My
JEOPARDY! Experience
By Kenneth
E. DeBusk
Alex
Trebek,
in
his own style, read the Final Jeopardy answer for the
category "Authors": "He was one of President
Reagan’s advisors, a Nobel laureate, and wrote a
book titled ‘There’s No Such Thing As A Free
Lunch’."
The three of us had 30 seconds to write with a
light pen on a television monitor (no easy task,
by the way) the question matching that answer. My
two opponents were close enough that anyone could
win, and of course, only the winner got to keep
the cash. I had taken the lead by a few hundred
dollars on the very last question of Double
Jeopardy, and now had $8,900. The crew stressed
before we started taping that it was only play
money until one person had the most at the end, so
I bet it all. After Alex checked the other two
questions, I would have either $17,800, or I would
go home from Los Angeles to Michigan with only the
consolation prizes, and a credit card charged to
the max.
One of the common misconceptions is that they pay
all your expenses to play. Others include the
"fact" that you are given the questions and/or
answers before the show and the person with the
best memory combined with the fastest buzzer
reflexes will win. I got nothing free while I was
there except a bagel and some coffee while the
crew briefed all the contestants and lunch. It was
a nice catered lunch, with the representative of
ABC’s Standards and Practices Department sitting
at the contestant’s table, never saying a word,
but making sure the crew didn’t mingle with us off
the set. Security is tight on the set.
Perhaps I should start at the beginning. I was
born…. Oh, you don’t want to know that much? OK,
let’s fast forward. Ever since watching the
original 1960s Jeopardy with Art Fleming, I had
wanted to be on that show. In late 1990, I saw the
announcement, with a telephone number, at the end
of the show that open try-outs would be held in
New Jersey; after two days I finally got through
on the telephone and grabbed one of the last three
try-out openings.
During that week in New Jersey, they tried out
over 1,000 people for the show, in groups of
100-125. We were seated in a ballroom with two
large televisions in the front, and were told that
Alex himself would read to us from tape, and we
would complete a "fill in the blank" test based on
what he said. The questions ranged from ancient
history to opera to sports to French literature,
etc., much like you would see categories on the
show, with one question from each category. There
were 50 questions, and we were never told what the
passing number was, only that they would be graded
while we waited, and we would be given the news,
either good or bad, within 30 minutes. All 125 of
us were nervously fidgeting and making small talk
about how much we wanted to pass and how hard the
test was. (Was the baseball question Hank Aaron?
Was the Greek god Mercury?) When one of the
contestant coordinators came back in and announced
that three of us had made the grade. Two names
were read off that weren’t mine, and I knew that
it was now or never. The third name was mine! We
three were asked to stay on, while the others were
dismissed with thanks and an invitation to try
again next time. The three of us were taken into a
small room, placed standing in a line, each with a
small bell in our hand and cardboard Jeopardy
props leaning on a table against the wall. This
was just as important as knowing facts: could you
work under group pressure, speak well and clearly
and smile when appropriate? One of us literally
froze up, and couldn’t ring the bell or say a
word, but the other two were told we had made it.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end. When they did
try-outs, they always selected more than were
really needed, to allow for "cold feet", sickness,
inability to appear when summoned, etc. We were
told there was no guarantee that we would be
called to appear on the show. One of the most
memorable moments of this whole experience was,
while driving back to the main highway to return
home, still on cloud nine, I watched a deer,
frightened by gunshots, jump over a fence, onto my
car, almost totaling said car. I had to get a ride
back to town in a wrecker, rent a car, and leave
my car for extensive repairs, returning the
following month after repairs were complete.
My work at the time involved a lot of travel, and
some of my work was done at odd hours. When I got
home my wife just smiled and handed me a piece of
paper with a telephone number, and the word
"Jeopardy" written on it. They had called and
wanted me to come to Los Angeles for taping! I
hardly slept that night. The next morning I then
had to wait the long hours for the 8:00 opening
(11:00 Michigan time) of the LA office. "Could you
come out for taping?" I was asked. "You realize
that even after you get here, you might not be
selected as an on-air contestant." I never said
yes faster in my life. My wife and I debated about
both of us going, but decided that we couldn’t
afford it. Since it was my dream, I was destined
to go out there alone. My one credit card, with a
$1,000 limit, was immediately maxed out when I
booked the cheapest airfare I could, a hotel room,
and a small rental car for the four days I would
be there.
The day of the taping all the contestants were fed
doughnuts and bagels, coffee and soft drinks. Two
names would be chosen at random for each game and
we would wait in the "green room" and watch the
taping of prior shows until called. There were two
extras there, but the contestant coordinators said
they would try to make sure the out-of-town people
were called before the locals, since they could
come back again later for their chance. Two weeks
of shows are taped over two days. On Monday, the
first week is taped, and on Tuesday, the second
week. On each day, Monday and Tuesday are taped
before lunch, with Wednesday through Friday taped
in the afternoon. I was lucky enough to be
selected for the first week’s Tuesday show, and
was hustled into the ready room, to be briefed on
the rules of the game, have my make-up applied,
and start sweating like I had never sweated
before! The music started. The mellifluous tones
of the announcer: "Now entering the studio are
today’s contestants…" I walked on like I owned the
place, taking the center position, getting my
first look at the set and the enormous answer
board. A few seconds later, in strides Alex
Trebek, and at that moment, my lifelong dream came
true. A quick scan of the categories revealed some
I liked, and some I didn’t. It took a while to get
the hang of using the buzzer and the fact that you
can’t buzz until after Alex stops reading the
answer. If you buzz early, you are locked out for
a quarter second and someone else might get in
while you can’t. If you are successful, then the
other two are locked out, and Alex will say,
"Ken?" I was expected to have the right question,
always mindful of that format. I made some
mistakes, and made a fool of myself on silly
things that I really knew, such as the fact that a
male duck is a drake, not a gander, as I replied.
