Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode Part VI: Winner's Circle

(Again, you can see the Thursday, 10/21/10 episode here.)

18:54 Winner’s Circle interview with Alex as the credits roll. (The winner, second place, and third place contestants are always lined up left to right facing the audience.) People often ask me what Alex was like, but because of game show rules you have no interaction with him other than what you see on TV (and the picture taken with Alex during the first commercial). I remember that Alex was proud of his “Laugh In” joke in the Winner’s Circle (“I thought that was funny,” he said), and then the rest of the time I was so excited I ignored Alex to mostly talk to Matt about the game and Final Jeopardy!.

Giant maniacal laughter on the video screen

I was created by Merv Griffin? Who knew.

Poor ignored Alex. And to add insult to injury he's covered by an ad for Gold Bond.

After the Winner’s Circle, I’m immediately put in front of a camera onstage for the Winner’s Circle interview that goes on the Jeopardy! website. Here's the embarrassing transcript, pasted verbatim from The J-Archive. Thanks so much, J-Archive, for including every "um" and false start:

How does it feel to be the new Jeopardy! champion?
Oh, to win Jeopardy! is the world to me. I am... [laughs] beyond belief, ecstatic. I never expected this to happen. I still feel like I'm dreaming; I need to pinch myself. Um, I--I'm sti--I'm just in shock, I never thought anyone was going to bring--beat Matt, let alone me. [Laughs] So...

How did you prepare for your appearance on Jeopardy!?
Um, when I had time... [laughs] which is very little... Uh, I-I read a little bit online. Uh, I'm moving in two days, so, I had very little time, since I'm packing, also. Um, but, mostly, read some books and hoped for the best. Made some spreadsheets; my husband made some flashcards from them for me.

How did you feel about your competition today?
Yeah, he was really intense to beat. It was hard--the first round I had to f-f--kind of recalibrate what I was doing to start beating him on the buzzer. And, uh, and... and also, the--the football category did not help me. [Laughs] Um, but, uh, tried to f-f-get that all solved out for Final Jeopardy!--for, uh, Double Jeopardy!, and thankfully things went my way, and I eked out just above him at the end, so, that was--that was very lucky.

Mark did make me flashcards for Shakespeare play summaries but I only used them for 5 minutes. (I mostly just looked at spreadsheets that I made.) The only thing I studied that ever came up was Liszt, and unfortunately I didn't understand the clue in time.


Kathy in the Winner's Circle: Worst. Interview. Ever.

I totally didn’t prepare for the interview. The interview was pretty lame and I really just wanted to be done with it because I couldn't think of anything interesting to say. Later I wish I talked about how I'd wanted to be on Jeopardy! since grade school, but once I got old enough I was too afraid. When Adam Carolla was eliminated from Dancing with the Stars he gave a speech that it’s good to do something you’re afraid of - like dance on television, and that was one of my inspirations to try out for Jeopardy! (I actually told this to Adam Carolla in person when he signed my book after a comedy show. He said something nice like he was just approached for Dancing with the Stars, whereas I had the guts to go out and be on Jeopardy!.) But to be honest it wasn’t just Adam Carolla, it was the aggregate of every time I’d hear something along the lines of “Is there something you’ve always wanted to do?” And I'd immediately think "Jeopardy!"