By DAVID FILKINS, Staff writer Last updated: 10:12 p.m., Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Albany resident Paul Glaser won on the TV game show ``Jeopardy!'' for the third time Tuesday, defeating his nearest competitor by $1.
Glaser, who moved to the Capital Region in 2003 and is employed at GE's Global Research Center in Niskayuna, led Tuesday's show with $21,600 before wagering $6,401 on the the final question, which he answered correctly to raise his total to $28,001.
The second-place contestant had only $14,000 before the final question, but closed the gap by wagering all his money and answering correctly to raise his total to $28,000.
The final question asked whose car was auctioned for charity in 2006, along with it's personalized Nebraska license plate reading THRIFTY.
The answer: Warren Buffet.
Glaser raised his three-day total to $88,402 with the win. He returns tonight bc Wed ec to defend his title. ``Jeopardy!'' airs at 7:30 p.m. on WTEN Ch. 10.
Local man’s streak on ‘Jeopardy!’ over Gazette staff report
Six proved to be an unlucky number for Paul Glaser. The research scientist for General Electric Global Research in Niskayuna lost Friday night’s “Jeopardy!” program, finishing in third place. Glaser, 31, was trying for his sixth-straight victory. Contestants who finish third win $1,000. So Glaser’s run on the TV quiz show, which began Oct. 26, brought him a windfall of $121,802. And even though the Albany resident lost, he still has not experienced his final “Jeopardy!” Show officials said Glaser will be part of the program’s “Tournament of Champions,” whichbegins Monday and runs through Nov. 16.
Weeks of secrecy finally over for area ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant BY JEFF WILKIN Gazette Reporter
Sooner or later, someone is going to ask Paul Glaser who played the Joker on television’s “Batman” series. They might wonder what “The Raven” squawked in Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem. Or request the 19th century railway system that started in Kansas. “I haven’t gotten that yet,” Glaser said Thursday. “But I know it’s coming.” Glaser, a 31-year-old chemist for General Electric Global Research in Niskayuna, has become the Capital Region’s most celebrated “Jeopardy!” player. He won five straight shows, programs broadcast in late October and early November, and had enough smarts — certainly enough to know all about Cesar Romero, “Nevermore” and the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe — to reach the semifinal round of the quiz show’s Tournament of Champions. Glaser’s run ended Wednesday when college champ Cliff Galiher knew all about 19th century New York World reporter Nellie Bly and her exposes on the Blackwell’s Island asylum. The “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Famous Newspaper People,” and Glaser — who was leading the casual Galiher and stoic Craig Westphal going into the last answer of the night — missed his guess. “I was thinking about Lois Lane and Clark Kent, which should have been the first clue that I was barking up the wrong tree,” said Glaser, who lives in Albany. “I think that was an example of pure trivia. I just didn’t know the answer, so I put someone who was involved in mental health, but it was the wrong era and she really wasn’t a reporter. I figured if they got it, I was toast, which was exactly what happened.” Glaser hoped activist Dorothea Dix would save the night for him. Still, he leaves “Jeopardy!” with a smile. Now that he’s a former contestant, he can talk about his experiences behind the podium and close to the big blue game screen. Glaser took the online “Jeopardy!” exam last year and scored well enough for further tests and trial games in Manhattan. Representatives said they might call again, but warned that other qualified “Jeopardy!” aspirants also were in the mix. Glaser got his chance around the first of July, when the gamesters telephoned and requested his presence in Culver City, Calif., for a real show in early August. “I thought it was a prank phone call or something at first,” Glaser said, “but at that point you realize you have to bone up on a bunch of stuff real quick. So you end up doing state capitals, as much as you can do in four weeks. “But the really best way to get good at the show is just to watch the show over and over again, kind of get in the mind-set of the writers and how they ask trivia questions and the timing of the show, which is very important.” Glaser flew out to California. The start of his “Jeopardy!” life also marked the start of his secret life; he was told not to tell people about the trip west. He told his wife, Amanda, but that was about it. “My parents didn’t know,” Glaser said. “My co-workers thought I was on vacation.” He said five shows are taped on each “Jeopardy!” production day. His first chance was the fifth show taped on a Friday. Glaser won that game, and was asked to return to the set two weeks later to defend his championship. The August shows were broadcast Oct. 26 through Nov. 2, with Glaser compiling a 5-1 record and receiving an invitation for the tournament, which was taped in early October. The secret life became a silent life once the shows were broadcast. “Jeopardy!” players are told not to say anything about their appearances while they remain active contestants. “I kind of got used to the question,” Glaser said, acknowledging that many people wanted advance details. “I kind of developed this steely facade for co-workers and family, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t reveal that information. Tune in tonight at 7:30 to find out.’ I sort of sounded like a commercial.” Playing “Jeopardy!” for real, Glaser said, is a combination of quick wits and quick hands. “It’s a matter of getting your timing down,” he said. “If you’re too edgy or too slow, you won’t buzz in on time. And if you over-think questions or spend more than an instant trying to get the answer, you’ll probably be too slow.” Contestants also have to be storytellers. After the frantic fi rst few minutes of a game, “Jeopardy!” breaks for a commercial. When the show resumes, host Alex Trebek usually talks to the three smart folks before returning to the “answer-and-question” format. The players have already given game staffers possible topics of conversation. “You really don’t know what he’s going to ask about — anything that piques his interest,” Glaser said. “You try to tell something funny, something upbeat.” The “Jeopardy!” appearances have given Glaser an income boost — his winnings totaled $131,802 — and a publicity boost. He’s a new star among the scientists at the research center’s polymer and chemical technologies unit, and has been recognized at shopping malls. “I saw someone in the airport recently who was kind of looking at me funny,” Glaser said. “She said, ‘You look familiar’ and turned away and turned back and said, ‘You look really familiar,’ and I knew where she was going with this, so I’m like, ‘Do you like television?’ She’s like ‘Well, yeah,’ and then ‘Do you like game shows?’ and when I said ‘game shows,’ she said, ‘Oh, you’re that guy!” Glaser, whose work in Niskayuna supports GE projects around the world, plans to use some winnings to pay bills, travel and maybe build a wine cellar. “Jeopardy!” television shows are not in his immediate future; he’s had enough answers and questions this fall and this past summer. “I’ll probably take a little while off,” he said. “But I know I’m going to get sucked in again, eventually.” RICKI SHAPIRO/GE GLOBAL RESEARCH Jeopardy! contestant Paul Glaser works in the lab at GE Global Research in Niskayuna on Wednesday.
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