Peter Johnston grew up in a trivia-loving family of eight in Alma, where landing a correct answer before one of his older siblings was nearly impossible. Now, the Michigan State University professor is taking that childhood training to national TV.
Johnston, 40, will appear as a “Jeopardy!” contestant on Tuesday, July 15. The English and film studies faculty member, who lives in East Lansing, has been a fan of the show since childhood.
“It’s kind of been a lifelong idea. I never really thought it would happen,” he said. “We were a ‘Jeopardy!’ household growing up.”
After nearly two decades of taking the quiz show’s online test without hearing back, Johnston took it again in April 2024. This time, he was invited to continue in the selection process, which included another test over Zoom with about 30 other hopeful applicants, a personality interview and a virtual mock game.
“I sort of was like, ‘Well, that was fun. That’s probably as far as that will go,’ ” he said. “And then, lo and behold, they reached out in March (2025) and asked if I wanted to tape in May.”
He flew to Culver City, California, where the show is filmed at Sony Pictures Studios. For Johnston, a filmmaker himself, being on set was an experience like no other.
“It was surreal and incredible to be inside a TV show like that. … It’s more than 3D. It’s like you’re in 4D,” he said. “I was really appreciating the kind of artfulness and the esthetic of how the broadcast is put together. It was sort of a thrill.”
Johnston has created dozens of short fiction, documentary and experimental films, winning several awards. He’s currently working on two feature documentaries, including one about magic and magicians in Michigan.
At MSU, he teaches both introductory and capstone production courses.
His “Jeopardy!” taping nearly conflicted with a student film premiere — and he almost turned it down. The show initially asked him to tape in April, but he rescheduled to May so he wouldn’t miss his students’ event.
While staying at a hotel in Los Angeles County for the taping, Johnston ran into one of his students — a moment he took as a “good omen.”
“I was a little bit nervous, and I feel like that was a good sign,” he said.
Trivial Pursuit, Quiz Bowl
The journey to “Jeopardy!” began in Johnston’s childhood. He played Trivial Pursuit growing up and was on the Quiz Bowl team at Alma High School. He later even started competing in bar trivia with his siblings. He also gives credit to his liberal arts education at Alma College for preparing him for the show.
“That kind of broad liberal arts education is a good primer for something like ‘Jeopardy!’ because you just never know what will come up,” he said.
Once selected, Johnston said he “buckled down” on major categories — literature, history, geography, even opera and Shakespeare. But he also bought a buzzer, and surprisingly, that training made the biggest difference.
“That might have come in handy more so than training knowledge,” he said, laughing. “Because I’m not sure that anything I learned in my studying actually came up on the show.”
Johnston also got to meet Ken Jennings, the host of “Jeopardy!” and a former contestant with the longest winning streak of 74 consecutive games.
“He came out before he was even in makeup or anything, just to kind of introduce himself … and gave some advice,” Johnston said. “His advice was along the lines of ‘Relax, have fun and soak it in.’ … I really enjoyed meeting him.”
Though he couldn’t reveal how he did on the show, Johnston told the Free Press he’d compete again “in a heartbeat.” His wife is organizing a watch party with family and friends for the episode’s airing on July 15.
“It was beyond what I expected, and I really encourage anybody else who’s even remotely curious to take the test, because I really did not expect it to happen,” he said.
“Jeopardy!” airs weekdays at 7:30 p.m. on WDIV-TV (NBC) in the metro Detroit area.
Nour Rahal is a trending and breaking news reporter. Email her: nrahal@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @nrahal1.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State professor Peter Johnston to compete on ‘Jeopardy!’ after years of attempts
Reporting by Nour Rahal, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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