This Is Jeopardy...
The Night I Was on Jeopardy
It
was 24 years ago that I was on “Jeopardy.”
Not
as a contestant.
I
was a category.
It
was November 16, 1998. My book about drug stores, “Do Pharmacists Sell Farms,”
had just been published by Simon & Schuster.
And
I missed the episode of “Jeopardy.” No one at my publisher had called to tell
me I was going to be a “Jeopardy” category. I’m not even sure they knew.
My
son and I had gone out to eat and when we got home, the phone was ringing off
the hook and my answering machine was full. I had about 30 messages, all of
which went like this: “Hey Vince, did you know you’re on ‘Jeopardy?’”
Fortunately
the local station in Louisville made a videotape for me.
So
here’s the Home Version of my 15 seconds (actually 55 seconds) of fame on
“Jeopardy.”
You
can play along with the contestants: Peter, Dana and Creswell.
Peter
selected my category, “In the Drugstore,” for $100.
Alex:
Leo Gerstenzang thought up this product when he saw his wife twirl cotton on a
toothpick and use it as a swab.
Peter:
What is the Q-Tip?
Ding-ding,
correct.
Peter:
In the Drugstore for $200.
Alex:
One of its former slogans called it “the candy mint with a hole.”
Creswell:
What is the Life Saver?
Ding-ding,
correct.
Creswell:
In the Drugstore for $300.
Alex:
In 1907 he developed his first corn pad, probably after he developed his first
corn.
Peter:
Who is Dr. Scholl?
Ding-ding,
correct.
By
now I’m starting to think my category is a little too easy.
Peter:
Same category for $400.
Alex:
This tissue-shrinking compound is said to be one of the top 5 items stolen from
drugstores.
Dana:
What is an anti-histamine?
Alex:
No…Peter?
Peter:
What is Preparation H? (audience laughs)
Alex
Trebek: That’s what they are stealing.
Peter:
Let’s finish the category for $500.
Alex:
Vince Staten’s book “Do Pharmacists Sell Farms” calls this product “the WD-40
of the drugstore.”
Alex
mispronounced my name, of course, calling me STAT-en instead of STATE-n.
But
it didn’t matter because I was on “Jeopardy.” And in the $500 category, I
stumped them!
None
of the three knew “the WD-40 of the drugstore.”
It’s
Vaseline.
I think
being a category on Jeopardy is as good as it gets for me and the show. I don’t
want to be a contestant.
I
just know that if I were a contestant, Ken Jennings or Mayim Bialik would
reveal the board and the categories would be Opera, Italian Renaissance Art,
Ice Hockey, Shakespeare’s Histories, Gardening, and Birds of Asia.
In college
my friends and I used to pretend we were contestants and play along every day
during lunch (“Jeopardy” was televised at noon then).
At
lunch time I would go over to Rusty Brashear’s apartment and he and I and his
roommate would play along. But being college students, we played along in a
smart aleck manner.
When
then-host Art Fleming would enter the studio, we would shout along with him:
“Thank you studio audience, thank you players, thank you Don Pardo.”
Don
Pardo was the long-time announcer. (He was also the long-time announcer for “Saturday
Night Live.”)
And
then when an answer was revealed, we would shout out the question – on Jeopardy
it must be phrased in the form of a question – but with a twist. If the
answer were, say, “The Father of Our Country,” one of us would shout: “How is
George Washington?” or “Why is George Washington?” We thought that was funny.
“Jeopardy”
is still my favorite quiz show for that reason, it’s a quiz and not a game.
And
if I were to sit down and list my top ten accomplishments in life, one of them
would be this: Being on Jeopardy.
I wasn’t a contestant, mind you. I was a category.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home