I didn’t do the show. My daughter was hospitalized the week that I was supposed to tape, and they weren’t particularly willing to be flexible about rescheduling me, so I decided that my family was more important.
It would’ve been fun, but real life is more important.
I’m glad I found this thread, because I was going to post one myself asking a lot of these questions. I’m scheduled to go down to LA next Thursday for my tryout, and I was hoping some folks who’ve been there before could enlighten me on what to expect. I think a lot of my questions have already been answered, but if there’s more advice to give, I’ll be happy to hear it. Of course, I’m just going for the preliminary tryout next week–I’m still a long way from being on the show.
Oddly, though, I find most of my questions centering on the actual playing of the game, not the tryout. I think richardb covered the experience quite thoroughly in his post in the other thread, but there are still some points I wonder about. It may be hubris even to ask about such stuff before I’ve even taken the test, but as I’ve been watching these last few weeks I’ve found myself wondering:
Can the contestants see the clues on a monitor, as they are shown to the television audience while Alex is reading them? (I ask because, in watching on TV, I find I usually know the answer from a glance at the text, long before Alex is finished reading it).
How do the contestants keep track of their scores? Are they posted on the opposite wall or someplace where they can look over and see how much they have? Are you looking at just the numbers, or do you see the video feed with yourself up there? (I would find it enormously distracting if I had to look at myself while playing.)
Does it help to click-click-click on the “buzzer” or is it just click it first and that’s that. (What happens if you click and hold?)
Like I said, I haven’t even tried out yet, so I don’t really need to know this stuff (yet, hopefully), but my curiousity has the best of me, and if I find out this stuff before hand, I won’t be thinking about it when I go for the test, and then I can concentrate on the matter at hand.
Thanks for encouraging my behavior.
Not a Tame Lion, I’ll try to answer some of your questions, although it has been years since I was on, and some things might have changed.
The contestants see the questions on the monitors that make up the big board, so yes, you can read ahead and be ready to buzz in as soon as Alex finishes reading. A little light comes on on the contestant’s podium as soon as it is okay to hit the buzzer. Once you successfully buzz in, there is a bar of lights that gradually goes out, giving you an idea of how much time is left to answer (5 seconds? I forget exactly).
The trick is to watch the little indicator light in your peripheral vision, while listening to Alex, and reading the question.
Unless things have changed, most players “bounce” their thumbs on the buzzers a couple of times when buzzing in. The reason is, if you buzz in before Alex is finished reading and the little light comes on, you are locked out for a fraction of a second. Hitting the button a couple of times in rapid succesion gives you another chance if you are a little early, and the other contestants are a little slow. All this is explained by the contestant coordinators when you try out.
There is a display with the contestants totals above the camera that is directly across from the players, next to the board. If you know this, you can tell that when someone hits a daily double, they are consulting the display to figure out their wager. You don’t have to look at yourself on a monitor (that would freak me out!).
Hope this helps, and good luck!
Thanks for the reply, h. sapiens. That’s good knowledge there. And sound advice on working / juggling the button–indicator light–clue reading. If I ever get on the show, I’ll definitely keep that in mind.
I just thought of something else that has tickled my curious bone. Someone said they tape a week’s worth of shows in a day, and you change clothes between tapings. Do they make you bring a duffel bag full of your laundry with you for the taping day, so you have enough clothes to cover the whole five/six/whatever number of shows, just in case? They don’t outfit you themselves, do they? How does that work?
When I was on, they asked us to bring 3 outfits. If you made it past 3 shows, you repeated one or two outfits. Probably men only need to bring 3 shirts & ties or sweaters, unless they wear a suit.
I’m a Jeopardy! also-ran. I got picked to audition for the College Tournament in 1991. I flew out to LA, and I passed the test, which I thought was fairly easy. (The gave us the same test as the High School Tournament. I remember one of the answers was “Who is Paula Abdul?”) I did the mock game with the bells, but they never picked me to be on the show. The did say that I should try out for the regular show, but I never was time to go out to LA again. They don’t seem to do many contestant searches in Denver. Sigh.
Sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope she’s okay.
Bummer about the show, though. Good luck next time you try out.
Wearing the same clothes over again? I can do that. 
Since there’s another Jeopardy! thread going on over here, I thought I’d update the list:
Doper Year wins place amount notes
5 time champ 2001 5 $50,703
annieclaus 1967 0 2nd
AugestWest 2004 1 2nd $31,100
Blanx 2001 0 2nd
Captain Lance Murdoch 1997 2
Colibri 1974
Commasense 1991 1 2nd $7,201
ElvisL1ves 1996 0 2nd
h.sapiens 1994 5 $62,000 semi-finals of tournament
Hooleehootoo 1999 3rd
jsc1953 1988 0 3rd
Mama Tiger 1994 0 3rd lost to a five-time champ
Mr. Moto 2000 0 2nd
Richardb 1984
The Man Who 2003 1 $50,000 Myron Myers, in one show
Tracy Lord 2004 0 2nd $5,000 2 Teen Jeopardy! shows
Twickster 1994 3 2nd $46,000
Walloon 1997 1 2nd $4,100
Voyager 1997 0 2nd
Are there any Dopers not on this list? This is your chance for an additional 15 seconds of fame.
