Former Bangor Daily News reporter Emily Burnham will be appearing on “Jeopardy!” next week.
Burnham, who chronicled eastern Maine’s culture and offbeat history for two decades at the BDN, announced her upcoming appearance Monday on Facebook, saying she had been holding her tongue for the past two months.
“I’m not kidding. I got to hold the buzzer. I got to see the big screen. I got to meet Ken Jennings (or, as he’s known in our house, Jen Kennings). I got to be in the house Trebek built. It was, as you might expect, awesome,” Burnham said.
Speaking to the BDN, Burnham said she had taken the show’s “anytime test” many, many times over the years. “I came from a total ‘Jeopardy!’ family,” she said. “My mom actually auditioned way back in the day.”
In March or April, she got an email inviting her to a group test, and later a Zoom audition.
“Then, beginning of July, I was sitting around and my phone rang, and the caller ID said Sony Pictures Entertainment,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh my god!’”
She flew to California in August for the taping, and described the experience as “one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life.”
Some details were different than expected. The buzzer, which she described as being like a video game joystick, took some getting used to. And the game board loomed large, despite the common refrain about TV studios looking small in person. “It’s very big. It’s a huge overwhelming sea of clues,” she said.
“Everyone’s a huge nerd. Everyone’s super nice. Everybody’s just, you know, really excited to be there.”
Burnham won’t be the first Bangor-area contestant on the show. Allen Adams, a local writer and actor, played in 2018, and UMaine assistant professor Kara Peruccio was on last year.
Maine reporters have also competed. Jason Singer, a former reporter and editor at the Portland Press Herald, became a champion last year, following in the footsteps of his wife, who won four years earlier.
The show will air Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. on ABC affiliate stations in Maine.
