This blog series is about my experience as a contestant on the quiz show, Jeopardy! I originally wrote it to share with friends and family, but a few pointed out that other fans may like to read it, too. I hope that fans of the show will find it entertaining, while aspiring Jeopardy! contestants will find it insightful as they continue their journey towards becoming a contestant. In case you missed it, click here to read the first installment, Part 1—The Test.
On Sunday, November 8, 2020, I was scanning news headlines on my phone when I read one that made my stomach drop: “Alex Trebek Passes Away.” I was devastated. I felt terrible for Alex’s family and those who knew him, of course, but also for Jeopardy! fans everywhere. Selfishly, I also felt a pang of regret that one of my lifelong dreams—to be a contestant on Jeopardy! And to meet Alex Trebek in person—would forever remain unfulfilled.
Alex fought his battle against pancreatic cancer in the public eye, and he did so with grace, dignity, and compassion. I’d lost my father to a similar form of cancer three years prior, and Alex’s passing—that of a man who, like my father, had represented a constant source of joy and stability in my life—hit me very hard. It stirred up the remnants of many negative emotions that had settled at the bottom of a sea of anguish and acceptance. Always present, but tenuously hidden. It seemed so strange to me that, in a world filled with uncertainty, rampant disagreement, and the proliferation of falsehoods, a form of entertainment lauded for its presentation of facts—simple, elegant tidbits of knowledge—was suddenly and irrevocably altered.
Alex Trebek’s Memoir
Towards the end of the week, I picked up a copy of Alex’s memoir, The Answer Is… Reflections On My Life, which I’d had my eye on since its publication earlier in the year. I read through it quickly and enjoyed every page. It’s one of the more interesting memoirs I’ve read, in that it feels more like a series of anecdotes and brief musings on life, along with snippets of advice for how to live a meaningful existence and positively impact those around you. Alex wrote it during his final years—his cancer diagnosis spurring him on—and it shows in the writing. He lived an incredibly unique and fascinating life. I highly recommend it for fans of the show, but also for anyone who’s looking for a bit of inspiration on how to move forward in the face of adversity, and for those who appreciate a good-natured introspection on the importance of life’s small, intimate moments.
I finished the memoir on Sunday, one week after Alex’s passing. The next day, my phone rang.
It was one of the show’s contestant coordinators, informing me that I was invited to appear as an alternate contestant at some point in the coming weeks. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest, and my mind raced with dozens of questions.
Was the show really going to be filming so soon after Alex’s passing? How was the show handling local pandemic restrictions? What, exactly, does an alternate contestant do?
After so many steps during the application, testing, and interview processes that carried quite a bit of uncertainty, my journey from this stage onward became—thankfully—very transparent. Yes, the show was going to continue filming after a short hiatus. “It was always Alex’s wish that the show would go on without him,” I was told. Yes, the production team was taking pandemic restrictions and local guidelines extremely seriously (more on that later). And as for alternate contestants, they’ve always been a part of Jeopardy!’s production process.
The Production Process
Here’s how Jeopardy! is filmed. The show films five episodes per filming day, so a week’s worth of episodes you see on your television screen is created within a single day. The “Monday” episode is filmed first, followed by the “Tuesday” episode, and so on. The returning champion from the previous filming day’s “Friday” episode arrives at the studio early in the morning, along with the other primary contestants, and a handful of alternates. The alternates are rarely utilized, and are an insurance policy against any unfortunate or unforeseen event befalling a primary contestant in order to make sure the production team can film an entire day’s worth of episodes. So if a contestant falls and breaks his or her leg during the lunch break, for example, an alternate will step in.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, primary contestants (those booked for an assured, immediate appearance on the show) would fly in from all across the United States and Canada. But when the pandemic hit, the show had to modify its contestant pool to prioritize folks who lived within driving distance (Southern California residents, primarily, as well as some from other parts of the state, along with the Las Vegas and Phoenix areas). This was an effort to limit the possible virus exposure for contestants traveling into Culver City, home of the Sony Pictures lot, where the show is filmed. Historically, alternate contestants had always been “local” residents—people who could be available on a relatively short notice and drive themselves to the studio. Since I was “local” (living about an hour’s drive away), I was asked to be an alternate contestant.
