Jump to content

Menu

Is anyone watching Jeopardy right now?


ILiveInFlipFlops
 Share

Recommended Posts

 

 

This worked for me. She is the lady in the middle... :)

 

Thanks for posting! 

 

:hurray: Rivka!

Jeopardy was rarely missed when I was growing up so Alex Trebek was a top tv star to us. I love that Women in History was one of the categories for her show. And the Final! Perfect!

 

Oh, :svengo:  to hear the admiration in Alex's voice when she got a tough one! Congrats!

Edited by Ellesmere
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh wow, y'all, this is SO NICE to read! Thanks for the cheers and good wishes! It was quite an intense and emotional experience, as you might imagine.

 

Happy to answer any questions you (or your kids) might have about the process. The only thing I can't discuss is what happens in games to come.

 

Now you know once you are a presence on WTM, nothing is private anymore.

 

Did CBT work with nervousness or are you just naturally a cool cucumber?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fantastic! You did so well!

 

I only watch when someone I know is on (including a friend from grad school, who won enough for the down payment on a CA house (!) ), so I'm not familiar with what categories are typical, but I was thinking it was perfect for a WTM-er – Roman deities, women's history, books, etc. :)

 

I'm curious when you can buzz in – it seems the light by each person's name goes on only after Alex is done reading the question, but obviously sometimes you know the answer right away. Do you buzz in as soon as you think you know the answer, and the light goes on later for the first person who buzzes in?

Edited by Laura in CA
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You did so good in the interview portion!

 

Was the clicker hard to click?

 

Ha, thank you, people elsewhere online are tearing me to shreds for the interview, so that's nice to hear.

 

The tricky part is getting the clicker timing EXACTLY right. Most people who get on Jeopardy know the answers to most of the questions, so who wins depends on who buzzes in first.

 

There are lights alongside the clue board that the TV audience can't see. The lights come on when you're allowed to buzz in - it's pretty much just as the last syllable of the clue leaves Alex Trebek's mouth. If you buzz in too early you get locked out for 1/4 second, which is an eternity in Jeopardy time.

 

Because timing can be slightly off or something else can go wrong, they teach you to buzz in by repeatedly clicking the button. If your kids ever drive you crazy by clicking a pen top? It's just like that. They even gave us Jeopardy pens to practice with.  :lol:

  • Like 17
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fantastic! You did so well!

 

I only watch when someone I know is on (including a friend from grad school, who won enough for the down payment on a CA house (!) ), so I'm not familiar with what categories are typical, but I was thinking it was perfect for a WTM-er – Roman deities, women's history, books, etc. :)

 

I'm curious when you can buzz in – it seems the light by each person's name goes on only after Alex is done reading the question, but obviously sometimes you know the answer right away. Do you buzz in as soon as you think you know the answer, and the light goes on later for the first person who buzzes in?

 

Actually, when the Double Jeopardy categories came up I almost wet my pants, because it looked like they were all going to be about movies and I know almost nothing about movies. Fortunately most of the categories turned out to really have another theme! But yes, categories are totally the luck of the draw. The episode before mine had a category about Baltimore, which is the city where I live. I was sitting in the audience quietly swearing because I missed it by ONE episode!

 

About buzzing in - see my reply to okbud. All of the contestants are reading the clue silently faster than Alex can read it aloud, and coming up with their answer. But you can't buzz in until he finishes reading the question. You have to time it very precisely.

  • Like 14
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now you know once you are a presence on WTM, nothing is private anymore.

 

Did CBT work with nervousness or are you just naturally a cool cucumber?

 

Well, I take Prozac for anxiety and have for years, but it doesn't help with situations that are legitimately anxiety-provoking. I was nervous earlier in the day, but by the time my turn came up I was strangely calm.

