WWTBAM Bored

From Steve Beverly's 12/28-12/29 e-mail:

*****KIDS "JEOPARDY!" ONLINE TEST OFFERED AGAIN IN JANUARY

The contingent of Game Show Congress attendees were justifiably proud a few years back when young Maddie Suchard, daughter of GSC regulars Jeff and Julie Suchard (both of whom are game show contestant veterans in their own rights), ended up on the annual kids' version of "Jeopardy!" and won herself quite a haul.

Your child could be the next Maddie. The online test for Kids' Jeopardy! is being offered again January 13. Understand this clearly: success on the test does not guarantee your child will automatically qualify for to appear on the show. The test serves strictly as a preliminary screening tool.

Here are the basic requirements: the child's birthdate must be between March 16, 1996 and March 30, 1999. The child also may not have appeared on any previous episode of "Jeopardy!" with Alex Trebek.

The test will be offered online Tuesday, January 13, at 8 p.m. (Eastern)/ 5 p.m. (Pacific). The child must be registered at the "Jeopardy!" online site no later than a half-hour before the test is issued.

Kids' Jeopardy Online Registration Site is the link to the registration site. A parent or legal guardian must fill out a registration form for the child to be eligible.

Emma is too old to take the test.

I read the email from Steve Beverly and wow, PSM, you and your family are famous. Can you enlighten those of us who are unfamilar with your game show history about your successes?

geoffil wrote:I read the email from Steve Beverly and wow, PSM, you and your family are famous. Can you enlighten those of us who are unfamilar with your game show history about your successes?

Where have you been, geoffil?

Others can fill in the details, but briefly:

PSM was on SyndieBAM and got eliminated on a question about the time it took for the OJ jury to deliberate. But it turned out that "deliberation" is a complicated issue under California law and none of the answers were correct! PSM got invited back for another shot, but she couldn't answer the replacement question, so that return was never aired, IIRC.

Jeff appeared on Jeopardy! and was one of the KJLs (Ken Jennings Losers). He made Ken sweat it out, though, until the Final Jeopardy was squarely in Ken's wheelhouse.

Maddie appeared on Kids Jeopardy! and won her game, so she's the only Jeopardy! champion in the household. Maddie also appeared in a special edition of 1 vs 100 that had one adult compete against 100 kids. She got eliminated on a question about the meaning of "kitty-corner", but a handful of the kids ended up beating the grown-up.

And lest Emma be left of the picture, she auditioned to be one of the first season's 5th graders on Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader, but she was eliminated from consideration (apparently) because she wasn't a professional actor. Emma's report of that abomination of an interview process was posted online on various places.

MarleysGh0st wrote:

geoffil wrote:I read the email from Steve Beverly and wow, PSM, you and your family are famous. Can you enlighten those of us who are unfamilar with your game show history about your successes?

Where have you been, geoffil?

Others can fill in the details, but briefly:

PSM was on SyndieBAM and got eliminated on a question about the time it took for the OJ jury to deliberate. But it turned out that "deliberation" is a complicated issue under California law and none of the answers were correct! PSM got invited back for another shot, but she couldn't answer the replacement question, so that return was never aired, IIRC.

Jeff appeared on Jeopardy! and was one of the KJLs (Ken Jennings Losers). He made Ken sweat it out, though, until the Final Jeopardy was squarely in Ken's wheelhouse.

Maddie appeared on Kids Jeopardy! and won her game, so she's the only Jeopardy! champion in the household. Maddie also appeared in a special edition of 1 vs 100 that had one adult compete against 100 kids. She got eliminated on a question about the meaning of "kitty-corner", but a handful of the kids ended up beating the grown-up.

And lest Emma be left of the picture, she auditioned to be one of the first season's 5th graders on Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader, but she was eliminated from consideration (apparently) because she wasn't a professional actor. Emma's report of that abomination of an interview process was posted online on various places.

That was very succinct. Can you send your resume to the LS promo team?

There is also the Wheel of Jeopardy Trailer which features the Placentia Family, among others

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:There is also the Wheel of Jeopardy Trailer which features the Placentia Family, among others

Oh, I forgot about that film!

When are they finally going to distribute it, anyway?

geoffil wrote:Can you enlighten those of us who are unfamilar with your game show history about your successes?

In addition:

I was a contestant on the first episode of "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" to be taped (although not the first episode aired). I won $4200 by winning the game, but didn't complete the final puzzle for a trip to Mazatlan.


All the rest are coulda', woulda', shoulda's:

I was chosen to be a contestant for "The Rich List" and even had a tape-date. Then they cancelled the show after only one airing, so I never got to play. That would have been an easy five-figure win (IMHO), with a good likelihood of six-figures.

I was an early auditioner for "1 vs. 100", while they were still hammering out the rules and game-play. I had three call-backs, but never got "the call".

Julie and I auditioned for "AYSTAFG". The show had contacted our high school Quiz Bowl coach to ask for referrals of previous players, since her team had gone to the QB Finals in Chicago 2 years ago (and last year, and this year too, for that matter). They asked me what it was like to go to the Quiz Bowl Finals, not seeming to realize that I went to high school 20 years ago and wasn't on the particular team that went to Finals recently. They said that they were specifically looking for smart people, but I don't really believe it.

Our entire family was approached by a game show recruiter while attending the Renaissance Pleasure Faire 2 years ago. The guy was dressed in a suit of plate armor and carrying a clipboard. He noticed my JEOPARDY cap, and also recognized Maddie from her appearance on the show. He was looking for families of four for a home improvement game-show; I think it was "Your Place or Mine" from one of the cable channels. The more questions you got right, the more rooms in your home would get a makeover. The game-play was very easy [Sample question: How many inches in six feet?], and you could keep control away from the other team as long as you didn't make a mistake. We filled out a lot of paperwork and had to submit photos of every room in our house. They responded by saying that our house was too nice, and they couldn't use us for the show.

...and the piece de resistance...

Julie and I also auditioned for "Trivial Pursuit: America Plays". They cold-called me to ask if I wanted to audition. Apparently, the same people who were contestant coordinators for Crosswords were doing this show too, and I was on their short-list of good potential contestants. We drove into Hollywood on our 19th wedding anniversary [Traditional, no?], waiting in line, had our pictures taken, filled out paperwork, saw a video run-through of the show, and were about to take the audition written test...when my cousin Leonard walks into the room to confer with the contestant coordinators. (Leonard is my first cousin, once-removed. He was an early KJL on Jeopardy, and his wife kicked ass on Wheel of Fortune). His older brother worked extensively on Concentration [He wrote many of the rebus puzzles] and Tic-Tac-Dough [including Thom McKee's run]. Leonard has also helped produce other gameshows, such as "On The Cover".) He didn't notice us yet, so I said to him, "Leonard, please tell me you're not working on this show." He turns to look at us, and then looks back to the coordinator who invited us and says, "Those two are not eligible." Turns out that Leonard is not only a producer, but he's also the judge who determines if a contestant's responses are correct or not.

Thanks for updating me.

MarleysGh0st wrote:

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:There is also the Wheel of Jeopardy Trailer which features the Placentia Family, among others

Oh, I forgot about that film!

When are they finally going to distribute it, anyway?

Chris is trying to get funding to finish the movie.

Maddie doesn't want it to be released for a while because she had a bit of pre-teen chub when the movie was being made and she hates being seen that way.