In the game show Jeopardy hosted by Alex Trebec, was there ever a time
when the contestants were introduced and "interviewed" before any
questions were asked. As it is played now, the contestants are
introduced after some questions have already been asked in gameplay.

Hello.

Well, you're absolutely correct that "interview" segment WAS at a
different time when the Alex Trebek showed debuted.  However, it was
not at the very beginning of the show.  Rather, the "interviews" were
actually done BETWEEN the two Jeopardy rounds (i.e., after "single"
Jeopardy and before Double Jeopardy).


In a 1997 newsgroup message, a former Jeopardy champion named Kurt
Bray mentions the change:

"I haven't strictly kept track but I have the impression that since
they moved the interview back to after the first the commercial break
that fewer boards are cleared.  If Alex gets carried away with the
chit-chat it cuts into playing time.  When the chit-chat came after
the Jeopardy round was over this wasn't a problem."
Source: alt.tv.game-shows, 1997/02/21 
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=5ejfdq%24fae3%40atlas.csusm.edu

Mr Bray is listed on Jeopardy's biggest winners list:
http://www.jeopardy.com/winners.pjw?show_winners=winners_subbut2&cat=contestant

------------
search strategy:
I've been watching the Alex Trebek-version of Jeopardy since it
debuted. When I read your question I was sure that you were on the
right track because I too remembered that the "interview" segment had
been moved at some point. I suspected that the interviews actually
might have been done after the first Jeopardy round and prior to the
commercial break the preceded Double Jeopardy.  Another researcher
(thanks Voila-ga!) had the same recollection, so I
tried the following search terms on Google Groups:

"double jeopardy" "commercial break"

I hope this helps.

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 01 Apr 2004 00:26 PST

Sorry for that typo in the first sentence:

"...Trebek SHOW debuted."

I believe that, in an earlier version of "Jeopardy!" that was hosted
by Art Fleming, the contestants were introduced before the game began.