Roane State Community College

Roane State Assistant Professor Beth Kitts with host Alex Trebek

Oct. 2, 2019

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Here’s a possible clue on “Jeopardy,” the popular game show now in its 36th season:

A. This Roane State Community College professor will be appearing on the Friday night, Oct. 4, broadcast of “Jeopardy” at 7:30 p.m. on Knoxville’s WBIR-TV.

Q. Who is Assistant Professor Beth Kitts?

Kitts, who teaches American History and Western Civilization courses, said she’s a long-time “Jeopardy” fan and was stunned to learn that she was selected as a contestant.

Kitts, an Oak Ridge resident, said she was told 80,000 people try out for the show every year, and only 400 are selected.

“It was so much fun! It was a blast from start to finish,” she said of her adventure at the Sony Studios in Los Angeles, where host Alex Trebek and contestants tape five shows every Tuesday and five on Wednesdays.

Kitts said she figured she “didn’t have anything to lose” when she took an online test to try out for the game show in April. Her results were such that she was invited to appear for an audition in Nashville in late May, where there were “quite a few people there from Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.”

It was an all-day process that included two more written tests and then some practice rounds using buzzers, she said.

Kitts said she was told it might be a year-and-a-half before she learned whether she’d been selected for the show. “I didn’t expect to hear anything, but they called in June,” she said. “I was stunned, really.”

She flew out to Los Angeles with her husband Charles and their 14-year-old son Matt, and her participation was taped the first week of August.
 
Unbeknownst to viewers, contestants stand on boxes of various heights so they appear equally tall, Prof. Kitts said. “I was really nervous,” she said, “and I was pretty sure I was going to fall off one of those boxes.”

She didn’t, of course.

Did she win?

Kitts said she’s sworn to secrecy and can’t reveal that “Jeopardy” answer.

At worst, if she won third place, there’s a $1,000 prize, while runner-up takes home $2,000. The winner takes whatever earnings have accrued.
 
Kitts said emcee Alex Trebek is as “warm, kind and hilariously funny” as he appears on the show. She said Trebek takes questions from the audience during the breaks in filming. “He’s just a riot.”

Trebek captured the nation's concern and sympathy when he recently revealed he has Stage IV pancreatic cancer. At the time her show was taped, Trebek was in remission but has since relapsed.