were invited to participate.
  • The format was once again one week, but the format details are not recorded in the Master Books. In fact, the Master Books give no indication that this week's games were a ToC other than the fact that the tournament structure seems derivable from the contestant listing.
Prizes
  • No prize information is listed.
Contestants [Information from a contemporary newspaper report has been added in brackets. According to the report, they had "already amassed more than $37,000 in prize money".]

#1958, recorded in Studio 8G 1971-11-10, aired 1971-11-15
  • Peggy Rathert [Miss Peggy Rathert of Marlborough, N. H.]
  • Don Marks [Donald Marks, a financial analyst from New York City]
  • Jan Churchwell [Mrs. Jan Churchwell, a law student from Westbury, Long Island]
#1959, recorded in Studio 8G 1971-11-10, aired 1971-11-16
  • Karolyn Battle [Mrs. Karolyn Battle, a housewife from. Lexington, Va.]
  • Jim Shannon
  • Riza Gross
There was an audio clue featuring "Z" (Blackwood).

#1960, recorded in Studio 8G 1971-11-10, aired 1971-11-17
  • Michael Aronson
  • Rock Johnson
  • Joel Tuber
There were audio clues featuring "Strike Up The Band" (New World) and "The British Grenadiers" (public domain).

#1961, recorded in Studio 8G 1971-11-11, aired 1971-11-18
  • Riza Gross
  • Rock Johnson
  • Jan Churchwell
There were audio clues featuring "High & The Mighty" (Witmark) and "Friendly Persuasion" (Feist).

#1962, recorded in Studio 8G 1971-11-11, aired 1971-11-19
  • Riza Gross
  • Rock Johnson
  • Jan Churchwell
There was an audio clue featuring "Taps" (public domain).

[Winner and winnings indeterminable, but Maxene Fabe records Rock Johnson was the winner.]

1972 Tournament of Champions - ninth annual
Format
  • 9 champions were invited to participate.
  • The format was once again one week, but the format details are not recorded in the Master Books. In fact, the Master Books give no indication that this week's games were a ToC other than the fact that the tournament structure seems derivable from the contestant listing.
Prizes
  • No prize information is listed.
Contestants [Information from a contemporary newspaper report has been added in brackets. According to the report, they had "already amassed more than $35,000 in prize money".]
#2214, recorded in Studio 6B 1972-11-09, aired 1972-11-13
  • Susan Smith [Dr. Susan Sutton Smith, a 28-year-old English professor from Cooperstown, N.Y.] [5-day winnings of $4,970]
  • Paul Wilson [Paul M. Wilson, III, an urban planner from Jackson, Miss.]
  • Lorraine Gorman [Mrs. Lorraine Gorman of Arlington Heights, Ill., a housewife and former Latin teacher]
There was an audio clue featuring "Un Bel Di" Vedremo (public domain).

#2215, recorded in Studio 6B 1972-11-09, aired 1972-11-14
  • Donna Angle [Mrs. Donna Angle, a housewife and former teacher from Ypsilanti, Mich.]
  • Anne Marie Sutton [Mrs. Anne-Marie Sutton, a journalist-housewife from Yorktown Heights, N.Y.]
  • Luanne Keller [Luanne Keller, a stewardess with a BA in French and English from Jamaica, N.Y.]
There were audio clues featuring "Walking Happy" (Cahn & Van Heusen) and "I Don't Know How To Love Him" (from Jesus Christ Superstar).

#2216, recorded in Studio 6B 1972-11-09, aired 1972-11-15
  • Sheila November [Mrs. Sheila November, a housewife and community worker from Fast Hills, N.Y.]
  • Jay Delehanty [Jay Delehanty, a computer programmer from Albany, N.Y.]
  • Robin Phillips [Mrs. Robin Phillips a housewife and former speech therapist from Baldwin, N.Y.]
There was an audio clue featuring "Tschaikovsky" (from Lady in the Dark) (Chappell).

