What is Jeopardy?

By Vanessa de Bruijn '08

Sitting on my couch at home, I am a Jeopardy! champ. I wager thousands of imaginary dollars in Final Jeopardy! and - unlike some TV contestants - I always go for a "True Daily Double."

Okay, I admit that sometimes questions about ancient Chinese history or presidential birthdays leave me stumped, and I occasionally lose all of my money in the last round. But I've always thought that my loyal viewing habits and Jeopardy! prowess might be enough to land me a spot on the well-loved game show.

I got my chance to try when the Jeopardy! Brain Bus pulled into town in April, when UW-Madison hosted auditions and tapings of the College Championship. It was time to see if I really had game.

Standing in a long line in the Great Hall of Memorial Union, I began sizing up my competition. I clearly wasn't the only one who thought I might be smart enough to make it - nor was I the most dedicated. I learned that the first guy in line had been parked there for four hours, another student competitor had three majors, and others had forced their roommates to quiz them for days in advance. Being on Jeopardy! certainly isn't my ultimate goal in life - unlike some people I met - but I still wondered if I could hack it against UW-Madison's smartest of the smart.

It wasn't long before I got my answer. After completing a ten-question test, the look on a scorer's face confirmed my suspicion that I would not be moving on to the next round. My disappointment was brief, though - I got a free keychain and pen, and I could now join the other "losers"in a mock game hosted by the Jeopardy! Clue Crew, bubbly correspondents who travel the world and deliver clues via videos shown during the game.

Those whose obscure trivia knowledge was enough to earn a passing grade moved on to take a longer written test and play a mock game to see if they could stay cool under pressure. According to producers, a sharp mind is only part of the equation; contestants have to display charisma and a personality that would make audiences want to root for them.

"After they pass the test, they have to be able to play the game and have fun playing the game - that's so important," says contestant coordinator Maggie Speak.

Leaving the auditions, I had a newfound admiration for the Jeopardy! contestants I normally criticized from my couch.

During the following week, contestants were flown in from all over the country and the Jeopardy! crew -one hundred and sixty strong - took over Madison's Doubletree Hotel. Although the weather was less than hospitable, Suchita Shah '08, a UW tour guide who was chosen to be UW-Madison's contestant, helped welcome participants to the campus. After spending only a short time with her, I could tell that Shah, a senior neurobiology major, possessed all the qualities necessary to do well on the show. She was bright and fearless, saying she didn't miss a wink of sleep the night before the tapings.

While contestants were preparing and attending promotional events, a crew at the Kohl Center was busy transforming the arena into a television set, where six shows would be taped during two days. Taking about three months to complete, elements of the set were modeled after select campus buildings, with the designers taking inspiration from Memorial Union, Science Hall, and Camp Randall.

On the first day of tapings, the Kohl Center was buzzing with press and excited contestants. While they geared up for the big show, I was gearing up for something else entirely - my interview with Alex Trebek, a request granted because I was writing this story. When we were finally face to face, my questions led to a brief, but scintillating, conversation about cheese, cheeseheads, and Ian's mac-and-cheese pizza.

I sensed a pattern.

Trebek dared to say that California might rival Wisconsin in cheese production, but he redeemed himself by acknowledging the deliciousness of Ian's signature slice. "I'm practically native now," he said.

After a round of practice play, the first three contestants took their places, and the audience filed in. Many brought hand-painted signs, such as one reading, "I'm skipping Math 341 for Jeopardy!" Sign-holders each received a number and were told when to flash their signs, making it seem as though the episodes were taped with different audiences.

That, I learned, is just one of the production details unknown to the viewers watching at home. They also don't know that Trebek wanders around during commercial breaks, taking questions from the audience or telling jokes, or that contestants have unlimited time to settle on a Final Jeopardy! wager. They also can't see the panel of writers that act as judges in the case of a dispute over an answer. If the judges can't settle a dispute on site, they connect via satellite to an exclusive, ten-thousand-book Jeopardy! library located in Los Angeles, where writers are on call to find a solution. Learning about that made me curious about where Jeopardy! clues come from, and I found out when I met head writer Gary Johnson.

"All of your waking hours are involved in [writing clues],"he says. "If you're reading something, watching something on television, if you're listening to something on NPR - you always have a pen and a piece of paper, and you make little notes to yourself." Born before the age of computers and the Internet, Johnson always turns to books first. But, he says, topics about pop culture or food often lead writers out of the library and onto the Web for information.

During the fourth taping of the first day, the UW's Shah finally took the stage. She flew through many of the questions and led through most of the game. By the time Final Jeopardy! rolled around, Shah was trailing the leading player by just $400. But after the final category "Famous Austrians" was revealed, she wagered conservatively, and even having the right answer wasn't enough to capture a spot in the semi-finals.

Students from Marquette, Harvard, and Mississippi State University played in the final round of the tournament, and the title went to MSU.

Still, Shah should be proud. Obviously, not just anyone (myself included) is Jeopardy! material. In attendance at Friday's tapings, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz '81 seemed especially impressed with the contestants. "One student had three majors," he noted, adding, "Well, I had three, too: the Rathskeller, Picnic Point, and Camp Randall. I've been watching the show since I was a little kid," he said, "but I know I'm not going to be chosen as a contestant, so this is as close as I'm gonna get."

Having already tried my hand at being a contestant, I knew it was also the closest I would ever get. But that was all right with me - after all, I got to discuss cheese with Alex Trebek.

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Vanessa de Bruijn, who graduated in May with a degree in journalism and mass communication, served as an editorial intern for On Wisconsin during the past academic year.