Jeopardy! (September 7, 1966): #638 Clip

Libby Dyer has won two matches and has $1,680 in winnings. Can she win a third time, or will Joy Johnson or Irene Brody usurp her of her crown?

Well, you won't find out here, since this clip ends after the second clue (but includes two commercials). Sorry for the quality, but this is a *really* hard-to-find piece of footage.

Maybe an explanation is in order...
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I received this clip in a trade around 2007, and immediately caught my interest due to being shrouded in mystery (or at least to me) -- where did it come from? When did it air? How did the contestants do after the clip ended? ...Why is it such bad quality?

Well, now you can know the story and enjoy the footage -- *this* is the infamous black-and-white, bad-as-heck-quality clip of Art Fleming's "Jeopardy!" from 9/7/66!

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On 10/7/09, I got a message from Douglas Johnson (who Joy mentions at 1:58-2:00) thanking me for uploading this clip and shining some light on this infamous footage.

I then got a message on 1/2/10 from Libby Dyer herself, telling me that her grandson had found this while telling some relatives about her run on the show -- "It caused quite a sensation at our Christmas, so thank you."

To Doug, Libby, and their families, you are very truly welcome -- and I thank you for the comments.

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As far as I can tell, very few traders possess this clip -- Adam Nedeff, Chuck Donegan, Brad Francini, Ryan Rinkerman, Daniel Dedmon, and J.M. Vargas are the only ones I know (and I received my copy from Vargas).

Brandon Bolton also has this, complete with production slate, and uploaded his at one point. The more fluid movement on his copy suggests a videotape source, but the visual quality is worse than mine.

Basically, DON'T REQUEST TO SEE THE REST OF THIS EPISODE. I don't have it, and this is generally believed to be the only surviving footage (minus the production slate and a few other pre-show bits, which are present on Bolton's copy).

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The mysteries of this clip couldn't have been solved without the following people, whose help is very much appreciated:
* J.M. Vargas (for giving me this footage)
* SecondChance1977 (for the info on WSLS and the filming machine)
* Various "Sony Forum" posters (for the info on Libby Dyer and the board-making contest, plus the Fleming TOC listings)
* Brandon Bolton (for confirming through his collection and upload, that this IS the Studio Master)
* Xanfan (for **the freakin' airdate**)
* Douglas Johnson (for filling me in on how his mother did; knowing that I helped you reclaim five minutes of a day 43 years ago that was lost to NBC's stupid news division makes this all worthwhile)
* Libby Dyer (for finding this clip and letting me know -- I'm glad to hear that I could help not just a former contestant, but one of the 90+ undefeated champions in the original show's run)

And, as I stated to both Doug and Libby, I *really* wish the rest of this episode existed...and I hope, someday, that turns out to be the case.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Art
• Fleming
• Don
• Pardo
• Merv
• Griffin
• daily
• double
• final
• NBC
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• 1966
• rare
• vintage
• existing
• fragment
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• clip
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• donation
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• film
• WSLS
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• Libby
• Dyer
• Dyar
• Joy
• Johnson
• Irene
• Brody
• encyclopedia
• TOC
• Tournament
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• Champions
• third
• game
• day
• Doug
• Douglas

[Hondo20132]

I have a copy of this clip in relatively better video (it's still bright, but more sturdy than seen here). I can upload it if you want, as I can tell you are very intrigued by this.

Also, I have two shows from around the same time in which the quality looks a heck of a lot alike (the Hollywood Squares pilot, which I recently uploaded; and a 14-minute Concentration 1966 clip). Seems like this came from the same source as those two.

[WarioBarker88]

@Hondo20132 Hey, sure, why not upload it? (I wouldn't mind seeing the "Concentration" footage as well. :)

[spxmet]

Does anyone know if it's true that all Jeopardy! episodes originally aired in color, but were instead preserved on kinescope?

[WarioBarker88]

@spxmet That is true, yes.

[jeffcool78]

did you ever get in touch with game show network about this footage. maybe they can clean up the video. thank god for todays technolgy.

[WarioBarker88]

@jeffcool78 -- No, but I very highly doubt that GSN would want something like this given the direction they've been wanting to go in recently.

[beentheredonetht]

It's poor quality, but amazing that such an ep is available to see from over 40 years ago!

[Hondo20132]

An audio-only copy of a 1968 episode was recently posted.

[nanlisa]

I had just started fourth grade that week.

[nanlisa]

I had just started fourth grade when this episode aired.

[40onTheBlue]

@Hondo20132 By all means, please do!  :)

[ulysses1904]

My mom was a contestant on Jeopardy in the spring of 1967, she won $160. I was in 2nd grade at the time and we got to leave school for an hour and go home and watch her when they showed it a few weeks later. All the contestants got to keep their money back then, not just the winner. And I ended up reading the 1967 Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia set that they gave her, from cover to cover. I always wished I could buy the tape of her appearance but was told they probably reused the videotape.

[WaltGekko]

@AdamStabelli999 Well, Art Fleming does live on as he appeared in the video (along with the voice of Don Pardo) for Weird Al Yankovic's 1983 parody of the Greg Kihn Band's hit from earlier that year ("Jeopardy") that Weird Al called "I Lost On Jeopardy!" The video can be found on YouTube.

Ironically, it came out shortly before Alex Trebek began hosting the revival of "Jeopardy!" that has now run more than twice as long as the original.

[godofthisshit]

@Hondo20132

What was it recorded on?

[40onTheBlue]

@WarioBarker88 As would I.  ;)

[drobin3149]

I loved Art Fleming. When Jeopardy came back I was so disappointed that he wasn't hosting it. I like Trebek though.