#2217, recorded in Studio 6B 1972-11-10, aired 1972-11-16
  • Jay Delehanty
  • Anne Marie Sutton
  • Susan Smith
There were audio clues featuring "All God's Chillun" (public domain) and "Tom Jones Themes" (from movie of same) (Unart).

#2218, recorded in Studio 6B 1972-11-10, aired 1972-11-17
  • Jay Delehanty
  • Anne Marie Sutton
  • Susan Smith
There were audio clues featuring "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" (Miller) and "Promises, Promises" (Blue Seas & JAC).

[Winner and winnings indeterminable, but Maxene Fabe records Anne Marie Sutton was the winner.]
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by Robert K S »

1973 Tournament of Champions - tenth annual
Format
  • 9 champions were invited to participate.
  • The format was once again one week, but the format details are not recorded in the Master Books. In fact, the Master Books give no indication that this week's games were a ToC other than the fact that the tournament structure seems derivable from the contestant listing.
Prizes
  • No prize information is listed. [However, one contemporary newspaper article indicates that a trip to Greece was offered, and that the players were otherwise playing for childrens' charities. Another contemporary newspaper article states that the prize was "a two-week trip to Greece for two, including a week in Athens and a week's cruise of the islands, and $1,000 bonus" (The Mercury of Pottstown, Pennsyvania, November 10, 1973).]
Contestants
#2476, recorded in Studio 8G 1973-11-08, aired 1973-11-12
  • Carol Reeve
  • Reid Williamson
  • Adeline Shulman
There was an audio clue featuring "The Nose Song" by A. Burgess & M.J. Lewis (Mediarts Music Corp.).

#2477, recorded in Studio 8G 1973-11-08, aired 1973-11-13
  • Connie Christensen
  • Phil Price
  • Paula Ogren
There was an audio clue featuring "Theme From The Robe" (from the movie The Robe) by A. Newman (20th Century Music Corp.).

#2478, recorded in Studio 8G 1973-11-08, aired 1973-11-14
  • Louise Windgrad
  • Dan Donohue
  • Rosemary Travis [A contemporary newspaper account from the 1972-03-09 Leader-Observer School Page noted that Rosemary Travis, of Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, "daughter-in-law of Cypress Hills residents George and Marjorie Travis" the 91st undefeated champion.] [5-day winnings of $3,750]
There was an audio clue featuring "Around The World In Eighty Days" (Liza Music).

#2479, recorded in Studio 8G 1973-11-09, aired 1973-11-15
  • Adeline Schulman
  • Dan Donohue
  • Paula Ogren
There was an audio clue featuring "Blueberry Hill" by Lewis, Stock & Rose (Chappell).

#2480, recorded in Studio 8G 1973-11-09, aired 1973-11-16
  • Adeline Schulman
  • Paula Ogren
  • Dan Donohue
There was an audio clue featuring "Bach's Tocatta & Fugue in C" (public domain).

[Winner and winnings indeterminable, but Maxene Fabe records Paula Ogren was the winner.]


1974 Tournament of Champions - eleventh annual
Format
  • The record is too sparse to derive accurate information about the format. It was probably a one-week tournament like the past several years, but with the second semifinal never aired, and the second final game either never committed to paper record in the Master Books or just not written down by me because I missed it.
  • The Master Books give no indication that this week's games were a ToC other than the fact that the Monday, November 18 game was #2721, taped 1974-10-31, and the Tuesday, November 19 game was #2735, taped 1974-11-13.
Prizes
  • No prize information is listed.
Contestants
#2735, recorded in Studio 6A 1974-11-13, aired 1974-11-19
  • Pete Staley
  • Kathleen Lang
  • Art Newell
There was an audio clue featuring "Blue Tail Fly" (public domain).

#2736, recorded in Studio 6A 1974-11-13, aired 1974-11-20
This game appears to have been pre-empted for a news report of a West German Lufthansa 747 crash just after takeoff from Nairobi, Kenya. If it was the second semifinal game, it was won by Dave Hilliard (see below).

