3. Getting There
In the second week of August 1992, my right hand suddenly began hurting. I wasn’t a Jeopardy! contestant on my way to California, but despite that, I quickly figured out that Lynn had been tightly clutching my hand in fear for the past hour— and we hadn’t even gotten off the runway. It’s not like she’d never flown before. She flew to Europe on a high school trip, ‘though she was unconscious both ways from the meds they’d given her to keep her calm; and she took a short ride in my brother- in-law’s plane once, which she liked, but as I remember it was a little single-engine craft, not the carrier-based, A-3 “Whale” jet he flew in the Navy. We were on U.S. Air to LAX. Lynn called them U.S. Scare. Maybe that had something to do with the pain in my hand.
We were cash poor then. We’d just signed a sales agreement on our first house, but we were still waiting for the mortgage to be approved. Any money we spent would impact our chances of getting the mortgage. We had to be in Hollywood by Tuesday, August 11th, at 10:30 to begin filming (does that sound cool, or what!?!), but it was too expensive to fly out on a Monday, so we got a discounted rate by flying out on Saturday.
Lynn was very excited when we got to LAX
because, well—we got to LAX. We got an economy
rental car (a Mustang!) and, steering with my one good
hand, headed to the Best Western Canoga Park Motor
Inn way out north of Topanga Canyon, ‘cause the
Beverly Hilton (also owned by Merv Griffin) where
Jeopardy! suggested we stay in Hollywood?—not in these
shoes. Jeopardy! doesn’t pay for anything for their
contestants, except parking at the studio and lunch for
one. Keep that in mind when you see someone from
the East coast come in second. They had to pay their
way out to Hollywood, pay for their accomedations,
and, if they wanted to keep the second place prize, had
to pay the taxes on the prize package value before they
could receive it.
We followed the signs to the 405 north, then the 101 out of L.A., and finally up to our motel in like, oh-ma-gaud the Valley I’m shur! Totally. Lynn kept seeing all these signs with place names that she (until now) had only read about: Inglewood, Fox Hills, Brentwood, The Getty, Bel Air, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Tarzana, Reseda. I even have a note she jotted down of a sign we passed on the 101: “Litter removed next 2 miles. Bette Midler Adopt a Highway.” We checked in at the motel, treated ourselves to a nearby Sizzler for dinner, then waited in the room for Tuesday. When I suggested we go explore the sights tomorrow, Lynn said, “No. I’m here for Jeopardy!. I want to stay focused on that.” We fell asleep watching the motel weather channel.
Of course, by Sunday afternoon, we were stir crazy and anxious about the drive into Hollywood during rush hour on Tuesday morning. Getting there on time was the most important thing now. I bought a map, planned out the route, and on Monday, we took a test run down to the studio. Lynn felt better after that.
By the time we got to the studio on Tuesday, I was a nervous wreck—and I wasn’t going to be filming a T.V. show. Lynn was tense, anxious, and scared. I parked the car, and as we walked down Seward Avenue to Eleanor Avenue my hand began hurting again. I glanced behind us at the mountains. We don’t have mountains in Delaware. Delaware’s highest point is 448 feet above sea level. I stopped at what I saw and turned Lynn around so she could see too. There was the Hollywood sign on a hill off in the distance. Her grip tightened. We turned down Eleanor Avenue, not an avenue at all but a back alley behind the studio, and came to a gate and another sign. When Lynn saw that sign her hand suddenly relaxed. In that one instant, Lynn told me later, all the tension and nervousness melted away. She was now relaxed, confident, and ready to play Jeopardy!. Before I took a picture—she hated having her picture taken—we hugged, and she said, “I’m really here. I’m really on Jeopardy!”
"The Green Room"
Email: Tom Loper