What’s the earliest a Jeopardy contestant is allowed to press the button on the hand held device? Do they have to wait until Alex Trebek (sp?) has completed the question?
We have some dopers who were contestants, so I’m sure they’ll chime in, but yes, as I understand it, the contestants can’t ring in until the clue is read (there may also be a signal light). Also, once pressed, I think there is actually a delay before it will activate again, so timing is obviously very important. Ken Jennings (the guy who won 74 matches in a row) has said part of his strategy was to perfect the timing and ring in as soon as possible on every clue he thought he knew (which was obviously a lot).
Yes. I have not actually been on the show, but I did a tryout and got to the stage of doing a mock show with the buzzers. You cannot buzz in until Alex* has actually finished speaking. Timing on the buzzers counts for a lot.
*We did not actually have Alex, just one of his minions, but the principle is the same.
At my tryout we were told we could buzz in when Alex* started the last syllable of the last word.
Didn’t make it to the actual show.
I made the show but didn’t win. If you rang in early there was a 200 millisecond delay before the button reactivated and could be pressed again. You’d think that would be long enough, but I locked myself out of several questions by pressing too soon and then not letting go of the button for long enough to activate it. The set has changed several times since I was on, but when I watch the show now I can see others doing the same thing, so I assume the same or a similar system is in effect.
Years and years ago original host Art Fleming was on the old Later with Bob Costas show, and he said this was one of the differences in the new version that he didn’t like. Originally you could buzz in immediately, so if someone was confident about a topic they could often sweep it more easily.
They’ve changed the set since I was on the show, but in 2005 there was a row of lights underneath the board. When they were illuminated, you couldn’t buzz without locking your signaling device for a half second. When Alex finishes reading the question, the lights went out and you could buzz in.
You can see the contestants repeatedly trying to press the button on easy questions. Mastering the timing is one of the more important qualities of being a successful contestant.