This is the final entry in this blog series 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. Be sure to check out the previous entries in this series:
The moment had arrived—I was about to compete on the greatest quiz show in television history.
I had been randomly selected to participate in the first game of the show’s filming day (out of five), along with another newcomer named John, and the defending champion, Leah. The three of us were escorted from our “green room” in the Wheel of Fortune studio on the Sony Pictures lot to the Jeopardy! studio right next door.
We entered the hallowed house of televised trivia knowledge, and the contestant coordination team led us to the stage. After a lifetime of fandom, 20 years of attempting to become a contestant, and one previous day in the studio as an alternate contestant, I felt quite a bit of emotion as I made my way up the lighted steps towards the contestant podiums. It was a surreal experience, and I tried my absolute hardest not to let the uniqueness of the moment pass me by.
But I had a game to play. A game to win. Hopefully.
I focused on the task at hand and prepared for a last-minute pep talk from the contestant coordinators and some final preparations by the production crew. I had been randomly assigned the “number three” podium—the one farthest away from the host and on the right-hand side of the television audience’s screen.
(By the way, yes, I know that the structures behind which contestants stand are technically called “lecterns.” But the term “podium” was more widely used behind the scenes by the production staff. And if it’s good enough for Merriam-Webster, then it’s good enough for me. Let’s move on.)
During the filming day’s orientation, the coordination team had briefed all the contestants on the next steps once we got on stage. But they still thankfully walked us through them immediately before the game got underway.
Final Preparations
Ever wonder why all three Jeoaprdy! contestants appear about the same height when you watch an episode on television? On the floor behind each podium is a large square panel, which you can sometimes see in wide shots of the stage. That panel is the top of a small lift, which can be raised or lowered by remote control. After Leah, John, and I stepped up to our podiums, a crew member adjusted our positions so that we were all about eye level. I remember during my prior filming day as an alternate contestant that one individual—who was on the shorter side—joked about needing a box to stand on. She was then delighted to discover the secret of the podium lifts.
After our podium positions were dialed in, Leah, John, and I each used a stylus to sign our names onto a grey screen atop the podium. I signed in with my legal first name, Michael. Once we were each happy with how they came out, the staff cleared the screens, not to be used again until the Final Jeopardy! Round. The signaling devices—or, “buzzers”—are located in a bracket near each contestant’s right hand. We were asked to pick them up and ring in, to make sure they were functioning normally. We’d be asked to do this check during each of the upcoming breaks in filming. Then it was time for a bit of housekeeping.
We took turns recording our “Hometown Howdy” messages—short commercials featuring a contestant that his or her local affiliate station can air to showcase a local resident being on the show. Then the staff had John record his portion of the episode’s opening introduction shot. This has something to do with the placement of the cameras and making sure the overall opening segment is recorded smoothly, but I’m far from an expert on television production and I honestly can’t remember the details of the staff’s explanation. In any case, John smiled at the camera for about 10 seconds to capture a recording.
We made sure to place our signaling devices back into their brackets so that our hands would be free to clap for the host’s entrance. We all then double-checked our hair, and John and I straightened our neckties. Then the director announced that it was time to begin the show.
The entire studio grew silent.
Sarah Whitcomb Foss of the Clue Crew announced—over the studio’s speaker system—the episode’s production number and air date for record keeping purposes. Episode #8331, February 8, 2021. Johnny Gilbert, Jeopardy!’s longtime announcer, wasn’t in the studio during my filming day. At 92 years old, Johnny is still going strong with his work. But we were told that he’d transitioned to doing much of his voiceover duties inside his home studio, partially in an effort to keep safe during the global pandemic. Sarah was on-site serving as the announcer, and her words would later be replaced by Johnny’s for the on-screen final product in post-production.
The Jeopardy! theme song began to play. The crew’s enormous jib-mounted camera swept across the studio, then maneuvered towards me. I grinned back at it as Sarah’s voice rang out, “This is Jeopardy! Here are today’s contestants.”
Since I was positioned at the outside podium, Sarah introduced me first.
That’s me! I thought. This is really happening!
The introduction continued, and then the guest host—Ken Jennings, the show’s greatest ever champion—emerged from behind the game board to the applause of the studio audience (made up solely of the day’s other contestants, and which would be enhanced in post-production). Ken gave a brief introduction to the camera where he thanked the audience for joining in to the start of a new week of Jeopardy! episodes. Then he walked over to the host’s podium and announced the categories while we all picked up our signaling devices. Ken then instructed Leah to pick the first clue.
