• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, March 20, 2024

Credit “Jeopardy!” for upholding its high standards by marking its upcoming 60th anniversary this year starting on the exact date that it premiered in 1964.

This is not something that TV anniversary celebrations and specials are especially known for.

The birth date of “Jeopardy!” was March 30,1964.

Later this month on Saturday, March 30, 2024, the show kicks off a year-long anniversary celebration that will include a series of live “Jeopardy!” events and “experiences” around the country, and limited-edition merchandise.

Dubbed the “60th Diamond Celebration,” the promotion features “a series of nationwide live events and activations curated for ‘Jeopardy!’ fans [that] will take place from April through December, beginning in New York and then rolling out in various cities across the U.S.,” said an announcement earlier this week from Sony Pictures Television, producer of “Jeopardy!”

The New York fan experience will feature in-person appearances by host Ken Jennings and champions Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach and Austin Rogers.

“Jeopardy!” will also be launching a new “Jeopardy!”-branded bar trivia game coming to major cities in the fall, Sony said.

March 30, 2024 has been renamed “JeoparDAY!” by the promotion’s planners. On that day, the show will launch a “Why Not You? Campaign” encouraging aspiring contestants to take the “Jeopardy! Anytime Test.”

“Jeopardy!” first came to prominence with host Art Fleming (above photo, right) assisted by announcer Don Pardo. Alex Trebek (photo, left) was the show’s longest-running host at more than 36 years, from 1984-2021.

Merv Griffin has long (and rightfully) been credited as the show’s creator, but the Sony press release gives co-creator credit to his then wife, Julann, which is something I had never heard before.

As for TV’s penchant for running anniversary shows nowhere near the dates they are commemorating, the most glaring example was this month’s 50th anniversary special about “An American Family,” the 1970s series on PBS about a real family in California. 

The show premiered a year after the 50th anniversary for reasons that were never explained.