Watching game shows is truly not my thing. I find them boring and downright stupid. However, whenever I accidentally tune into Jeopardy I find that I‘m stupid. How could this be? A show based upon factual information and with two Master degrees, I barely get any questions correct. This made me think, how do they get these encyclopedic minded contestants? Where do these questions originate from? Is there a study guide for the show?
Jeopardy 101
The show Jeopardy started in 1964. It flipped the script from other shows by giving the answers and requiring the contestants to come up with the questions. It is now the second most popular game show behind Wheel of Fortune. Alex Trebek was the famous game host on Jeopardy for 37 years, over 8,200 shows. After his passing Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik switched off as game hosts.
To become a contestant you must be 18 years of age or older for the adult version of the game. You cannot work for any company that is affiliated with the show. If you are not a college student, but over 18, then you will take the adult test. In order to take the test you must create a My Profile on Jeopardy‘s website. This is where most of your communication from the show will come through. There is no study guide for Jeopardy The test is given online, only once a year. It only takes 10 minutes. How can the brainiacs on the show be vetted by a ten minute online test? This is just the beginning of the contestant‘s journey.
If you do well, you are placed in a pool of contestants for 18 months. This still does not assure you that you will be picked. If you are selected a contestant coordinator will contact you for an audition. Audition times are limited, so one can‘t afford to be picky. A head‘s up for those of you who desire to be a Jeopardy contestant, all expenses related to your stay are on you. You will not be covered for transportation, lodging or food.
The audition is live on set and includes 50 questions that were not on the previous test. You are advised to show up early and come dressed as you would for an actual show. These questions are done using the format of the game. If you do well on this, then the next step is an interview. You know the quirky stories that each contestant has, the interview is when it is teased out. If you become a contestant you need to tell your story in a quick, succinct way.
Questions??????
Where do these questions come from? There are as many as eight writers and seven researchers that work on the creation of the questions. Categories are chosen by the writers. Once the category is accepted by the head writer, then they write up seven questions, which is two more than they need for each column. This affords the writers flexibility to kick one out. This is done in case a topic has another similar answer or a contestant that has been on repeated shows, then to not give anyone an advantage the question would be thrown out. The head writer puts the order of the questions for each category based upon easiest to hard.
The researchers check all the answers to not only make sure it‘s correct, but that there is only one possible answer. The next step is a writer‘s round table to see if answers are well written , if there‘s a topic of a question used recently that will be changed. The order of the questions will be gone over to make sure that the writer‘s agree on its value. From there it gets checked over once again by the researchers, then the executive director and lastly by the game host.
Double Jeopardy and Final Question
All the writers come up with a final question. For it to qualify for inclusion in a game, at least one of the writer‘s. has to be able to answer it. If no one can, then the questions are too hard. The Daily Doubles get chosen and approved as the last part of putting together a game. My feeling is that the show is doing a good job making their questions hard enough to continue to make me feel dumb.