The game had begun.
The Jeopardy! Round
I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to accurately describe the maelstrom of emotions that went through my mind during the game. I immediately drifted into a state of tunnel vision as Ken began reading the categories in the game’s first round. And the entire experience went by in a blur, despite the filming process—including the accompanying breaks in between segments—lasting about an hour. What musings follow are but a fraction of the billions of things that ran through my mind when I was on that stage competing.
As the defending champion, Leah got to kick things off by choosing the first clue, which she promptly answered correctly. When the second clue popped up, I rang in first and answered, “What is a bullfrog?” Correct! My mind raced.
I actually answered a clue correctly! I’ve got to keep this momentum going. Maybe I’ll have a shot at winning. Oh, geez, I hope I don’t start screwing this up. Why is everyone staring at me? Oh, right! I need to pick the next clue!
I continued the game by selecting a clue in the same category. Leah and John proceeded to exchange a series of correct answers, and then play eventually moved into the “States By National Forest” category. I knew four out of the five clues, but was beat on the buzzer on two of them. Missing out on the answer to “Sequoia National Forest” was, admittedly, a bit tough to swallow, considering that it’s located in my home state of California. But I regained my focus and correctly answered the final two clues of “Prescott National Forest” and “Ocala National Forest” (Arizona and Florida, respectively).
I selected the first clue in a new category called “Technology.” Before reading the clue, Ken informed us and the audience, “Partnering with Olay this week, we’ll be bringing attention to the gender gap in STEM fields, which are science, technology, engineering, and math.” So this special category—along with others throughout the week’s other episodes, we later learned—featured video clues presented by prominent women in those respective fields. It was a great promotion for the show, and an important issue to bring to national attention. Unfortunately for me, however, it proved to be a terrific category for my competitors. Leah answered the first question, then John answered the next four.
With the first 15 clues wrapped up, Ken paused the game and announced the first commercial break. Filming paused, and everyone enjoyed a welcome rest while the crew reset their equipment. Ken then did a series of audio pick-ups with the production staff (wherein he re-reads a handful of clues to produce a higher-quality audio result than was captured during the actual gameplay). The contestant coordinators joined us on stage, full of energy and positivity, and gave us another pep talk. Everyone prepared for the interview portion of the show, which would flow into the remainder of the first round of gameplay.
The theme music started to play again and the cameras began rolling. Since I was on the outside podium, I was up first. Ken introduced me, and then asked a pre-selected question about my daughters’ respective birthdays.
Prior to appearing on the show, all contestants are asked to provide five unique facts about themselves that would make for an interesting interview topic. During my time at the studio, I’d learned that when Alex Trebek was host, he would often choose which topic to discuss with the contestant from the various topics written on his card. My experience as a contestant differed slightly, as I was asked ahead of time which topic was my first choice—my daughters’ birthdays, I told them. I imagine, but cannot confirm, that providing Ken with one single topic on which to focus helped ease him into this trademark responsibility of a Jeopardy! host.
I was delighted to be able to discuss my love for my children on national television, and I eagerly await the day when they’re old enough to fully comprehend how special the moment was for me and our family.
Ken then interviewed John and Leah, and then it was time to get back to playing the game.
The First Round Continues
John started off the second half of the first round of Jeopardy! by selecting the “How Deep Is Your Love?” category. I answered the first clue correctly—”What is Dirty Dancing?” (a favorite film amongst many members of my family). And then I answered the next question correctly, as well—“Who is Princess Peach?” (my childhood love of the Super Mario Bros. video games paid off in a big way). I then answered the third question in the category correctly—“What are clydesdales?”—which referenced the famous Budwesier horse commercials, and found myself on a roll… which caused me to lose a bit of focus.
John beat me to the buzzer on the next two clues, the second of which was the television sitcom “New Girl.” Both my wife and I are big fans of the show, so in the moment I found myself thinking, Oh, no! My wife would have loved for me to get this one!
The game continued into the “Facts & Figures” category for a bit, which proved to be an interesting experience for me. I answered the first clue correctly about what the word “edentulous” refers to—having no teeth. Another clue in this category involved some demographic information about a Middle Eastern country. It was a triple-stumper that no one rang in for, with the answer being “Iran.” My wife has family from Iran and, prior to my appearance, I had jokingly said that it would probably come up on my show. Sure enough, it did, but I wasn’t confident enough to answer.
