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What is it like to produce an Emmy award-winning show with over 150,000 viewers? That’s something Jacqui Wedewer, producer of WTTW’s number one show Check, Please! knows quite a bit about. Jacqui has been producing the hit show for the past three years, and now it is entering its thirteenth season. As the producer, Jacqui is the woman who puts the wheels in motion. “I am very focused on making a good show. Someone will see the show no matter what, so I want to put out my best work. I can’t miss a beat. At the end of the day we want to make a show that we like, and we are our hardest critics.”
If you’ve never seen Check, Please!, tuning in for an episode should definitely be added to your to-do list. Each episode of Check, Please!features three Chicagoans who are passionate about dining and discovering food in Chicago. Jacqui receives over 1,000 applications from eager foodies each year and then must narrow down the list by completing phone interviews and then finally selecting the special guests. Then, during the show, each guest chooses their favorite Chicago eatery and sends the other two reviewers to dine there and give their opinions. “People love to talk about their favorite restaurants,” says Jacqui. “Every person has their own ‘Cheers’ and people think of it as ‘their’ place.”
Jacqui never thought she would be a television producer. However, she had always been interested in film. She attended Columbia College and majored in film with the goal of becoming an editor. She soon got an internship at WCIU, and then with Check, Please! She began with editing, but when the position of producer opened up, she gladly accepted. As the producer of a show with such great popularity, Jacqui needs to wear many different hats. Her day-to-day schedule includes everything from scouting filming locations and coordinating shoots, to editing film, and making tons of phone calls. Most recently, Jacqui helped to lead the search for the newCheck, Please! host Catherine de Orio. Jacqui says, “I get the best of both worlds. I’m not stuck in a cubicle editing film and eating Chinese food. I get to produce, talk to people, and go out into the world. My time is split.”
One of the best parts of Jacqui’s job is the delicious research she partakes in when she goes out to eat in Chicago in search of a spot to feature on the show. In a city with over six thousand different restaurants, Jacqui is never short of inspiration. While Jacqui has a few go-to spots, she really loves to try a new place whenever she hits the town for a meal. Of course, because her job is to know about great food, Jacqui is seen as the authority by all her friends for recommendations. “On Valentine’s Day I turn off my phone because every guy I know is asking where to take his date,” she jokes. When asked for her favorite restaurant, Jacqui simply says, “Picking my favorite restaurant would be like asking someone to pick their favorite child.”
Jacqui has managed to achieve a great amount of success in her industry at a very young age, but it wasn’t an easy road to get there. “I’m 25. I got lucky. I was working three jobs before this and just coming up for air every Sunday for a couple minutes.”
Landing your dream job can be challenging, but Jacqui believes if you put yourself out there by taking risks, it will all pay off. She advises those new to the biz to “Work as hard as you possibly can. Don’t make excuses and learn as much as you can from the people you work with.” Jacqui believes a big part of achieving your career goals is being open to opportunities. “I never thought I’d be a producer. I’ve always seen myself as a timid person and this was a huge opportunity for me. It was a lot of making mistakes. If someone rips apart your work, don’t go cry about it. Just fix it. Opportunity is there for you if you just put yourself out there.”
Interested in seeing the fruits of Jacqui’s labor? Tune in to Check, Please! on Fridays at 8 p.m. on WTTW.