Jeopardy! auditions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article describes the process of auditioning for the television game show Jeopardy!
The Jeopardy! staff regularly offers auditions for potential contestants. Tryouts take place regularly at the Los Angeles Jeopardy! studio, and occasionally in other locations. In order to try out, one must be at least 18 years of age, unless one is auditioning for one of the special programs, such as the Teen Tournament (age 13-17) or Kids' Week (age 10-12).
Contents |
[edit] Normal audition procedure
Tryouts for the regular version are given to many people at one time. Before one arrives, one is asked to bring along a filled-out form stating one's name and providing five anecdotes that one could potentially use during the on-air interviews.
There are three parts to the auditioning process itself. The first is a pep talk of sorts from the contestant coordinator. The staff tries to make the audition process entertaining. In the second section, fifty Jeopardy!-style clues in fifty different categories are displayed on a big screen at the front of the room and read aloud by Johnny Gilbert, the show's announcer. All of these answers have appeared on previous episodes, so a diligent watcher will have a good chance of passing the qualifying test. A potential contestant has eight seconds to write down his or her response (no need to phrase in the form of a question here) before the next clue is read.
At the end of the fifty questions, the contestant coordinators take the completed answer sheets and grade them. Though some sources state that a score of 35 is passing, the contestant coordinators refuse to confirm or deny that and the official passing score is kept a secret. Some people who have auditioned speculate that the passing score varies depending on how many contestants are needed for the show. Exact scores are not disclosed, only pass/fail results. Those who did not pass the test are dismissed, and those who did pass the test remain for the third phase of the audition.
At this point the people who passed the written test are given paperwork to fill out, which details eligibility and availability. Then the third part of the audition, a mock Jeopardy! competition, begins. A game board is presented, and potential contestants are placed in groups of three to play the game. The emphasis is not on scoring points, or even having correct answers; the contestant coordinators know that they possess the knowledge to compete on the show, as they have already passed the test, and are looking for on-the-air-compatible qualities. Having a lot of energy and using a loud, confident voice are considered to be huge advantages.
After playing a few clues, the contestant coordinators give each potential contestant a few minutes to talk about themselves. The coordinators request that they finish by telling what they would do with any money they won on Jeopardy!
After the end of the tryout, those who passed the test and participated in the mock Jeopardy game are placed into the "contestant pool" and are eligible to be called to compete for the next year. Those in the contestant pool may be called at any time in that year, although the show has more potential contestants than it needs and many people are not called at all.
[edit] 2006 Internet screening
From March 28-30, 2006, a preliminary screening for potential contestants was conducted on the Internet. An online version of the 50-question qualifying exam was administered. Those who scored well enough to 'pass' the test (Jeopardy! does not reveal its scores or scoring process) were invited to participate in regional auditions, where they underwent the same process described above to be added to the contestant pool.
[edit] Kids Week, Holiday Kids Week, and Back to School Week
Tryouts for the Kids Weeks are slightly different. One does bring one's anecdotes and information sheet, but one first plays the mock Jeopardy! game, then takes a thirty question test. One is called or notified by the station on which one views Jeopardy! if one is to appear on the show. Fifteen children ages ten to twelve are chosen for each filming, along with one alternate.
[edit] Waiting period
The mandatory waiting period after taking the contestant exam is one year, after which one may try out again.
[edit] Auditions in the Art Fleming era
Tryouts for the early NBC version of Jeopardy! hosted by Art Fleming from 1964 to 1975 were conducted somewhat differently, and offer insight into the contestant selection process which may or may not be relevant to the game today. In a classroom-type arrangement, potential contestants wrote their questions to the answers held up by the contestant coordinator, who used cards which had previously actually been used on the show. While the exams were being scored, the staff explained that on any given day, the contestants who actually appear all scored the same number (or very nearly the same number) on this tryout. For the next day, the staff would select two new contestants who had scored a point or two higher than the winner that day, and so on day after day. This typically resulted in a pattern in which almost no contestant was able to win 5 days in a row (because she or he was subsequently competing with contestants who were probably better) -- until the scores escalated to the point at which all three contestants had scored at or near the maximum possible score. When these high scorers, competing against each other day after day, eventually produced an undefeated champion, the contestant pool was "reset" back to scorers who barely passed with the minimum score.
Potential contestants were told that if their score was not in the range that they were seeking that particular day, their names and information would be put into a contestant pool, and that -- if they lived near New York -- they might be called to come to the studio at any time in the next several months when their "number" came up (although this was, they made it clear, unlikely, due to the large number of contestants who had tried out). Since potential contestants had no idea what the target score was for that day, they had no idea whether it would be a good thing to deliberately score lower than they were capable of scoring.
The overall result of this process was that on any given day, all three contestants were of roughly equal ability, which tended to produce spirited games with no single contestant running away with the game. Although "fixing" game shows (helping contestants by giving them answers or hinting at questions) is illegal, such a process could legally be exploited to produce a "super-champion" in the following way. If an exceptionally high-scoring individual were to win a game (and such exceptional individuals are not too difficult to find, as the history of the show demonstrates), he or she could then be pitted against a string of opponents who scored low on the qualifying test. Although there is no guarantee that they would lose against the super-champion, such losses would be very likely. Once the producers had decided that the super-champion's winnings had gone high enough (whatever that would mean), they could put the winner up against others who had scored extremely well on the qualifying exam, eventually resulting in his or her defeat. It is not known, of course, if such a strategy has ever actually been used on Jeopardy! or any other legally conducted game show. It would not have been useful to boost ratings during most of the run of Jeopardy!, since there was a cap on winnings and/or a 5-game limit for undefeated champions.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
