Hay people! We have all loved the game show Jeopardy and hoped to participate in the show at some time. It is entirely different from the usual quiz shows we watch and it is this uniqueness, which has made it the most favorite game show of the audiences. The success of the series can be garnered from the fact that even though the show originally started airing in 1964, it has not seen a decrease in its popularity. On the contrary the show has been made into different international versions for audiences outside the USA.

But have we ever given a thought as to what tempted the creator late Merv Griffin to create a game show that was totally opposite in concept to every other quiz show. I am going to enlighten you how Jeopardy was conceived.

Just before the premiere of Jeopardy in 1964, Merv told Associated Press that credit for the idea of the game show goes to his wife who had come up with the idea during a flight. According to Merv, while flying back from Duluth to New York, his wife Julie had commented about no successful question and answer game being aired on television.

Merv had, at that time, been contemplating over some ideas of game shows. Julie then went on to suggest a twist in the usual format of the quiz games. She said that instead of putting the questions to the contestants, it would be more interesting if the contestants were provided with the answers and they had to come up with the appropriate questions for the same. The couple even tried out the idea by playing the game during the flight.

As per Merv, he had loved the idea suggested by his wife and had gone straight to NBC with it. The network was so fascinated with the concept that they bought it without even waiting to look at the pilot show. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Although it has been two years since Merv breathed his last, he will always be remembered as the creator of Jeopardy, the most interesting and entertaining game shows ever. And, I am sure that Jeopardy is going to make a history of its own, perhaps for being the longest running game show on television.