#2736, recorded in Studio 6A 1974-11-13, aired 1974-11-21
  • Andy Miller
  • Faye Ringel
  • Denny Golden
This game was apparently re-aired after pre-emption.

#2737, recorded in Studio 6A 1974-11-14, aired 1974-11-22
  • Dave Hilliard
  • Denny Golden
  • Pete Staley
There was an audio clue featuring "Ballad of Davy Crockett" by T. Blackburn & G. Bruns (Walt Disney).

[Winner and winnings indeterminable, but Maxene Fabe records Denny Golden was the winner.]
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by Robert K S »

Notes of interest
On Show #925, recorded 1967-10-03 in Studio 8G, aired 1967-10-13, the millionth dollar was awarded on Jeopardy! (records do not indicate to which player, of Eric Hanson, Zelda Pullium, or Gail Menkman). Art had been teasing the audiences over the past several games that it could happen at any time, and that when it did, something special would occur. When the millionth dollar was hit, the game was stopped and the contestant who hit it was given a 1968 American Motors Javelin SST sports hardtop that "comes complete with radio, reclining bucket seats, automatic transmission and whitewall tires". Some film of the car was shown. The contesant said a few words, and then the game resumed.

On Show #1185, recorded 1968-10-01 in Studio 8G, aired 1968-10-18, Art Fleming delivered a special note about the show "finding" undefeated champion Hutton Gibson, who had apparently relocated his large family to Ireland, so that he could be invited to participate in the 1968 Tournament of Champions. We know, despite incomplete Master Books records, that Gibson won the ToC that year, because Maxime Fabe recorded it in her TV Game Shows book, which lists ToC winners from 1968 on:

1968: Red Gibson from South Ozone Park, New York
1969: Jay Wolpert from Glen Cove, New York
1970: Gene Cheatham from New Orleans, Louisiana
1971: Rock Johnson from Macon, Georgia
1972: Ann Marie Sutton from Yorktown Heights, New York
1973: Paula Ogren from Los Angeles, California
1974: Denny Golden from Palisades Park, New Jersey

Image

Show #1696, recorded 1970-10-10 in Studio 6A, aired 1970-11-04, had a contestant written in the record as being an "M. Lasardo". This is the very same Mary LoSardo, Trebek-era Season 22 1-time champion, who claimed during the interview of her Trebek appearance to have won $60 and an encyclopedia in 1970 or 1971. The other challenger in her game was a Meredith Rodwell (or Ropwell) and the 1-time returning champion was Trish Baskin. Rights release forms indicate that audio clues on her show included "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" by Irving Berlin and "Thou Swell" by Rodgers and Hart. I received a message from Mary LoSardo on 2008-09-07 confirming that this was her game, and she remembers specific details about competing against a Meredith and getting those audio clues wrong.

The daytime show was mercilessly pre-empted. The entire week leading up to Thanksgiving Day 1965, Art Fleming took time during the show to advertise that coverage of the Macy's Day Parade would appear on NBC, hosted by Betty White and Bonanza's Lorne Greene. Perhaps Jeopardy! aired on the West Coast, where the Macy's Day Parade appeared earlier in the schedule, but in the Master Books no record of Show #434 appears because of parade coverage pre-emption in New York. Similarly, records are missing wherever a news bulletin cut into the show (the Vietnam War and the Space Race were hot topics), or the network simply felt like airing a different show in Jeopardy!'s place. The network never aired re-runs or rescheduled pre-empted programming, meaning that it regularly spent money producing programming it would never show.

Here is Burns Cameron's introduction on his ToC. (These images have been retouched to reduce reflections from the microfilm reader screen from which they were taken.)

