I know it's already aired in some markets, but I got distracted and forgot to post it here. So I'm uh...kinda on Jeopardy! today if you want to watch. True story.
You were in the hunt. Bet you'll never forget ambush as the answer to Final Jeopardy and that always sucks. A few questions. I have heard Alex Trebek is quite pompous and full of himself. Did you see any behavior on his part to support that opinion? How long did it take from when you took the online test to when you were contacted by Jeopardy? Did you ever find out how well you did in the online test. How many questions did you get correct out of the 50? Does the buzzer respond quickly to being pressed? I sometimes see looks of frustration from contestants repeatedly pressing the buzzer to no effect.
I'm sure Maniacal can give the official answer for this one, but I always thought there was a lock-out on the buttons until the question was finished being read. I'd love to know, too.
Nah, he's hilarous. Test was in January (2011), and I think they contacted me via email in May so about 4 months. Audition was in June. Six months later I got the call, and I taped in January of this year. Nope. They never reveal your score or what you needed to score to get invited to the audition. There is a string of lights on either side of the game board that are turned on once Alex finishes reading the clue. For every time you try to ring in before those lights come on, there is a quarter second lockout penalty.
So it's visual. So if you react to when Alex ends the reading of the clue there is a strong possibility that you will be locked out. I hope that when Jennings and the other guy played the IBM computer that they took the differences in response to visual versus aural stimuli.
I was on Jeopardy! back in 1994. I identified myself as a referee. Alex asked me about the recent World Cup in the US. Show taped about 2 months before air date. I tested at the studio in LA. I lived about 3 blocks from the studio at the time. I passed the test 4 times before getting the call to play. Most people are from the LA area (if they say "originally from...." they live in So Cal now). Hard to get a handle on Alex because you don't interact with him until the show (if you're picked). There are always two or three extras so that the producer has a choice for the last taping of the day. If you get called in for one day and don't play, you are guaranteed a slot at the next day's taping (that's how they handled out of town contestants so that they are guaranteed to play, just not sure when) . They tape 5 shows a day, two or three days a week. Taping is in real time, so commercial breaks are as long as they are at home. They give you the the opening of final jeopardy before the question (i.e. who is..., what is... where is ... ) is revealed. Unfortunately, I was matched against someone who would become the tournament winner in 1995 and the categories for double jeopardy were not my strongest. It was a great time. I won a week at a resort in Carmel. Mahalo, Steve