HALLIE EPHRON: We started the week talking about the amazing 31-game Jeopardy run by Jamie Ding, a cool as a cucumber, orange-shirted, sweet looking, self-described "bureaucrat" with an amazing knowledge bank and lightning fast buzzer finger.
Hank noted that one of my all-time favorite thriler writers, Meg Gardiner, was a Jeopardy champion in the 1980's.
Which got me wondering if there were many crime fiction writers who've come up aces on Jeopardy.
It turns out there are lots of writers who've done well on Jeopardy, but not many who are known for writing crime fiction. Only a few, compared to the vast numbers of attorneys and academics and assorted PhDs.... (BTW Meg Gardiner is a Stanford-educated attorney in addition to being an author.)
Then this week, a glamorous redhead, Kate Brody, who wrote the bestselling, much critically acclaimed thriller The Rabbit Hole (Soho Crime) won, beating the guy who beat Jamie Ding.
I'm thrilled for her.
Turns out her appearance this week wasn't her first brush with Jeopardy. Her novel was a CLUE when it came out a few years ago.
My husband tried out of Jeopardy but was never called. He was brilliant at any questions about history or geography (a stamp collector!) or science or art or classic lit. Useless when it came to pop culture or music.
I'd be great on Jeopardy if the clues were limited to children's lit and food. Other than that, I'm good at improvising, cracking jokes... aka, talking a good line. But that wouldn't rack up many $$.
This has me wondering whether being a crime fiction writer is advantageous to an aspiring Jeopardy champ. Or does having an active imagination actually put one at a DISadvantage?
Would you want to be a contestant on Jeopardy? Or would Wheel of Fortune be more up your alley? Or would you rather just stay home and shout answers at the TV? Or write crime novels?
Or better yet, read them.
I'll stay home, shout at the television, and read crime novels, thank you . . . .
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteWow, it's the best piece of trivia ever that not only did Kate Brody win Jeopardy, she's already experienced the true I-know-I've-made-it-when of her book being a clue! And I bet crime writers would be great dark horse contestants, because we end up down so many rabbit holes, we'd be golden if the category happened to be Popular TV Dinners of the 1970s or something else nobody knows about unless they've constructed very particular clues for a crime scene. (And my weird piece of trivia for today is that Meg Gardiner and I went to high school AND college together, and although we sort of lost touch for a while after graduation, I discovered she was writing crime novels when I was desperation-shopping the English language bookstore in Tokyo before a long plane flight back to San Francisco. It wasn't until I was halfway through the flight and the book I'd picked up that I thought, huh, this writer seems to know Santa Barbara a lot better than someone who just went there on a vacation. When I checked the cover for the name of the author, lo and behold, my old Usherette compadre!)
ReplyDelete"Dark horse contestants"! A great cocept. And I love that confluence of you realizing your connection with Meg Gardiner!
DeleteI would do better on Wheel than Jeopardy, but I am fine with staying home to shout at the TV whenever I look up from my book.
ReplyDeleteHave any of you Reds or guests made it as a Jeopardy clue?
It is truly my aspiration. My sister Nora has been the answer to many clues. And Delia was once, I think. Amy and I are still waiting in the wings.
DeleteI think I have been at least once.
DeleteI would instantly freeze and ask if they could come back in a bit and have the answer. I will stay home with the kids shouting at the TV:)
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to do it so quickly
DeleteLike Judy, I'm not quick on my feet. Plus with memory starting to temporarily fail in myriad ways these days, the answer would be sure to pop up at 3 in the morning, not particularly helpful in a fast-paced game.
ReplyDeleteAs for imagination, I doubt it would help on Jeopardy. They want real answers, not made-up ones!
Right, no free associating.
DeleteI used to watch Jeopardy every night when my mom was still alive. I haven’t watched it since though. But back then, we loved shouting the answers at the TV. Once I even gave the right answer to the Final Jeopardy question before they even gave the clue and no it wasn’t a repeat episode.
ReplyDeleteOr I would cause my mother to ask, “who are you?”, when I would get all the questions right on a religion category despite my disdain for the topic as a whole.
If I knew I was going to a winner, I would love to be on the show, but more likely I would flame out and who needs that embarrassment following them around for the rest of their days?
Need proof? You all know I am on a trivia team that plays most weeks. And our team is pretty damn good. Just this past week, we got 19 of the first 20 questions right and since neither of my teammates knew anything about Star Wars or the Rocky film franchises guess who answered all of those questions? But when I went and took the Jeopardy online test as the first step in trying go on the show, the categories that I got might as well have been: Things, Jay, Can’t, Possibly, Answer.
Yeah I did pretty bad to say the least. So me being introduced on the show wearing my “I Read Red” button is not happening anytime soon.
By the way, does anyone have list of the mystery authors that have been on the show? Sadly the only one I remember has been disgraced to the point I won’t put their name here.
It is amazing that none of the losers act pissy when they crash and burn. I wonder if they screen for that?
