For some reason, I had a hard time coming up with a good title for this question and I still ain’t satisfied with the above, but oh, well…
My question is about the game show “Jeopardy.” And when, exactly, the contestant’s buzzers (or whatever they are) are activated so they can respond to a question.
I’ve seen two or sometimes all 3 contestants looking like they’re punching/pushing something, and of course only one person’s podium indicator lights up. Some of these answers, though, were short, and I’d of buzzed in several seconds prior.
Some of the answers at the beginning, the low-dollar ones, just have to be in a particular area of a contestant’s expertise. Or, some contestants are down so far, they’re desperate with little to lose. Yet I never have seen someone buzz in the instant the answer is revealed.
So, I think there is some sort of a time-lag before the contestant’s buzzers will work. Does any one have any idea how this works?
You can’t buzz in until after the question is read. If you try to do so you will be locked out for a second or two (not sure exactly). I have no idea how they decide when Trebek has stopped talking.
There are lights around the board, which I think are out of camera range, that come on when you are allowed to buzz in. I rather suspect one of the production people presses something when Alex is done - many of these things are low tech. If you buzz before the light comes on, you get locked out for a second (I think), which I can assure you is an eternity.
I suspect the reason that people run categories is that you get a rhythm, hitting the buzzer at just the right time. I mostly didn’t get it, but when I did I kicked ass.
The Jeopardy game board has a row of lights around it. I can’t remember if the lights go out or come on when the buzzers are activated. If you buzz in before, as treis notes, you are locked out for a few seconds.
The buzzers are (or at least when I did my show in 2003) manually controlled by one of the judging panel, so there is usually a fraction of a second between the lights indicating you can buzz in and his/her response time. I feel this is the single most important part of being successful on the show. I recommend watching the show with a ballpoint pen - click the top when Alex finishes the question. Some folks play with their finger or thumb slightly depressing the button, but I just rested my thumb on the button and it worked fine. I don’t think my competition had practiced this much, so I did pretty well.
Which brings me to a “Why Ken Jennings’ Win Streak Was Somewhat Rigged” rant. Once you get used to the cadence of the buzzer, you’ll be almost impossible to beat, because you’ll be able to buzz in before your opponents. On the day I taped my show the first show featured a four-time winner vs two fresh victims. To say that he slayed them would be an understatement. He basically destroyed them in regular Jeopardy! and played keepaway during Double Jeopardy (buzzing in, taking his time answering, and getting them right!). If you’ve got an opponent who has the cadence down, and is pretty smart, you’re screwed.
The best person I recall doing this was the champ Eddie - remember him? Blind guy, and he was a machine with the cadence of the buzzer. I think it’s because he learned the exact interval between the end of Alex’s question and the buzzer opening. Following the light is somewhat imprecise because of that slight manual lag. Eddie used his hearing to figure out when to buzz in and won handsomely because of it.
Oooh, I’ve always wondered about the answer to this question as well. It’s a shame how it turns out though - I’ve always thought that the buzzer is open for the entire answer but Alex would only call out the person to question when he finishes reading. This actually sounds more like a game of timing than wit, especially on the easier answers.
I’ve always wondered to what extent gamesmanship of this sort is used by contestants on the show.
Sorry to hijack, but I think I will, since it seems your question has been answered. Anyone else score along with the game at home? I used to keep track of dollar amounts and bet along during the daily doubles and Final Jeopardy, but have since simplified my method and just keep track of how many I get right and wrong. Over the last month or so I’ve averaged about 35 correct for the entire show, and around 50% for Final Jeopary. My personal best is 43 correct, 17 incorrect. Any one else extend their Jeopardy geekiness to such a level?
The lights are at the sides and the go off gradually in a count-down sort of style. When all the lights go off you can jump in. Of course, watching the lights distracts you from reading the answer.
Before you tape your appearance on the show they run you through a practice session. I quickly learned that I was by far the worst of the pile of contestants when it came to working the signaling button. I eventually decided to ignore the lights all together and just click when the question was finished. I have the reflexes of a ground sloth and I sucked at the button.
I won twice anyway though. I got crushed in the first round, but I dominated Double Jeopardy! It comes down to the higher-point, harder questions it seems to me. And that diminishes some of the importance of button-pushing skills.
According to his book Prisoner of Trebekistan, former Jeopardy! champion Bob Harris trained the same way. According to Brainiac, Ken Jennings trained by using one of those Fisher-Price ring-stacking toys with the rings removed- he says it’s very close in shape and size to the actual buzzer.
Actually, a special change was made for Eddie- a sound would be played when the lights were turned on.
My recollection is that, in the original version of Jeopardy!, back in the 60’s, you could buzz in immediately after the “answer” was revealed, in which case he who had the fastest reflexes could dominate, punching in regardless of knowing the answer, then hoping it came to him during the reading of the question. My understanding was that they went to the current system in part to allow all three contestants a chance to judge their chances of providing a correct question before they needed to signal a request to offer one. Perhaps someone who was more aware of the old version can confirm or correct me.
Even when the new Jeopardy! started back in 1984, you could buzz in before Alex finished reading the question. If you look on the Jeopardy! DVD released by Sony a few years back, you can watch the first episode and see people buzz in early on practically every clue.
My Jeopardy appearance was taped on April 21, 2006, so this intelligence is nearly a year old. I don’t know if further refinements to the process were made when they redesigned the set last year.
There was a row of lights below the bank of video screens on which the questions appear. When Alex finished the question, those lights came on, indicating you could buzz in. The contestant coordinators told us before taping that if you buzz in too early, your signalling button is “locked” for a half-second, which is an eternity in Jeopardy buzz-in time.
When I auditioned for the show (in February, 2005), they gave us a ball point pen that was the shape of a signalling button to practice with. So, as Hippy Hollow points out, practicing with a ball point pen at home is good training.
However, it does not prepare you fully for the game, inasmuch as there can be a 1/4 to 1/2 second lag time between when Alex finishes and the lights come on. Also, there is no way you can prepare yourself for the adrenaline that is pumping through you in the studio when you’re playing, and you’ve got your thumb on that button.
There were 13 questions I knew the answer to but couldn’t buzz in on - and I know that for at least two of those, I buzzed in too quickly.
When I tried out, ten years ago, the Jeop staff said that the producers really liked it when the contestants cleared the screen, since that let the audience see all the questions. I think my show got rerun because we cleared the screen both times, and there was some suspense. I suspect one reason for the rule is so that the home audience gets a chance to answer before the contestants do.
Anyone see the Monk where he goes on a crooked game show? I won’t give away the gimmick, but when he learns it he can answer the question (multiple choice) before it is even asked, and Monk and the crook basically clear the board without any of the questions even being read. Kind of a reductio ad absurdum of what could happen without the rule.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen that episode, but your synopsis brings to mind the man who was able to win thousands of dollars on Press Your Luck after he watched recordings of the show, paused them, and figured out how to keep on winning without hitting a Whammy.
The reason they changed to rules to require the clue to be read in its entirety before a contestant could buzz in, was for the sake of the viewers, who wanted to hear the entire clue. Many of us “watch” the show by ear while we’re doing other things.
