Was one of your answers Bellerophon?

Sock, thanks for posting all of this. Very cool to read.

quote:

---

Was one of your answers Bellerophon?

---

No, but that would have been cool to say.

Spadilly,

No prob, glad you enjoyed it!

[This message has been edited by SockAg (edited 2/4/2014 10:06a).]

fascinating story! And you are so thorough in your details, thanks for that. My coworker dreams of being on Jeopardy! one day, I'm sending her this thread for inspiration!

Great thread.

Unrelated, but I've read that the contestants on Price is Right are not randomly selected from the audience as it is portrayed. People from the show apparently talk to the audience members while waiting in line before the show and then pick out those that are the most interesting/energetic as contestants.

Awesome thread, thanks for sharing!

quote:

---

What was the in person interview like?

---

Mbole,

I apologize for not answering this sooner.

My in-person interview was pretty neat. They held it in a hotel and when I showed up I turned in paperwork they had sent to me via e-mail. They asked for about 10 life stories, defining moments, why you wanted to be on Jeopardy, etc. etc.

I signed in and they handed me more paperwork to fill out and then took a polaroid of me (smiling, of course!). After I sat down with the rest of the hopefuls and we engaged in small talk. Some folks tried to display their knowledge by listing off the Presidents in order or the planet names or artists and writers, so on and so forth.

I just sort of sat back and took it all in. After they sit everybody down they pass out answer sheets and they administer a 50 question test, similar to the online test.

While they grade the tests they also start coaching the candidates on what they are looking for to get on the show. The biggest things are:

1.) A GREAT Personality
2.) A compelling story

There wasn't a specific stereotype of contestant, we had folks that worked in museums, were college students, one lady was the editor of a magazine but everyone was friendly.

After the coaching they started the mock game. They called three people up at a time and gave us signalling devices (same as what they use on the show) and they had a Jeopardy! game board up on a projector. Each contestant got a turn at picking a category and everybody would try to buzz in. The coordinators ensured that everybody was able to answer 1-2 questions.

They were looking for voice projection and enthusiasm. You would be surprised how many people spoke softly and acted very timid.

After the 3 contestants answered a set number of questions off the game board the coordinators conducted mock interviews. They treated the story like Alex did, for example, "So you have climbed 7 of the highest peaks in the world, what was that like?"

A lot of folks actually would respond to the questions with modesty, like "Oh, I don't really do much and there isn't much to say about me". Which surprised me but allowed me to eliminate who was actually in competition to get on the TV show.

After the mock interview was over you went back to your seat and say down. After everybody went they thanked everyone for coming and told us to wait for a possible phone call over the next 18 months. If we didn't hear from them in that timeframe we were free to try the online test again.

When i got the call they started with, "Hi XXXX, this is Jeopardy!, we would like to invite you to come out and participate in a taping!".

All contestants have to pay their way initially out to LA. If you have to come back because you won the last game on that Tuesday, they will pay your way.

This thread is awesome. Thanks for sharing SockAg. If you have a link to your games or a way to watch, I know we'd all love to see it.

general question, the winner obviously takes home his winnings, what do the other two get? i know with wheel of fortune you at least go home with a $1000 if you don't win anything more.

Pretty sure 2nd place gets $2,000 and 3rd place gets $1,000.

I've enjoyed watching this guy play.

Thanks sock for sharing your stories. It has been fascinating!

[This message has been edited by Rule Number 32 (edited 2/4/2014 3:03p).]

Second place does get $2000 and third gets $1000.

If there is a tie at the end of the game, between second and third place, the player that started with the higher total money before final Jeopardy! is awarded second place.

Everyone is essentially guarenteed $1000, even if you don't make it to final Jeopardy.

I am not sure I want to out myself because I would essentially have to create a new handle as my name, home town and profession are all revealed.

[This message has been edited by rhoswen (edited 2/4/2014 3:35p).]

Yea, that was me.

Awesome stories Sock - thanks for answering everyone's questions!

Did you give a shout out to A&M?

Thats awesome. I'll erase my question on the last reply to protect your identity, not that anyone would probably ever recognize you or put that together, but that is cool.

Israeliag,

I did the "money sign" ala JFF and actually got Alex Trebek to do it as he walked out on stage.

Rule number 32,

Thanks, I appreciate it but I think my cover might be blown (not because of you!).

Sock, did anyone tell Trabek to "suck it?" ***** mightier, ha ha.

quote:

---

I did the "money sign" ala JFF and actually got Alex Trebek to do it as he walked out on stage.

---

Yup. It was awesome. Well played.

quote:

---

Sock, did anyone tell Trabek to "suck it?" ***** mightier, ha ha.

---

Ha, no. But, the returning champion from the first show that was taped on the day I was there did answer one of his questions in a Bane voice.

