“THIS IS JEOPARDY!” Those three words have caused my heart to race for more than 50 years.
In fact, racing to catch a Double Jeopardy round last December, I caught the toe of my slipper on the only step in my house, resulting in a football plant to the shoulder and a four-month stretch at Fortinberry Physical Therapy.
With the sad passing of revered host Alex Trebek, this year has been an exciting one for us “Jeopardy” fans. First were open tryouts for the new host position, including Katie Couric, Joe Buck, LeVar Burton, Aaron Rodgers and Dr. Oz. However, the position, for now, has been filled not with one but two hosts: unprecedented 74-game winner Ken Jennings and neuroscientist-actress Mayim Bialik, my top pick.
This season, the “Matt Amodio rodeo” stunned the Jeopardy Nation with his 38-game winning streak. He irritated some purists, as one of his time-saving strategies was to begin every question with, “What’s,” even if it clearly was a “Who.”
Some viewers could not get past answers like, “What’s Jimmy Buffett?” I could, with ease. I rooted for him with as much enthusiasm as I do former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow.
Soon after, another contestant came barreling out of the chute: Amy Schneider, surpassing Matt’s streak by two games. She was still competing when my favorite player, Omar Khalid, got word he was going to be a contestant.
Omar is a native of Baton Rouge, a resident of New Orleans and the son of my good friend Alice Ann Fesmire, with whom I made a near-month-long excursion to Mexico when I was 17. In fact, the Fesmire home on Oakbrook Circle in McComb was once my home away from home. I consider myself a cousin-once-removed.
So when I discovered Omar had made the final cut and was headed to tape a live show, I was as excited as the Fesmires. I immediately informed newspaper editor Jack Ryan, who records the show to watch it at night, and he quipped: “So you have a friend who has a friend who knows someone who is going to be on ‘Jeopardy’?”
Fortunately, Omar kept a journal of his entire experience, from tryouts to the studio exit.
He said he had taken the 50-question test regularly since the early 2000s, but nothing came of it until the COVID-19 quarantine.
“I had the Delta variant and was on my last day of quarantine when I found a five-day-old e-mail from Sony buried in my spam,” he said. It informed him he had passed the test and was invited for a Zoom audition. Much to his horror, all of the slots had been filled.
Desperate, Omar played the COVID excuse card but got no response. However, three weeks later, he was asked to take a Round 2 test, this time seeing other potential candidates taking the same test.
Three months later, he was invited to play short mock games via Zoom. I found it funny that Omar had to use a pen as his buzzer and to show the pen’s actual click so the producers could ascertain who answered first.
In a follow-up interview, producers told Omar he made the final cut as a live contestant, but that due to the massive contestant pool and the few remaining taping slots, he shouldn’t get his hopes up. They said if he were called, it would be at least a year away.
But one week later, a “Jeopardy” producer offered Omar a spot on the show that would tape on Jan. 19, only three weeks away.
Omar said primary preparations involved obsessing over his wardrobe and thinking of every strategy possible to give him an edge, especially if he faced Amy:
“I listened to shows with my eyes closed to get used to buzzing in based on cadence and anticipation. I was really spooked that I would not be able to read the clues in huge text lines as I do at home, so I began to read clues from across the room. I played old games of J! Archive and brought out an old study guide on U.S capitals and presidents.”
Omar’s jet departed on time in New Orleans, but there was no layover time between landing in Atlanta and boarding a flight to Los Angeles. Missing this connection would mean missing the mandatory COVID test to be on the show.
He caught the flight on time, along with a stress-induced, caffeine-deprived headache. Omar relaxed during the final leg by watching movies.
“Normally I would have selected a comfort film like “Office Space,” but wanting to expand my mind one final time, I picked ‘Broadcast News,’ a perhaps relevant pop culture film I hadn’t seen,” he said. “Next I gave the ‘Wizard of Oz’ a re-watch, as it had ties to Culver City and my hotel, walking distance from Sony Pictures studios, where tomorrow I would be at the podium, real buzzer in hand, hearing those famous words, ‘THIS IS JEOPARDY!’ “
Next week: Omar’s studio experience as a “Jeopardy” contestant.
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JANELLYN B. CORNACCHIONE, a lifetime resident of Pike County, recently concluded a 40-year teaching career in three high schools.
