Apologies if this has been asked before but...

[cyclone45]

How do contestants that are returning champions get paid? Like did KJ get one single $2m + check? Or do they get paid by what they won per show?

[TLEberle]

Ken got a single check for $2,522,700 less California state income tax. Whether it was 90 days after his final episode aired I don\'t know the particulars. For each set of appearances you sign a stack of forms that says you did win however much on that game show over that period. Part of Brainiac is that he was winning all that money but couldn\'t get any of it, and had to deal with going down to Los Angeles for the tapings while keeping up at his gig, and dealing with the expense of taking all those trips without any of that money coming in.

If you wanted more details you could either read the book or send him an e-mail.

If you\'re the production company\'s accountant, what\'s easier; having to do a journal entry for every check where a contestant happened to be on that week, or one check that each contestant gets at the end of their go?

[Jeremy Nelson]

[quote name=\"TLEberle\" post=\"310119\" timestamp=\"1369783447\"].If you\'re the production company\'s accountant, what\'s easier; having to do a journal entry for every check where a contestant happened to be on that week, or one check that each contestant gets at the end of their go?[/quote]
Well, if there are five different champs in a single week, doesn\'t the company have to write five checks for five entries anyway? Even if they paid him by show week, that\'s still less work overall. But yeah, I get what you\'re saying.

But this does raise a small point, since contestants have to cover their expenses- what would happen if a contestant got to the point where they couldn\'t afford making the trip? Let\'s say you\'re unemployed, get on the show, win 25 games, and have spent all of your savings on Jeopardy expenses? If you can\'t borrow cash from a friend or a family member, do you just tell the production company that you\'re resigning as champ?

[clemon79]

But this does raise a small point, since contestants have to cover their expenses- what would happen if a contestant got to the point where they couldn\'t afford making the trip? Let\'s say you\'re unemployed, get on the show, win 25 games, and have spent all of your savings on Jeopardy expenses?

If you\'re living *that* hand-to-mouth, you have bigger problems.

[TLEberle]

I\'d say you go to a bank, take carbons of some of the forms that say you\'re coming into fat stacks of money shortly, would you please front me $5,000 so I can get by until the money clears? Jeopardy is different from Umkende Dundwanja, son of the former Finance Minister of Nigeria; you actually get your prize money. I was able to get a $1,000 credit line from my credit union just cuz i wanted it, and there was nothing more onerous than any other time you apply for credit.

The problem with resigning is that it gives the production company an out to not pay you.

[clemon79]

I\'d say you go to a bank, take carbons of some of the forms that say you\'re coming into fat stacks of money shortly, would you please front me $5,000 so I can get by until the money clears?

...and the production company stops payment on the check because you\'re not allowed to tell anybody how you did until the show airs.

[TLEberle]

Then you just suffer and eat mac&cheese for a while. Or don\'t go on a game show where you can win for weeks at a time. Or you live on a credit card for a while. Or you farm it on Final Jeopardy and \"lose\" so you can move on with your life. Jesus, I can\'t believe we\'re discussing this. Hell, read the book if you want to know how Ken handled it.

You\'re allowed to tell immediate family (especially if they\'re in the audience). Do you not have family who could float you a short-term loan to cover that?

To Jeremy\'s other thing; that\'s precisely why you have one entry for each contender instead of each week that player is on. Quickbooks or Peachtree can certainly handle that, but it unduly increases the number of entries you have to sift through if something has gone terribly wrong.

[PYLdude]

Considering that Jeopardy! pays for you to keep coming back and takes care of your lodging expenses if you need to following your initial appearances, I don\'t think that this is as big an issue as it once was.

[TLEberle]

Considering that Jeopardy! pays for you to keep coming back and takes care of your lodging expenses if you need to following your initial appearances, I don\'t think that this is as big an issue as it once was.

But how many employers pay you while you\'re using time off? Jeopardy might cover the extra travel and expenses but you\'re not making any take-home pay the time you\'re away from work.

[Dbacksfan12]

You\'re allowed to tell immediate family (especially if they\'re in the audience). Do you not have family who could float you a short-term loan to cover that?

I could imagine that situations exist in which a person would have no immediate family.  They could also have immediate family that can\'t just drop money for airfare at the drop of a hat.

[TLEberle]

It is my solemn belief that if such a person went out and got a loan to be repaid back at 125% plus a fruit basket, he\'d get takers. (Plus you have the airfare and expenses covered, and the consolation money if you lose covers that first appearance where that isn\'t the case.)

It is not an inalienable human right to be on a game show. I\'d love to be able to fly into every city where there\'s auditions because Seattle-Tacoma doesn\'t seem to be a hotbed of contestantry, but I can\'t. So I get on with my life.

[PYLdude]

I find it odd that the Pacific Northwest\'s crown jewel doesn\'t garner more interest from contestant coordinators.


Does Jeopardy even do LA based auditions anymore?

[trainman]

Does Jeopardy even do LA based auditions anymore?

Yes, a couple times a year, handled the same way they treat the auditions in other cities, with the first step being the online test. (In other words, gone are the days when they did a once-a-month L.A. audition, which one could just call the contestant office to reserve a spot in.)