My Day At Jeopardy! It Was Long Ago, But Feels Like Yesterday.

Linda, Neil, and I battle it out on Jeopardy!

I went on a treasure hunt and struck gold! Or at least a second-place silver.

Frequent blog readers know of my past Jeopardy! experience as a contestant in 1988 and how my single videotape of the airing was eviscerated by a hungry VCR machine. I had thought my defeat was lost to future generations, but a few months ago I made another try to locate a copy.

A wonderful Jeopardy! resource exists at the J! Archive, a fan site with details of almost every Jeopardy! ever telecast, including players, answers, questions, a variety of statistics, and even a lexicon of Jeopardy! jargon. It was at this site that I began my search.

I was able to locate the episode I appeared in, #893, and noted the name of my two opponents, Neil L, an engineer from El Cerrito, California, and returning champion Linda M, a substitute teacher from Elizaville, New York.

I took my info and ran with it to Facebook, private messaging anyone I found who might possibly have been one of my opponents. I asked each contact if they could have been my Jeopardy! nemesis, and if they had a copy of our show.

Weeks went by with no return messages, and I had given up hope when last week I got a response from one of many Neil Ls I had contacted:

“Sorry for the delay, but I just saw the message. Yes, that was me. And that was you too. Strangely, yesterday I stumbled across a flash drive with recording of the game. We were young. Hope you are well.”

Success! We exchanged a few more messages, and by the end of the day Neil L of El Cerrito had come through with a WMV file of our episode. And transfixed, I watched my (much) younger self “perform.”

A few observations:

I made a poor choice of sportcoats
I never was much of a speller–no wonder I misspelled Dan “Akroyd.”
It was nice having a full head of hair.
Were Harry Caray size eyeglasses really in style?
The technology, with banks of CRT monitors, was light years behind what we witness on Jeopardy! now.
Eugene Finnerman, where are you now?
Alex was young, healthy, and helped me out when he pushed Linda M to overbid on a Daily Double she was sure to get wrong.
Despite the claims of my son, at no point did Alex say “Wrong again, Les.” However, he did appear amazed that I got Final Jeopardy correct–just after he had chastised me for “not making it a closer game.”

For those of you wondering, the final score had Neil at $12,100, while I rode my Final Jeopardy success to a grand total of $2,100. But it was $2,100 of fun. I am looking forward to sharing the whole experience with my family.

And to never again be taunted “Wrong again, Les.”

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Answer: Me. Question: Who Should Be the Next Jeopardy! Host?

My first game show appearance (1971) Photo courtesy Sullivan Navillus

OK readers. You knew this blog was coming. You knew that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. My life’s goal is once again obtainable, and you knew I was going to speak out–or at least write about it.

What am I talking about? Of course, it is the chance of a lifetime to be the permanent host of Jeopardy! For those of you who have been more concerned with other important matters (Afghanistan, COVID, politics,) let me fill you in on the J! host saga.

The parade of guest hosts to replace Alex Trebek resulted in the show’s executive producer, Mike Richards, being named the new main man. Now, being a showbiz novice, I am not exactly sure what an “executive producer” does with their time. But I am pretty sure Mr. Richards had more than a bit of influence in deciding who the answer-and-question guru would be.

Do you think that a few steps were skipped in the process of making the choice? Things like reviewing previous public comments the guy had made on his own podcast a few years ago? Comments that would not be suitable for America’s favorite quiz show. (Note in passing: Way back in the last millennia, when my episode as a contestant of Jeopardy! was being taped, Alex fat-shamed one of my competitors during a commercial break. But that was then…)

Once Richards’ remarks came to light, it took less than a week for him to step down from the moderator role. A new search will begin. And once again I ask the question. Why not me?

In addition to my game show credentials, I promise that a search of all my writing will produce an absence of non-PC, non-woke comments. Any film or digital photography or videography available for perusal will only show me keeping my hands to myself, and my eyes clearly focused on appropriate parts of others persons’ anatomies. I swear I have never touched, groped, fondled, or mauled anyone who I was not invited to touch, grope, fondle, or maul. (And believe me, there have not been many of those invitations!)

Sony Pictures Entertainment, I am and will be your Boy Scout. Now is your chance. Pluck me from obscurity. I want this gig. And I won’t stop writing until I get it!

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Jeopardy! Needs Me. You just have to let them know.

C’mon people I need your help. I don’t think I can do this without you.

LeVar Burton has been added to the list of celebrities who have been, or will be, guest hosts of Jeopardy! How did he get there? A petition with over 240,000 signatures convinced the powers-that-be to give him a shout-out.

I first mentioned my desire to host Jeopardy in 2018, when rumors of Alex Trebek’s potential retirement first surfaced. Like all of you, I was saddened when we learned that instead of retirement, it would be fatal pancreatic cancer that would end Alex’s reign. But just as Walter Cronkite transitioned to Dan Rather, Johnny Carson to Jay Leno, and Willard Scott to Al Roker, our TV idols eventually get replaced. And I want in.

So let’s see. Do I stack up against the “celebrities” that have been filling in for the last few months?

Like Ken Jennings (first guest host), I am a former Jeopardy! Contestant. No, I didn’t win a gazillion episodes and two gazillion dollars, but just being there is what matters, right?
Like Mehmet Oz (March) and Sanjay Gupta (June) I am a doctor. I can pronounce all the Latin medical terms such as medulla oblongata that may crop up. And I know what they mean.
Like Mayim Bialik (host May 31-June 11) I am Jewish. Not really that important, but it does allow me to use the space laser if any contestant should get out of hand.
As a kid hanging out at Wrigley Field, I got an autograph from Jack Buck, the father of Joe Buck, who will be hosting in August. That’s just one degree of separation, so close enough for me.
With my white hair, I have the same distinguished, intelligentsia look as Anderson Cooper (current guest host.) Got to keep the show on the high-brow side.

I know there are a whole bunch of other guest hosts that I can’t quite compare to: Robin Roberts, Aaron Rodgers, Savanna Guthrie. But isn’t it time to give the little guy a break?

So someone out there–start a petition, write me a slogan, push my cause. I want to be a guest host too!

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