GV professor Shannon places second on ‘Jeopardy’
Courtesy Photo/ gvsu.edu GVSU professor Ashley Shannon placed second on “Jeopardy.” She is pictured with host Alex Trebek.
Nov 14, 2011
Almost everyone can hum the “Jeopardy” theme song; some even may be able to answer the questions while watching it on TV. Very few, though, are able to say that they have actually played “Jeopardy” with Alex Trebek as the host.
Ashley Shannon, however, had that opportunity when she appeared on the show on Oct. 11. Shannon is an English professor at Grand Valley State University.
A current student of Shannon’s said she thinks Shannon was well-equipped for her stint on the “Jeopardy” show thanks to her knowledge of both literature and fun facts.
“Professor Shannon is very knowledgeable and I have learned a lot while in her British literature class,” said Elizabeth Macklin, a GVSU student.
Shannon competed against six-day champion Joon Pahk, a college physics teacher from Massachusetts, as well as first-time player Michael Stewart, a Renaissance player and trivia host from Charlotte, NC.
The first round contained the categories “One Liners,” “Purse-onalities,” “TV Series Finales,” “She Created Him,” “Google Me This” and “Giving Blood.”
Shannon answered seven questions, all correctly, to come out of the round with $5,000 and a second-place standing.
The next round’s categories included “College Sports,” “The SEC,” “The Mountain West,” “The Patriot League,” “The Sun Belt” and “The Big ‘Ten.’”
Although Shannon did not answer as many questions in this round, she gained another $6,800, for a total of $11,800 coming into the final round.
Luckily for Shannon, the final category was “19th Century Literature,” which is her area of specialization.
The question “‘How are you getting on?’ said this animal character as soon as there was mouth enough for it to speak with” was answered correctly by all three contestants as “What is the Cheshire cat?”
Shannon wagered $4,601 on her answer and ended up with a total of $16,401, coming in second place and taking home $2,000.
“I knew the answers to about 95 percent of the questions on the board, but I just couldn’t get into the right rhythm with the signaling device,” Shannon said in a press release.
To view Shannon’s “Jeopardy” episode, search “Ashley Shannon Jeopardy” on YouTube. The videos are titled with winner Joon Pahk’s name.
