DANGER! fans criticized the iconic game show for blatantly forgetting its roots in a somewhat insulting way.
Netizens pointed out that, after recently turning 60, Jeopardy! the producers made no effort to celebrate their original host.
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Casual viewers may best associate Alex Trebek as the OG Jeopardy! host, but that is not the case.
Art Fleming hosted the show’s first iteration on NBC from 1964 to 1979.
Art was not mentioned when the game show turned 60 with a Diamond Celebration in March.
Also, Jeopardy! launched an annual honors ceremony in 2022, during which the show’s acts are inducted into a new Hall of Fame.
Six people have been inducted so far, given their impact on the program:
Alex, creator Merv Griffin and his wife Julann, influential former showrunner Harry Friedman, eternal broadcaster Johnny Gilbert, 95, and longtime writer Steven Dorfman.
The top five were introduced in 2022, the last in 2024, in live events held before the annual Tournament of Champions.
Despite hosting for ten years, Art also does not have a section on Jeopardy.com.
‘INFURIATING’
On Wednesday, a fan took to Reddit asking for Jeopardy! to mend her strained relationship with the late Art Fleming.
They wrote: “Jeopardy! MUST honor Art Fleming at the next Jeopardy! honors ceremony.”
“I find it irritating. There were two ceremonies and they didn’t honor him. He should have been honored at the first ceremony.”
While others responded that “infuriating” might be a strong word, they agreed that it’s strange that a show about trivia doesn’t cover its entire history.
“Maybe they’re just focusing on the 1984 show.” It could be that the Fleming era is considered a different series,” one of them speculated.
“Last time, they said something like they wanted to check things out with his family before honoring him properly. Either the guy doesn’t have any living family or he’s taking too long,” another theorized.
A third fan chimed in to say Art has surviving relatives.
“I’m friends with his granddaughter, actually,” they wrote.
A fifth wrote: “I agree. Without this version, there would be no show to bring back to 1984. Wake up, powers that be at the studio!”
A sixth noted that the program celebrating 60 years covers Art’s tenure, so it is not intended to exclude him from the tradition.
“I agree, Fleming should at least be mentioned, as the current producers recognized it and called it ’60th Diamond Celebration’. [EP Michael] Davies.”
‘NOT IN COMMUNICATION’
Art hosted the show before it was revamped into its modern iteration with Alex and Johnny Gilbert.
Viewers were even suspicious of Alex because they loved Art at the time.
In 2022, its executive producer admitted that the program has not been in contact with his estate since his death in 1995.
“One name that was suggested to me was Art Fleming,” EP Mike Davies explained on Inside Jeopardy! podcast, referring to Honors’ snub.
He hinted that the show has no relationship with Art’s surviving family.
“I would love to reach out to those close to him to honor him in the future,” said the showrunner.
ART EPISODES ARE ‘LOST’
In 2022, producers also shared a shocking revelation about Art’s hosting episodes – they were all gone.
On Inside Jeopardy!, producer and former “Clue Crew” member Sarah Foss was joined by alumnus Buzzy Cohen.
A question from a fan was read: “Do you have access to other Art Fleming episodes?”
The answer was a resounding no; “I wish we had, I wish we had more of those,” Foss said.
All they have is “the original pilot,” which “never aired.”
“We don’t even have the first episode of the program,” lamented Sarah.
“It’s just one of those things; tapes used to be so big and heavy and over time we didn’t have the space or storage to store them.
“All these old programs. It’s lost.”
In other words, the show lost all tapes of the episodes before Alex began hosting in 1984 until his passing in 2020.
“If we could know, so many special episodes I would love to go back and watch – but I have my imagination,” she added.
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HOST BACKGROUND
Ken Jennings holds the record for longest winning streak on Jeopardy! history with 74 consecutive victories in 2004.
Now, he has taken on the role of full-time host of the series.
Alex Trebek hosted the modern iteration of the show from 1984 until November 2020, after losing a battle with pancreatic cancer.
After his death, things got a little chaotic, as viewers know all too well.
After a series of guest hosts, officials announced that producer Mike Richards and actress Mayim Bialik would take over as co-hosts.
However, in August 2021, Richards resigned due to resurfaced sexist comments and Ken stepped in to share hosting duties with Mayim.
Danger! Host timeline
Danger! has had a tumultuous history regarding hosts following the death of the iconic Alex Trebek in 2020. Here are every host since the game show’s inception in 1964.
Art Fleming – from 1964 to 1975, he was the original host of the daytime version of Jeopardy! on NBC.
Alex Trebek – From 1984 to 2020, the late, great Alex hosted the modern iteration of Jeopardy! for 36 years until his death from pancreatic cancer.
Guest Hosts – 2020 to 2021, Jeopardy! tested a series of guest hosts for one- or two-week stints, including Anderson Cooper, LaVar Burton and Aaron Rodgers.
Mike Richards – 2021, he was named host for a week before resigning amid controversy. He was the show’s executive producer at the time.
Mayim Bialik – 2021 to 2023, when Mike was announced as the show’s new host, Mayim was chosen to host tournaments and primetime specials.
Mayim and Ken Jennings – 2022 to 2023, 74-time champion Ken (the winningest contestant of all time) joined Mayim as guest host and they shared hosting duties.
Ken Jennings – 2023 to present. Last December, Mayim announced on Instagram that she would “no longer” host Jeopardy! After a long hiatus, having defended the writers’ strike, Ken was named sole host.
Ken now runs all editions of Jeopardy! including Celebrity Jeopardy!, the late night show and other primetime specials such as Masters.
In July 2022, it was announced that Mayim and Ken would continue to host together for the 39th season.
However, following the show’s hiatus in the summer of 2023, it was revealed that Jennings would take over as permanent host for season 40.
Mayim announced in a personal Instagram message in late December 2023 that she would “no longer host” the show.
Ken later said he “understood” the decision, as the shows “don’t have two hosts”.
Now, Ken runs every facet of Jeopardy! including specials and spinoffs.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