 

They tape a week's worth of shows in a single day, so I was at the studio from early morning - first getting oriented, practicing, getting makeup, etc., and then in the audience watching the games with the other contestants. You don't know it's going to be your turn until about 10 minutes before your episode starts - you have just enough time to have your makeup touched up. By the time I went on I had been keyed up and ready to play for about seven hours, so I was TIRED. That probably helped me be calmer.

  • Like 20
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, when the Double Jeopardy categories came up I almost wet my pants, because it looked like they were all going to be about movies and I know almost nothing about movies. Fortunately most of the categories turned out to really have another theme! But yes, categories are totally the luck of the draw. The episode before mine had a category about Baltimore, which is the city where I live. I was sitting in the audience quietly swearing because I missed it by ONE episode!

 

About buzzing in - see my reply to okbud. All of the contestants are reading the clue silently faster than Alex can read it aloud, and coming up with their answer. But you can't buzz in until he finishes reading the question. You have to time it very precisely.

Very interesting – thanks! Yes, a lot of it seems to be luck, because all three of you are smarty-pants :) ... I don't know much about movies, either. (That reminds me – the friend I mentioned was also on a different game show and got a question about the movie "Titanic" – which HE hadn't seen, but of course most of the audience had, and he was allowed to ask the audience for help on one question. Whew! :) )

You lucked out on the Miramax question!!! (& I learned something! Interesting!). Too funny about Baltimore category – how frustrating!

 

I can't wait to watch the next show. Thanks to the PP for the link! (We don't have TV.) Go, Rivka!!!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dd wants to know if you have cats.

 

My dh wants to know if you had been on previous show, would they have still used Baltimore category?

 

I'm allergic to cats. Instead I have an extremely greedy but sweet beagle.

 

Yes, they would have still used the Baltimore category, which is why it was so frustrating to miss it!

 

Here's how it works: for every taping day, the clue writers prepare six complete games. Only five will be used. Very early in the morning on the taping day, a lawyer from an outside compliance company comes in and chooses which five games will be used, in which order. There are twelve contestants ready to play each day, but only ten of them will - two get held over until the next day. Right before each match, the contestant coordinators draw two names from a hat and those become the next two challengers. So no one knows the matchup of which contestants will play which game until immediately before the show. The clue writers and the compliance company lawyer don't know anything at all about the contestants, and the contestant coordinators don't ever get anywhere near the game clues.

 

It's all very complicated, but it's designed to prevent either the possibility or the appearance of cheating.

  • Like 19
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So do you have to bring 4 changes of clothes because you don't know if you are taping 1 episode or 5 that day?  If so that is a serious amount of wardrobe that the contestants have to store there for the day.

 

Yes, we were told to bring three changes of clothes to the studio, so everyone had a suitcase or a garment bag on the shuttle in the morning. There was a dressing room in the corner of the contestants' green room for the champion to change in. I guess if you play more than three games they figure people will forget what you wore.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We want to know how you got on there in the first place.  I can't wait to watch your return episode, hopefully someone can post it here

 

If you sign up at jeopardy.com, they will notify you when they next schedule an online test. The online test displays questions every 15 seconds - you type in your response. It doesn't have to be in the form of a question. About 70,000 people take the online test every year.

 

There is a cutoff score for the online test. They won't say exactly what it is, but there's widespread speculation that it's 35/50. If your score is above that, you may be randomly selected to audition in person. They travel to various cities to run auditions - mine was in Washington DC. About 3,000 people are invited to audition. 

 

At the audition, you take another, in-person test - presumably, in case you had someone else take the online test for you. You also play a short mock game against your fellow auditioners, using a real buzzer, and you have a short "personality interview." There's a written application too, which has things like "five interesting facts that Alex could ask you about on the show." Then you go home. You may or may not be added to the contestant pool - no one will tell you whether you've made it into the pool. You just wait by the phone for the next 18 months, and then if you weren't selected you can start over again with the online test.

 

About 400 people per year get "the call" and are invited to be on the show. Almost exactly 7 months passed between my audition and the call, but I talked to some people who were called almost immediately and others who waited more than a year.

