EAGLE-EYED Jeopardy! fans have spotted a contestant’s hidden message during Ken Jennings’ introduction segment before Joey DeSena scored his second win.
As the host introduced all three of Tuesday’s players, Jonathan Fox slipped in some sign language – leaving fans who don’t know ASL wondering what he said.
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Jonathan, a staffing capacity manager from Plymouth, Massachusetts went up against Kathleen Clark, an English teacher originally from Stamford, Connecticut as well as returning champ Joey DeSena.
The development engineer from Raleigh, North Carolina was looking to extend his one-day winning streak and increase his earnings of $17,497.
At the top of the episode, beloved Jeopardy! announcer Johnny Gilbert introduced all three contestants, as he does every game before host Ken, 50, walks out.
The players are shown for about five seconds each standing at the podium, and typically stare directly at the camera while smiling.
However, Jonathan used his short time in a special way – to give a special shoutout to his wife of 23 years, Julie.
He held up the thumb and pointer finger, which is the ASL sign for ‘I love you’ and then individually spelled out each letter, J-U-L-I-E, while signing.
Fans thought the gesture was “so sweet” – with one event commenting “if I was Julie I’d be in a puddle of tears at home.”
“What a nice gesture from Jonathan. Seems like a good husband,” another said.
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While a third was “so grateful” that ASL was getting more exposure on the highly-watched trivia show.
“As someone with deaf family members, this was a really special treat to see. So grateful anytime ASL is used on a big platform.”
Jonathan revealed that his wife is also a self-proclaimed “Jeopardy! Junky” and they even compete together in trivia nights at local pubs.
The Massachusetts native told local WBZ news how much the “pinch-me” moment of getting to be on the show means to him.
“When I was a teenager, I’d run home from school [because the show] was on at four o’clock locally.
“I guess, for better or for worse, I have a space in my head for all sorts of random facts.
“The whole experience one you get on stage is exhilarating; it’s a little overwhelming.”
The game show buff gave credit to Ken and the entire staff and crew for guiding him through the daunting filming process in the bright Hollywood lights.
”[The staff] really took any anxiety about being there away,” he said, while adding he still felt the presence of the late Alex Trebek.
“He’s still everywhere. He’s still spoken of such reverent terms in that studio.”
Jeopardy! Set Secrets
Jeopardy! fans don’t see everything behind the scenes from watching on TV. These hidden set features make the show run smoothly:
- Each podium has a hidden riser so that all contestants appear to be the same height.
- After each clue is read, signal lights go off around the game board, indicating players can buzz in and respond.
- Buzz in too early, and you’re locked out for .25 seconds.
- The podiums have a small white light in the lower left corner, which tells Ken Jennings who goes next.
- Contrary to popular belief, the player with control doesn’t have a buzzer advantage on the next clue.
- To the game board’s left is a scoreboard so the players can see their opponents’ scores.
- All contestants must bring three outfits to the studio, but only the host and returning champion change for the next episode.
- There are wardrobe rules, including restrictions on busy patterns, solid white, purple (like the background), and logos.
- Five episodes are taped in a single day, and sometimes more.
- The categories, players (aside from the returning champion), and Final Jeopardy! for a tape day are all drawn randomly to ensure fairness.
- Female contestants are asked not to wear makeup, which is applied backstage, and don’t wear mascara because of sweat.
- Contestants fill out a questionnaire, and producers select five Q&A topics for the host.
- Host Ken isn’t allowed to interact with the contestants until after the game.
- Players can request to sit in a chair while competing without question.
Jonathan had an impressive run – securing $13,600 going into Final Jeopardy which was just $800 behind first place as Joey had $14,400.
Kathleen remained in third much of the game and had $7,600 going into the last round.
The category for the last question was “LITERARY MONUMENTS” and Ken read off the clue: “A 112-foot-tall monument in a Madrid plaza depicts a writer seated above bronze statues of these 2 characters.”
In an opposite result from yesterday’s triple stumper, everyone was correct in writing down: “Who are Don Quixote & Sancho Panza?”
While Jonathan didn’t secure a win, he ended the game in second with an impressive $18,000.
Joey scored his second victory, adding another $27,201 to his prize pot while Kathleen had $15,200 by the end of the game.
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