S2·E371 1986-02-10

Episode recap

The broadcast dated February 10 1986 marks the 371st installment of the second season of the long‑running American quiz program Jeopardy!. The episode’s contestant lineup is listed in the episode synopsis as Paul Rouffa, Steve Lawson and Susan Fox‑Davis, each of whom took a seat at the iconic podiums to compete under the show’s established rules. Jeopardy! is identified in its series documentation as a television game show created by Merv Griffin that presents general‑knowledge clues in the form of answers, requiring contestants to respond in the form of a question. The program is classified by The Movie Database as a reality‑and‑family series with a TV‑G rating, reflecting its family‑friendly format.

During the first segment, known as the Jeopardy! round, the three participants selected clues from six categories, each containing five clues of increasing monetary value. Correct responses added the corresponding amount to a contestant’s score, while incorrect answers deducted the same amount and opened the opportunity for the other players to buzz in. Following the completion of this round, the board was refreshed for Double Jeopardy!, featuring a second set of six categories and doubled monetary values, allowing the competitors to expand or reduce their totals more dramatically. Throughout both rounds, the contestants adhered to the requirement to phrase each response as a question, a hallmark of the show’s reverse‑question format.

The episode concluded with the Final Jeopardy! segment, in which the remaining contestants wagered a portion of their accumulated scores on a single, often more challenging clue. After a brief period for contemplation, each contestant wrote their response, again in question form, on a card that was later revealed to the audience. The final scores were then tallied, determining the episode’s champion among Paul Rouffa, Steve Lawson and Susan Fox‑Davis. As with other installments of the series, the episode combined rapid‑fire recall, strategic wagering and the distinctive answer‑to‑question structure that has defined Jeopardy! since its inception.