Oh well, it was still early, and I only lost $200.
The lead seesawed between the three of us. An
interesting sidelight was that the make-up man
came in every commercial break and powdered my
bald head so I wouldn’t shine on camera! Did you
know the question for the answer I gave at the
beginning? Did you say, "Who is Milton Friedman?"
If so, you won!
Lunch, now on to day two. I’m the defending
champion and the heat is really on. Wednesday’s
show goes much like Tuesday’s, with everyone
taking a turn at the lead, everyone making a fool
of himself at least once by giving stupid answers,
and all three of us wanting to be standing at the
end. I led at the end of Double Jeopardy, but
again, all were close, and it was anyone’s game.
The final category was "Actresses". Oh, no! Not my
best subject. Why couldn’t it have been science,
mathematics, classical music, or any other
category except that one? Alex read the quote from
the actress in question: "How transitory your life
is. One day you awake and you’re a building." That
evil music started, and my mind went in circles,
never stopping on one name for more than a
nanosecond, knowing that all of them were wrong.
The thirty seconds are up, and all I’ve written is
"Who is ?" Once again, I’ve bet it all, knowing
that I now have the third place prizes, and
yesterday’s $17,800. The other two knew that it’s
Helen Hayes, with Alex chiming in with his
somewhat supercilious comment of the day: "The
first lady of the American theatre." I have won
the Centrum vitamins, the Paul Mitchell hair care
cornucopia for that bald head, the Ronco macaroni,
the Icy Hot muscle balm, the Armitron watches, and
a lifetime supply of carpet cleaning solution and
a one day rental of a steam machine in which to
use it. Oh yes, the pair of graphite tennis
rackets, which I will never use, and I declined so
I wouldn’t have to pay income tax on them.
We taped in February, the show aired in March, and
I didn’t get the check until July! They had told
us it would take several months to process. The
day of the broadcast, the two young boys from next
door came running over excitedly after it
finished. The eight-year-old asked for my
autograph to take to school the next day, and the
five-year-old asked me for a dollar! That morning
I had been interviewed on long distance telephone
by the radio station in my home town in Florida,
but didn’t reveal whether I had won or lost, since
that was one of the conditions in the game rules.
You can only tell your family, and stress to them
that they can’t tell anyone.
To answer a few questions everyone always asks me:
Yes, Alex seemed to be a very nice person. I must
qualify that by saying he only talked to us as
much as you can see on the screen and during the
commercials. I was able to send my copy of his
book on Jeopardy back to his dressing room for an
autograph. The winnings are now invested as equity
in my home. Was I nervous--not really, it all
happens in real time, there isn’t any time to be
nervous, it’s that fast paced. The autograph, the
home equity, and the many fond memories are what’s
left, together with the photocopy of the check
that I carry in my shirt pocket and will show
anyone who mentions the word "Jeopardy" in my
presence. If you want to know more, e-mail me (ken@kdebusk.com),
I don’t mind at all and I might spur some of the
local Mensans to aspire to be a contestant some
day, just like I was. Who knows, if you promised
to bring a bottle of burgundy over, I might invite
you to watch the tape. It ranks right up there
among the top three days in my life, the other two
being the day I was discharged from the U.S. Air
Force and my wedding day. To that I might add
another now, the day I got my bachelor’s degree 28
years after I started in 1970. Believe in your
dreams, they can come true, and when they do, you
will remember them forever.
NEW!
Video of day one!
This article was first printed in
'Nova', the magazine of Western Michigan
Mensa, July, 1999
Mensa logo image above is Copyright ©
2004 American Mensa Limited. The Mensa logo
is a registered trademark of Mensa International
Limited and American Mensa Limited, all rights
reserved. Mensa does not hold any opinion or
have, or express, any political or religious
views.
At some point in the indefinite
future, I will find the VHS tape of my appearance
on Jeopardy! and extract a few video clips from it
to link here. Please do not hold your breath
waiting for it, though, since I'm fairly positive
you won't look good blue!
I hope you enjoyed the once-through
of the Jeopardy theme. I thought about looping it,
but knew I would be annoyed at that, so I didn't.
If you're interested in hearing the Jeopardy theme
as if Mozart had written it, download it by
right-clicking here.
For an excellent article on the
history and inner workings of the show, click here.
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Last updated
24-Nov-07 (as if anyone really cares except me).
Copyright © 1999-2007 Kenneth E. DeBusk
OK, I should not do it, but I'm going to put a
political cartoon on this page. It's funny and it's
apropos :)
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