 

The whole process was actually really fun. Just auditioning was a great experience.

  • Like 21
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm allergic to cats. Instead I have an extremely greedy but sweet beagle.

 

Yes, they would have still used the Baltimore category, which is why it was so frustrating to miss it!

 

Here's how it works: for every taping day, the clue writers prepare six complete games. Only five will be used. Very early in the morning on the taping day, a lawyer from an outside compliance company comes in and chooses which five games will be used, in which order. There are twelve contestants ready to play each day, but only ten of them will - two get held over until the next day. Right before each match, the contestant coordinators draw two names from a hat and those become the next two challengers. So no one knows the matchup of which contestants will play which game until immediately before the show. The clue writers and the compliance company lawyer don't know anything at all about the contestants, and the contestant coordinators don't ever get anywhere near the game clues.

 

It's all very complicated, but it's designed to prevent either the possibility or the appearance of cheating.

 

So the only game show I ever thought I might do well on is Jeopardy (but who knows how that might actually go?). 

 

Anyway, when my son was in elementary school he became friends with a boy whose father is the producer in charge of the contestants on Jeopardy. We were at the boy's birthday party at their house, and I mentioned it was the one show I could see myself doing.

 

He said, "and now it will never happen."

 

I was like "wha?"

 

He said that since we know them that I could never be on the show. They are super (super) strict that way.

 

But glad it was you and not me!

 

Bill

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So the only game show I ever thought I might do well on is Jeopardy (but who knows how that might actually go?).

 

Anyway, when my son was in elementary school he became friends with a boy whose father is the producer in charge of the contestants on Jeopardy. We were at the boy's birthday party at their house, and I mentioned it was the one show I could see myself doing.

 

He said, "and now it will never happen."

 

I was like "wha?"

 

He said that since we know them that I could never be on the show. They are super (super) strict that way.

 

But glad it was you and not me!

 

Bill

Well darn, we would have watched you :)

 

I could never do jeopardy, my brain just doesn't work that fast.

 

Rivka, you did awesome! And some of those categories were super fun.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was SO fun to watch (via youtube after reading this thread)! You did so well throughout, Rivka, and then to have the final category be literature--with the Princess Bride answer.  I think of that as such a classic homeschooler book/movie, haha!

 

Congratulations, can't wait to watch on Monday now!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since you obviously made it to the next show which is aired next week, I take it your taping occurred on more than one day.  Do they put you up in a hotel or do you have to provide your own arrangements?  Do they tell you how many days to plan to be in the area (since some people will be there for taping more than one day)?  Just thinking about people who have to take off of work but you don't know in advance how many days you will need for taping.  I'm thinking like Ken, did he just take off of work for weeks on end to tape all those shows.  I'm finding the logistics of how they run the show to be quite interesting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome, Rivka!

 

I got a little nervous when the lawyer went ahead with her Daily Double, but you just keep knocking down those questions! And it was great that you bet so much for the Final.

 

You looked so confident and you have such a beautiful smile!

 

:hurray:

And I learned a new strategy. When you're behind, go right for the high dollar questions. When you are ahead, go for the lower ones so that an opponent won't gain too much if they buzz in first.

 

This may have been obvious to the rest of you, but I am an irregular viewer and just caught it.

 

Well done, rivka!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've thought about trying out but I have certain categories I would do really well, and others that I would look completely clueless and have people wondering how I ever made it on the show.  

 

With my luck, I'd get the former during try-outs and the latter during the actual game.  :001_rolleyes:

Edited by Where's Toto?
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rivka--thank you for giving us a behind the scenes peek. As a Jeopardy fan, I was fascinated to read how the categories are selected for each game. There are some categories I'm pretty good at, but for sure I'd get stuck with categories like "Opera," "Chinese History," "French Novels," and "Physics," all of which would leave me standing there without hitting the buzzer once.

