I AM A “JEOPARDY” CHAMPION. On my couch. And now, only in my head.
Yep. I am one of the 9.2 million people in front of the television watching “Jeopardy” Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. It’s among the most watched shows outside of sports on TV. Even beats “60 Minutes.”
I’ve been a fan and viewer off and on for 50 years. I started as a child when it went on the air during the daytime in 1964; I learned all about Daily Doubles and answering in the form of a question. The highest clue value was $200 dollars then. It’s now $2,000.
Host Art Fleming would greet the show’s announcer with that booming voice, “Thank you, Don Pardo, thank you, friends!!” That led to Don Pardo’s even cooler new job as the announcer for “Saturday Night Live.”
When the categories are American History, State Capitols, Congress, President – straight stuff like that – I’m a whiz. I studied political science in college. Not so hot on the Bible, and if I was allowed a suggestion, I would drop that category because not all of us are up on our Bible, nor should we be.
I’ve been there on my couch yelling out the answers. Sometimes even before the contestants can. I know there is an art to hitting the button first, and I certainly might freeze if I ever actually got on the show. But ask my wife: I have been yelling answers for a half hour straight, often the correct ones.
But a funny thing has happened as I have grown older. I’m not yelling out the answers so much anymore. I know the correct response, but it’s in my head. I’m not responding out loud.
Say, the answer comes up, “Known for his magical realism, this Colombian wrote ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude.’”
Oh! Oh! I know this! I read that book and two others he wrote! He’s got three names! The answer is right there. In my brain. I just can’t spit it out. The guy on TV buzzes in and answers, Gabriel Garcia Marquez! Yes! That’s the name of the guy I was thinking of!
Can’t get it out of my head
The questions get harder as the money increases, down to Final Jeopardy, when you wager however much you want. Like this one: “Known for its twist ending, this 1999 film features a character named Keyser Söze.”
Oh my god, this is easy. That’s one of my favorite films. With the guy, great actor, but who got in trouble for sexual harassment of men. “Suspects.” Yeah, “Suspects.”
The Final Jeopardy music winds down. The smug contestants with their self-satisfied smiles have already finished writing down the correct answer, or maybe those who aren’t quite sure are struggling to get it before the music ends. Like me. The song, “Stuck in the Middle with You,” stuck in my head weeks after I saw it. No, no, that’s another movie with dogs in the title. The music ends. I ain’t got it.
Contestants show their hands and wagers. “The Usual Suspects”!! Right! They all have the right answers. I was this close.
I just had my 70th birthday. Is it because of my age? Or my myriad of pills for senior ailments. They also might be the culprit.
Don’t get me wrong. I can still remember getting kicked out of Mr. Mitchell’s woodshop class in 7th grade for talking too much. Or who was in the 1962 World Series. Things 50 years ago. But exactly why am I in the kitchen right now? That takes a bit of detective work.
And trivia seems to be escaping my head as well. Maybe there’s just not enough room at this age to keep everything you knew when you were younger.
As for “Jeopardy,” if they ever come up with a way to see into your brain and determine what you’re thinking, I may be good at it again. But until that happens, I’ll keep watching and thinking, “I know that. It’s the guy with the hair whose sister is in the movies!!” I won’t be yelling so much, though.
Mike Sugerman is a longtime, highly acclaimed Bay Area broadcast journalist, who worked for KCBS news radio and KPIX 5 TV for decades. Now partly retired, Mike and his wife, Janice Wright, also a longtime broadcaster, live in New York City, where they produce the podcast, “I’m Still Rolling.”
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