I have been a fan of the syndicated TV quiz show Jeopardy since the 1960s. So has Kathleen. We each grew up watching Art Fleming host the most cerebral of televised game shows until it went off the air in 1975. In fact, in college, when my roommates and I ran out of beer at our trailer, I would pull out a home version of the game to determine who would make the run to the liquor store to buy more. One roommate, Bruce, grew frustrated at his inability to win these contests. It got so bad that, as soon as I pulled out the game, he would just mutter some incoherent curses at me or call me a communist and start putting on his coat.
After a decade without the game, it was revived in 1984 with Alex Trebek as host. During the next 36 years, the show became iconic. It has been used as the scenario for numerous sit-coms, from Golden Girls to Cheers, and Saturday Night Live has parodied the show 15 times. In these parodies, Will Farrell portrays a besieged Trebek trying keep celebrities such as Burt Reynolds and Sean Connery in line. Connery, in particular is played as a dim-witted contestant who struggles with categories such as “States Ending in Hampshire,” “Current Black Presidents,” and “The Letter After B.” He also misreads categories in hilarious ways as when “The Pen is Mightier” becomes, “The Penis Mightier,” or “Japan-US Relations” becomes “Jap Anus Relations.” I have also found it to be ironic that Stephen Foster, writer of many of America’s greatest songs (I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, My Old Kentucky Home, Camptown Races, etc.), died penniless, but Merv Griffin, who created the show, made millions off of the stupid, 30-second piece of music that plays over the deliberations for the Final Jeopardy question. According to Griffin’s son, the family has earned over $80 million in royalties from that song alone.
For our family, as many of you know, the height of our relationship with the show came in 2013 when our daughter, Kristin, tried out for Jeopardy and was selected as a contestant (See picture above). Kathleen flew out to L.A. with her, and we were astonished when she won five straight games, thus qualifying for the “Tournament of Champions” for the year’s top 15 players. That time, I was able to fly out and see some of the games. She was amazing, finishing in 3rd place and earning an additional $50,000, giving her a total of over $120,000.
During our nearly 30 years of marriage, Kathleen and I have scheduled our day around the syndicated show. We often go our separate ways during the day, but at 4:30, we come together to watch it, with a subtle competition taking place over who can answer the most questions. As Kristin once said during an interview, “Growing up in our house, trivia was a blood sport.”
Given our history with the show, we have been saddened by the news that Alex Trebek is struggling with an advanced form of cancer, and we wonder about the future of the show. Those thoughts have been set aside this week, however, as Jeopardy has hit prime time with a highly anticipated battle between the three top players in the show’s history. The contest, scheduled to run from three to seven days at 7:00 CST on ABC, is being billed as a monumental struggle to determine the Greatest of All Time.
Before 2003, a player was only allowed to win 5 times. After that, they had to stop playing and wait for the TOC at the end of the year. In 2001, however, Brad Rutter, was a dominant player who had to retire undefeated after five wins. He has been back numerous times for celebrity tournaments, usually coming out a winner and accumulating over $4.8 million in prizes. In 2004, Ken Jennings ran off an incredible streak of 74 straight wins. He, too, has appeared many times since then, collecting about $3.5 million in the process. Then, last year, a Vegas gambler named James Holzhauer, took the game by storm, winning 32 straight times. He also captured the imagination of the nation with his aggressive, go-for-broke style that resulted in the 16 highest one-day totals in the show’s history.
The Jeopardy GOAT contest pits Rutter, Jennings, and Holzhauer in a head-to-head contest over a week’s time. Each day, they play two games, with the winner determined by a combination total from the two games. The over all winner will be the first player to win three times. Thus, if a player wins the first three games, the contest is over. If, however, they trade wins back and forth, it could take seven days to determine the GOAT.
Yesterday, January 7th, the contest began. It was a slugfest from the start, with very few wrong answers given and the lead going back and forth. In the end, Jennings beat Holzhauer, $63,300 to $63,200 with Rutter a distant 3rd. It promises to be a fun contest to watch, and I encourage you to tune in or record the show.
I won’t tell you who I will be cheering for, but here is one other piece of trivia: James Holzhauer is from the Chicago area (Naperville), he attended the University of Illinois, and he is a lifelong Cubs fan. Just saying.