Earlier this year, Nick Rogers, communication manager at Tipmont, competed on “Pop Culture Jeopardy!,” which is now streaming on Netflix.

Unlike the classic “Jeopardy!,” the pop culture version is played in teams of two. Nick’s teammate, Shane Whitlock, has been a good friend and trivia teammate for more than a decade.

Nick said the audition process had multiple steps. “Each person on the team took an online test. If both people did well enough on that, your team participated in a Zoom-room audition — playing a short, simulated game against another auditioning team (using a click pen to “buzz in”) and briefly interviewing with producers.”

“We met through a mutual friend, who recruited me for a team he was on with Shane for a national trivia tournament in Austin, Texas,” said Nick. “That team did well, so we kept at it for years after that — winning several tournaments across the country. Shane and his family live in Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada, so we don’t get to see each other as often these days. This was an incredible way to compete together again in person.”

Dressed for success

In December 2025, Nick and Shane were notified that they had been selected as one of 30 teams from thousands to participate. Before competing, they had to choose a pop-culture-themed team name.

“Our team name was ‘Only Howards in the Building,’ a play on the Hulu series ‘Only Murders in the Building,’” said Nick. “Shane is often told he resembles Howard, a character on the series played by Michael Cyril Creighton. I also look enough like Shane that people have long asked if we’re siblings, so we embraced the Howard of it all — right down to the rather loud cardigan sweaters he wears on the show. When the season was announced, Michael reached out to us with a very nice note, wishing us well and congratulating us for a job well done on the sweaters.”

A comforting environment

The entire 20-episode season was filmed over four days in early January 2026 in Culver City, California, on the same stage at Sony Pictures Studios where “Jeopardy!” is filmed.

When asked whether anything surprised him about the experience, Nick said, “There have been seemingly less stressful moments in my life when I felt more physically nervous than I did while taping a game show that would be streamed around the world. A big part of that is the efficient, thoughtful, and comforting work that goes on behind the scenes.” 

“From the show’s producers to the hair, makeup, and wardrobe professionals, each person established a conversational calm and comfort for the contestants while keeping things moving quickly. They want people to be competitive, be themselves, and have fun. It shows in everything they do!”

So how did Nick and Shane do in the competition? He said you have to watch to find out. “Because the show is streaming exclusively on Netflix, anyone can jump in to watch at any time,” said Nick. “If you want to skip straight ahead to our episode, it’s Game #13. I’d rather not spoil anything other here than to say I’m incredibly proud of what we did and how we did it.”