Thanks to the years I spent working at Bailey/Coy (where we sold her books) and the years a good friend has spent studying at Seattle’s Argosy University (where she teaches), I’ve known about Dr. Laura Brown for a while. For those unfamiliar with the mighty Dr. Brown: She’s a clinical and forensic psychologist celebrated for her contributions to feminist therapy theory. She also engages in hilarious side activities: serving as the psychologist-in-residence on the set of Survivor: Outback, or most recently, competing on Jeopardy.

Brown’s premiere Jeopardy episode aired last night, and it was delightful. After making the requisite chit-chat with Alex Trebek (to whom she told of her love for aikido), Brown got down to business, swiftly kicking the asses of her two (male) competitors.

Among the Jeopardy question-answers Brown nailed: The White Stripes; David Bowie; Jennifer Lopez; Hobart, Tasmania; Eskimos/Inuits; F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night; Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities; and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Among those that passed her by: R. Kelly; Ali G; Kid Rock; Keny Rogers and Kim Carnes; and, uh, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which is the last thing you’d expect a freakishly well-read shrink to miss, but “it’s all in the thumb,” as Brown told my friend upon her return from CA, in reference to the Jeopardy joysticks that register contestants’ responses.

In the end, Brown triumphed, ending her first day with $17,000 in Jeopardy money.

Dr. Laura Brown’s Jeopardy round two airs tonight at 7:30 on KOMO 4…

(Updated at 12:25pm, to correct my placement of Hobart in New Zealand, rather than Tasmania. P.S: This was my mistake, not Dr. Laura Brown’s.)