Great Valley grad shows she’s no ‘Turkey’ on ‘Jeopardy’
MALVERN » Rebecca Zoshak looked like she would be a three-time returning champion to the popular TV show “Jeopardy,” going into the final round Thursday night. She had a comfortable $4,400 lead over the next closest competitor, and it all depended on how much money she was willing to risk.
Zoshak, a Great Valley graduate who grew up in Malvern, risked $4,801 on the Final Jeopardy answer: “The Greek islands of Lesbos and Rhodes are each about 10 miles from the mainland of this other country.”
Her nearest competitor with $8,800 answered correctly, “What is Turkey?” But she risked nothing to stay at $8,800. Zoshak risked $4,801 on the final question and answered incorrectly, “What is Cyprus.” She lost by $401.
Zoshak got the invite to return Thursday after winning $14,407 Wednesday night. But this time, she answered the Final Jeopardy question correctly. The clue: Bernard Herrmann scored this 1960 black and white thriller using only the string section of an orchestra.” All three contestants answered correctly with the response, “Psycho.”
The win allowed Zoshak to compete Thursday, where she held a commanding lead nearly the entire time. She was first to answer the question “Goliath,” “Boston Legal,” and “The Practice,” are among the many TV shows he’s created. Zoshak buzzed in with: “Who is David E. Kelley.”
Midway through the game, Zoshak led by $1,200 and she picked a Daily Double tile, and risk everything on it. The answer: “The U.K.’s malicious communications act of 1988 covers letters written with this figurative ‘pen.” Zoshak was quick to answer “What is a poison pen,” putting her in a commanding lead with $13,200.
Zoshak, a current resident at Penn State University, also appeared on the show in January. She lost then, but was invited back when it was decided the Final Jeopardy question that night was phrased unfairly.
Zoshak, a Great Valley High Class of 2000 grad, attended Great Valley schools through high school. She attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Il., where she received a degree in radio, TV and film. She relocated to Los Angeles, Ca., where she worked in the film industry for a talent company. She returned to Pennsylvania in 2009 and earned a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics, teaching English as a Second Language. She is currently finishing her dissertation while working full time for the university as an instructor.
During Thursday’s show, she told host Alex Trebek that as a child, she loved the TV show “Matlock,” which ran from 1986 to 1995, starring Andy Griffith, and wanted to be a lawyer, and later loved the TV show “MacGyver,” which ran from 1985 to 1992 starring Richard Dean Anderson, and wanted to be an engineer.