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(Part 1)
(Part 2)
(Part 3)
(Part 4)
(Part 5)
Tuesday morning arrived. I'm pretty sure that I had not only a wake up call scheduled, but also the room alarm clock as well as my cell phone alarm set to wake me up. They all were unnecessary as I was up bright and early with a lot of nervous energy.
I had everything ironed the night before, so after showering and shaving, I got dressed and prepared myself for the unknown. The hotel offered a shuttle to the studio, so after getting a kiss and good luck hug from Matt, I made my way down to the lobby.
There were already a couple of people in the lobby waiting. After confirming that they were there for the shuttle as well, I sat and waited as other contestants trickled into the lobby. I was a little surprised that there wasn't more conversation amongst us, but I guess we were all just nervous. There was one talker, Paula, who was the returning champion from New York. She was a Chatty Cathy while the rest of us were quiet, like first day transfer students at a new school.
It was a pretty quick trip to Sony Pictures Studios. We presented our IDs to the guard at the visitor's gate and waited for one of the coordinators to escort us to the studio. Robert and another coordinator showed up in electric vehicles and drove us through a maze of buildings to the "Jeopardy!" building. From there, we were escorted into the green room for the next step in our adventure.
The green room at "Jeopardy!" is just a smaller room with a conference table, couch, and a craft-services table with lots of tasty goodies on it. There are also photos from the show on the walls along with an attached make-up room and of course, a bathroom. The 13 contestants who were there for taping along with a few other production staff settled in for the beginning of our journey.
It was at this point that I met Maggie Speake, the assistant head contestant coordinator. And let me just say, this is a woman I will remember for the rest of my life. She is full of energy and can talk your ear off, but in a great way. She tells stories that will make your side split with laughter. Maggie was our "head chaperone", but also our biggest cheerleader. At one point during our hour plus session with her, I asked, "Is there a two-drink minimum with this orientation?" She looked right back at me and said, "I like you." I was hooked.
While Maggie was giving us the run down of even more paperwork and such, she explained how the day would go. During our orientation, each of the contestants would get their makeup done. Then, we would head out for a practice session on the set so we could all get used to it. We'd return for final touchups and then they would start filming.
The practice in the studio was amazing. I honestly think I gasped when I entered the studio - as if I had reached the holy grail. To stand on the stage at the podiums was the fulfillment of so many wishes. If this was a dream, please don't wake me up!
This was also where I got to kiss Maggie. :-) During our mic-checks, she yelled that she needed me to speak up. I don't remember what I said, but it was probably something smart-alecy. She said, "Don't make me come up there and kiss you." I looked up at her said, "Bring it." Maggie marched right up on stage and planted a big ol wet one on me.
I kissed a girl, and I liked it. HAHA!
On the subject of makeup, I have to give their makeup artist a lot of credit. Damn I looked good! No dark circles under the eyes, even complexion. It was the best I had looked in a long time.
A week's worth of episodes are taped in one day. The show only needs 10 contestants on any one day, but they call in 12 just in case someone is disqualified or is unable to make it. Each episode only takes about 45 minutes. The schedule was to film three episodes, break for lunch and then come back to film the last two.
Here's the really interesting part - none of the contestants (other than the returning champ) knows what episode they are going to be on! To be completely fair and impartial, all of our names are written on notecards and placed face down in another room. A lawyer simply selects two cards, hands them to a contestant coordinator who then comes to find us and says, "You and You. You're Up."
I also need to mention here that two of 12 challengers for the day are hold-overs from the last taping date (usually Southern California based contestants). In the "card room", those two cards have stars on them which tells the lawyer that he must select those cards by the third game. This is so those contestants get on the show. The rest of us have no assurances of when we might get picked. The first two challengers were picked - my name wasn't one of them.
Matt arrived and settled in the studio audience. I made eye contact with him, but were strictly forbidden from speaking with anyone we weren't supposed to. One misstep and we were out. They take things that seriously at "Jeopardy!" The challengers actually sit in one corner of the studio audience to watch the tapings. It's not like we're getting an advantage or anything. But we're also kind of in a bubble - no talking to anyone. They even have to escort us to use the bathroom!
On the first episode one of the challengers, Steve Unite, beat the defending champ. He proceeded to win the next two games leading up to lunch. Frankly a lot of us were worried about going up against him. Gulp. Lunch was held at the studio cafeteria. The show gave each of us a voucher to use for our lunch. It was an okay lunch - the nice things was just being able to relax for a bit.
On to game number 4 and I'm STILL waiting to be picked. Steve was on a tear, laying waste to all who challenged him. This guy was GOOD. I was hoping that up against him I would get some good categories.
The time came for the Game 5 contestants - nope, not me. This meant that I would be coming back the next day along with another challenger, Glenn, who wasn't selected. I was really bummed that I didn't tape that day, but I knew that I would be on a show the next day. Since the show doesn't offer transportation back to the hotel, we offered Glenn a lift back with us. He gladly accepted and we headed out.
The plan was to head back to the hotel, change clothes and the go out to explore. It took me a good half hour to get the makeup off - I learned that the mini-bottle of moisturizer that the hotel provides makes a great makeup remover. Who knew?! I got into some comfy clothes and we headed out for food.
A Western Sizzlin was just the ticket and food hadn't tasted that good in a long time. Matt and I played back the day and I realized suddenly just how tired I was. An entire day of being wound up really catches up with you when you finally just relax. We called it an early night and headed back to the hotel.
Wednesday was now the big day.