Image
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by seaborgium »

Paula Ogren, who was my mom's high school history teacher, died last year. Her obituary corroborates her Grand Champion status: http://m.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/ ... =144660811

[edit: pardon the mobile site; obviously I'm doing this from my phone. I like to strip out the mobile stuff from URLs when I share links, but when I try to test the de-mobilized link, it crashes my browser!]
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by Robert K S »

[Here's one more post recovered from the old board, related to Burns Cameron's original games. From 2008-09-27 at 09:17 AM.]

Originally posted by Third Degree on 2008-09-26 at 09:00 PM:
I played in 1965, but by the end of the year when I did, all the places were filled for the ToC.
The 1965 ToC (2nd annual) was taped October 5 and 6 1965 and aired October 18-22, 1965. They were shows #406-#410. Your original five games, #446-#450, were taped November 29, November 30, and December 6, 1965, and aired December 13-17, 1965. So the 1966 ToC was your proper tournament. None of your original five appearances were pre-empted.

#446, taped 11/29/65 in Studio 6A, aired 12/13/65
Burns Cameron
Renee Moss
Bruce Kurnan (returning 1-day champion)

#447, taped 11/30/65 in Studio 6A, aired 12/14/65
Ann Popole (or Pokock?)
Emmy Meyer
Burns Cameron

#448, taped 11/30/65 in Studio 6A, aired 12/15/65
S. Wohl
P. Moser
Burns Cameron

#449, taped 11/30/65 in Studio 6A, aired 12/16/65
Ginny Thompson
Sandy Krakoff?
Burns Cameron

#450, taped 12/6/65 in Studio 6A, aired 12/17/65
Judy Goodman
Oris (or Cris?) Singer
Burns Cameron

At the top of this final show, Art made the following announcement after introducing the rules of the show.

ART
(...the Champion, and returns on Monday.)
But first, you know that today is our 450th show and it may prove to be an historic one. Our Champion, Burns Cameron, may become our all time high money winner . . . . . .
and then again he may not. Now let's chat with our contestants.

In the Master Books record can also be found "Notes for Art's third contestant interview (with Burns)."
1. He has $5,210.00. Third highest so far. Highest was John Murphy with $6,000.00; second highest was Babs McClellan with $5,250.00.
2. What is his educational background and profession.
3. Wagers heavily on Final Jeopardy and Daily Doubles. Is he usually a big gambler?
4. Does he have any plans for the money?

At the end of the show, Art's cue cards instructed him to say:
"I'd like to wish all people of the Jewish faith a most happy and joyous Hannukah, which starts tomorrow. See you all on Monday, etc."

The three new contenders for #451, aired the next Monday, 12/20/65, but also taped on your last day, 12/6/65, were Lynn Cohen, Bernie Jacobs, and Billie Brosnan. Other names you might possibly recognize from your 11/29/65 tape date are Carole Fraenkel and Stan Dworkin (#445's returning 2-day champion).
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by ahirbhairav »

Robert K S wrote:Notes of interest
On Show #1185, recorded 1968-10-01 in Studio 8G, aired 1968-10-18, Art Fleming delivered a special note about the show "finding" undefeated champion Hutton Gibson, who had apparently relocated his large family to Ireland, so that he could be invited to participate in the 1968 Tournament of Champions. We know, despite incomplete Master Books records, that Gibson won the ToC that year, because Maxime Fabe recorded it in her TV Game Shows book, which lists ToC winners from 1968 on:
What I don't understand, Mr. Schmidt, is why Mr. Fleming would have to mention Mr. Gibson relocating. But anyway, I guess it was just something they decided to do as a plug for the ToC. (I still wonder if they used that acronym back then.)
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by Robert K S »

In her recent interview with Ken Jennings, Julann Griffin recalled that "the first champion was a black taxi driver from Chicago who kept winning and winning, because he knew a lot of trivia. So he beat a lot of professors and everything else. It was kind of fun." It seemed from the context that she was talking about the first Tournament of Champions winner, but the above records indicate that none of the early ToC players were cab drivers, nor were they from Chicago. She referred to said champion not as the Tournament of Champions winner (that was Ken's interpretation), but instead as "the champion of the year," so possibly he was just an early record-setter (e.g., had the highest cumulative total in the first season of the show). But then, one has to ask why he didn't appear in a ToC.
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by harrumph »

