Alex Trebek turns 68 today -- looks good,
doesn't he? Nice guy;
does charity work,
never a scandal. But I'm still a little mad at him -- though I have no one to
blame but myself.
Let me explain. Like millions
of folks, I love Jeopardy!
-- going back to the original version with Art Fleming. I also
have a knack for memorizing useless facts
-- to the point where people were always saying, "You should be on
Jeopardy!" (like I had any say in it).
In May, 2006, I finally got the
call, asking me come in for an interview.
Well, I played well enough and was sufficiently personable that they told me
I'd be in the pool for a year, and if I didn't hear from them to try again.
That year passed and I wrote it off -- until November of 2007, when the
magical call came from Culver City.
They wanted me!
I went to L.A., and after a morning of instructions, was
called on to play -- for real. Thanks to a lucky group of categories
-- and a Final Jeopardy that I didn't know, but made an educated guess at -- I
was an honest-to-goodness Jeopardy! champion.
Then my second game came.
I was slow on the buzzer, but the final blow was a Daily Double about Shakespeare. In spite of my background in theatre history -- and Alex trying to help -- I blanked, and it was all downhill from there.
I rallied, but it was too late, and after a reign of one
day, I was a Former Jeopardy! Champion. I exited the studio with a feeling of
"what just happened?," but feeling proud that I'd actually done it.
I can never
go back on the show, but if you do, give Alex my best. And watch out for those
Shakespeare categories....
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