What Is Jeopardy!'?

"In general, people know U.S. geography," says Campbell. "They do O.K. on Europe, moderate on Asia, but get scared stiff when confronted with Africa or South America. Africa's the worst because the names and borders change so often."

"Did you know Dahomey changed its name to Burkina Faso?" asks Eisenberg.

"I think you mean Upper Volta," says Easter-ling. Eisenberg consults his world almanac.

"It means 'country of honest people.' " says Easterling.

Eisenberg is having no luck.

"Check the World Book," suggests Campbell. "That's the quick-and-dirty way."

Every fact is checked and rechecked through independent sources before it is approved for use on the air. If a source proves particularly unreliable, it's consigned to a part of the library known as Trivia Hell. Will and Ariel Durant's histories reside there, as does The Encyclopedia of Women's Myths and Secrets.

When a fact can't be verified by ordinary methods. Eisenberg's trivialists go straight to the source. A major controversy erupted over Howdy Doody's freckles. Did he really have 48 freckles to match the number of states at the time he made his debut? Eisenberg's trivialists tracked down Buffalo Bob Smith in an obscure corner of Maine. "Forty-eight is correct." said Buffalo Bob. Now we can all breathe a little easier.

"We do a lot of hard facts." says Easterling. "For instance, which actress won the first Oscar? That's part of film history, not trivia."

"If I were a schoolteacher, I'd much rather have my students watching Jeopardy! than shoot-em-ups," says Eisenberg. "We have shows that quote important people, like Khadaffi and Stalin. Jeopardy! isn't going to change the direction in which society is moving, but it's part of the world we live in. It's part of reality."