The Journey Begins

I want to be on the TV show Jeopardy. The problem is that I'm not very smart. Okay, I'm fairly smart. Above average smart if I had to guess, but nothing that would blow your socks off. Regardless of how smart I am or am not the problem is I'm not smart enough. I'm not Jeopardy smart. That's a real problem when you want to be on Jeopardy.

See, I've always wanted to be on a TV game show. The problem is which on to be one. I've watched "The Price is Right" Since I was a little kid. It seems fairly easy to be on. Show up, wear a custom T shirt with about 8 other folks and act like a moron for a few hours and they are bound to bring you on stage. Most game shows are like that, even the quiz shows. They just want personality. It doesn't matter if you have memorized the price of tuna or are really good at spinning the wheel. If some producer doesn't like your look you're out. I'm not a really big fan of that. That's why I want to be on Jeopardy.

Amazingly, Jeopardy is the most arbitrary of all the game shows. My understanding is to be on the show you need to pass the online test to be invited to a live tryout. The test is 50 questions and according to Karl Coryat at How to Win on Jeopardy (www.pisspoor.com/jep.html) you need to get about 35 or more right to be invited( I did the pre-test and got 24 right, or a little less than half....So I have a long road ahead of me). Then you get invited to the live audition where you test again to make sure you didn't fake it. Then you play a fake game of Jeopardy to confirm you can play the game when the lights are on and they ask you a few questions to see if they like you. There is still some producer influence in there, but compared to the vast majority it's not much. The point is you can be on the show based entirely on merit rather than luck, and I decided I want to be on the show.

So this is my blog of me trying to get on the show. I'm not sure if it's possible for an average smart person to study enough to do this, but I'm going to give it a shot. I'll be study from random books that are recommended to me to help me improve my weak areas, and I'll be play at home every week using the Coryat scoring method to prepare.

My secret I'm keeping from you is I've already started. Last week I played three times can got Koryat scores ( heretofore to be known as 'scores') of 7000, 13,600, and 15,000. To be even smart enough to try out my boy Karl suggest you score above 24,000 on a regular basis , or almost four times what my first score was. Right now I have the skill of a drunk moose navigating a frozen pond. This might take a while.

Right now according to my score book my best catagories are pop culture, sports, and greasy food. Also my worst catagories are literature, history, Shakepeare, and anything else remotely academic. This not only confirms that I'm not intelligent but that I'm also kind of a horrible person.

If you think you are smarter than me or have a better chance of getting on the show, you're right. That's the point. I want to see if this can be done. Can an average joe get on Jeopardy through sheer force of will. Probably not, but I'm willing to find out.