Dixon resident blasts through Jeopardy!, wins $31,000
(Photo: A still frame from the quiz show Jeopardy! featuring Dixon resident Jeff Mitchum. Video courtesy Sony Pictures, Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
A Vacaville teacher walked away with a big payday on a national quiz show televised on Tuesday.
Jeff Mitchum, an English teacher at Vacaville High School and a resident of nearby Dixon, earned $31,200 on his first night competing on Jeopardy! in an episode filmed several months ago and aired on local ABC stations Tuesday evening.
“It was exciting and nerve-wracking all at once,” Mitchum told ABC affiliate KXTV (Channel 10) in an interview this week.
Mitchum told the station that some questions asked during the show were tougher than ones he asked his students. In the same interview, he expressed an appreciation for Bill Whitaker, the CBS News journalist who filled in as guest host on the program following the death of the show’s long-time presenter Alex Trebek last year.
Like other contestants, Mitchum has been unable to talk much about his appearance on the show before it aired on Tuesday. But a local newspaper said he taped multiple appearances that are set to air this week, strongly indicating he earned the crown of Jeopardy! champion at least once.
Mitchum’s second appearance on Jeopardy! is scheduled to air Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. on KXTV. Viewers in Vallejo and Benicia can watch the episode at the same time on KGO-TV (Channel 7).
(Correction: A version of this story e-mailed to subscribers contained an error in the headline. Mitchum’s win was closer to $31,000, not $32,000.)
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