Relieve a time when Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was a category on Jeopardy!
LaVar Burton, of Star Trek fame, wants to be the next host for the long-running quiz show, Jeopardy! A lofty goal since the franchise had been a long-standing pop-culture icon. The show was hosted by Alex Trebek from 1984, until his passing in 2020, meaning Burton has big shoes to fill if he does get the permanent gig, however.
Burton will guest-host the series during the 2021 summer season, however. Burton’s ties to the show are helped by the passionate fan support from his time on Star Trek: The Next Generation, where he played Geordi La Forge. A role that helped earn him even more fans, which coincided with his turn as the host on Reading Rainbow.
It’s fair to say that Star Trek and Jeopardy! have crossed paths before, however. Burton’s turn as host won’t be the first time the game show and the sci-fi franchise have crossed paths before.
Star Trek and Jeopardy! cross paths in the 90s
Granted, this isn’t the first time (that I’m aware of) that Star Trek crossed paths with Jeopardy! but it is a fun one. From a 1994 episode of the show, we get to see Star Trek: Deep Space Nine take center-stage for a category.
One contestant, named E.J., was not having a good day heading into that category, already down -$200. As it was the first round, the values were listed out $100-$500 for a total of $1,500 for the category. That is if E.J. can in fact clear everything.
The interesting takeaway from the Deep Space Nine appearance on the show was how easy the answers were. Most of them were pretty generic that any first-time viewer of the show could probably get right.
The questions were;
"$100 – This Ferengi runs the bar on the promenade$200 – The show is set in this century at the same as “Star Trek: The Next Generation”$300 – The station is located next to the first stable one of these quadrant-to-quadrant short-cuts ever known.$400 – Rene Auberjonois plays this shape-shifting security officer.$500 – The symbiont in the body of this Terry Farrell character was previously in a man’s body."
Could you get these right? Cus E.J. did.