Jeopardy Answer is W&M

By Amber Lester Monday, May 24, 2010

Colleen Kennedy was fine when she took the online test. She was fine when she participated in the interview. She was fine when she filmed her commercial promos, and fine when she was prepped for TV by a producer.

But the moment the cameras started filming and Alex Trebek entered the set of “Jeopardy,” the William and Mary professor became a nervous wreck. “When Alex comes out, you’re like, ‘Oh my god, that’s Alex Trebek!’” she says.

Kennedy, an English professor, was selected to compete on the game show in February. Her episode will air at 7 p.m. this Wednesday, May 26.

Coincidentally, William and Mary graduate student Patrick Tucker was a contestant on a Tournament of Champions episode that aired two weeks ago. Tucker took second place in that episode; Kennedy cannot reveal the results of her episode. As an undergraduate student at the University of Notre Dame, Tucker won the college championship in 2009.

Both Tucker and Kennedy say they’ve always loved the show. Tucker grew up in Missouri, where the show airs at 3:30 p.m., and remembers watching the show with his grandmother after school. While he doesn’t watch it every day, he says, “Every month of my life, I’ve probably watched ‘Jeopardy!’”

In recent years, “Jeopardy!” has used online testing to screen potential contestants. A few times a year, applicants can reserve a spot to take the online test, log on at home and participate in the timed quiz. Once the results have been tabulated, producers contact potential contestants and arrange interviews. Months later, the producers let players know they’ll appear on the show, typically only two to three weeks before the appearance.

Kennedy took the test in January of 2009 and was interviewed, but heard nothing. She finally got the call at the end of this January, and taped the show on Feb. 10. “Jeopardy!” contestants pay their own travel expenses, but receive a reduced rate to a nice hotel, she says.

When she was waiting to get the final call, Kennedy thought she should prep for her potential close-up. She read the New York Times Almanac, because she heard many of the questions on the show are taken from the newspaper. She also played many games of Trivial Pursuit, watched “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and made sure to watch “Jeopardy!” as often as possible.

Tucker’s journey back to the “Jeopardy!” soundstage was different. He was shocked when he was chosen to compete the first time, but as a college champion, he had a guaranteed bid to the Tournament of Champions. Most of those competitors have won four to five games previously, and Tucker says it makes a difference.

“I could tell that all of them were better than I was,” he says.
Because he would be going up against some tough competition, Tucker decided to prep the second time around. He knew his weakness was classical music, so he tried to learn as much as possible about the genre without listening to it.

But no amount of preparation can really help calm the nerves, Kennedy says. She says the entire experience of filming the quiz show is surreal. Competitors arrive at the soundstage at 8 a.m. and spend several hours getting prepped by producers, who ask them for anecdotes to share during the show. Three of the anecdotes are printed on cards for Trebek, who chooses which story interests him the most and asks about it during the taping.

Five episodes are taped per day, so some players are isolated in green rooms, while players who have already competed sit in the audience. When Trebek enters the soundstage, the filming begins. The show takes about 30 minutes to film, with breaks for any technical difficulties, and Tucker says contestants can take as long as they want to place their wagers for the final round. Both Tucker and Kennedy say even the coolest contestant gets nervous when the filming begins.

“You kind of go on automatic pilot,” Kennedy says. “A couple of times I buzzed in and the answer just went away.”

Tucker says he made some stupid mistakes on his most recent appearance; it wasn’t his lack of knowledge about classical music that killed him, but a failure to watch T.V. “There was a question about ‘Glee’ and I didn’t get it,” he says. “I’ve never seen ‘Glee.’”

He says he woke up in the middle of the night after filming and thought, “You’re a moron.”

Kennedy disagrees; she remembers watching him play in the college championship and says he would beat her in a minute if they played. “He would be a formidable competitor,” she says.

After the college championship, Tucker won $100,000 and kept $93,000 after California taxes were taken out. He plans to pay for college loans, and might use some of the money to travel. At least one person thought he was rolling in dough, however.

“Fifteen minutes after my first episode aired, a stranger sent me an e-mail asking me to buy their Mercedes,” he says, laughing. “I didn’t respond.”