Louisville’s Tara Anderson on ‘Jeopardy!’

Louisville Public Media Arts & Culture reporter Tara Anderson fulfills a lifelong dream and proves just how smart she is on Friday’s episode of the television game show “Jeopardy!”

“I tried out for 'Teen Jeopardy' when I was in high school and got to the second round but didn’t make it on the show,” said Anderson “So this was really fun for me.”

The road to Anderson’s Friday night appearance started with an online test that anybody can take. The mother of two scored high enough that she was invited to Nashville where she auditioned with 50 other wanna-be contestants. Each took a written test, played a mock round of the game and were interviewed on camera.

“We got no feedback or info that day on how we did, but we were told that we could get called anytime in the next 18 months,” said Anderson, “I didn’t hear anything for nearly two years and since it was past the 18-month deadline, I figured it wasn’t going to happen.”

Then in early April, Anderson got “the call” and headed to Los Angeles to tape the episode, which airs at 7:30 p.m. Friday on WLKY. Whether she’ll appear in more episodes and how much prize money she brought home is all part of the suspense of the show — so tune in to find out.

Kirby Adams reports on entertainment, and ways to stay active in our community. Contact Kirby at kadams@courier-journal.com. She’s also on Twitter @kirbylouisville