How many Dopers have tried out for Jeopardy? How many have been on? And of course...

[tdn]

@cmkeller

On second thought, I think it was 50 questions, and 35 was the number we needed to get right to advance.

Correct. And I got only 34 right.

The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!

And she screwed me. Not in a good way.

[Leviosaurus]

@tdn

Correct. And I got only 34 right.

The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!

And she screwed me. Not in a good way.

[Nitpick]Gillian Anderson. With a G. Cite.[/Nitpick]

Hey, someone had to say it

[Elendil_s_Heir]

I qualified in early 1992, I think it was, during a NE Ohio regional audition. I’d read earlier that lawyers are a dime a dozen to the production staff, so I played up my work as a prosecutor and my hobby as a Civil War reenactor. They told me they’d keep my name on file for one year, and if I didn’t hear from them, that was that. And so it was.

Got a nice JEOPARDY! ballpoint pen out of it, though.

[Labdad]

@Chance the Gardener

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.

This describes my experience exactly, except that I tried out in February, 2005 in a hotel conference room in Atlanta. Previously, I had gone on line at Jeopardy.com and registered that I would be interested in auditioning for a contestant search to be held in Atlanta.

In January of '05 I got this email:

PRINT OUT AND BRING THIS LETTER WITH YOU – ADULT INTERVIEW
Congratulations! We are happy to confirm your appointment for our Jeopardy! interviews (for our regular shows). To qualify for the show you must take a written 50- question test. If you pass the test you will then participate in a mock version of the game and you will be put in our files to be considered for the upcoming season of Jeopardy! However even though you pass the test, we cannot guarantee that you will be invited to do the show. In fact, even though you are invited to the studio, there is no guarantee that you will appear on the show. There is no charge for taking the test, but you will be responsible for all expenses such as parking and travel to and from the testing center. If you are invited to Los Angeles to do the show you would also be responsible for expenses to come to Los Angeles.

Your appointment is in: ATLANTA - GA
ATLANTA MARRIOTT MARQUIS
265 PEACHTREE CENTER AVE.
ATLANTA, GA 30303
SUNDAY FEB 13TH 9:00AM

Please do not call the Hotel for appointment information. Please allow plenty of time for traffic and parking.

TESTING STARTS PROMPTLY AT THE APPOINTMENT TIME, AND NO ONE CAN BE ADMITTED IF THEY ARE LATE.

The written test takes approximately 45 minutes. If you pass we will ask you to stay for approximately one more hour. This is the complete interview, no other interview will be necessary. Come dressed as you might for an actual appearance on the show. Only the person with the appointment to take the test will be allowed in the interview room; guests cannot wait outside the interview room.

If you cannot attend or reschedule, you may give your invitation letter to someone who can attend this session.

Eligibility: You cannot appear on Jeopardy if you have previously appeared on Jeopardy! from 1984-2004. You cannot have taken the contestant test in the past year and must not have done any other game shows in the past year or more than 2 in the past 5 years.

Contestant Department

Six of us passed the written test and were asked to stick around and play a mock game of Jeopardy. They didn’t keep score - they just wanted to see if you could keep the game moving. Then we were “interviewed.” We were asked to say who we were, where we were from, something interesting about ourselves, and what we would do with the money if we won a ton of it on Jeopardy. We were then told that we would be put into the contestant pool for a year, and that if we didn’t hear from the show, we could try out again.

I heard from the show in March of this year - 13 months after I had qualified. When I got to LA, I learned that because the Ultimate Tournament of Champions has taken up so much of the season, our eligibility had been extended.

I didn’t win - I came in second. I got $2,000, a Jeopardy tote bag, and a framed photo of Alex and me on the Jeopardy set.

The story of my appearance (July 11 of this year) is in this thread.

[tdn]

@Leviosaurus

[Nitpick]Gillian Anderson. With a G. Cite.[/Nitpick]

Hey, someone had to say it

DAMMIT!

[Reloy3]

I’m in the pool right now. I’m not holding my breath though.

[Poysyn]

@tdn

Correct. And I got only 34 right.

The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!
The woman on The X-Files is Jillian Anderson, dammit!

And she screwed me. Not in a good way.

Even worse - I think she spells her name Gillian.

Sorry

[Poysyn]

@Leviosaurus

[Nitpick]Gillian Anderson. With a G. Cite.[/Nitpick]

Hey, someone had to say it

I knew that was going to happen.

I’m still sorry.

[Bridget_Burke]

My sister tried out for Jeopardy after she moved to LA. (That gives you an advantage.) She was on for several days & won a fair amount of money.

Later, she won some of Ben Stein’s Money, too.