Deletemystery writer? disgraced? Do tell!!
DeleteThat would make a great murder mystery. Three contestants and their significant others (5 suspects, 1 victim) on Jeopardy - one nasty victim, disliked by the other 5 (one with a motive). Victim falls over while answering a clue - nobody visible to cause the death (judged a murder by doctor)...
DeleteHallie, yes I'm surprised no one has had a hissy fit when they lose but then again, if they did, the show probably just edited it out.
DeleteAnonymous #1 - No. I will not put their name here and somehow cause the search engines to tied their name to this website in any algorithmic kind of way.
Anonymous #2 - The Game Show Murders...a cozy mystery series where the grand prize is...MURDER!
A
Thank everyone for not posting... AND Jay, I think you're onto something!
DeleteI actually did Jeopardy, but unlike Meg, I lost on the final Jeopardy question to someone who went on to be a 5 day champ — it was history, usually one of my strong points, but my mind only remembered who played the role in the theater adaptation of the characters.
ReplyDeleteI love that, Debra! Still, coming within the final Jeopardy question to winning is pretty fantastic, especially when your opponent went to to win 5 times.
Delete"I'll take 'Flora's Comment' for $50, Ken!" Answer: "What is, Read crime fiction and shout at the TV?"
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha ha!!!
DeleteGood rainy Sunday from FL…may there be sunshine somewhere. Put me down in the reading mystery novel column. Never paid much attention to Jeopardy until a friend was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at about the same time as Alec Trebek made his diagnosis public. She started watching Jeopardy for support. I think he became her imaginary treatment partner and one she could vent about when she was feeling awful. When she died about a year before him, I stopped watching. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteTrebek was a terrific host. But Ken Jennings is a complete delight.
DeleteI agree I really like Ken Jennings too.
DeleteI certainly prefer read crime novels and other books.
ReplyDeleteI don’t catch Jeopardy at home but I catch some quizzes on radio and tv. I love answering the questions from home but my scores would be far less if I had to answer publicly. I would be the type to freeze , unable to give the answer that I know. I wouldn’t be fast enough on the buzzer.
Yes that buzzer would be my nemesis, too.
DeleteWe both shout at the tv, and I am sad to say that my reaction time in my head is getting slower. There is no way that I can get the answer out before they do, even though I know the answer, so I only win when they are wrong or slow! Meanwhile as things happen in the day, we often remark “that was a good word” or “that would be a great jeopardy question”. In that vein, even if not phrased correctly: What is the origin of the phrase to get plastered? In days of making high ceilings a la castles or cathedrals, they put alcohol in the plaster mix to make it dry faster. Hence the phrase, getting plastered. Who knew?
ReplyDeleteThat is a mouthful of an answer.
DeleteThat is so interesting Margo! If the second question is "Who Knew?"
DeleteI sure didn't! But in your case You Knew!
I think I would choke under pressure if I was on Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune, so I'd rather stay home and shout out the questions and cheer when I get it right and they don't.
ReplyDeleteYou'd be brilliant on a crime-fiction themed Jeopardy game.
DeleteThough I can be a brilliant couch Jeopardy champion in many fields, I'll just do it from home, thanks. Years ago I passed an on-line first round, but left it at that, since they said if you're chosen to participate, you have to make your own way to LA and pay your own accommodation. Hmmm... Also, I'd be very bad at deciding on betting levels in the crunch.
ReplyDeleteKnowing me, my questions would be all of those US state politicians and college sports teams that I can't imagine who would even have heard of. Also, state fossils (??) and rap singers? Etc.
Anyway, Alex Trebek and I go way back to when I was on my school's team on Reach For the Top, the long-running Canadian high school quiz show with Alex as the quizmaster. I did well.
STATE fossils??
DeleteI know, eh?
Deletehttps://statesymbolsusa.org/categories/dinosaur-or-fossil
susan d
I'll take the option of giving birth to a potential J winner. My son has passed the audition twice and is currently on the list. I hope they call him! He has practiced a lot and knows so much, including the pop culture categories that are impossible for me.
ReplyDeleteFingers Crossed Gillian! Keep us posted if he gets on Jeopardy.
DeleteBest of luck, both getting on the show, and success on it!
DeleteWe'll all be rooting for him!
DeleteTurn down the TV, I'm reading here.
ReplyDeleteI’d be lousy. I have a lot useless info in my brain that i have a hard time retrieving whem i’mm put on the spot. Thats why google and i have been bffs forever!
ReplyDeleteThat's just how I feel, Gerri. I'd be lost without Google.
DeleteYears ago, Jenn McKinlay's The Plot and the Pendulum was an answer too!
ReplyDeleteWhat was the question?
DeleteSomething to do with Edgar Allen Poe's book of a similar title - the Pit and the Pendulum.
DeletePoe was a brilliant writer but I enjoyed Jenn's Plot and Pendulum much better!
I did not know that! Wow, Jenn!!!
