Producer Merv Griffin  conceived the idea for Jeopardy after the quiz show scandals of the late 1950s. Contestants on several television quiz shows were found to have been given the answers in advance – so why not have a quiz show where the contestants already know the answers and have to come up with the question? He titled it What’s the Question?

On this day, March 30, the answers-only games show, now renamed “Jeopardy,” premiered for a short run on NBC. Art Fleming was the host, as popular as Alex Trebek is today. Keeping its format much the same as today, its questions ranged from $10 to $50 in increments of 10. Double Jeopardy doubled those numbers.

After its initial run, Jeopardy disappeared from NBC for three years. It was brought back in 1978 in a slightly revised format – only the first round would be like the classic Jeopardy. Round two kept the two highest-scoring contestants (the third would be eliminated), and the winner of that would go on to the Super Jeopardy round where on a 5 x 5 grid they would have to select five answers in line, either straight or diagonal. The prize money for Super Jeopardy for $5,000.