Column: The Jeopardy of Game Shows
John U. Bacon
Last night, I tried my luck on the NPR game show, “Ask Me Another,” which will air in a few weeks. But it brought back memories – traumatic ones – of my disastrous try-out for the Jeopardy game show 24 years ago.
“I’ll take ‘Humility’ for $100.”
“He was one of 48 people to fail the Jeopardy test on Thursday, June 21, 1990.”
“Ah, ‘Who was John Bacon?’”
“That’s correct – you control the board.”
“I’ll take ‘Lame Excuses’ for $100 please, Alex.”
It seemed like a good idea at the time. There I was, lying on the couch with a cold beer and a bag of chips, earning thousands of imaginary dollars for yelling things like “Millard Fillmore,” “The St. Louis Browns” and “Mesopotamia,” when they invited anyone who would be in Los Angeles to try out for the show. Sure enough, I was leaving for LA in 10 days, so I figured, Why not?
Why not, indeed.
“Under ‘Human Folly’ for $300, we have this answer: ‘Time better spent doing something productive, such as cleaning your toilet.’”
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