 

Anyway, thanks for sharing. I'll be tuning in tomorrow for sure!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And I learned a new strategy. When you're behind, go right for the high dollar questions. When you are ahead, go for the lower ones so that an opponent won't gain too much if they buzz in first.

 

This may have been obvious to the rest of you, but I am an irregular viewer and just caught it.

 

Well done, rivka!

 

The actual game went so fast that I didn't have any time whatsoever to analyze the other players' strategies, but you're right - Holly used that technique really effectively in our game. She was soooo smart, and such a fierce competitor!

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since you obviously made it to the next show which is aired next week, I take it your taping occurred on more than one day.  Do they put you up in a hotel or do you have to provide your own arrangements?  Do they tell you how many days to plan to be in the area (since some people will be there for taping more than one day)?  Just thinking about people who have to take off of work but you don't know in advance how many days you will need for taping.  I'm thinking like Ken, did he just take off of work for weeks on end to tape all those shows.  I'm finding the logistics of how they run the show to be quite interesting.

 

Contestants pay for all their own travel expenses - but even third place comes with $1000, so most people don't wind up actually out-of-pocket in the end. They have two hotels they recommend - they send a shuttle to those hotels to pick people up in the morning - but I guess you could stay anywhere if you're willing to arrange your own transportation.

 

The taping days are Tuesday and Wednesday. They told us we should plan our trip so we'd be available on both days - I flew our on Monday and took the redeye flight home on Wednesday. If you're still winning at the end of the second day, you have to come out again for the next taping days. (If so, the production company pays for your flight.) If I had lost on my first taping day, I would have had a day to sightsee in LA.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome, Rivka!

 

I got a little nervous when the lawyer went ahead with her Daily Double, but you just keep knocking down those questions! And it was great that you bet so much for the Final.

 

You looked so confident and you have such a beautiful smile!

 

:hurray:

 

Thank you! Holly was incredibly smart - a very tough competitor. Fortunately, Grant was playing his fourth game of the day, and he was tired.

 

I had to bet that much for Final Jeopardy. If Holly bet everything and got the question right, she would have had $30,000. I bet enough so that if we were both right, I would still win even if her score doubled. 

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yay Rivka! I just watched the second game and you won again! I'll be watching tomorrow!

 Thanks for the reminder.  I went looking and it's not posted online yet.  I'll have to check back later.

 

Rivka,  How long was there between the taping and when it aired on TV?  Meaning, how long did you have to sit on this news before you could tell people?  I'm supposing they don't write you a check when you leave so how long do you have to wait to get your winnings?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rivka, DH wants to know how many times did you audition before you were called? He's done it 4 times and hasn't been called. Rats! He said a contestant last year auditioned 16 times before being called.

 

Maybe he doesn't want to know: I took the online test once and auditioned once, and then I got the call.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Thanks for the reminder.  I went looking and it's not posted online yet.  I'll have to check back later.

 

Rivka,  How long was there between the taping and when it aired on TV?  Meaning, how long did you have to sit on this news before you could tell people?  I'm supposing they don't write you a check when you leave so how long do you have to wait to get your winnings?

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5ff1ij

 

I taped December 6-7, so I have been sitting on this news for THREE MONTHS. I told my husband but no one else.

 

They mail out the check 90 days after the show airs, so I'll be waiting for a while. But we bought a hot tub anyway.

  • Like 28
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is all so great!  Every time I take the kids to the Walter's Art Gallery I think about how you used to live near there and wonder if I'm walking past your old house.  

 

So cool to see you on Jeopardy!

 

 

 

 

Edited:  Grammar was confusing.

 

Edited by Garga
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5ff1ij

 

I taped December 6-7, so I have been sitting on this news for THREE MONTHS. I told my husband but no one else.

 

They mail out the check 90 days after the show airs, so I'll be waiting for a while. But we bought a hot tub anyway.

 

Do you actually receive the amount of money you won on the show?

 

 

Congratulations!!! That is so exciting.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...