Rhoswen,

Thanks! I almost did the JFF Superman move after winning the first game but I was in such a state of shock that I actually won that I just stood there like an idiot.

I am in shock that you have to pay your own way! You would think that Jeopardy would pick up that tab.

Congrats, Sock! Very cool.

Thanks!

Well, I suppose they technically pick up the bill snice you are guaranteed $1000 just for going. That covered mine and my wife's travel expenses.

But yes, it would have been gravy if they had actually sent us plane tickets.

Dang, thought I was cool because I asked a question on the old Geraldo show.

Socks smokes that.

quote:

---

Ha, no. But, the returning champion from the first show that was taped on the day I was there did answer one of his questions in a Bane voice.

---

Hah. I remember when that happened. Awesome.

Thanks for answering my question. Cool thread!

I love this thread.

One of the best threads in recent memory.

Socks thanks for the great thread. I've watched Jeopardy since high school and dream of one day actually competing on the show. I've done the online test for a few years in a row and I'll keep plugging along til I'm hopefully selected!

I hate it and they're going to make it against the rules. Why?

It's distracting to the viewers.

quote:

---

I hate it and they're going to make it against the rules. Why?

It's distracting to the viewers.

---

Really? They're going to force the players to choose in a certain order after 30 years of letting them have whatever clue they want? Right.

I don't understand why people are mad that somebody's finally playing the game the right way. It's like you're just mad that you didn't think of it yourself.

It's smart. But annoying to the viewers. And ratings go down, no more show.

I've always been told it was the buzzer that separated the proverbial men from the boys.

It's the only reasonable explanation I can come up with for why some of the guys that did Aggie Quiz Bowl back in the early 00s didn't go on a tear on that show. Chris Romero was legit.

Seven Costanza, you are right about the Price is Right. I went to a taping, but was not chosen as a contestant.

I really thought my friend would make it, but no one from my group went on stage.

quote:

---

Socks thanks for the great thread. I've watched Jeopardy since high school and dream of one day actually competing on the show. I've done the online test for a few years in a row and I'll keep plugging along til I'm hopefully selected!

---

Good luck! Some folks have taken the online test 10 times before getting invited to the in-person interview.

The rumors are that you have to get at least 35/50 questions correct on the on-line test in order to get invited to an in-person interview.

If you want to increase your odds (this helped me) of passing the online test (and doing well on the show) I would recommend reading as much 19th and 20th century literature as you can. Then spend time learning the different 18th-20th century painters and learn all you can about the Presidents.

One of the books that tied a lot together for me (I read it after the show, wish I had read it beforehand) was "The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris" by David McCullough.

Another useful book that I purchased on Amazon is called, "Secrets of the Jeopardy Champions" by Chuck Forest and Mark Lowenthal. I would also recommend reading a few pages on a cultural encyclopedia every night to pick up on random facts.

quote:

---

I hate it and they're going to make it against the rules.

---

I don't think they will do that. Having stood there looking at the board it is very difficult to not jump categories.

For example, in my second game I won control of the board after answering a question from a category titled "new to the Oxford Dictionaries", I didn't want to continue in that category because I didn't feel it would suite my strengths so I jumped to a category called "'Dark' Movies".

If you take control away from the player to pick any question they want you really take quite a bit away from the game. I don't think ratings have gone down much at all and they are on their 30th season so it isn't like they are in fear of cancellation.

quote:

---

It's distracting to the viewers.

---

The last thing I was thinking about when I was on the show was if the game play would be easy for viewers to understand. At the end of the day it is a competition and you can only change the rules so much to appease the audience.

quote:

---

I've always been told it was the buzzer that separated the proverbial men from the boys.

---

If you can get the timing down on the signaling device, you will win the game. That is what seperates the great players from the good players. Part of the problem with the signaling device is that the lights on the side of the Jeopardy! game board (that let the players know their devices are activated) are controlled by a human and are based off of Alex's voice.

The lights don't come on until Alex finishes reading the question. This is even more challenging when it is an audio clue or a video clue because the video doesn't play on the little clue square, it plays on a TV to the left of the clue board. So you have to watch the entirety of the clue, listen to the reading then look back at the game board to watch for the lights to come on so you aren't frozen out.

One of the tactics that I learned about (and employed) was reading through the question on the board as fast as I could, looking for Pavlov's and hints, then turning my attention to Alex's voice to listen for word inflections while keeping my eyes on the board to watch for the lights.

It is a mentally exhausting process and I only played two games. playing 5 games would have left me a hot mess after the taping was over.

Socks, a contestant does "this" and the show is stopped and edited and started over.

Cool thread socks, very awesome accomplishment.

So what happened the second game, how did you lose? Was it close? Come down to final?

Appears he is back on Feb. 24