Audition in serious ‘Jeopardy!’

Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 | 8:42 a.m.

My hard-earned reputation as "Ms. Smarty Pants" has been shattered -- perhaps irreparably.

That's right, I tried out for "Jeopardy!" this week, the mother of all quiz shows. I advanced farther than most, but fell short of reaching the coveted contestant pool.

More than 1,000 hopefuls -- including yours truly -- trekked Wednesday to CarMax, a pre-owned car dealership on West Sahara Avenue at Rainbow Boulevard. We took a 10-question quiz and those of us with enough correct responses were invited to take part in a second round the following day.

Of the 125 people in my second-round testing room, just 25 passed the 50-question quiz. Alas, I was not one of them.

"Jeopardy!" officials steadfastly refuse to reveal the passing score.

"All I can say is it's more than half and less than perfect," said Rebecca Erbstein, promotions director for the show.

For those of us not selected this time around there's always next year. Erbstein said Las Vegas will hopefully become a regular stop on the national contestant search tour.

"Las Vegas has embraced us and we're thrilled about that," Erbstein said.

Now in its 20th season with host Alex Trebek at the helm, "Jeopardy!" enlightens viewers by testing contestants' recall of random facts, minute trivia and historical details -- all in the form of questions, of course.

The questions on the first round test were a combination of popular culture, history, science, geography and a few other topics -- in other words, the same potpourri used for the television program. I wasn't expecting to pass the first round and was pleasantly surprised when I did.

A few veterans in the crowd had warned me that the second- round test would be significantly more difficult. But encouraged by that success I went into the second round Thursday optimistic that, while I probably wouldn't advance, I hopefully wouldn't embarrass myself.

Unlike other game shows that offer lifelines, phone calls to friends or even a celebrity partner to provide inspiration, "Jeopardy!" contestants are on their own. It's the survival of the fittest, a combination of arcane knowledge, timely recall and a speedy thumb.

There were plenty of die-hard fans Wednesday outside CarMax to make up for whatever enthusiasm I might have been lacking.

Randall Lucas, who flew from Mount Erie, N.C., to Las Vegas for the tryout, remembers when the show's host was Art Fleming and the most that could be wagered on a single question was $50.

"I've always wanted to try out so I figured, why not do it here?" said Lucas, a used-car dealer who also works part-time as a radio disc jockey. "It was a good excuse to come to Las Vegas."

Staff Sgt. Michael Ruzick, who works on electronics at Nellis Air Force Base, had the blessing of his superior officers to take the morning off to try out for the show.

"They thought it was a little weird, but they said 'good luck,' " Ruzick said.

Elora Broyles was first in line -- arriving at 5:15 a.m. for the honor. In two hours the line was several hundred strong and by 10 a.m., with an hour to go before the event began, more than 700 people were waiting in a cheerful queue.

"There were actually some fellows here before me but they were sitting in their cars and they said I could go ahead of them," Broyles, a Henderson resident, said. "That was very gentlemanly of them."

Indeed, there was something distinctly civilized about the "Jeopardy" crowd. During the multihour wait, the line was subdued. Most of the trivia enthusiasts had brought books -- best sellers mixed with fantasy novels and Stephen Ambrose war epics -- while others worked on crossword puzzles.

When the doors opened for testing, everyone filed through in an orderly fashion. There was no shoving, no frantic lunging for the table of "Jeopardy!" water bottles and key chains. It was difficult to fathom this group descending into the near-chaos that accompanied "The Price is Right" when Bob Barker brought his show to The Rio in 2002.

Many in line made it a point to say that "Jeopardy!" is the only game show they ever watch -- arguing the program transcends the stereotype of a mindless game show devoid of intellectual content.

"I wouldn't scream and jump up and down in a million years," said Las Vegan Joan Orloff, who was hoping to join the pool of quiz show contestants. "But 'Jeopardy!' is different -- it's dignified, it's the creme de la creme."

Orloff is, in fact, a veteran auditioner. In the late 1980s she successfully passed all of the tests and was placed in the nationwide contestant pool.

"Five years in a row I made it, five years in a row I never got the call," said Orloff, 66. "Maybe this will be my year."

For Sarah Jane Woodhall, who works at Caesars Palace taking photographs of audience members at Sir Elton John's "Red Piano" show, trying out for "Jeopardy" has provided a unique opportunity to shatter another stereotype -- that beauty and brains are incompatible.

"I want to show the world I'm not a bimbo," said Woodhall, 27, who looked like an ethereal mix of Helena Bonham Carter, Natalie Portman and one of Renoir's models.

I can reassure you she's not a bimbo -- a day later Woodhall was one of 25 people to pass the 50-question quiz and get a chance to play a mock version of the game. Of those finalists, the show's producers will choose just a handful for the nationwide contestant roster.

Woodhall said she went straight from Wednesday's first round to the library.

"I read up on Shakespeare and Greek mythology -- my two weaknesses," Woodhall said.

While I'm not allowed to divulge the questions for either round one or round two, I can say Woodhall made good choices of topics -- brushing up on Shakespeare and Greek mythology never hurts when it comes to playing "Jeopardy!"

The second-round test -- 50 questions presented on a large video screen -- was held at the Westin-Causarina, formerly the Maxim, on Flamingo Road. The enthusiastic contestant coordinator -- most appropriately named Maggie Speak -- warmed up the crowd, answered questions and encouraged us to remember that this was, after all, a game show.

"Have fun, relax and maybe we'll see some of you in Los Angeles," Speak said. "Remember, if you don't pass you can tell everyone you missed by one -- we'll never tell your score, not even to you."

To get us in the "Jeopardy" frame of mind, Speak ran through some ground rules: If a word or letter appears in quotation marks, it's part of the correct response. The "Rhyme Time" category means just that -- the words in the answer must rhyme.

As an example Speak asked what you would call the "Born in the USA" singer's grove of trees.

"Bruce's spruces!" we bleated in near unison.

To be honest, it wasn't the dreaded opera or geography categories that tripped me up in Round 2. Instead it was a handful of "Duh!" questions I was kicking myself over later -- a sentiment many of my fellow wannabes shared following the test.

"The last 10 questions or so, my mind was just one huge blank," said Las Vegan Greg Beckley, who sat next to me for the test and did not advance to the final round. "People love to watch the show and say, 'I could have gotten that,' but it's harder when you only have a couple of seconds to come up with it."

Beckley practiced at home with the computer version of the game but conceded he spent Wednesday night watching "American Idol" rather than attempting a last-minute cram session.

"In the end you either know it or you don't," Beckley said.

I'm sorry to say that for me, on at least 10 of the 50 questions, it was "you don't."

Here's what I do know -- if you ever get the opportunity to try out for "Jeopardy!" go ahead and take it. And don't stay up late the night before memorizing which president served the shortest term (William Harrison) or the name of the mythological figure who ferried the dead across the river Styx (Charon).

And no, neither of those tidbits were questions on the test -- at least not mine, darn it.