Jeopardy Guest Host Had To Go to Great Lengths To Keep Clues Safe

Jeopardy!, it turns out, goes to great lengths to keep its integrity as a beloved game show out of jeopardy. On Tuesday, CNN.com ran an in-depth piece from its own chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta in which Gupta reflects on his time as one of Jeopardy!'s guest hosts. Gupta and other celebrities have been rotating in and out as guest hosts on the long-running series after Alex Trebek, who hosted the show for 35 years, died last year. In his piece, Gupta reflects on Jeopardy!'s inception, reviving the image and viability of televised game shows after a rigging scandal that led to congressional action nearly doomed the concept.

"When Jeopardy! debuted on March 30, 1964, however, it was supposed to soften the scandalous reputations from a decade earlier," Gupta writes. "The idea was to just give the contestants the answers and ask them to come up with the questions, instead. It was a powerful enough twist to convince TV executives to try a game show one more time. No gimmicks, no fixes. The most critical ingredient for Jeopardy! would be its honesty, and nearly 60 years later, as I learned, that integrity is baked into all facets of the show."

Gupta gives a prime example. The handling ofthe clues he'd provide to contestants during his episodes hosting the series was not something anyone took lightly.

"For example, the show's standards and practices team was omnipresent on set," he says. "They shared some of this history with me and also gave practical tips, reminding me to keep close tabs on any papers that contained clues, even asking that I put them in the hotel safe whenever I left the room. I wasn't supposed to share clues with anyone, obviously, not even my spouse. While I was given multiple show scripts, I wasn't told the order we would tape them until just before filming began. And, even after that, the order could be changed again to ensure no one had advance notice of the clues. Even the contestants themselves weren't certain when they would be called into a new show. There was a constant and purposeful shuffling of schedules and content to maintain that sterling history of high integrity. I felt it all around me."

Jeopardy!'s deduction to deception and subterfuge in the name of fairness is comparable to what franchise film productions go through to avoid leaks and spoilers. It likely has gone a long way to keeping fans invested in Jeopardy! for so many years.