Ellen Dickens, a Newcastle resident, will appear on Jeopardy, a popular, long-running game show, on March 30.
Dickens, the Director of Central Lincoln County Adult Education and a member of the Newcastle Board of Selectmen, described herself as “a huge fan” of the show in a Jan. 27 interview.
“I have a head full of useless information that you can make use of on Jeopardy,” Dickens said, explaining her motivation. “I have no need for fame or fortune. Well, fortune would be nice.”
Dickens said she’s faithfully watched Jeopardy since Alex Trebek began hosting the show in 1984. She auditioned for the first time about seven or eight years ago, she said.
At that time, “You just signed up to try to get an audition,” Dickens said. Now, Jeopardy hopefuls began the process with an online test.
Three times, Dickens made it through the gauntlet of preliminary tests, a random selection process and official auditions, including more tests as well as interviews, in Boston.
After Boston, Dickens and her peers wait in a contestant pool for a set period of time. The first two times Dickens didn’t hear anything, but in Oct. 2009, while nearing the end of her third, 18-month spell in the pool, Dickens finally got the call.
A month later, she was flying to Los Angeles for a Nov. 17 filming. “You have to go out there on your own dime,” Dickens said, although cash prizes ease the burden. Even second and third place finishers leave with $2000 and $1000, respectively. “It pays for your trip,” Dickens said.
“They film five shows in one day,” Dickens said. “You don’t know whether you’re going to be in the first group or the last one.” Contestants wait and watch in an area separate from the rest of the live audience.
Dickens described the filming location, at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City as “a huge film studio.”
Dickens, under the terms of her contract, can’t reveal any details about the outcome of the show, but she did describe the experience in general terms.
“Actually filming the game was like an out-of-body experience,” Dickens said. The show films in real time, with short breaks corresponding roughly to commercial breaks, even though the show isn’t broadcast live.
Mastering the buzzer contestants use for an opportunity to answer questions was difficult, Dickens said. “There’s a lot more luck involved than you think,” she said, and sometimes success depends on one’s competition and familiarity with question categories.
The contestants speak with Trebek, Jeopardy’s famous and “very personable” host, only briefly in interviews that air with the program and again when Trebek gathers with contestants at the end of filming. “We are forbidden to talk to him” during filming, Dickens said, a precaution in place to protect the show’s integrity.
Dickens accomplished at least one goal in competition. “I said I didn’t want to go and embarrass myself and end up in the red and I didn’t,” she said.
“The whole experience was really fun,” she said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
As for what’s next, Dickens wouldn’t rule out possible appearances on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or other quiz shows after the expiration of a six-12 month waiting period, a stipulation in the Jeopardy contestant contract.
The educational aspect of Jeopardy corresponds with Dickens’ job as Director of Central Lincoln County Adult Education.
“All the people that go on Jeopardy are lifelong learners,” Dickens said. “People have various levels of formal academic learning, but [every] contestant is a lifelong learner.”
According to Dickens, many contestants, including herself, are voracious readers. “When I was a kid, I read comic books, great literature, crummy novels, encyclopedias…”
Appropriately, Central Lincoln County Adult Education is hosting a party to watch Dickens compete on Wednesday, March 30 at the Lincoln Academy dining commons. “I said as long as I wasn’t totally humiliated on the show I was going to have a party,” Dickens said.
The evening will begin with a community potluck supper from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., continue with a round of Jeopardy from 7-7:30 p.m. and culminate with Dickens’ appearance at 7:30 p.m.
The suggested donation for the evening is $10. All proceeds will help purchase laptops for Central Lincoln County Adult Education students and Microsoft Office software for Adult Education and Lincoln Academy students. Central Lincoln County Adult Education is seeking donations of food for the event.
“We’d like people to come and we’d like people who can’t come to watch,” Dickens said.
For more information or to reserve a seat, visit www.clc.maineadulted.org or call 563-2811.