Then came a moment that I had been dreading—a wrong answer.
Still in the “Facts & Figures” category, a clue noted, “A leading organization against this activity says the average driver does it 80 times before being arrested for the first time.” The correct answer of “drunk driving” immediately entered my brain, and I rang in first. But in that split-second before answering, I questioned the response, thinking, Wait, people drink and drive 80 times before being caught?! That’s terrifying! So, in a panic, I switched up my response and answered, “speeding,” which was incorrect. John rang in and scooped up the rewards for this clue. Lesson learned: once you ring in, go with your gut.
John beat me on the buzzer to the next clue, and then the round started winding down with the “Literary Allusions” category. I got one right—”What is Robinson Crusoe?”—but then John beat on the buzzer for the next two about Cervantes and Dante, respectively. This proved to be pivotal as the last clue in the round was the Daily Double! John bet a hearty amount and answered correctly—“Who is George Orwell?” As a big Orwell fan, I really wish I’d gotten that clue.
The first round ended and John had a very impressive lead over Leah and me. We had our work cut out for us in Double Jeopardy!
The Double Jeopardy! Round
Following a break in filming for everyone to catch their breath and for the crew to reset, Ken led the show into the second round of play—Double Jeopardy!—by announcing the clues. Leah, as the contestant with the lowest score going into this second round, chose first.
She selected a clue from the category, “Non-Vocabulary.” I answered correctly, then swiftly moved the game over to a category that I was absolutely thrilled to see appear: “Before & After Goes To The Movies.” Longtime Jeopardy! fans will be familiar with the “Before & After” category—it’s one of the show’s most famous. Each clue has two elements that contestants must fuse together to form the correct response. For example, if a clue stated, “The first president of the United States and the author of ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,’” the correct answer would be, “Who is George Washington Irving?” George Washington and Washington Irving, get it? During my game, this category had a unique spin on it, with each clue being movie-themed.
John beat me to the buzzer on this first clue of the category, and then moved the game back into the “Non-Vocabulary” category. He and Leah traded correct answers for a while before Leah brought the game back to the movies. There was a triple-stumper, and then I answered the next two correctly. One of the answers was, “A Star is Born on the Fourth of July.” During my interview, I had noted that my younger daughter’s birthday was July 4. It wasn’t until much later that I was able to reflect on this serendipitous moment, and I’m especially excited to share this occurence with my daughter when she grows up.
We finished up the category, with John again beating me to the buzzer with the correct response of “Guardians of the Galaxy Quest,” an amalgam of two science fiction movies I adore. John then steered the game into a category about the names of famous royal houses. I answered the first one correctly (“What is Romanov?”), then proceeded to bounce around the board, with John and I exchanging several correct answers. I was pleased to have answered “What is Jupiter?” in response to a clue about classical music pieces from Mozart and Holst, as well as “What is Margaret?” in a category about “Female First Names.” Eventually, though, John landed on the round’s first Daily Double! in the “People & Places” category. He wagered a sizable amount and coolly answered correctly, further increasing his lead over Leah and me.
John selected the next clue in the same category, and I suffered another wrong answer. Looking back, I had started to panic at the size of John’s lead and felt a compulsion to ring in. The clue was straightforward, but in my haste, I hadn’t given myself enough time to process its details. I answered, “What is indigenous?” before realizing that the clue was asking for a specific region of the world. John took the spoils with the correct answer, “What are Australians?”
John then finished out the category and moved the game back into the “Royal Houses” category. I answered the clue correctly (“What is Tudor?”) and then selected the next clue in the category.
That unmistakable and glorious tune shot forth from the studio loudspeakers—pew pew pew pew pew pew! It was the round’s second Daily Double!
For those unfamiliar with how the Jeopardy! set is laid out, there is a small scoreboard located off-screen, towards the upper-left of the game board. This is why you’ll often see contestants glance in that direction during a game, especially when they’re tasked with making a wager prior to a Daily Double! or as a round is coming to a close—they’re looking at the scores of all the contestants in order to form a wagering strategy or to simply see how things stand. When it comes to a Daily Double, there’s no magic of television editing and no pause in play. The amount of time a contestant has to make a wager is exactly what you see on your television screen—only a few seconds before the host gives a bit of encouragement to hurry things along. At that point in the game, John’s lead was significant at $24,000, while I was sitting in second place with $7,600. Leah was close behind me with $6,200.