It's interesting that those early TOCs were not male dominated.
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by slam »

harrumph wrote:It's interesting that those early TOCs were not male dominated.
J1 was a daytime show that was watched by housewives during that era. They also had the opportunity to go down to the studios to audition. Remember, we're talking the Mad Men era.
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by harrumph »

It would be interesting to look at transcripts of the clues.. how difficult were they, how consistent, do they meet the criteria that we judge clues in today's games by.
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by BobF »

harrumph wrote:It would be interesting to look at transcripts of the clues.. how difficult were they, how consistent, do they meet the criteria that we judge clues in today's games by.
Don't remember where or when I read it, but I believe the consensus was that the Art Fleming version of Jeopardy! was more difficult than the Alex Trebek version of Jeopardy!
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by Robert K S »

There are a few Fleming episodes out there for the watching. Especially in the early years of Fleming the clues were not necessarily "pinned" to precisely one response the way they are today ("What is ___"). Back then correct responses took a much wider variety of question forms ("Who killed cock robin?" "Where did ___ happen?" "How many ___s would it take to ___?" etc.) Half the fun (now gone from the show) was not just figuring out the correct response word, but figuring out the correct way to phrase the response. These days the "questioning an answer" conceit is diluted to the point where new viewers can be forgiven for wondering what the point of it is.
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by OrangeSAM »

BobF wrote:
harrumph wrote:It would be interesting to look at transcripts of the clues.. how difficult were they, how consistent, do they meet the criteria that we judge clues in today's games by.
Don't remember where or when I read it, but I believe the consensus was that the Art Fleming version of Jeopardy! was more difficult than the Alex Trebek version of Jeopardy!
I knew a Fleming era contestant (now departed). She thought the old version was tougher. She remembered that the clues didn't contain any hints in them - TOMs as we know them.

She won her game and got some astonishingly small amount of cash (remember the clue values) plus a set of encyclopedias, IIRC.
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by dhkendall »

OrangeSAM wrote:She won her game and got some astonishingly small amount of cash (remember the clue values) plus a set of encyclopedias, IIRC.
Compared to other game shows, compared to the work involved, (and, of course, adjusting for inflation), Jeopardy! still gives winners "an astonishingly small amount of cash". I keep telling myself that someday soon they'll change the dollar values again (probably the first game of the post-Trebek era) and the prizes for second and third.

But then again, it isn't the cash that makes me want to go on Jeopardy! :)
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by cosmos »

I recall being frequently annoyed in the early days when a contestant would ring in the instant a clue was revealed and then stand there in silence waiting for the time to run out before another contestant had an opportunity to ring in. My memory must be faulty, but that's the part the stands out most for me. Although I appreciated that J! was the best game show, still not something I would expect to be of great historical interest 50 or more years later.

Air travel was more expensive then, adjusted for inflation, which makes me wonder if that's the reason why relatively few contestants came from outside the local area. The prizes were hardly big enough to justify the expense of getting there. And no Internet for online testing.
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by Bamaman »

A couple people won over $10,000 in five games. That is the same as winning $200,000 on today's show in five games. Quite impressive.

I think they brought up the story of the guy moving to Ireland as it was an interesting story. It probably took a bit of legwork to track him down so maybe they wanted to credit the staff for their hard work.

The TOC seemed to be mostly people from New York. I guess it was much easier for them to get on as they could go take the test whenever they wanted and there was no online test or contestant searches back then.
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Re: The Tournament of Champions in the Art Fleming era of Jeopardy!

Post by billiej »

harrumph wrote:It's interesting that those early TOCs were not male dominated.
I guess the outchange started earlier than we thought!
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