“Count me in!” I told the contestant coordinator over the phone. “But if I’m not needed for filming, will I still have a chance to appear at a later date?”
“Don’t worry,” she told me. “We always try our best to get our alternates back to the studio at a later date, so they can appear as contestants.”
“Alright!” I exclaimed. “Sign me up!”
I was emailed several forms and documents to fill out, and then was officially booked to appear as an alternate contestant on Monday, November 30—the very first day that the production team would be back in the studio following Alex Trebek’s passing. That meant that I would be in the studio audience for the first day of filming in the post-Alex Trebek era. As a lifelong Jeopardy! fan, and having read that the show was not utilizing an in-person studio audience due to social distancing efforts to combat the pandemic, I was elated and humbled at the opportunity to be a fly on the wall during a significant day in the show’s history. It would also be the first show with a guest host—the show’s greatest player of all time, Ken Jennings.
Getting Ready
While I was told that it’d be highly unlikely that I’d be utilized as a contestant during the day of filming on November 30, I wanted to be as prepared as possible—in case. I didn’t want to end up on the show and not have done everything I could to prepare to the best of my abilities. So I spent the next several weeks brushing up on several topics that weren’t my strongest in terms of trivia knowledge—opera, chemistry, and the like.
I began religiously watching episodes of Jeopardy! with my incredibly supportive wife, after we’d put our children to sleep. We quickly went through all of the episodes that had been on Netflix at the time. Luckily, our YouTubeTV account had been recording all of the episodes aired on our local affiliate station for the past year and a half—so there was no shortage of episodes to enjoy.
I also spent much of what little free time I had browsing the J! Archive website, an amazing resource that has catalogued each and every episode of Jeopardy! and details the clues, answers, and other data. My brother-in-law gifted me a wonderful book with a diverse collection of clues from the show—all of which I tried to commit to memory. I began binge-listening to a variety or trivia-themed podcasts. My absolute favorite was “Miss Information”—it’s light-hearted and the hosts are hilarious, plus the format makes it easy to digest a variety of quick facts about each episode’s particular theme. I also ordered a copy of Secrets of the Buzzer, a book by former champion Fritz Holznagel with some tips for mastering the show’s signaling device and its timing. One of the show’s all-time greats, James Holzhauer, even cited the book as a great source of insider information. In short, I tried to leave no stone unturned as I ramped up my training and preparation.
Not too long before November 30 arrived, the Jeopardy! team contacted me again. They wanted to schedule me to appear as a main contestant! We confirmed a date in mid-December (pending, of course, that I was not needed during my day of filming as an alternate contestant). And then it was suddenly official: no matter what, I’d fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a contestant on Jeopardy! …Well, as long as I passed a COVID-19 test immediately before each day of filming.
On Sunday, November 29, I drove to the Sony Pictures studio in Culver City where the production company had set up a COVID-19 testing center. All studio personnel, guests, casts, and crew members were required to participate in regular tests as part of the organization’s COVID-19 protocols. The testing center was very well organized, and the staff was incredibly friendly and accommodating. It was clear that this was a very well-run ship, so to speak, and that all those involved were keenly aware of the importance of combating the pandemic in order to ensure their work remained uninterrupted.
Late that night, I received an email from the independent lab organization who processed my test. I had tested negative for COVID-19—which was not surprising considering how committed my family has been to social distancing, but it was still a relief—meaning that I was all cleared to join in the filming the next day.
I struggled to get a good night’s sleep, too excited to properly let my mind relax, then woke up early the next morning. It was a day that would kick off fulfilling a lifelong dream.
Click here to read Part 3—The Alternate.
Follow me on Twitter—@mdouglaswhite.
