CNN - This is 'Jeopardy'? - April 28, 1998


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Celebrity contestants can't act their way out of a special week of "Jeopardy"

This is "Jeopardy"?

Celebrities face off for favorite charities
April 28, 1998
Web posted at: 2:30 p.m. EDT (1430 GMT)
CULVER CITY, California (CNN) -- For serious fans of the hit TV game show "Jeopardy," this week is time for rest and relaxation. Gone are the tense games between opponents who battle over mind-bending answers concerning obscure facts, figures and names in history.

They are replaced by the celebrity names of today, doing battle for their favorite charities -- and vying for the biggest laughs from the studio audience.

The "Jeopardy Celebrity Invitational" is underway, with host Alex Trebek seeking responses from such stars as Carol Burnett, Jason Alexander, Dan Cortese and Sinbad. The games deal with the minutiae of categories like "Four Letter Words," "Famous Marvins," "Space Exploration," and "Down Under."

But in this round of "Jeopardy," the contestants are just trying to save face.

"You just sort of panic and stress about looking like an idiot, and that's about all you can do," actress Jeri Ryan says.

Some celebrities, like comedian Sinbad, resort to an unusual form of cramming, and comedy, to retain dignity.

"I read the thesaurus, I read dictionaries, front to cover, back to back, a lot of memorization going on, a lot of like memory shakes," Sinbad says. "But gingko, take a lot of stuff with gingko. Take a lot of zinc, a lot of manganese. That's the good stuff to do, man."

Carol Burnett won $15,000 for the Hereditary Disease Foundation in Monday night's match

Chance to mingle, do good at same time

The celebrities win or lose either way. A minimum of $10,000 is donated to their favorite charity.

"That's what it's all about," Burnett says. "Otherwise, that's the only time I'd ever, on purpose, humiliate myself in front of the American public."

Sinbad also likes the camaraderie he finds with opponents.

"I get to stand next to Jeri, you know, from 'Star Trek,'" he says. "You know, that might be about 95 percent of the reason, you know, I'm there. I'm not saying a big part, but maybe about 95 percent of the reason why I'm there."

One star that is getting a good deal of attention these days is "Seinfeld'"s Jason Alexander. As the popular sitcom counts down to its final episode, Alexander believes he has found a new way to make a living.

"I'm going to be unemployed, and I'm thinking of doing the game show circuit just as a way to make money," Alexander says. "So I'm going to try this, 'Wheel of Fortune,' maybe 'The Love Connection,' anything I can do to make a buck."

Alexander might want to think about different career opportunities. In Monday night's contest against Burnett and Cortese, Alexander was leading as they headed into final "Jeopardy," but he nearly bet the house and failed to provide the correct question to Trebek's answer.

Burnett took first, winning the top prize of $15,000 for the Hereditary Disease Foundation.

The "Jeopardy Celebrity Invitational" lasts through May 1.

Correspondent Ron Tank contributed to this report.