Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Majestyk, in Double Jeopardy!
A couple of years back, I let everybody here know that I had been invited to an audition for the game show Jeopardy! – mostly so I could be like Troy Senik – but alas, I never received the call to go to Los Angeles. That was all the way back in 2015. For those who don’t want to go to the trouble of reading my archive, (I’m flattered if you do) I’ll try to summarize briefly.
The process goes like this: You take the Jeopardy! online test and pass it (required rates of passage are not published; it is rumored to be 70-80%.) Upon successfully passing the online test, you may receive an invitation to attend a live audition with the contestant search crew. You will be administered a second test to demonstrate that you were not using your friend as a railbird or ringer for the online test; then you are invited to play a mock game of Jeopardy! with your fellow contestants to determine your photogeneity. You will be asked questions, as if you were going on the show and interviewed by Alex… And then you go home and wait.
The contestant coordinators tell you that your name is entered in the contestant pool for about 18 months, and there is a random draw for who gets called to Los Angeles. The show requires 400 new contestants annually and places some 1,000 into the contestant pool by my calculations. As I explained with my 2015 audition, the call never came and I timed out of the pool. Undaunted, I took the online test again in 2018 and received a call to audition in New Orleans, which I attended. By the time 2020 rolled around, I figured to have timed out of the pool yet again. Then last Friday happened.
While taking my son to visit Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, LA, I received a phone call from California. Figuring it was spam, I declined. A few minutes later, an email arrived from the Sony Pictures Entertainment domain, asking to get ahold of me. Thus, did I find out that I had been invited to Los Angeles to seek fame and glory in front of Alex Trebek on March 10th or 11th.
To the best of my knowledge, the shows I appear in will not air until mid May, and I can’t give you any details even after the recording is done, but I know that the folks at home will be rooting for me in absentia. But I want to let everybody know: Persistence pays. Follow your dreams. You can reach your goals. I’m living proof. Beef cake! Beef cake!
Published in Culture
Awesome! You will definitely need to announce the dates when they’ve told you! I still remember seeing you on–was it Gretchen Carlson? Good luck!
Congratulations! I’m a big fan of Jeopardy, even though I only consistently have correct ‘questions’ when it’s Junior Jeopardy. 👍🏼 Well done!!
That is correct! Once I know the dates for certain, I’ll share.
It’s all about the categories.
Maj, that’s great news. Congrats and good luck.
That is exciting. Keep us updated!
I’ll take Swords for $1,000, Aleksh…
See my earlier comment. If you get lucky, you sail through. If not, it’s grim.
Yeah, I hate seeing ones like “Rivers.” Unbelievable that some players clean up the board with that one.
I’d rather have that category than any popular music 10 years after you graduate High School.
Definitely changed since I was on. We had the test and “audition” round on the same day (no online test then). It was a little nerve-wracking sitting there while the contestant coordinators read off the names of those who made the cut. After the audition game, we had to provide 5 topics/anecdotes for the interview segments with Alex. (This was when they cut you off after 5 wins.) Got the call in February of the next year for taping in March. It was fun next tax season, trying to figure out what I owed California.
You’ll have fun, even if you don’t win. Listen to Alex as much as you can before you go for the tapings; you can’t ring in until he finishes the question, so you’ll need to hone in on his speech rhythm. And know your Oscar winners!
Alex Trebek is still hanging in there after his rounds of stage 4 pancreatic cancer and chemo. He said this in January:
Bless his heart.
How fun! Good luck.
“I’ll take ‘Stuff no one paid attention to in school, no one cares about, and has no practical use whatsoever’ for $400, Alex”😜
Shoosh! That’s my whole strategy! That and obscure knowledge of flags.
Dang, @danok1! I missed the fact you’ve been on Jeopardy! I knew we had a bunch of smarties on Ricochet, but how many have been on the show? I still can’t believe @troysenik missed that final question.
What is the Brahmaputra River?
You’ve got a standard to beat. Troy won $28,700 in his victory game.
to determine your photogeneity.
Okay, I’m out.
Congrats, @majestyk! And best of luck.
@blondie … I thought we all agreed never to speak of that.
I smell of horse.
Hahaha!
Congratulations! I thought only smart people get to go on those shows. Jeez, they let anyone on. :-P I’, m kidding. Wow, that’s great. Let us know when your show airs. I’d love to watch it.
Congrats. May lightly-worn erudition win you a fortune!
There’s something about turning enlightenment into a show that interests me. Please let us know about all the human drama of success & rejection in all these matters…
Thanks for all the well-wishes, obviously. Hopefully, I can translate that into a big win. Otherwise…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvUZijEuNDQ
Heyyyyyy congrats! I’ve taken the online test every year since 2016. The test this January was the best I’ve done (finally cracked 80%) so I’m hoping I get called to the Chicago audition.
Also, the Jeopardy subreddit is a great place to check out after these online tests. The lead guy records the tests and post them on YouTube after the tests are done. Just so you can check your answers and get a feel for how you did. Or pass it on to other people that want to try for fun later. For example: