Post by woffan9821 on Nov 20, 2019 2:02:58 GMT -5
Yes, I've turned to the "dark side" and attended a taping of Jeopardy before a taping of Wheel. 
Also, I don't feel like posting this on Reddit, but I want to post my thoughts somewhere while the episodes are still fresh in my mind.
Ever since early October, I've been trying to get tickets to attend a taping of Jeopardy! since I didn't know if I would ever get to see Trebek in person ever again. I checked back on the website every night, hoping to snag some tickets. I was worried that I would need to wait until the beginning of November to quickly grab the first couple of tickets from December.
October 30th runs around, and I saw that there were tickets available for the November 19th morning taping. I frantically booked the tickets. After that, I couldn't wait until I would be able to sit within the studio.
This morning, I left my residence later than I wanted, and was worried when I arrived at around 10:05 when my ticket said 10:15 and every website suggested arriving 45 minutes before the taping. I was expecting the line to be as grueling as I've heard from The Price is Right, but I was surprised when there were only around 90 of us who went into the studio. Jimmy from the Clue Crew did a great job of warming us up, and soon after, it was time to start tape.
I remember reading that on the final tapings in October, he wasn't able to do five shows a day, so I was pleased when he walked out pretty much how I envisioned him. The only sign of frailty was that he seemed a bit slow when answering questions from the audience. A couple of examples that come to mind were Alex going into detail about how he doesn't need bees when he gardens, or when he couldn't recall the last time he attended a concert. One kid asked what Trebek's favorite show besides Jeopardy! was, and the staff had a slideshow queued up with photos of all his shows, including Strategy and Battlestars.
I know that he was taping two more episodes in the afternoon, so at the very least, he's back to the normal schedule. He had to do a clue reshoot in almost every commercial break and even rerecorded three clues from tapings before our session. One time, he also misread a contestant's FJ! wager, so that was corrected right afterwards.
I think this is somewhat borderline insider information, but in the opening of the first episode of the day, which airs January 27th, Alex stated something regarding applying for a contestant starting "tomorrow" and continuing throughout that week, so assuming nothing is edited out, the next Jeopardy Online Test is probably January 28th. I think Jimmy also played off that idea during the commercial break, but take that information with a grain of salt. Everything is such a blur within the studio, in a good way.
I know I've been a little nitpicky across this entire post, but in all honesty, attending a taping of Jeopardy was way more exciting than I expected, and is something that extends beyond the small screen. My mind thought it would just be polite applause after two commercial breaks and successful Daily Doubles, but there was something more than that. Maybe it was just awesome to see a community of people interested in knowing trivia, and everything is so well-run, that even the smallest errors show another side to the show that you never see post-edit. Either way, I'd recommend going out to see the show if you can, even if you're an idiot like me who went 0 for 3 on the FJ! clues and barely got half the board right once
(Just a couple of questions: Is the Sony Studio tour worth the $50? I had to leave right away, but if I go again, I want to know what happens on the tour. Also, apparently there was an In-n-Out near the backlot that I somehow missed? Where was it?)
Also, I don't feel like posting this on Reddit, but I want to post my thoughts somewhere while the episodes are still fresh in my mind. Ever since early October, I've been trying to get tickets to attend a taping of Jeopardy! since I didn't know if I would ever get to see Trebek in person ever again. I checked back on the website every night, hoping to snag some tickets. I was worried that I would need to wait until the beginning of November to quickly grab the first couple of tickets from December.
October 30th runs around, and I saw that there were tickets available for the November 19th morning taping. I frantically booked the tickets. After that, I couldn't wait until I would be able to sit within the studio.
This morning, I left my residence later than I wanted, and was worried when I arrived at around 10:05 when my ticket said 10:15 and every website suggested arriving 45 minutes before the taping. I was expecting the line to be as grueling as I've heard from The Price is Right, but I was surprised when there were only around 90 of us who went into the studio. Jimmy from the Clue Crew did a great job of warming us up, and soon after, it was time to start tape.
I remember reading that on the final tapings in October, he wasn't able to do five shows a day, so I was pleased when he walked out pretty much how I envisioned him. The only sign of frailty was that he seemed a bit slow when answering questions from the audience. A couple of examples that come to mind were Alex going into detail about how he doesn't need bees when he gardens, or when he couldn't recall the last time he attended a concert. One kid asked what Trebek's favorite show besides Jeopardy! was, and the staff had a slideshow queued up with photos of all his shows, including Strategy and Battlestars.
I know that he was taping two more episodes in the afternoon, so at the very least, he's back to the normal schedule. He had to do a clue reshoot in almost every commercial break and even rerecorded three clues from tapings before our session. One time, he also misread a contestant's FJ! wager, so that was corrected right afterwards.
I think this is somewhat borderline insider information, but in the opening of the first episode of the day, which airs January 27th, Alex stated something regarding applying for a contestant starting "tomorrow" and continuing throughout that week, so assuming nothing is edited out, the next Jeopardy Online Test is probably January 28th. I think Jimmy also played off that idea during the commercial break, but take that information with a grain of salt. Everything is such a blur within the studio, in a good way.
I know I've been a little nitpicky across this entire post, but in all honesty, attending a taping of Jeopardy was way more exciting than I expected, and is something that extends beyond the small screen. My mind thought it would just be polite applause after two commercial breaks and successful Daily Doubles, but there was something more than that. Maybe it was just awesome to see a community of people interested in knowing trivia, and everything is so well-run, that even the smallest errors show another side to the show that you never see post-edit. Either way, I'd recommend going out to see the show if you can, even if you're an idiot like me who went 0 for 3 on the FJ! clues and barely got half the board right once
(Just a couple of questions: Is the Sony Studio tour worth the $50? I had to leave right away, but if I go again, I want to know what happens on the tour. Also, apparently there was an In-n-Out near the backlot that I somehow missed? Where was it?)
