Rock Hill man put to the ultimate trivia test -- on 'Jeopardy!'

By Jennifer Becknell - The Herald

Leland Graham, a 25-year-old research specialist who lives in Rock Hill, will compete on tonight's episode of the television quiz show "Jeopardy!"

"It was, oddly enough, harder than I thought it would be," said Graham, who works for the Olde English Consortium, an educational consortium that includes York County. "But it was really interesting and fun."

The show, hosted by Alex Trebek, airs locally at 7 tonight on WCNC-TV, Comporium cable Channel 6.

Graham, interviewed by telephone Tuesday, declined to talk about the outcome of the show or whether he will appear on more than one episode.

He said he plans to watch the show during a viewing party at McHale's in downtown Rock Hill.

Graham -- who went to high school in Columbia and attended Winthrop University -- said the episode was taped in Los Angeles on Jan. 20, which happened to be Inauguration Day.

He is one of 400 "Jeopardy" contestants, out of a field of 25,000 hopefuls, who have been chosen to compete for cash winnings on the show this season.

Graham said he took an online "Jeopardy" test in part because his father is a fan of the show. He was called to one audition, but nothing came of it. Later, he took another online test, auditioned again and ended up getting on the show.

"I tried not to think about it until the day before," Graham said about his appearance on the show, "when I got really, really nervous."

He said he enjoys trivia but still found the show a challenge.

"No matter how strong you are at one thing or another," he said, "there are going to be categories that aren't suited to you."