Richmonder Henry Rozycki will appear on "Jeopardy" tonight, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. on WRIC ABC 8. (Photo courtesy Sony Pictures Television)
After spending decades shouting trivia answers at his television, Dr. Henry Rozycki, vice chair for research and a neonatologist at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, was selected out of more than 100,000 applicants to make his debut on the game show “Jeopardy!” and is now waiting for his episode to air at 7:30 tonight on Richmond’s WRIC-TV (Channel 8).
“We all watch [“Jeopardy!”] and think, ‘I could do that,’ ” Rozycki says, “so I actually did.”
When he received the call letting him know that he would be a contestant, Rozycki had five weeks to cram on common potential topics, he says. He studied up on operas, Shakespeare comedies and flags of various nations, and he reviewed questions that had aired on the show, he says.
A self-described “chief cheerleader” for research at the children's hospital, Rozycki doesn’t have expertise in any one subject of medical research, but he has an interest in all of them, which, he says, is what contributes to his trivia prowess.
There is a school of thought, Rozycki says, that describes some people as hedgehogs, who burrow down in one specific realm of knowledge, and others as foxes, who are constantly moving around, gathering a little information everywhere.
“I am a fox,” he says.
In December, Rozycki traveled to California and the show’s Burbank studios, where he spent days in a haze of clothing changes, coronavirus testing, rehearsals and trivia with host Ken Jennings. The process was surreal, Rozcyki says.
“Here’s a sentence that I never expected to hear,” Rozycki says, “ ‘Go down the hallway and take a right at Vanna White’s dressing room.’ ”
Rozycki says he felt more adrenaline than nerves, and once it was time to start answering questions, he was focused. He says he surprised himself at the speed with which he was able to answer the questions.
“I am actually excited to watch the episode, so I can remember what questions I answered,” he says.
Tonight, Rozycki will gather with his family, friends and neighbors at Front Porch Cafe in Church Hill for a viewing party.