A popular dream amongst Jeopardy! contestants is to utter those classic words, “Let’s make it a true Daily Double!”—meaning that they wish to go all-in and wager the total amount of their score. It’s a bold move, especially near the end of a game, and it’s something I truly longed to do in that moment. However, the rational part of my brain reminded me that there were only around ten clues remaining before the end of the round. If I bet everything and answered incorrectly, there was a very real chance that I may not earn any additional money to be eligible to play in Final Jeopardy! It was also quite apparent that John was on his way to a very impressive victory, and I was eager to earn second place if at all possible. So I decided on a large wager that wouldn’t leave me annexed from Final Jeopardy! if I got it wrong.
“I will wager… $5,000,” I told Ken.
The clue popped up on the game board as Ken read it aloud. Like the other clues in the category, this one was short, with only a handful of words—the names of two members of a royal house that I was to recall: “Empress Maria Theresa & Emperor Franz Josef.”
The answer popped into my head immediately. But I stayed silent, hoping to give myself a few precious seconds to mull it over. This was a pivotal moment in the game, after all.
“What is… Habsburg?” I responded incredulously.
Ken paused for what felt like an eternity—although it ended up only being about a second—and then replied, “Habsburg’s correct!”
A tidal wave of relief and pure joy rolled over me. I was still in the game and had a slim chance of making sure John didn’t run away with the game. I selected the next clue, and intended to switch things up by jumping back to the “Female First Names” category, in the hopes of keeping my competitors on their toes. The clue ended up being a triple-stumper, and I continued with the same category, answering the next question correctly about the name of the wife of one of my favorite comic strip characters, Hagar the Horrible— “What is Helga?”
My adrenaline was surging at this point, and my confidence was pretty high. I selected the next clue in the category, but my newfound hubris caused me to perform my most egregious error in the game. The clue asked for the type of “sacred tree” from which the name Yvette derives. I immediately rang in, even though I had no answer prepared. Here’s my most obvious tip for future Jeopardy! contestants: If you don’t know an answer, don’t ring in.
I frantically searched my brain for a type of tree. Any tree. Preferably one that starts with “Y.” The only answer I could conjure was the sacred tree from Norse mythology, “Yggdrasil.” I started to respond and, horror stricken, struggled to remember the word’s correct pronunciation! My lips and tongue fumbled over one another and something like, “Ygg… sss…drill,” came out. I shot Ken a look that I intended would silently communicate, “Please say this is wrong quickly and put me out of my misery.” None of the other contestants rang in with the correct response (“What is Yew?”), leading to a triple-stumper.
And that was it. I wouldn’t ring in again.
The game wrapped up with John correctly answering five of the final six clues, beating me to the buzzer on three of the ones I knew. His was a staggeringly great performance.
When the Double Jeopardy! round ended, I glanced at the scoreboard. It confirmed what I already knew: My dream of becoming a Jeopardy! champion was over. I momentarily pushed aside those feelings of disappointment because I was determined to finish strong by putting in my best effort in the Final Jeopardy! round.
Ken announced the category for Final Jeopardy! It was “World Literature.” I was thrilled. It was a category that I felt confident I would have a decent chance of answering correctly. Ken then took the show into a commercial break, and filming paused in preparation for the last portion of the episode.
Final Jeopardy!
There’s a relatively lengthy break in production immediately before the Final Jeopardy! round.
First, a crew member comes on stage and installs a series of partitions on top of the various podiums, in order to prevent players from seeing one another’s screens. Next, it’s time for the players to make their wagers. We were given ample time to do so while the production team adjusted their camera positions and prepared for the upcoming changes in studio lighting and audio cues. No calculators are allowed, but we were given some scrap paper and a marker to help us out with some math, if needed.
Since John had achieved a runaway game, I knew that the best I could hope for was second place. (John seemed far too intelligent and savvy to end up pulling a “Cliff Clavin.”)
With a score of $6,200, Leah had more than half my total dollar amount of $12,200, meaning that she had a shot at overtaking me if she bet it all, answered correctly, and I answered incorrectly. So I decided to go with the minimum bet to cover this scenario: $201. Once we all had determined our wagering amounts, we each wrote ours on the small screen atop our podium using the supplied stylus, just as we had done at the start of the game when writing our names. After you write down your wager, you then press a button that says, “Enter” (our maybe “Submit” or “Confirm”—in all honesty, I can’t remember this detail). And once your wager is in, it’s in, we were told. There’s no going back, so double-check your math before you confirm it. Once our wagers were all locked in, there was a small bit of housekeeping to take care of.
