SFIST -- But the San Francisco Chronicle has another spoiler for tonight’s show, and it adds a little local color to the momentous broadcast. An SF State English professor is among tonight’s contestants, and the contestant Jim Gilligan had been auditioning for the show since the 1990s before eventually making it on the episode that was taped on October 27.
And we being huge Jeopardy! fans here at SFist, we can confirm that last night’s returning champion is Yoshie Hill, an executive assistant from Colma. In an awkward and accidental bit of foreshadowing on Thursday night’s episode, Hill shared the old joke “You’re lucky to be alive in Colma,” a reference to the town having more residents in graves than live citizens.
“It’s definitely a bittersweet moment,” the professor Gilligan told the Chronicle. “‘Hey, I finally achieved one of my life’s dreams, I’m going to be on “Jeopardy!,” and I met Alex Trebek.’ But it was the last episode he ever taped in his life.”