Wednesday, January 28, 2009

This. is. JEOPARDY!

Confession: I'm a nerd. But then you probably already knew that.

Ever since I was old enough to read, I have LOVED the show Jeopardy. I also happen to be quite good at it, if I do say so myself. :-)

I actually went on vacation to Los Angeles to watch the taping of three Jeopardy episodes in 2004. My timing was perfect... I saw Ken Jennings become the first Jeopardy contestant to amass winnings of over $1 million! I saw him win the million! They film three episodes per day, so I saw him on his 29, 30 and 31st days on the show. I wanted to take the qualifying test, but sadly, the process of waiting, taking the test, interviewing, etc. would take hours, and we had tickets to Universal City.


But for the past two years the producers decided to make the contestant test available online for a very limited time. I knew about it, but for some reason didn't take the test.

Today was an "ice day" here in Dallas, and after watching news coverage of dozens of cars slipping, sliding, and stopping on iced-over roadways, I opted to stay home. Jeopardy came on at 11 on CBS, and I seized this rare opportunity to watch one of my favorite shows! After answering 90 percent of the questions correctly, Brad sent me the link to the registration for THIS year's online test and told me I "didn't have a choice." He would make me take the test. (What would I do without him?! He's my cheerleader -- err, yell leader?)

Guess what: The test was today!

What timing! Of all the days to be home, to watch Jeopardy, to show off my trivia skills for my husband... and the one day that they're testing is TODAY! They offer this test for only 10 minutes in the entire year, and today was the day! So I registered and received an email saying I needed to log in within 30 minutes before the test at 8 p.m., or I would be disqualified. I remembered RIGHT before the test was about to begin... I was preparing to watch LOST and then realized it was test time.
So I logged in, and the questions started firing! Each question was on the screen for 15 seconds, and I had to TYPE my response in (not multiple choice, people!). Then the screen would change to the next question. There were 50 total questions, and the entire test took about 10 minutes. I knew the answers to 31 questions without a doubt, and there were 19 questions I either passed on or guessed. Not my best performance, but those questions were tough!

I'll never find out my score, and I doubt I'll get invited for an audition interview. There are probably thousands and thousands of people who take this test, and only a few are selected through a random selection process to audition. But I am still somehow excited to have finally taken the qualifying test for this show that I've loved for so long!

5 comments:

Travis & Meagan Hogg said...

That's awesome, Katie! I watch the show while I'm working out and it makes me feel sometimes smart and sometimes not-so-smart! If you get invited on the show, do tell! GO KATIE!! I remember when you visited the set and saw the show on your LA trip, I can't believe that was in 2004, it doesn't seem like 5 years ago!! Wow! Good times, good times! The first thing I remember about your LA trip is the infamous white pants from Old Navy that got weird spots on them and you took them back and you were so nervous they would ask about the spots, haha! Love you!

Abigail Boatwright said...

I'm so proud of you! my boss took that test as well-- maybe y'all will compete against each other on TV!

The Rozell Family said...

Hey Katie,
I just saw you signed up for my giveaway. I am jsut now getting to all my comments and looking at everyones super cool blogs! I enjoyed looking over your blog! I have not drawn a winner yet but will draw a name here in a bit when my littel one goes to bed adn post tonight on my blog! Keep in touch!

The Rozell Family said...

hey
thanks for saying hey on my blog! yes, Knowing God is a great book, well I have only read parts but enjoyed what i did read. i am anxiously waiting for baby to arrive and labor to start! We will blog as soon as he/she arrives!

Unknown said...

your blog is very nice and show is also very good. jeopardy is my favorite tv show. i always Watch jeopardy show online from here.