This article describes the evolution of the process of auditioning for the television game show Jeopardy!

The Jeopardy! staff regularly offers auditions for potential contestants. Tryouts take place in the Los Angeles area, and occasionally in other locations throughout the United States, in Canada, and at U.S. military installations abroad. In order to try out, one must be at least 18 years of age, unless one is auditioning for one of the special programs, such as the Teen Tournament (ages 13-17), Kids Week (age 10-12), or the College Championship (full-time undergraduate students).

Current audition procedure for regular-play games

Tryouts for regular play games are administered to groups of people at scheduled dates and times. Upon arriving, contestant applicants are asked to fill out information sheets with their contact information, eligibility information, and availability, and are asked to provide five anecdotes that may be used during the contestant interview portion of the show (a form is emailed in advance).

The first phase of the group audition process is divided into three parts.

1. A contestant coordinator gives an introductory talk reviewing the rules and particularities of the game and providing some guidelines regarding energy, volume, and timing for the applicants. Some sample clues are read aloud (and displayed on a monitor or projection screen) and applicants are called upon to raise their hands and give out the responses.
2. Fifty Jeopardy!-style clues in fifty different categories are displayed on the screen at the front of the room and read aloud in a recording by Clue Crew member Jimmy McGuire (previously, Johnny Gilbert, the show's announcer, did the voice-over on this). A potential contestant has eight seconds to write down his or her response (no need to phrase in the form of a question here) before the next clue is read.
3. The contestant coordinators take the completed response sheets and grade them. Though some sources state that a score of 35 is passing, the contestant coordinators refuse to confirm or deny any passing score number. Exact scores are not disclosed.

This is followed by a mock Jeopardy! competition. A game board is presented, and potential contestants are placed in groups of three to play the game. The emphasis is not on scoring points, or even having correct answers; the contestant coordinators know that they possess the knowledge to compete on the show, as they have already passed the test, and are looking for on-the-air-compatible qualities. Auditionees are encouraged to display energy and use a loud, confident voice. . After playing a few clues, the contestant coordinators give each potential contestant a few minutes to talk about themselves. The coordinators request that they finish by telling what they would do with any money they won on Jeopardy!

After the end of the tryout, all auditionees who have taken the online test and the in-person test are placed into the "contestant pool" and are eligible to be called to compete for the next eighteen months. The show uses 400 contestants per season, and it is emphasized at the audition that test scores are the most important factor in determining who out of the thousands of applicants will be selected.

The Jeopardy! Brain Bus

The Jeopardy! promotional vehicle, dubbed the Brain Bus also goes around the country for promotional events. In these cases, the promotion is usually divided into two activities: a Pre-Test section and a Fun Play section.

In the Pre-Test, attendees who are 18 years or older are given a 10-question version of the above qualifying test. (At least three different versions of the test are used, so attendees cannot copy answers from neighbors.) If the attendee passes the test (as above, scores are not given, only pass/fail results), they are given a form that allows them to attend and attempt the full 50-question qualifier (as described above) the next day.

The Fun Play area allows attendees, regardless of age, to play a modified "quick game" of Jeopardy! for prizes. Attendees queue up in three lines, and are given a static board of six categories. The host--usually a member or members of the Clue Crew--choose one of the attendees at the head of their line to pick a category and "dollar amount" (ranging from $200 to $1000, as in the current Jeopardy! Round, or first round, of play). A clue is shown, and the line leaders--each using a similar buzzer device to those used on the show--attempt to signal in and answer. After five clues are played, the line leaders hand off the buzzers to the next person in line, and are allowed to choose one of the give-away prizes at the front of the game stage (these usually include Jeopardy!-logoed t-shirts, keychains, hats, drink bottles and the like). If, during play, a player finds a Daily Double (usually in a specifically-identified category), that player plays the clue alone for the chance to win a larger prize (recently, this has been a copy of the reference work The New York Times Guide To Essential Knowledge, and the category is ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT.) In addition, some attendees are invited to create and sing their own lyrics for the Jeopardy! Theme. Those willing to sing the lyrics on stage get a special prize (at recent events, this has been the Jeopardy! DVD Home Game System).

Internet screenings

On March 28, 2006, March 29, 2006, and March 30, 2006, three preliminary screenings for potential contestants were conducted on the Internet through the official Jeopardy! web site. An online version of the 50-question qualifying exam was administered to about 100,000 registered applicants. Those who scored well enough to "pass" the test (Jeopardy! does not reveal its scores or scoring process) may have been invited to participate in regional auditions (there is a random selection procedure). At the audition, they were given a second 50-question test. This second test is a 'good faith' test: the potential contestant need not "pass," but instead must demonstrate they likely had no assistance on the online test. After this second test, all contestants underwent the same process described above, regardless of performance on the second test.

Three more 50-question tests were administered on January 23, 2007, January 24, 2007, and January 25, 2007. As with the previous year, the three tests were offered one hour apart from each other on the successive nights to accommodate test-takers in the various U.S. time zones, though a person from any time zone could take the test on any night. About 70,000 applicants participated in the 2007 online tests.

Kids Week, Holiday Kids Week, and Back to School Week

Tryouts for the Kids Weeks are slightly different. One does bring one's anecdotes and information sheet, but one first plays the mock Jeopardy! game, then takes a thirty question test. During the mock game, coordinators sometimes open up triple stumper questions to the other potential contestants. One is called or notified by the station on which one views Jeopardy! if one is to appear on the show. Fifteen children ages ten to twelve are chosen for each filming, along with one alternate.

Waiting period

The mandatory waiting period after taking the contestant exam is one year, after which one may try out again.

Auditions in the Art Fleming era

Tryouts for the early NBC version of Jeopardy! hosted by Art Fleming from 1964 to 1975 were conducted somewhat differently, and offer insight into the contestant selection process which may or may not be relevant to the game today. In a classroom-type arrangement, potential contestants wrote their questions to the answers held up by the contestant coordinator, who used cards which had previously actually been used on the show. While the exams were being scored, the staff explained that on any given day, the contestants who actually appear all scored the same number (or very nearly the same number) on this tryout. For the next day, the staff would select two new contestants who had scored a point or two higher than the winner that day, and so on day after day. This typically resulted in a pattern in which almost no contestant was able to win 5 days in a row (because she or he was subsequently competing with contestants who were probably better) -- until the scores escalated to the point at which all three contestants had scored at or near the maximum possible score. When these high scorers, competing against each other day after day, eventually produced an undefeated champion, the contestant pool was "reset" back to scorers who barely passed with the minimum score.

Potential contestants were told that if their score was not in the range that they were seeking that particular day, their names and information would be put into a contestant pool, and that — if they lived near New York — they might be called to come to the studio at any time in the next several months when their "number" came up (although this was, they made it clear, unlikely, due to the large number of contestants who had tried out). Since potential contestants had no idea what the target score was for that day, they had no idea whether it would be a good thing to deliberately score lower than they were capable of scoring.

External links

• Official Jeopardy! Web site
• Official Jeopardy! message board

References