During an airing of the show, there’s a brief shot in between the last round of commercials that shows the contestants writing on their screens. It’s implied that the contestants are making their wagers then. But, in fact, they’re actually writing either, “What is” or “Who is,” depending on the answer to the Final Jeopardy! clue. The production team informs us which version to write—in the case of my episode, it was “What is”—and then they film a sweeping shot of the studio above the contestants’ heads. This not only gives the show this bonus shot for the airing, it also allows the contestants to better focus on answering the final round’s clue when the time comes.
After another quick break, we were all ready for Final Jeopardy! The studio hushed, the cameras rolled, and the clue popped onto the game board as Ken read it aloud.
“In a classic novel from 1866, the murders of two women take place in this city.”
As soon as the clue appears and the host begins to read it, the writing screens are activated. So contestants are allowed to start writing immediately if they conjure the answer right away. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t immediately summon the correct answer. I wanted to be sure that I had some sort of answer on my screen, so I wrote down the first major city I could think of as a placeholder: London. Then I concentrated and tried to break down the clue for any hints that might lead me to the correct answer.
There are many discernible patterns when it comes to Jeopardy! categories and clues. One of them involves the word, “world.” In the context of a category like “World Literature,” the answer would almost certainly involve a novel or story written in a language other than English. Knowing this, I started rifling through the catalogue of novels I knew that were written during the mid-1800s and were not (at least originally) published in English.
This was easier said than done, honestly, because the studio became a sweltering pit of anxiety when that countdown music started to chime. The studio’s lights changed to red, and I could feel an oppressive glare around the fuzzy edges of my vision. Still, I tried to concentrate. It was the shortest 30 seconds of my life. But as the music neared its crescendo with only a handful of seconds left, the answer hit me.
Murder of two women. 1866. It was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky!
It was a book I’d never read in its entirety, but the details all clicked into place. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and had no opportunity to think about the novel’s setting. So, faster than I’d ever scribbled anything before in my life, I wrote the most obvious Russian city—“Moscow”—onto my screen, then slashed my pen across the word “London,” just as the music ended and the pens deactivated. (If you watch the episode, the camera lingers on me at the end of the music, and you can see me cross off something on my screen.)
Because Leah had entered Final Jeopardy! with the lowest amount of money, Ken addressed her first. She had answered, “London,” which Ken noted was incorrect. Leah’s wager was then revealed—she had bet everything, and her score plummeted to $0. Even if my answer proved incorrect also, at least I hadn’t wagered everything.
Second place, I realized. I would finish in second place on Jeopardy!
At that point, I knew the answer was going to be a Russian city, and a small part of me held out hope that maybe, just maybe, Moscow would be the correct answer. I couldn’t win the game, but second place was a respectable showing, and correctly answering the Final Jeopardy! clue would be a worthwhile point of pride.
Ken turned to me and asked for my response. My screen lit up with my answer. “What is London Moscow?”
“You were getting warmer,” said Ken. “But I’m afraid that’s also incorrect.”
And I knew then, immediately, what the correct answer would be. The other major Russian city. Had the novel come to me a few seconds earlier, perhaps I would have had enough time to think more clearly about its setting. But, alas, such is Jeopardy!
Ken turned to John, who had put on a marvelous performance throughout the entire game and was a deserved champion. Would he have recalled the correct answer? John’s screen revealed his response: “What is Paris?”
“No, Paris is not correct, either,” said Ken.
A triple-stumper! In Final Jeopardy! I could hear the fans watching at home on their televisions gasping in frustration, and the ones who were better versed in Russian literature scoffing as Ken revealed the correct answer: St. Petersburg. Ken also confirmed that the clue, in fact, was indeed about Crime and Punishment. After congratulating John on his win, Ken addressed the camera and encouraged the viewing audience to tune in to tomorrow’s game to watch John defend his title.
The game officially ended.
There was a short break during the production in which a crew member removed the partitions from between the contestants’ podiums. Then, John, Leah, and I returned to our positions to shoot some closing footage for the episode, wherein the television audience sees Ken strike up a conversation with us, but cannot hear what we’re saying because the show’s theme song is playing as the credits roll. To the best of my recollection, here’s how the first part of the conversation went, as Ken addressed me first.
