Jeopardy! is played in three rounds: the "Jeopardy" round, the "Double Jeopardy" round, and the "Final Jeopardy" round. In the Jeopardy round, 30 "answers" in six categories are revealed on a large, upright game board, with the values in each category increasing according to their difficulty level. A "Daily Double" hidden behind one of the questions forces contestants to wager all or part of their winnings on the answer. The same pattern of play is repeated in the Double Jeopardy round, with the value of questions now doubled and two Daily Doubles hidden on the game board. The game ends after all answers have been revealed or when time runs out. In the Final Jeopardy round contestants again wager some or all of their winnings on one common question that has to be answered in 30 seconds. The contestant with the highest score at the end of Final Jeopardy becomes the champion and is allowed to return for a maximum of five appearances. All five-time champions and some of the highest scoring winners return for the "Tournament of Champions," which is held once a year. Jeopardy! also regularly conducts other competitions, such as junior Jeopardy!, college tournaments. and celebrity shows.

     The original version of Jeopardy!, hosted by Art Fleming, ran from 1964 to 1975. Prizes for individual answers ranged from $10 to $50 in the Jeopardy round and from $20 to $100 in the Double Jeopardy round. In this version, all contestants kept their winnings, and the overall champion returned for another show. A 1978 remake of the show entitled All New Jeopardy! returned with Art Fleming as the host. In this version, the lowest-scoring contestant was eliminated after the Jeopardy round, and only the top winner after the Double Jeopardy round went on to play the Super Jeopardy bonus round. This version of Jeopardy! was less popular than the original and was canceled after only five months. From 1974 to 1975, Jeopardy! also ran parallel to the NBC network version in syndication.

     A new syndicated version of Jeopardy! premiered in September 1984 with Alex Trebek as host and has proved to be the most successful version of the program so far. While the rules of the game stayed essentially the same, the value of the questions in the Jeopardy round ranged from $100 to $500 and from $1,000 to $2,000 in the Double Jeopardy round. Only the winning contestant is allowed to keep the amount accumulated in the three rounds of competition. The two other contestants only receive consolation prizes. To add visual interest, Jeopardy! also added video­ taped clues and celebrities reading answers.

     The most recent spin-off from Jeopardy! is Rock 'n' Roll Jeopardy, broadcast on the cable music channel VH-1. The distinctive feature in this version is the focus on rock and pop music in the questions. Instead •Of the actual amount won during the three rounds of competition, the champion on Rock '11' Roll Jeopardy wins $5,000, while the other contestants receive consolation prizes. Numerous rock musicians have appeared in celebrity editions of this show, playing for their favorite charity rather than personal gain. Jeff Probst, who went on to host Survivor, was the original host  of Rock 'n' Roll Jeopardy!.

     Unlike most other game shows from the 1960s to the mid- 1990s, which focused on gambling, guessing, and consumption, Jeopardy! produced an appearance,.;e of serious competition and regard for education. The dramatically lit set and the dominance of blue in the color scheme add an impression of austerity on the show, serving to underline the pressure that the program attempts to create for the contestants. Jeopardy! avoids foregrounding consumerism and merchandise, as contestants generally only win cash prizes. At the same time, however, the large sums of cash that can be won on the program (up to $100,000 for one contestant) still reinforce a sense of materialism. Host Alex Trebek regularly emphasizes the intellectual abilities of the contestants, and popular magazines highlight the difficulty level of the questions on the show. However, the structure of the questions usually incorporates multiple clues to the correct answer and most questions do not require in-depth knowledge of a subject. Contestants can succeed on the program based on their ability to correctly identify clues within the question, so that only a surface familiarity with a given subject is necessary. The cultural competence required on Jeopardy! is closely aligned with "classical knowledge" and excludes marginal cultural groups and forms. As Michael Berthold points out, for example, literary authors used in questions are very likely canonized white male authors from the 19th and 20th centuries. Female and non-white authors rarely make an appearance. In other words, the game structure of Jeopardy! provides powerful financial incentives for being educated and accepting of the hierarchies of dominant culture.