The main theme, called "Frisco Disco", was composed by Merv Griffin and arranged by Mort Lindsey. The opening theme, called "January, February, March", was also composed by Griffin and arranged by Lindsey. Both "Frisco Disco" and "January, February, March" were recorded in 1976 and released on Merv Griffin's double album "As Time Goes By", two years prior to the revival of Jeopardy! in 1978.
This is the first version of Jeopardy! to record from California as the show taped in Studio 3 at NBC's Burbank Studios at 3000 West Alameda Avenue in Burbank, California. Another one of Merv Griffin's shows on NBC's Daytime lineup, Wheel of Fortune (1975), also recorded at NBC's Burbank Studios.
This show launched on October 2, 1978 on NBC's daytime schedule airing weekdays at 10:30 a.m., taking the spot of the soap opera For Richer, for Poorer (1977). From its debut "The All New Jeopardy!" aired against the first half-hour of the hit show The Price is Right (1972), which aired on CBS. As such, the show found itself unable to build an audience.
"The All-New Jeopardy!" featured some unique gameplay elements of its own that differed from the original Jeopardy! (1964). In the most notable of these elements, the lowest scoring contestant was eliminated from further play after the Jeopardy! round. The remaining two contestants played the Double Jeopardy! round. In a second major change, no Final Jeopardy! round was played. Instead, the leader at the end of Double Jeopardy! was declared the day's champion.
The most notable among the changes for "The All New Jeopardy!" is that the Final Jeopardy! round from the original Jeopardy! (1964) was replaced on this version with a bonus game called Super Jeopardy!, played for a cash bonus. The round consisted of five categories (instead of six as in the main game), each with five clues numbered 1 to 5. The object of the round was to answer five questions to create a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line on the board (similar to the game Bingo). Contestants had to create the line before accumulating three strikes, which were given if a contestant either failed to respond (passing was not allowed without penalty) or gave an incorrect answer. If the contestant struck out, $100 was awarded for each correct answer given, but if the contestant was successful, he/she won $5,000. For each successive time a champion played the Super Jeopardy! round, regardless of whether or not the contestant had won the round the day before, he/she played for $2,500 more than he/she had the previous time-a second trip was played for $7,500, a third $10,000, a fourth $12,500, and a fifth and final trip $15,000. A contestant could earn $50,000 from Super Jeopardy! alone, provided that the contestant won each Super Jeopardy! round over a five-day reign as champion.