No worries, CDSmith - the show hasn't aired yet - and wont for a bit of time - I just went to the taping.
The way the Jeopardy privacy policy works, I can tell you how he did, or I can tell you the date he airs... but (as there's press lurking around) I can't tell ya both.
So, I figure I'll tell you how he did, and if anyone wants to know what date the episode airs to watch him yourself, hit me up on ICQ.
The experience was very cool: they tape 5 shows in a production day.
For the most part, no electronics were allowed in the building - as they wanted to prevent the whole electronic messaging headache, I'm sure. The audience is divided by a wall about little under 6' tall... Production guests, Gallery contestants (those that are there (or an alternate) for one of the 5 tapings that day, but not actually currently on stage), and Contestant Guests sit on the smaller side of the wall... taking up about 1/3 to 1/4 of the audience. The other side is for general ticket-holders. The entire audience is about 300 people - give or take.
At any rate, I could go on, but let's just say that the actual set is quite a bit smaller than I envisioned it.
As far as my buddy, he got up, and ended up a 1-Day champion after the day was done - taking home a nice chunk of change (just under 20k) for the hour-and-a-half he spent on stage.
The second game was kinda painful to watch as the main reason he didn't do as well was because he kept getting locked out. The way Jeopardy buzzers work, apparently, they open up the minute Alex finishes reading the 'answer'... if you ring in too early (talking split-seconds here), the system locks you out for 2 seconds before reinitializing your buzzer - giving the other contestants a huge window to ring in... from my vantage point, I could see him continually hitting the button early and the frustration building as -time and time again after the first commercial break - he got locked out.
He was kinda bummed about it - I know he was aiming for the "Tournament of Champions" but then I reminded him that out of 50,000 applicants, only 750-or-so are selected, and he was one of them... and then, out of those 750-or-so, less than 1/3 can say they're Champions.
Oh well... 20k for 2 hours work, along with "Jeopardy Champion" on the resume ain't all that bad.