I’m looking forward to adding Reloy3 soon.
You could update my name. I’m no longer AugestWest, I’m NicePete now.
I think I’ll fix the coding, too.
Doper Year wins place amount notes
5 time champ 2001 5 $50,703
annieclaus 1967 0 2nd
Nice Pete 2004 1 2nd $31,100
Blanx 2001 0 2nd
Captain Lance Murdoch 1997 2
Colibri 1974
Commasense 1991 1 2nd $7,201
ElvisL1ves 1996 0 2nd
h.sapiens 1994 5 $62,000 semi-finals of tournament
Hooleehootoo 1999 3rd
jsc1953 1988 0 3rd
Mama Tiger 1994 0 3rd lost to a five-time champ
Mr. Moto 2000 0 2nd
Richardb 1984
The Man Who 2003 1 $50,000 Myron Myers, in one show
Tracy Lord 2004 0 2nd $5,000 2 Teen Jeopardy! shows
Twickster 1994 3 2nd $46,000
Walloon 1997 1 2nd $4,100
Voyager 1997 0 2nd
commasense, didn’t know that you bumped this thread, so disregard my message in the other thread. I was a one-day champ in February 2003, won $16,500 plus the Jeopardy! CD-ROM game (I’m a Mac user, thanks a lot Jeopardy! staff)…
Interesting game. The previous champ was a Harvard student (as am I) which was kind of funny. This came out as our cheering sections started talking smack to each other. (I’m embarassed for them all.) I swept the category “Divas” as well. I felt a little unwell at the end of the show and started to sweat a bit (had to get touched up during the commercial break). At the celebration dinner shortly after the show was finished, I broke out with (violent) food poisoning. The bug exited my body from all possible places for the next three days, one of which I spent on a plane ride from LA to Boston. I think I certainly earned my dosh that day. (Hint - don’t eat at the In 'N Out in Inglewood at midnight.)
I also actually had the (dis)pleasure of being flown out the next week on Sony Pictures’ dollar - I was the last winner of the day on a Thursday and they were filming the kid’s tournament the Friday and Saturday. So I had to come back a week later (rusty on the buzzer). I also couldn’t say why I was leaving town to anyone (contractual stuff). Still, given the food poisoning, I might have been completely incapacitated… so I guess it worked out okay. (I came in 2nd on that show, which netted me another $1000.)
I appeared on Jeopardy in 1993. It was the first show of the new season, airing in September. There was no returning champion, as they had retired a five-time champ on the last show of the previous season.
Alas, I came in 2nd. It was a great experience, though.
Nothing useful to add except
(a) I would love to go on Jeopardy some day, although I’m sure I’d fail badly due to stage fright
and
(b) Back when I lived in Bowie I took a scenic train through Columbia once. It was gorgeous.
The latest:
Doper Year wins place amount notes
5 time champ 2001 5 $50,703
annieclaus 1967 0 2nd
Blanx 2001 0 2nd
Captain Lance Murdoch 1997 2
Colibri 1974
Commasense 1991 1 2nd $7,201
ElvisL1ves 1996 0 2nd
Hippy Hollow 2003 1 2nd $16,500
h.sapiens 1994 5 $62,000 semi-finals of tournament
Hooleehootoo 1999 0 3rd
jsc1953 1988 0 3rd
KayElCee 1993 0 2nd
Mama Tiger 1994 0 3rd lost to a five-time champ
Mr. Moto 2000 0 2nd
Nice Pete 2004 1 2nd $31,100
Richardb 1984
The Man Who 2003 1 $50,000 Myron Myers, in one show
Tracy Lord 2004 0 2nd $5,000 2 Teen Jeopardy! shows
Twickster 1994 3 2nd $46,000
Walloon 1997 1 2nd $4,100
Voyager 1997 0 2nd
Huh? Columbia, Maryland? Don’t get me wrong: Columbia’s a nice place, I just don’t think there are any scenic rail paths through Columbia, MD. (Or have I been whooshed?)
I passed the online test a few weeks back, and will be interviewed in late May. This thread is both encouraging and intimidating!!
One thing I kind of wondered about: the e-mail I got made clear that I have to pay my own way to Philadelphia for the audition. Fair enough. But it also said that if I were to be selected for the show, I’d have to pay for my own transportation and accommodation to Los Angeles. Doesn’t this mean that for many people, especially those of us on the East Coast, going on Jeopardy could actually cost you significant amounts of money? It would not be cheap for me to fly to LA and spring for a hotel – not to mention the time I’d miss from work.
Of course, I’ll still do it if I’m invited (Jeopardy’s about more than money, after all), but I admit it dampened my enthusiasm a tad. Anyone else run into this problem?
Yes, you will have to pay your own way to Los Angeles. No travel reimbursement, even if you are the champion. Hotel advice if you are pinching your pennies: Don’t stay at Merv Griffin’s Beverly Hilton.
I was on the 1987 Teen Tournament. I lost in the 2nd round and won $5000.
I…er…thought so.
No, wait, it was Cumberland. Whoops!
Carry on.
FWIW, my first cousin was the first Tournament of Champions winner ever, in 1986.- Brush with greatness as it was!