Have you ever wondered how the Jeopardy! gameboard works or how the clues are picked every game? The show’s long-time game board operator, Michele Lee Hampton, talked to host Ken Jennings about her job.
“Hey everybody. This is Ken,” the host said in an Instagram video. “I’m here in kind of the bowels of Jeopardy! with Michele Lee Hampton, one of my coworkers, who has a very important job at Jeopardy! You’ve seen her work, but you don’t know it yet. Michele, what do you do here?”
“I actually operate the game board,” she replied. “I’ve got a computer system that looks exactly like the game board that you get to see out on the stage and at home. I do my best to keep up with the contestants nowadays.” She laughed.
Jennings asked Hampton how long she has been working the game board at Jeopardy!. She has been on the show for 38 years, and doing the game board for 32 of those years.
She went on to reveal that in 1987, she worked a machine called the Still Store. Hampton shared that when the contestants got to Final Jeopardy, she had a lever to move down to wipe the answers.
“Speaking of someone who has been so long, you’re also kind of the living memory of Jeopardy!” Jennings said. “There’s not another thing like this on our stage.” The host pointed to the picture wall Hampton had in her office. Hampton shared that she has photos of people who have retired from Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, since she works on both.
Jennings said that former host Alex Trebek used to describe him and Hampton as Fred and Ginger, a double act. “Yes, he was on a paper script. People shorten them. He had to memorize them. They were jumping all around,” she said.
“Some parts of your job have gotten trickier now, right?” Jennings asked her.
“The intensity of the contestants, I can just feel it,” Hampton replied. “And in the morning, when we do rehearsal games, I get a feel for the contestants and things that they are interested in. That helps me plan a little bit where they might go, but going into a game, I just clear my mind and don’t think of anything.”
At the very end of the interview, Hampton revealed that her favorite button was the power-off button. Fans left comments about how they wanted to know more and how Hampton is a “legend” on the game show.
“WAIT!!! Why did it stop?? Keep interviewing her!!!! PLEASE!!! For the love of Jeopardy!, ask her more questions!!!!!” one fan said.
“Wait, this is so cool! Way to go, Michele!” another wrote.
“Legend,” former champion Paolo Pasco commented.
“Love the BTS stuff! I’ve been watching Jeopardy! since before the board had monitors and they had to physically flip the cards,” a fourth said.
“More behind the scenes of Jeopardy! So interesting,” another fan said.
“This is amazing! Love seeing more BTS of my favorite game show!” one last fan wrote.
Jeopardy!, Season 43, September 2026, weekdays, check local listings