Jim Jeannotte Retires After 34 Years Behind the Podium

After 35 seasons and over 100,000 questions, Jim Jeannotte,  host of Granite State Challenge on New Hampshire PBS, is hanging up his game cards.  His final show was  this season's Granite State Challenge championship game. For Jeannotte, making sure these students learn from and enjoy their Granite State Challenge experience is his most important job as host.

Jeannotte took over as host in the show's second season in 1984. He's seen generations of contestants grow up and put their scholastic knowledge to good use.  On one memorable occasion, he was at a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon. “After he gave me all the gory details he finished up by saying ‘Aren’t you the man that used to host Granite State Challenge? I was on that show!’”

Despite the passage of time, Jeannotte sees the same spirit in the students that he did three decades ago. He describes the ideal Granite State Challenge contestant as talented and smart but also quick and fearless. “They cannot be afraid. They have to be ready to press the button and get the answer wrong.”

While the object of the game may be to get answers right, Jeannotte believes the opportunity to take a risk and fail in a safe space is important. “Some of the kids don’t play athletics and don’t know how it is to lose. Losing is tough, but losing is a learning experience.”

Win or lose, the spirit of the game is rooted in fun. One of Jeannotte’s signature moves, sending  game cards spinning into the air,  began as an ad-lib after he tripped over a question. “I can turn a tongue-twister into real gobbledy-gook,” he laughs. “ If I can’t pronounce it, I’m not gonna read it!”

Another of his pet peeves has become a running joke between Jeannotte and the show's producer, Susan Adams. "Every game I try to get a question that ends in a preposition by him," she admits. "He will have none of it!"

This sense of humor served him well in the early days of Granite State Challenge, when it was one of the only shows of its kind. During his first season, the studio was in the basement of the University of New Hampshire's Memorial Union Building— adjacent to a bowling alley. “It wasn’t the most glamorous setting,” he says. "It was a real new adventure back then."

Granite State Challenge director Rob Fagnant, himself a former Challenge contestant for Woodsville High School, says that while the studios may have changed, the heart of the show remains the same. “I think in large part that's due to Jim’s consistent and loving approach to the game and the students who play it.”

Fagnant recalls his first time as a contestant, “I remember being overcome with anxiety.  Jim entered the studio and immediately went over to each team. He spent time speaking with each student, reassuring us individually, cracking jokes and making us all forget how nervous we were.”

Adams says this consideration is central to Jeannotte's approach to the games. "For Jim, every game is about the kids. He has always insisted that the attention be placed on them and not him. You can see his love for the kids in every game."

Jeannotte's  enthusiasm for the game remains. "When a game's close, when it's coming down to the wire, it still excites me, " he says. "I'll miss the competitions and I'll miss the people ." 

Next season, Jeannotte will still be joining viewers across the state as they watch a new season of students vie for scholastic dominance. This time, though, he'll be playing at home.

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Carla Gordon Russell
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