I'll Take my Wife for a Million, Alex!

As I may have mentioned a time or two before on this here blog, my lovely wife Christine and I are Jeopardy! addicts. We watch the program religiously. When we're home, we revel in it. When we're out, we Tivo it so we can revel in it when we get home. We take enormous pride in the fact that we can count an astonishing number of former Jeopardy! champions among our dearest friends. In short, we are, as the always-charming Bob Harris titled his wonderful book on the subject, hopeless Prisoners of Trebeckistan.

So it is with considerable pride that I suggest to you that you Tivo, tape, or just stay home and watch Jeopardy! this coming Monday October 26th to see how the lovely and brilliant Christine handles herself as a first-time contestant on the world's greatest game show. Christine has spent a lot of time and effort studying for the program and, so long as the categories don't include subjects like The History of Lint or Things Only Len and Other Geeks Would Know, my money is on her.

So turn on, tune in, and let me know what you thought of her performance this coming Monday. Check your local listings for time and channel.

A word to the wise and all that.

I'll Take "MORE Stuff Len Created" For $1000, Alex

Well, they've done it again. Last night, my lovely wife and I were worshiping as we do every night before the anointed altar of Jeopardy! (and, hey, howcum so many of the things I blog about here -- Reprise!, Strike Up The Band!, Jeopardy! -- all end in exclamation points, anyway?) when my jaw went slack with wonder. The first category host Alex Trebeck announced for the initial round of questions was DC Comics. I perked up immediately. On the show a few months ago, most of the categories in Double Jeopardy were named after several of my X-Men characters, specifically, Wolverine, Storm and Colossus. Could they possibly be planning to play in my sandbox again?

The answers to the five questions were all pictures of DC characters; The Penguin was the $200 answer, Plastic Man the $400, Green Arrow was $600, Robin/Dick Grayson took $800, and the final $1000 answer was a lovely Steve Bissette/John Totleben illustration of a certain muck-encrusted mockery of a man with whom I've had some small acquaintance.

"How'sa Bayou tell us the name of this slimy, half-human DC character?" asked Alex. The reigning champion rang in, answered "Swamp Thing" and it took Christine five minutes to wipe the silly smile off my face.

Seriously, I cannot begin to tell you how honored I am that my creations have become familiar enough to the general public to be used as game show answers, not to mention on my favorite game show. To the question writers of Jeopardy!, my deepest thanks.

I think it'll be when I see Brother Voodoo or Lucius Fox as Jeopardy! answers that I'll really have to start worrying.