It’s not often we get fun stories like this. Thanks to reader Andy Saunders for bringing this to my attention. On Monday’s edition of Jeopardy! contestant Jeff Kirby didn’t do so well. He ended with a score of $300 but collected the third place prize of $1,000. Interestingly, though, he previously appeared. Jeff Kirby was on the show on December 8, 1999, and came in third place then as well where he won a digital camera. He had no explanation and there was no error on his previous show. He just ended up on the show again and did just about as well on his second appearance. So what happened?
Allegedly he essentially tricked the producers and casting directors and ended up passing the written test (again) and the auditions (again) to stand at the podium for a second time. We now at least know they didn’t search for former contestant’s names up until this point. Jeff Kirby just auditioned for Jeopardy! in 2009 and left off that little bit of information about him being on the show previously. Either that or he had repressed memories from his first appearance and just decided to block it out. He wore the same freaking tie in his second appearance! Look at our picture! We contacted Sony for a statement and they issued this (as well as posted it on Jeopardy’s official message boards):
It has come to the Jeopardy! Producers’ attention that Jeff Kirby, who appeared on Jeopardy! on Monday, October 12, had previously appeared on the show.
As is stated in the eligibility requirements (listed at Jeopardy.com), “You are not eligible to be a contestant on Jeopardy! if you have appeared on any version of the show with Alex Trebek, except at the Jeopardy! Producers’ express invitation.” This is a long-standing rule, and it remains in place. Jeopardy! has a system to make sure that people who appear on the show have not previously done so. It has worked well for 26 seasons; however, clearly, that system failed to detect that Mr. Kirby had appeared on the show in 1999.
In our contestant booking and verification process, we relied on information provided to us by Mr. Kirby. He did not disclose that he had previously been on Jeopardy!. His having been on the show before made Mr. Kirby ineligible as a contestant and therefore ineligible to receive any prizes from the show.
Because Mr. Kirby came in third in the competition, this decision does not affect either of his opponents nor their winnings.
Thank you to our watchful viewers for bringing this to our attention.
The Jeopardy! Producers
So there we are. What would have been really interesting is if he won. I’d love to see how they’d explain the fact that they don’t have something as simple as a database of former contestant’s names. Websites like the J! Archive do it well. The most amusing part of this is Jeff Kirby did an interview with the Santa Marina Times about his experience which becomes hysterical once you know he tried to pull one over the producer’s. He talks about how he really wasn’t nervous during the audition, that being an alternate on the set and seeing five episodes tape before his was a valuable learning experience, and putting makeup on for the first time. It’s priceless and you can read it here.
At last, the usually staid and, frankly, boring Jeopardy! gets something to talk about that doesn’t involve Ken Jennings. Really, how dumb are you that you think, in this digital age, that you won’t be caught? I’m just more amazed he lasted this long and it took the show’s hardcore fans to figure it out.
33 Responses
Bloody hell! How daft is that, not keeping a record of past contestants? Seriously. This is absurd.
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 6:11 am
First of all, Jeopardy!? Boring? I think not.
Second, how this got past the producers and got caught by diehard fans is beyond me…
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 7:09 am
Jeopardy!? Boring? Blasphemy, sir! I shall smack you with the nearest white glove I can find. =p
Seriously, though. Jeff's involvement affected the game in two ways… One, contestant experiences are unique and we honestly don't know what would've happened had someone else been at lectern #2. And two, he screwed someone in the contestant pool out of a shot, and as a member of said pool until November 2010… I have a problem with that.
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 7:55 am
This makes me wonder if other game shows ever have such a database. If they do, we just don't hear about people who were former contestants tried out again.
I wouldn't squarely place blame on Mr. Kirby for trying to pull a wool over the producers. They should've known better than to look at this guy & see if he looked familliar. Obviously, either the producers forgot to check the J! Archives or never bothered to ASK his prior experience on the show. How boneheaded can you get?
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 9:07 am
The show asks you — courtesy of numerous forms — if you've ever been on a game show, reality show or any other TV show in your lifetime. The forms also ask if you are currently running for political office, ever played quiz bowl (that question was introduced after Ken's run) and if you have family who work for the show, Sony and its subsidiaries. I'm curious if Jeff Kirby could face legal action from the show for knowingly fibbing on his application forms.
Like my friend Chico, I am in the contestant pool as well (my time is a bit more limited — I'm until February). This is my second run in the pool — the first time, I got pushed aside by the UTOC. An incident like this does upset me, as honest candidates get screwed over in favor of someone who cheated the system.
And one note to J!: Give Andy Saunders (the J! Archive archivist) a job with your show. I've known Andy for several years through quiz bowl, and he is incredibly knowledgable about the ins and outs of the program. If J! doesn't want to bother to do backgrounds, give Andy the job.
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
"I'm curious if Jeff Kirby could face legal action from the show for knowingly fibbing on his application forms."
I certainly hope so. Besides any potential damage to Sony's reputation, Kirby committed an actively dishonest act that denied at least one potential contestant out of an appearance on the show, and at least $1000 that the contestant would have earned for his/her appearance.
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Would playing quiz bowl affect one's eligibility for the show? I'm just curious as to why they introduced that question after Ken's run…
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
TPIR has one (as you may know); and, of course, they changed the eligibility rules two seasons ago (you're eligible to COME ON DOWN again if you've not been on within the last ten years).
You may also remember someone was on GSN's WinTuition (and won!) years ago but was ruled ineligible because he was on another game show only a handful of months prior. (I think GSN's rules at the time were you couldn't have been on another game show within a certain amount of years, if memory serves.)
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I'm no law expert but I believe that is a case of fraud and I guess it's up to Sony whether or not their going to press charges.
