Former 'Jeopardy!' Champion Paul Tidwell Will Always Remember the 'Final Jeopardy!' Question

If you throw parties, Paul Tidwell is the one person you want to have at every party. Friends and strangers are drawn to him because of the way his story unfolds. In fact, people are entranced by his tale of becoming a three-time "Jeopardy!" Champion. Tidwell won $40,200 on the television show "Jeopardy!" and he will never forget the question that ended his run.

Tidwell tried out for "Jeopardy!" the first time in 1985. "I had passed the written test but I went in like it was a job interview. I was rigid and straight-laced. They put me in front of a camera, took photographs and asked me questions to see how well I'd do on TV. They never called back," Tidwell said. "In the meantime, I was on another game show, 'Headline Chasers,' with host Wink Martindale. We split $1,000. But, you couldn't be on another game show for a year so I had to wait. The second time I tried out for 'Jeopardy!' it was late 1987. I approached it differently. I wore a big Hawaiian shirt and I resolved not to lose by being too cautious. I didn't want to be too serious. I went through the process again, answering 50 questions in five minutes. For example, 'The most expensive spice in the world.' The answer is saffron. Or 'What's another word for rhinoplasty?' The answer is nosejob. So, you write down one-word answers. It included all variety and all matter of subjects. I think in both tests I did pretty well. About 10% of the people taking the tests passed, that's about 4 out of 40 and 5 out of 50. Only a few people got to stay and be photographed and tell a little bit about themselves on camera."

While wearing the much louder Hawaiian shirt and being more relaxed, Tidwell earned a spot on "Jeopardy!" to challenge the current champ. Tidwell's four shows were filmed in late 1987 and aired in early 1988.

Tidwell was trailing in the first show. "I was not leading. I was really frustrated, because I felt I knew the answers. I just couldn't buzz in to answer because the champ was all over it. He was quick and confident. I did well in the category of Louisianans, but going into 'Final Jeopardy!' they showed the category and it was 'TV Westerns.' And, I remember thinking 'All your life you wanted to be on 'Jeopardy!' and now you're going to f… lose.'"

The champ's winning amount of $9,200 seemed guaranteed to win as Tidwell only had $5,300. The "Final Jeopardy!" answer in the category of "TV Westerns": 2 of only 3 Westerns to achieve the #1 rating for a season.

Tidwell wrote: "What are Gunsmoke and Bonanza?" He got the question right and wagered $5,300 raising his total to $10,600. Meanwhile, the champ over-wagered and missed the "Final Jeopardy!" question as Tidwell went on to win the first show.

In the second show, Tidwell entertained the crowd by talking about his duck collection entitled Duckabilia. In the game, Tidwell was confident and dominated the challengers. He trounced his competition, especially in the category of "'ZZ' in Music."

By the end of the third show, he seemed unstoppable. In fact, he made it look easy.

"On the fourth show, I had been leading the game wire-to-wire again. Then, I stumbled a little bit. A friend who watched it said, 'Yeah, you looked a little off.' That was compared to the second and third games where I was already leading going into 'Final Jeopardy!' Looking back, there were some things I could have gotten right and I didn't. But, going into 'Final Jeopardy!' I felt good about the category because I'm an English major."

The "Final Jeopardy!" answer was in the category of "Books & Authors." It is the question that haunts Tidwell.

The "Final Jeopardy!" answer: Born in Bengal in 1903, this author's most famous book was set 81 years later.

"I heard him read the answer 'Born in Bengal in 1903.' As soon as he said that, I thought Rudyard Kipling was born in India. So, then I tricked myself into hearing 1803. I thought his most famous work was 81 years later, 'Gunga Din.' So, I wrote down 'Who is Rudyard Kipling?' I remember thinking, 'Oh, that's another $15,000 win. The other two people aren't even going to get it.' I was feeling confident perhaps over-confident. I looked at the TV monitor and it said 1903 and I thought, 'Oh, s...' I crossed out Rudyard Kipling and wrote down 'Who was V.S. Naipaul?' and I guess he's West Indian. When I wrote that down, I felt not at all confident, but maybe I had a chance. Then, the host Alex Trebek said, 'This will be very interesting. Paul wrote down something and then crossed it out.' The first person wrote 'Who is George Orwell?' and I thought, 'that's wrong.' Alex Trebek said, 'That's right!' The other contestant had the right answer, too. So, the other two people got the 'Final Jeopardy!' question right and I got it wrong. I came in third place on that last show and I won a microwave. The second place prize was a trip, which would have been nice," Tidwell said laughing, "but the microwave was a huge thing and it dominated our kitchen table for years until we finally got rid of it. I also won a big box of different Hershey's chocolate products with cocoa, candy bars and other chocolate products. When I got to the end of the box, I'd slurp down the chocolate syrup with beer chasers."

Tidwell gave up a part-time job because his final winnings seemed like a lot of money at the time. The winnings for the three days totaled $40,200 in cash. The show's representatives told him he would be responsible for paying the taxes on that money on his own, which ended up being about $14,000.

Looking back, he says the reaction time on pushing the buzzer is very important in playing "Jeopardy!"

"You're supposed to wait for Alex Trebek to finish the answer before you push the button. But, it's tricky. If you wait for him to completely finish and take a pause, you're going to be locked out. What I learned from scrimmaging in the prep session, when he hits the first syllable of the last word, you hit the buzzer. That's the right time. You can't wait until you know the answer; you just have to know that you're going to know it. Sort of like you know the answer will come into your head. Of course, then the wrong answer might come into your head or maybe nothing at all."

Right after finding success on the show, he took a break from watching "Jeopardy!" for a while, but has since returned to watching the show.

"There was a sadness about losing the opportunity to be a four-time or five-time champion. I knew I wasn't going to be getting on the show again. You have to be invited back in order to participate as former champions. If I had won four times that would have been enough money to make it into the 'Tournament of Champions' that year. That was a big regret," Tidwell explained. "My dad videotaped the shows off of the TV at the time and when I watch them again and play along, I tend to still get the same questions wrong. When you watch it, you worry about it. Honestly, it's like watching a basketball game on tape that you already know the outcome and you worry that something is going to go wrong."

He has advice for anyone who wants to try out for a game show.

"Watch the show regularly and play along. Know TV in the sense that the show is really for entertainment. In terms of getting on the show, people should know that no one owes you to get you on the show. Some people think, 'I'm owed this because I'm so smart.' But, it doesn't work that way. The shows are entertainment to get a good audience. They want people who are happy or offbeat people. They don't want sour grapes or mechanical regurgitation of things. If there is anything they want, I would say they want flair."

After the show aired, Tidwell became a bit of celebrity.

"In the few weeks after it aired, I was at the bank and a customer said she'd seen me on the show. And, I was contacted by a few people from my past. One guy had my address but another one sent a letter to 'Jeopardy!' and the show forwarded it to me. That was nice." Tidwell added, "A few years ago, my 12-year-old daughter was amazed to find out that I was on 'Jeopardy!' She's proud of me and thinks it's kind of cool."

Pictured: Paul Tidwell, Champion on the TV show "Jeopardy!"

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