Tuesday, June 07, 2005

TV: Jeopardy!

Rosemarie here. Vince asked me to contribute a few words about my JEOPARDY! experience. You could call it a companion piece to his write-up of what it was like to be on ULTIMATE FILM FANATIC.

First, the try-out in Seattle. A 50 question timed test. A screen in front of the hotel ballroom flashing the questions while I and 99 other people who think we're pretty smart scrawl down our answers. I wasn't sure if I was doing well until I saw that the guy next to me had answered only half the questions. Eight of us made the cut - no word on what a passing grade was.

The contestant coordinators said they would call us for the show, if they did, within 14 months. I was summoned two weeks later. Too bad. I had planned to use those 14 months studying geography, the periodic table and words ending in "ola."

Taping day was fun, with a professional make-up artist on hand to glam us up a bit. During every commercial break she ran up and applied another layer. By the end of the show I looked like Glenda Jackson in ELIZABETH R.

In sum, while my buzzer technique was nonexistent and I have proven for all posterity that I am ignorant of fly fishing, I had a blast.

Plus all the folks at work said I looked great. So when do I get my sitcom pilot?