POP-A-LOOZA: My Love Is JEOPARDY!, Baby

Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is my look back at the time I tried out out for the TV game show Jeopardy!: "My Love Is Jeopardy!, Baby"

This piece was originally the first of a two-part celebration of my love for game shows. Part One supplements the tale of my failed attempt to be a Jeopardy! contestant with a history of my affection for the genre and a side note about auditioning for a music trivia game show; Part Two is all about MTV's Remote Control.

Jeopardy! may be my all-time favorite TV series. It's right up there with The Good Place and The Monkees in my cathode-ray cosmology, nestled atop a long list of clickerstoppers: Veronica Mars, Batman, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Mad Men, The West Wing, St. Elsewhere, The Green Hornet, What's My Line?, Shindig!, Pushing Daisies, Moonlighting, and yes I could indeed go on about this for quite some time. I haven't written much else about Jeopardy!, other than this playlist commentary and this piece, both from when Jackie Fuchs (formerly Jackie Fox, bassist for The Runaways) was competing on the show. I remain a fan.

Speaking in another post about my love of television, I wrote, "I have achieved the paradox of being both an elitist and a Philistine, maybe even at the same time. When I was in high school, my pal Mary and I wound up guesting on a public access cable talk show, discussing the state of television programming. We agreed that TV could be better than it was; Mary mentioned I Love Lucy as an example of an old-fashioned standard of good, clean fun lacking in '70s TV, while I insisted there should be more higher-quality shows like, y'know...Star Trek. Elitist and Philistine in one man...boy. I am as God made me."

As we say goodbye to the late Alex Trebek, we bid farewell to a unique television legacy. I intend to continue watching Jeopardy! faithfully. New hosts will not and cannot be Alex Trebek, but the show must go on. That show is literally the only reason I haven't cut the cable; as a syndicated program, Jeopardy! does not stream current episodes, so the only way to watch each new show is to catch it as it airs live or to DVR it (as I do) to view at my leisure. It's worth it. My all-time favorite TV show. What is Jeopardy!? Courage. Who was Alex Trebek? "My Love is Jeopardy!, Baby." What is the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza?

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This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

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Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1)will contain 165 essays about 165 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1). My weekly Greatest Record Ever Made! video rants can be seen in my GREM! YouTube playlist. And I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.