What ‘Jeopardy!’ Looks for When Casting Their Contestants
The Jeopardy! casting brings in a variety of different contestants over the course of its flagship series and special edition games. However, there’s a very specific process that all applicants must go through in order to star in the television show. Jeopardy! casting rewards those with superior trivia intellect, but it’s still a game show that must keep viewers engaged from one episode to the next.
The ‘Jeopardy!’ applicant pool keep increasing each year
According to Claire McNear’s book, Answers in the Form of Questions, Jeopardy! casting only becomes more daunting from one year to the next. There are only a static number of spots available, while special edition episodes bring that number down even more. Ken Jennings applied in 2003 against 30,000 people. However, McNear noted that 125,000 people take the application test over the course of a normal year.
By putting the Jeopardy! casting process online, it makes it much more accessible. However, it also massively expands the pool of potential applicants. Test-taking anxiety is surely a factor when it comes to the application process, but there’s nothing to lose by trying. Even the show’s champions all had to start somewhere and go through the fated process.
‘Jeopardy!’ casting looks for contestants who are both ‘cerebral and entertaining’
McNear explained that the biggest surprise for many potential Jeopardy! contestants is that the casting department isn’t only looking for the smartest players possible. Intellect is certainly critical, but there are other factors that play into it.
“That is, yes, the single most important piece of it, hence the test,” McNear wrote. “But the criteria extend well beyond smarts. Jeopardy! is, first and foremost, a TV show, and the producers are trying to put together a program that is cerebral and entertaining, and whose players look something like the audience at home, plus or minus a couple of advanced degrees.”
As a result, Jeopardy! casting must look to bring on both entertainment value and intellect. Audiences want to see the smartest contestants on the show, but they also want people who will look good for the brand of the show.
The show is looking to improve on diversity
Jeopardy! certainly has no shortage of applicants when it comes to casting. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some challenges that the producers must work toward. For example, McNear noted that the contestant pool isn’t very diverse with men making up 75% of the test-takers over the course of a single year. However, this isn’t entirely unrepresentative of professional trivia gaming.
One viewer’s tweet pointed out the show’s shocking lack of diversity on Celebrity Jeopardy!, which is echoed through a lot of other social media comments. However, McNear explained that the show’s producer does seek to diversify across several categories, including gender and profession. Only time will tell if they’re able to continue expanding greater diversity across the flagship series and its special games.
