Alisa Hove for 400: An Inside Look
Harley Woods | December 9, 2021
Special to The Echo
Alisa Hove on “Jeopardy!”
Picture this: a young girl sits in her living room with her mother and sister to watch “Jeopardy!” hosted by Alex Trebek. The daughters tease their mother about having a crush on Trebek. Years later, the girl would grow up to play the game show on the very stage she spent her childhood observing.
In 2019, Warren Wilson College (WWC) science professor and Genetics Crew supervisor, Alisa Hove, took an online "Jeopardy!" test that would lead to a year and a half of more quizzes and the "Jeopardy!" production team.
“After I passed the online quiz, I took another quiz over Zoom — this was when Alex Trebek was still alive — with a number of other people who were auditioning for the show,” said Hove.
Months passed without any word from the production team. Over the summer of 2021, Hove was contacted again to play mock games with other contestants. Because the quizzes were conducted over Zoom, Hove said they had to use ballpoint pens as clickers while practicing.
“This year on my birthday I got a phone call from one of the producers, and they told me they were doing a professors tournament,” said Hove.
Hove noted amusingly that she came very close to not answering the phone call due to suspicion it was a spam caller.
“I’m glad I did because that’s when I said yes, I would go on ‘Jeopardy!’” Hove said. “My husband said, ‘I think it’ll be really hard to find a birthday gift that’ll match that one.’”
The episode was filmed in October, only taking up about four days of Hove’s time. During the filming, Hove hadn’t informed any colleagues or students exactly why she would be going to Los Angeles.
Senior resident director (RD) and Genetics Crew member, Bassam Shawamreh, shared his experience with her preparation for the show.
“I remember one day she came in and was reciting capitals of countries in Africa,” said Shawamreh. “Then a lot later she divulged to us that that’s one of the reasons she was doing that. She was preparing for ‘Jeopardy!’”
One of the most memorable aspects of the experience, according to Hove, were the connections she made with the other professors and contestants.
“There were fifteen other professors from all over the country. Big research universities, community colleges, historically Black institutions, smaller state colleges and then liberal arts colleges like Warren Wilson were represented,” said Hove.
In addition to the broad range of colleges, there were a broad range of disciplines that the professors hailed from. Hove reported that they had backgrounds in history, ethnomusicology, economics, biology and chemistry, as well as others.
“The other professors and I really bonded,” Hove said. “We were put up at the same hotel and we went and got dinner together at night. We still talk pretty regularly on social media.”
Shawamreh spoke positively about the WWC professor, and her representation of the college and the science field.
Special to The Echo
Professors participating in “Jeopardy!” on stage.
“I think she’ll definitely have kicked ass on ‘Jeopardy!’ She’s very smart,” Shawamreh said. “She’s a botanist, but that doesn’t scratch the surface of the scope of what she’s involved in.”
Upon being asked, Hove said she was unsure whether the pandemic elongated the process of practice quizzes and production. It is clear that the pandemic did in some way alter her experience as a whole, though Hove reported that the production team conducted COVID-19 safety excellently.
“I was COVID tested with PCR before I was flown out there, I was COVID tested immediately again when I arrived on Saturday, and I was COVID tested every other day that I was there,” said Hove. “They have PCR labs on site at Sony Productions. Whenever I wasn’t on camera, I was wearing a mask — everyone was wearing masks all the time. I felt very safe.”
Hove became misty-eyed when recalling memories of the late host and her mother’s fondness for him. She sounded hopeful and cheerful in discussing her experience with the new host of the show.
“I would’ve really liked to have gotten a photo with him to share, or since I took the quiz before COVID, to have her in the studio audience,” Hove said. “Mayim Bialik is a really witty and charming host. She’s super good-humored put a lot of the contestants at ease and thinks really quickly on her feet, which I think is awesome.”
Those interested can join a viewing party of "Jeopardy!" on December 10 at 6:30 p.m. in Kittredge Theatre.