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
I find the whole thing funny. The question–really– to ask is: why didn't Kirby do better the 2nd time? He had 10 years to prepare!
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 1:11 am
who cares!
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 1:40 am
woooow this guy teaches at pine grove elementry school in santa maria california.
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 2:42 am
i would know because he was my math teacher in 6 grade
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 2:43 am
haha dont be mad at the producers or directors, Jeff Kirby is a liar and a cheater
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 2:46 am
I was in teh contestant pool when this show was taped He totk my spot!!!
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 3:09 am
Two people saying it just can't get away from me. Jeopardy IS boring. It is my absolute least favorite game show. It has the least tension, and the least emotion. It has failed in nearly every country but the US, and even here Win Ben Stein's Money picked on the ridiculous question-answer gimmick. I just don't see how someone could consider Jeopardy exciting! It is worth watching if you are smart enough to know some of the trivia, but not all of it because it helps you grow mentally, maybe.
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 5:53 am
(tsk tsh) Too bad, That's $1K you'll never get from there unles you've been thrown into next season's pool.
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 8:54 am
To Mark Baker-Wright: He probably do, but he took a risk and did it anyway. It’s kind of….Michael Lawson-esque when you think about it, except instead of figuring out the gameplay, he figured out how to cheat his way back onto a game show.
For anyone who doesn’t know, lying on an application (whether it’s a government or employment) is a federal offense punishable by up to 5 years in prison and (depending on the state) a hefty fine.
I’m pretty sure that Sony will better screen their contestants in the future.
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 9:14 am
Except Larson didn't cheat on Press Your Luck 25 years ago…he simply paid attention. You can't really call Mr. Kirby's actions Larson-esque, because he cheated the contestant system.
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Jeopardy is by far the BEST game show. I like a lot of quiz shows, but Jeopardy is SO FAR above the rest, it's not funny. (Heck, the most of the others, I watch on one of my DVRs where I can watch faster-than-realtime with sound.. I watch Jeopardy real time.)
Posted on October 17th, 2009 at 1:56 am
My guess is that they allow you to play, but make sure you also have other quiz bowlers in your game just to even the playing field.
They did something similar on the Art Fleming version. Start with 3 people who barely passed the written qualification test, and put them on the show. The next day, make sure the champ faces 2 players with slightly higher qualification scores, next day, slightly higher, and so on until you get 3 super-braniacs facing off each day. Keep going until you get a 5-time champ, then rinse and repeat with the just-scraped-the-exam crowd.
Posted on October 17th, 2009 at 2:41 am
To dropzone5: I didn’t mean it as if he cheated (which, technically, Larson didn’t), I mean he found a way to get an edge up.
Posted on October 17th, 2009 at 3:28 am
Legally, is the second-place player entitled to reappear because the appearance was compromised by an ineligible player? There have been cases where players have been able to reappear because of improper questioning. What is Sony's Standards and Practices policy on players who played in games where an ineligible player appeared? Do such players have the legal recourse, such as being allowed to reappear in a legal game?
Posted on October 17th, 2009 at 11:38 am
I can see people who want certain things out of a game show thinking Jeopardy is the best. I, personally, am obsessed with Weakest Link, but that's just because Anne Robinson's sense of humor equals mine. That doesn't change the fact that it is incredibly boring. It doesn't feel like there is any pressure built up at all.
Posted on October 17th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
It may not be if there isn't a part where you have to sign to certify truthfulness. People even lied on WWTBAM's test once and mentioned that they lied ON THE SHOW to "make it more interesting"— I think there was a woman who said on the app she formerly cheered for the Dallas Cowboys.
Posted on October 17th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Again, there has to be a part where he signs that the application was truthful to the best of his knowledge for this to be a crime.
Posted on October 17th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Their decision is since he came in last place it didn't affect any other player's standings.
Posted on October 17th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Right, but that dealt directly with gameplay. This time around, Mr. Kirby found a way to get another opportunity to play the game without having been invited back.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Jeopardy's lack of a "system" other than "ask politely and assume nobody lies" is hi-larious.
Though speaking as a computer person, I suspect that Jeopardy just didn't bother to put in any information from before the 2000's in the last time they did an upgrade.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
"Because Mr. Kirby came in third in the competition, this decision does not affect either of his opponents nor their winnings."
That's actually untrue, Sony :p .. I didn't see the ep in question but even though he lost, he might have still taken away some Daily Doubles or rang into answers that the 2nd place person could have gotten and perhaps passed the winner. There are so many what-if's that happen in that game, they cannot possibly say with certainty that had Kirby not have been on the show, the outcome would have been the same. If I came in 2nd I'd be pretty pissed, as all of the answers Kirby rang in first on and answered correctly could have been potential score-changers..
Posted on October 20th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Checking the Coryat scores, I think there can definitely be a case where Emma (the player in lectern #3) should be called back on the show. According to J-Archive, the Coryat scores were this: Terry $17,400; Jeff $15,600 and Emma $6,000; combined that's $39,000 nearly 72% of a Full Coryat. With Jeff taking 40% of the clues away from both players, there's no doubt that the game would have been different had he not competed. Let's not forget, that prior to Final Jeopardy, Jeff was in 2nd, but only by $1,300. So while he did lose, it was theoretically possible that he could have won. Which would make this case much easier to close.
Posted on October 21st, 2009 at 8:38 am
For the curious, the full episode is now on YouTube. Here's Part 1:
[youtube jwng4tSvGOQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwng4tSvGOQ youtube]
And Part 2:
[youtube oBZ1LbboXOc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBZ1LbboXOc youtube]
Posted on October 25th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Oops, I accidentally put Part 1 twice. HERE's Part 2:
[youtube oBZ1LbboXOc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBZ1LbboXOc youtube]
Posted on October 25th, 2009 at 3:16 am
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