Inside the hunt for the next ‘Jeopardy!’ writer

By David Mack, CNN

(CNN) — The head of this long-running, beloved quiz show with a perilous name is currently drowning under a sea of applications to join its staff and help devise clues, famously written as answers. If you answered, “What is ‘Jeopardy!’?” you might just be what the show is looking for.

Earlier this month, for the first time in the history of the popular game show, “Jeopardy!” opened its hiring process to the public at large, inviting anyone willing and able to be its next writer to apply – as long as they can pass a rigorous recruitment process befitting a TV show synonymous with some of the smartest people in the country.

“Our ‘Jeopardy!’ writers are not only brilliant, but they also write prolifically, and so we needed to put candidates under that same test of writing quite a lot,” said Michael Davies, the show’s executive producer, in his first interview about the hunt for the next staff member.

The “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to join the show’s team of nine writers only arose because one of them, Jim Rhine, decided to retire after three decades with the series. Davies, a veteran producer who brought “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” to American TV screens, said quiz shows typically recruit from within their insular worlds or via referrals about specific topic specialists – until now. “This is a different process than we have ever used before,” Davies said. “We’ve never advertised for a writing job. The number of applications has been staggering.”

When the role was first posted online, it generated a slew of news stories that also undoubtedly led to an increase in the number of candidates. With the July 10 application deadline passed, Davies said that he’s still yet to tally the final number of candidates, but estimates it could be as high as 1,000, all of which he and senior staff will need to begin sorting through. “I don’t think we expected this much of a response, and we’ve got to figure out the process,” he said.

The job listing noted that the new hire will be responsible for writing an average of eight categories each week (all sourced according to the show’s rigorous standards, meaning no use of artificial intelligence or Wikipedia), devising last-minute replacement clues on taping days and providing quick research during filming to assist with judging during game play. The role, which is based out of the Sony Pictures Entertainment studio lot in Culver City, California, has a potential salary of up to $172,000.

To apply, candidates first had to complete the same online test as prospective contestants, which involves answering 50 clues, before also submitting 12 written samples of potential “Jeopardy!” and “Double Jeopardy!” rounds (covering categories like history and geography, but also pop culture and famous people) that each contained five questions, were titled as they saw fit and provided sources to back up facts. Then, they had to pen three samples of the notoriously difficult “Final Jeopardy!” clue. Oh, and a cover letter and resume, of course.

Davies said that as he sorts through the writing samples – which he will do without knowing who wrote what, to make the process fair – he’s looking for more than just facts and figures. To him, a good “Jeopardy!” clue “jumps off the page” with a sense of fun and whimsy befitting the fact that this is game, after all. “Anybody can actually write a ‘Jeopardy!’ clue,” he said, “but to really be game-worthy for these amazing contestants who have spent a lifetime of learning to get to be on the program, we owe them some really great writing.”

One potential black mark against candidates? Anyone who used the word “trivia” in their application. “We do not use the word trivia at ‘Jeopardy!’,” Davies said. “We don’t regard what we write as trivial. We regard this as the subjects, the facts, the things that an elite, modern American should know.”

According to Davies, the current team of writers are a diverse bunch, with some having worked previously on “Star Trek” or in late-night TV, but they’re all avid readers with a curiosity about the world. A typical week involves working in an on-site library – with strong security measures, of course, to ensure no clues leak – on a variety of categories that may be assigned by the show’s two head writers or devised purely by a writer’s own creativity. Davies said he often sees the writers roaming around the studio lot with their noses in books or listening to music as they try to spark their creative juices.“Just like any other writer, they’re looking for inspiration,” he said, “and that inspiration can come from all sorts of places.”

The writers’ work is then fact-checked by a team of researchers who might even place calls – say, to a renowned cemetery that’s the final resting place for a famous figure – in order to vet and verify the 61 clues that what will ultimately be read on-air each episode by host Ken Jennings. Some of these researchers occasionally make the switch to writing roles, and Davies said a few have tossed their hats into the ring to be considered for this new opportunity.

“Last year, we put 25,687 clues on the air between all the different versions,” Davies said, referring to all the celebrity, college, masters, and pop culture “Jeopardy!” spin-offs. “It’s an assembly line, and we needed constantly to get other writers to come in and help us get there.”

After Davies and his team read through all the submissions and choose their favorites, he expects to offer a dozen or so candidates the chance to move on to the interview phase. That’s when he’s hoping to get a better sense of what makes each writer tick. “It’s about being yourself,” he said. “What do you read? What do you watch? What do you see? What makes you think something is interesting enough to be a ‘Jeopardy!’ clue?”

Davies’ goal is to have the new hire begin work by the time the show begins filming its 43rd season at the end of August, but for that to happen, he’d better work as fast as the show’s contestants do with their buzzers. “I’ve never had this many submissions for a writing job before,” Davies said. “But that’s a high-class problem, and it speaks to the fandom of the program.”

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