Class News

Joe Lieberman ’64 on Jeopardy! as a Double Jeopardy question

April 29, 2022

It seems like you’ve reached a certain status in Americana when you become a question on the NBC TV Show “Jeopardy!” Joe Lieberman ’64 can now add this to his resume. The Double Jeopardy round on April 29 included the category “Politicians in their school days.” A photo of Joe Lieberman as a schoolboy was shown, and the $2000 clue was: “About a decade after high school, he was elected to the Connecticut State Senate in 1970; the U.S. Senate came later.” The first contestant to ring in got it wrong. The second got it right.

The photo above is not the one used on Jeopardy! Instead, it’s from our freshman publication “The Old Campus.”

When I told Joe about his Jeopardy! “appearance,” he replied: “Hah. I didn’t know. I will tell you that I have been a clue a few times before and I am impressed by how many friends called or emailed to tell me. ‘Jeopardy’ is a very popular show. Thanks Tony. You brightened my day.”

Postscript: When I asked Sam Francis to post this story, he replied, “My wife Bobbie was on Jeopardy! in NYC with Art Fleming as host in 1974 (won three daytime games and lost the fourth, for a grand total of $1,720). She was also on with Fleming as host in 1975 (won $10,000 and a two-week London Show Tour in an evening program). She went back in 1994 in LA with Alex Trebek as host and came in second (won kitchen appliances we didn’t need, donated them for the tax deduction to cover the tax we had to pay to get them). She thought of trying again twenty years later but figured we’d end up in the red unless she won big!”

Bobbie Francis with Art Fleming in 1974

Bobbie Francis with Alex Trebek in 1994

PPS. Handsome Dan was a clue on May 10, 2022.

PPPS. In May, Joe Lieberman and Hadassah were in Atlanta for the graduation of their granddaughter Willie from Emory with high honors.