Inspired by the thread dealing with moron-flavored gameshow contestants and a couple Dopers within who tried out for the show, I was curious: how many of us have actually gone for it? What was your experience like? Does Trebeck smell weird? Spill the beans.
For one, I’ve never tried out. Nor would I make the cut. I’m usually humbled with the intelligence on this board and, oftentimes, with the folks on Jeopardy. I’m still that guy who, when he gets the final Jeopardy right and the contestants don’t, points at the TV and screams things like “In your face Rupert!” and embarrasses himself in front of friends & family.
Tried out in Hawaii a couple years ago. It’s an IIRC, and may be different with locations or time.
You need to take 2 tests. One a paper test, where you go in to a large area (Dave and Busters here). You answer 10-15 questions, they check it on the spot. There was a long line of people for this. If you pass, you’re invited to the next round.
The next round was at a hotel ballroom. There were <100 people. You take a written test of 100 (IIRC) questions being asked from a TV. They picked 3 finalists (including me!).
Then, you go to another room and do a mock game show, winner goes to LA. I swear I knew most (if not all) the answers. But I could not get the button timing down. If you press to early, you get locked out. Press too late, the other folks who were smart enough to the same battery of tests buzzes in.
I didn’t get to go to LA and meet Alex.
I’m sure someone will be along in a few minutes to tell us how they DID get to LA.
Nowadays the first qualifying test is done on-line. Our second test/ interview/ audition/ mock games were held at the Waldorf Astoria. Everyone participated in the mock games, since by that stage they know we can answer the questions and want to see how we might handle ourselves on stage. If you pass the qualifying test it is pretty much an audition from then on.
I am in the contestant pool at this time, and if the casting directors feel they need more pudgy boring white guys I may get a call…
That’s 5 time champ
There are a number of Jeopardy! contestants from the Dope, as one might expect. h. sapiens and I were in the Ultimate Tournaments of Champions last year. Neither of us won our first round game though. The Man Who held the record for one-day winnings for a while. Someone keeps a spreadsheet, maybe it will turn up.
IIRC, Alex doesn’t smell funny, but he does talk funny a lot off camera. He talks to the audience at break in a Scots accent, and a kinda old guy voice.
The game is a lot of fun, the game time goes way too quickly and they made me wear way too much make up. Everyone there, at least those people on the Jeopardy! staff that you can speak to, are very nice. The best thing that I always like to say was that it was good to finally put all that otherwise useless knowledge to good use.
Dr Fi From one pudgy, boring white guy to another, good luck with the pool this year. It took three times before they called me.
I got picked to try out for the College Tournament in 199…3? Went to the Waldorf Astoria to a test with about a hundred other students that was supposedly all $800 and $1000 questions. Passed that test and went on to a practice round where we did a mock interview and had more questions where we actually had to buzz in and give our answers in the form of a question (which I just didn’t get the hang of), and then were told that they’d contact the ones they wanted for the show. I didn’t get picked.
Ditto me, except not during college. I tried out in Seattle and passed the written portion, did the mock game and interview, and then never heard from them again.
Like DrFidelius, I’m currently in the contestant pool, although my “second test/interview/audition/mock game” session was at the Sheraton Palace Hotel in San Francisco back in June. One thing that they did say was that they were very pleased with the way the online test worked out (this year was the first time that they’d tried it), and that they’ll definitely be going that route in the future.
Based on the thread that I linked to above, I believe that Dopers Marley23, Rodgers01, and (presumably) Number are also in the current pool of qualified potential contestants just waiting for the call from Culver City…
I tried out in Atlantic City. Got through the primary screening, then through the sequence described by HubZilla above, getting all the way through to the end. But they told us there was only a small chance – something like 1 in 6 – that any of the winners would get on the show. I know that I wasn’t called. I suspect that, besides smarts, they also look for other desirable propetties in their contestants. Plus, they can’t xcall everyone.
jackelope has tested and is on the waiting list. He tested and was called a few years ago, however had to cancel because it coincided with his best friend’s wedding. He’s on the list waiting again, but hasn’t heard from them as far as I know.
I’ve tested twice, once in college and once about two years ago, but I’ve never quite made it. I think I’ve done reasonably well on the tests, but just not quite good enough. That’s too bad, because I kick ass while playing from my couch. If I ever try out again, maybe I should wear my pajamas to the test.
I actually had a buddy who was a one-day champ, but who was called originally when Ken Jennings was devouring all comers. He had a friend on the show who said “try & postpone it” because, essentially, he’d been watching Ken for three or four weeks of taping. So this friend did so and (I suspect) with his connection there, he was called back up, won a day, then bet like a fool and lost final Jeopardy the next day.
Thanks for indulging me. I’ll have to check out that other thread now…
I tried out in New York, maybe in 2002 or 2003 or so. There were a hundred of us who were randomly selected to try out (so getting to the tryout on the first try was no great accomplishment—just luck.) They gave us two sheets of paper. On one, we were to write down five cute anecdotes about ourselves that Alex could hypothetically chat with us about. On the other, we were to write the answers to fifty questions (not the other way around) that appeared on a screen in front of the room. After that, we put our names on the papers and passed them in, and they were reviewed in some other room afterward.
I think I did pretty well with those questions, but I’ll never know. We were never told our “grades.” They just called ten of the hundred forth to go on to the next round, which I presume involved a mock Jeopardy! set, but I don’t know for sure. I was not called, and I guess I felt as disappointed as the 89 other people who weren’t called.
I guess it’s possible that I did worse on the test than I thought, but it also seems that the fact that I wasn’t prepared with five snappy anecdotes might have hurt me. I think I managed to write three anecdotes, and I could have done better. Next time, I’m coming prepared, because I figure they maybe wanted people who could show they were more than simple fact dispensers, and could make the audience feel warm and fuzzy toward them.
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