Photo courtesy of SID CEASER PHOTOGRAPHY Shown is writer and humorist Teresa Santoski.

Game shows are a staple in many families’ TV viewing schedules, especially these days when family members of all ages are quarantining under one roof. With a few exceptions, game shows tend to be family-friendly enough for even small children to watch and interesting enough that even teenagers who are maxed out on family time won’t complain too much.

Our quarantine bubble, which includes Dad, Mom, Younger Brother, Youngest Sister and me, has gotten into the habit of watching “Jeopardy!” every night. Though it’s not very Norman Rockwell of us, we often watch the show over dinner, which means that most of our dinner time conversation is in the form of a question.

I would imagine that most people watching “Jeopardy!” like to play along and try to give the answers before the contestants do, but we enjoy taking things a step further. When the Final Jeopardy category is announced, we make guesses as to what the answer might be.

For example, if the category is Greek mythology, one of us might guess the answer will be “Who is the goddess Athena?” and another might guess “What are the labors of Hercules?”

No one has guessed the answer correctly yet, but we’ve been close a few times, and it’s a lot of fun to try to think like the people who write the questions and anticipate what direction they might take things.

“Jeopardy!” isn’t the only game show we watch. We also tune into “America Says,” “Master Minds” and “Family Feud” with varying degrees of regularity.

As we’ve watched these shows, we have discovered that there are two topics that are guaranteed to stump contestants: sports and the Bible. They have no trouble answering questions about Eastern European capitals or the types of food you might find in a college student’s refrigerator, but without fail, sports and the Bible trip them up.

Once you get past the better-known individuals in the Old Testament like Adam and Eve and Moses, even the experts end up drawing a blank. We recently watched an episode of “Master Minds” where one of the Master Minds didn’t know what the tenth commandment was. And it was a multiple-choice question.

For the record, the tenth commandment refers to not coveting anything that belongs to another person. The answers the Master Minds had to choose from were all actual commandments, so hopefully it was just a matter of not knowing the order.

I’m waiting for the day when someone is asked “Who were the last four kings of Judah?” simply because of how much of a brain-melter that question is. The correct response is Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. For bonus points, they can have the contestants try to say that five times fast.

Sports knowledge seems to be even more fraught. I remember watching an episode of “Jeopardy!” where there was an entire category dedicated to football trivia. Mom and I were particularly excited because football is our favorite sport to follow.

I’m not just talking about watching the games. We watch the entire NFL Draft and take notes. Mom is still upset that the Patriots missed out on Saquon Barkley, DK Metcalf and Lamar Jackson.

To our great disappointment, the contestants left the football category until the end of the round. When the questions were asked, not a single contestant rang in. It was shocking, especially since the answer to one of the questions was “Who is Tom Brady?”

Though the Bible is not specific on this topic, here in New England, not knowing who Tom Brady is is considered blasphemy. May God have mercy on their souls.

We may know more answers than some of the contestants, but that doesn’t mean we have any illusions about how well we would perform on these game shows. It doesn’t matter if you have the right answer if you don’t ring in quickly enough.

Then there’s the pressure and stress of being on TV, having to provide a correct answer in a limited amount of time and having prize money at stake. It’s a lot easier to shrug off an incorrect response when you don’t lose money as a result.

That, however, doesn’t stop us from discussing what our plan of attack would be if we went on “Family Feud.” Either Dad or Younger Sister would be the team captain – Dad because he has a knack for figuring out the top answers, and Younger Sister because she will hit that buzzer first or else.

Mom would be the last person in line because she’s our secret weapon. Her special skill is figuring out the answers that are the least popular and don’t have a lot of votes, so she would keep the other team from stealing our hard-earned points. Younger Brother and I would fill out the middle as utility players.

But even though you might not apply to be on a game show, you may still find yourself on one accidentally. Mom is terrified at the possibility that the next time she and Dad visit New York City, they might end up in the “Cash Cab.”

Being put on the spot and having to answer a series of timed trivia questions as the cab navigates city traffic is not Mom’s cup of tea, especially since if you get three questions wrong, you have to get out of the cab before you reach your destination – regardless of the weather – and you don’t win any money. It’s hard to say which is worse.

If this ever happens, she already has a plan in place that Dad will answer the questions while she sits in the far back and hides from the camera, only chiming in if she’s absolutely sure she knows the answer.

Given the pandemic, it’s unlikely that Mom and Dad will be traveling to New York City again anytime soon. Mom can probably rest easy about unwittingly becoming a contestant on “Cash Cab.”

And really, that’s what makes game shows so much fun to watch. We can watch together from the comfort of our home and enjoy playing along without the pressure of competing.

If we get an answer wrong, we simply focus on the next question. We can just have fun as a family without worrying about how much money we lost or whether we’ll be able to find another cab.

Tete-a-tete is published monthly. Teresa Santoski can be reached at tsantoski@gmail.com or via www.teresasantoski.com.