Jeopardy

On January 26th, Jeopardy will present its fans with yet another chance to play America’s second-most popular game shows - for real - by offering its online entry test. As someone who has taken various Jeopardy tests three times before and ended up in the “contestant pool” twice, I will be online quickly trying to answer the test questions correctly to get my shot at onstage glory.

But, once again, I won’t hold my breath for a call from Alex; I know if I get to the “interview” level - where you go take another test, do a mock round, and get your photo taken- there are a ton of other people who are just as knowledgable as I am, and a ton who are more so. My chances of getting on the actual show are small. But it’s still fun to take the test and see what I know and don’t know (though you kind of have to guess if you did well because they don’t tell you or give you the right answers.) And that is the charm of Jeopardy- it’s fun and challenging. That’s what’s kept people watching all these years.

Most people know how Jeopardy works, even if only because a few years back uber-contestant Ken Jennings made the nightly news for winning over 70 times. In a nutshell, three people pick triva questions from different categories in two “rounds” - the prize money per question goes up in round two aka “double jeopardy” . Whoever rings in first gets to answer - in the form of a question (which is weird, but by this point, a beloved tradition…) and if they’re right they get to pick again, and so on and so forth. At the end, players place wagers on whether they’ll get the last question right and whomever has the most cash at the end lives to play another day (and keeps the cash…)

Emmy winner Alex Trebek is the droll, down to earth but just-that-little-bit-sophisticated host of longstanding, and he adds the right amount of borderline-dorky humor and friendliness on a nightly basis.

Jeopardy is, on one level, a show for eggheads, sure; but, on another level, it really isn’t. The categories are often varied enough that viewers can find their niche, and a lgood chunk of the questions (or are they “answers” technically?) are more or less common knowledge. Plus, if you watch enough you get the gist of how questions are set up, you recognize they rarely get very obscure, you know certain categories are bound to reappear (”Potent Potables” anyone”), and you see the same “answers” coming up over and over again (Robert Burns, for example, shows up quite a bit…). There’s a comfort food value to the show with the presence of these recuring elements; you feel like you’re part of the Jeopardy subculture whether you know the answers or not. And that’s fun. On the other hand- some of the questions are really hard! This keeps you on your toes.

Jeopardy does mix it up sometimes. It’s been in HD for a few seasons and does various set changes each fall. This season it’s dedicating a show every now and then to celebrities playing for charity instead of just one “celebrity” week. Unfortunately, Darryl Hammond doing a Sean Connery impression is not on the list. Otherwise, the show is sticking to its classic form. If it ain’t broke…

As for whether you’ll ever appear on the show- give the online test a chance this week; www.jeopardy.com. Pre-registration is required, but it’s free and quick. Why not give it a shot? I’m going to. Hey, you never know what you might know!