DeleteI used to watch both Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune religiously. One time a Jeopardy contestant was a physician. There was an easy medical clue that night. He buzzed in to answer it and got it wrong. I got it right. I’m sure it was nerves that affected his response, but it must have been embarrassing for him. I’m sure I would have the same experience, so I’ll stick to cheering on the contestants!
ReplyDeleteDebRo
It is a perfect opportunity to face plant on national TV...
DeleteAnother lifetime ago, I used to watch Jeopardy! when I watched television. These days I would rather write crime novels. Actually I would rather write cozy mysteries. Though I enjoyed watching game shows on TV, I never would want to appear on these shows for many reasons, including my bad sense timing.. It is more likely other people will ring the bell before I get a chance to!
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Diana - it's as much a physical as mental challenge
DeleteI don't think I have the brain power for Jeopardy. Even if i knew the answers, I don't operate well under extreme pressure. I blank out and the Blackjack table and can't do basic math, so...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young, I used to think it would be cool to be on Jeopardy, but now I realize how much I don’t know and would be terrified. My husband and I used to do a local pub quiz, but were terrible at movies and music. We used to say that the other teams did better because they had more members. But reading THE KILLER QUESTION by Janice Halley made me realize that teams STUDY? What?
ReplyDeleteWriting it down. Thanks for the recommendation, Lisa.
Delete*Hallett
DeleteLOVE the Janice Hallett books!
DeleteI haven’t watched the program for years, but did well at home when I watched it a number of years ago. Most contestants have areas of expertise in which they will excel. The subjects in which you don’t know much about that are the problem. It is frequently some obscure detail that is the downfall.
ReplyDeleteI worked with someone who tried out for the show. She had a question on the capital of a country.
Geography was not really taught when she was in elementary and high school. She did not know the answer. She did not pass the test
When I was in school at that level I learned all the countries of South America, the provinces of Canada and all the capitals of these places in addition to learning about countries in other parts of the world. I still know most of that, including the fifty states and their capitals. I am a little fuzzy on some of the African countries because there have been a lot of name changes but if I am given the name I at least know whether it is a country and what continent it is part of.
Geography would definitely be my downfall. I wouldn't come close to passing the test.
DeleteIf you haven’t done it, take a trip to the Mapparium at the Christian Science Centerin Boston. You walk into a room with a glass bridge and you are surrounded by an illuminated map of the world as it was in the mid 1930’s, Many of the countries were updated by a color change when their name was changed. There was only one which retained its original. The country was Persia which became (for the Jeopardy people} what is Iran. This is because of the time frame in which it occurred relative to the creation of the map.
DeleteA good friend was on Jeopardy, and she practiced like mad with a buzzer beforehand, but still had trouble buzzing in. She came close, but lost in the final question. It was exciting to watch her, though, in a party room at a local pub with a crowd of cheering friends and family.
ReplyDeleteWith my tremor, which is exacerbated by stress, there is no hope for me. It affects both my hands and my vocal chords, so fuggedaboudit. Besides which, I am hopeless with anything sports related. Every week I do all the news quizzes: NYT, The Guardian, NPR, etc, and I almost never get the sports ones correct. I'd be better at almost any category, including esoteric ones.
I've got the same blind spots, Karen.
DeleteI'll stay home and shout at the TV, thanks. Although one of the things on my bucket list is to sit in on quiz night at a British pub.
ReplyDeleteI'm perfectly happy yelling answers at the TV screen. My memory is so slow coming up with names that it would be embarrassing to try to compete.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll stay home and read, if you don't mind. I feel sure I'd freeze on TV.
ReplyDeleteOh, so fun! When I did a series of stores on how to get on a game show, we went to CA and interviewed peole (Including Alex Trebeck and Bob Barker!~) for how to get on Jeopardy and Let's Make a Deal. It was SO fascinating! And I took the Jeopardy contestants' test, and passed! They said I would have been a good contestant, but of course, I couldn't be, since I worked for the asme network. Gosh, I do not remember even one of the questions, but they did not seem enormously difficult. Just--random and multi-discipline.
ReplyDelete(I am happy not to have been subjected to the absolute terror of actually competing--that would be WAAAY too stressful! And unless the categories were Broadway musicals, mystery novels, journalism scoops and The Beatles, I would be doomed.)
Oh, and I could NEVER do the math--calculating how much to wager? Forget about it. I am always in awe of how the contestants do that.
ReplyDeleteMy in-laws used to try to persuade me to sign up for Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune. No way Jose, because I get stage fright and would freeze up on TV. I love to watch from home and yell out the answers.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I would also have a hard time calculating how much to wager!
DeleteOne of my college history professors was on the Art Fleming Jeopardy. He won the first game but lost the second with the Final Jeopardy category of music. He was still there when they filmed the next show, and the Final Jeopardy category was American History, his subject. So the categories make a big difference. I would have trouble with the buzzer and just being on TV. Shouting at the TV is good for me.
ReplyDelete