“Did you know which book the clue was referring to?” Ken asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “It came to me right at the very end of the time limit, so I wrote down the most obvious answer when it comes to Russian cities.”
“So close! But hey, nice job.”
Ken then spoke with the other contestants, but I won’t pretend to remember what they discussed. By that point, I was basking in the afterglow of a lifelong dream fulfilled.
Click here to see all of the game’s details on the J! Archive website.
The Aftermath
Whether you only play one game or you rack up a record-setting 74 victories like Ken Jennings, the reality is that every competitor will eventually lose on Jeopardy! Who ends up beating you is completely out of your control.
But if it would have been possible for me to choose, then I’m pleased to say that John Focht is exactly the type of player I would have wanted to beat me. Having played against him and having spoken with him several times throughout the day of filming, it was clear that he possessed a very well-rounded knowledge base and was also incredibly skilled with the buzzer—the two most important factors for winning on Jeopardy! But, more importantly, during our exchanges, John was always gracious and respectful to his fellow contestants. He clearly loved the show and admired the game, and he was quite simply a very nice person. He’d go on to win three more games during his run on the show.
Leah was also very friendly, respectful, and a pleasure to meet. She’s a bona fide Jeopardy! champion and a very talented player, and it was a privilege to be able to compete against her.
As for me, I was quite satisfied with my performance overall. I can humbly yet confidently say that I proved I was skilled enough to compete on the world’s most popular quiz show and not make a complete fool of myself. I was lucky enough to make it to the big dance, and that’s something I won’t ever take for granted.
Some folks have asked me what I plan to do with my prize money. Since contestants don’t receive their winnings until several months after their episode(s) air, I’ll have plenty of time to think about it. In the meantime, though, I did splurge on a lovely edition of Crime and Punishment to add to my book collection.
I also had the tremendous good fortune to watch a total of ten games filmed in person—to say nothing of the thousands of shows I’ve watched on television. It’s truly heartwarming to see that Jeopardy!’s format remains so alluring and engaging, and its popularity remains strong despite the passing of Alex Trebek. And I’m elated that so many younger people continue to apply for, and appear on, the show.
It appears that Alex’s legacy will live on, and that Jeopardy! will continue showcasing the importance of facts, the value of friendly competition, and the simple joy of discovery well into the future. I’ll be watching along, and I hope you will, too. And if you dream of becoming a contestant one day, go for it!
Some Tips For Aspiring Contestants
Study. The beauty of Jeopardy! is that it celebrates every trivia topic under the sun. But that’s also what makes it so challenging. Watch the show religiously. Observe and memorize the intricacies of the games, the cadence of the contestants’ responses, and the frequency of certain categories. Regularly browse the J! Archive website. Study topics you don’t know, and review topics you do know. Spend plenty of time doing all this before you take your first online test. Then, be patient.
Make friends with the buzzer. In a game that pits three trivia-crazed contestants against one another, the buzzer becomes a significant factor in who will score the points. Oftentimes, all three—or at least two—contestants know the answer to a clue. But only the first person to ring in will benefit. Practice ringing in at home. Make a replica signaling device. Watch some professional drag racing and learn how to time the green lights. Do whatever it takes to help you improve your reflex time.
Be friendly, energetic, and authentic. When you make it to the second round of the application process, continue studying for the second test. But also make sure you’re ready for the interview portion. Speak loudly and clearly, smile, and let your personality show through. The producers want contestants for whom the viewing audience can cheer. Make people want to watch you.
Get ready for a busy day. If you’re invited to participate in a day of filming, be prepared for a long and exciting day. The show will provide you with a gourmet lunch, but bring plenty of snacks and water. Stay hydrated, and also take advantage of any restroom breaks as they become available. Bring an extra coat or two—the filming studios can get quite chilly. Make sure you have plenty of coffee or other caffeinated beverage of your choice handy—you may not play a game until late in the afternoon, and you want your reflexes to be sharp.
Enjoy the experience. If you make it onto the show, congratulations! That’s a huge achievement in and of itself, one that millions of fans dream about. Make friends with your fellow contestants, treat the entire production staff with respect, and have fun. Appearing on Jeopardy! is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Make it count.
Follow me on Twitter—@mdouglaswhite.
