NORTHAMPTON — Although he didn’t achieve fame and fortune by appearing on “Jeopardy!,” Northampton resident Gerard Simonette says he enjoyed getting to play on the syndicated game show.
“It was very positive, though it would have been nice to make a few more bucks,” the 74-year-old said when reached at home following his third-place finish, which will earn him $1,000, on Monday’s episode of the long-running game show.
Simonette, a retired mental health professional and avid mountain climber, said he has been a longtime “Jeopardy!” viewer, taking the game show’s online test several times.
Having spent much of his life working in the psychiatric division of New York’s state hospitals, he moved to Northampton in December 2015.
In October 2016, he got an email inviting him for a written test and a screen test in Manhattan. A year later, he was asked to fly to Los Angeles for the Nov. 1 taping.
Though the studio has a professional, friendly atmosphere, and host Alex Trebek puts contestants at ease, being taped creates a different experience, he said.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking if you’re not used to being on TV,” Simonette said.
Simonette was in the red at the first commercial break and had $400 at the second break, adding another $1,200 during the Double Jeopardy round. But he was never able to catch the other two contestants, with champion Rachel Lindgren, who Trebek said was “very, very good on our last show,” collecting a second victory, adding $17,401 to her earnings.
All three contestants answered Final Jeopardy correctly, knowing that Novosibirsk, the third largest city in Russia, is translated as New Siberia.
Simonette, though, missed a Daily Double, costing him $1,500 in the process, when, in the “Mezzo Soprano” category, he failed to respond with both Hansel and Gretel, only giving Hansel’s name, even though the clue called for the duo to be named.
Simonette said this illustrates one of the differences between watching at home and playing in the studio.
“My big mistake, I wasn’t reading the clues, I was listening to his (Trebek’s) voice,” he said.
Still, Simonette said he has no regrets.
“After all is said and done, I had a good time,” he said.
He became the third Hampshire County player to appear on the show over the past year, with University of Massachusetts English professor Joseph Bartolomeo winning more than $36,000 in January 2017, and Easthampton’s Lisa Evans collecting $64,402 in March 2017.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
