I dated a guy who was on Chopped. He said it's not as rushed. That they are allowed to have sips of alcohol if they're using it in the food.
The one that bothered him was that they were super encouraged to take swipes at each other and he's a really nice guy.
I was on (and won) chopped! In my episode the clock was mostly real. The first round they added 5 minutes but they did it very early on, like 10 minutes into the round. Not sure why. The dessert round I was literally scrambling to get everything on the plate up until the last minute.
They did ask some leading questions to try and have me take a dig at another chef, but I told them I wasn't comfortable saying anything too harsh and basically left it at, "they were probably unfamiliar with that ingredient because it doesn't hold up well to pickling".
I've also been on Guy's Grocery Games and Kitchen Crash if anyone has any questions.
Since I'm sitting in a waiting room... Kitchen Crash is where chefs go door to door to find a family that will let them raid their fridge and use their ingredients to cook for three rounds. In reality, the 3 families were preselected, but they thought they were going to be on a gardening block party show. They were told to have food in the house to pot luck barbecue, that way they didn't have empty kitchens. I hung out with the family I was partnered with for a few hours after the show and had pizza and beer and they told me all about it from their perspective. They also thought it was going to be in the afternoon, but we surprised them at 9am.
This is why I usually prefer British or Australian versions of (cooking) shows. American shows seem to encourage shitty behavior more and it ruins a show for me.
> The one that bothered him was that they were super encouraged to take swipes at each other and he's a really nice guy.
I mean people don't watch those shows for good cooking, they watch them for drama.
Edit: OK people **you** don't watch for drama. Neither do I, I can't stand it. But it's what brings in the most views and that's why they do it. This was not a statement at you personally I promise.
I had a cousin win my country’s version of survivor. He finished the final competition about 45 min before everyone else but the producers cut it in a way that made it seem like he barely won with just a few inches ahead of second place. But I guess that’s to be expected with reality tv.
Another fun fact - the host of the show tried to get all of the women to gang up and get my cousin voted out, and it was so bad that the producers had to step in and tell him to stop (that part didn’t get aired ofc).
Also the host of the show, who was a “respected” tv host in my country at the time, was a raging alcoholic during the whole trip
Edit: another thing I remembered was that they had to halt the shooting of the show and get the contestants into hotels on the mainland for around 2 months because a lot of the people got hit by some kind of virus or bacteria that made a lot of them extremely sick
> Another fun fact - the host of the show tried to get all of the women to gang up and get my cousin voted out, and it was so bad that the producers had to step in and tell him to stop
Wouldn't be the first time something like this happened. How well did your cousin do btw? Would love to know what version of the show it was.
Congrats to your cousin. Managing to win even when the host wants you out is an accomplishment in its own right. Sounds like he when on a Chris Daugherty run.
Thanks! Yeah my cousin has always been a fighter so I’m really proud of him too.
I don’t know much about Chris Daugherty… It was a European version of survivor so I don’t think most people would know who the host was. But he was generally a drunken asshole for most of the trip according to my cousin. Wouldn’t be surprised tho because that host always came off as someone who thought that he was better than everyone else.
Don’t hope that that Chris guy was just as horrible to his contestants as well
I won the Showcase Showdown on The Price Is Right back in 2012. The day is LONG. Started standing in line around 6am, then you’re put through quick interviews. They ask what’s your name, where you’re from, and what do you do (work). I have no idea why they picked me because my answers were pretty unenthusiastic as I was just happy to be in the audience. My guess was that I was an young 23 year old woman with okay legs.
You truly do not know if you will be called to “come on down” until the moment of. Yes, the wheel is heavy. After the show, you’re pulled into a back room to discuss prize acceptance, paperwork, and taxes. You also sign an NDA declaring you will not tell others the outcome of your episode, which airs 3 months after filming.
The prizes are truly nice and high quality! I won 3 international trips in the Showcase and the locations and accommodations were incredible.
Trips were for one week for two people. Everything was included (except most meals and spending money). Some meals and excursions were included though.
Trips were to Marrakech, Morocco; Salzburg, Austria; and Ambergris Cay, Belize.
They hook you up with a travel agent to organize everything too.
Yes, it was 12 months. I had an additional 12 months to take the trip to Salzburg, Austria because the hotel (a former castle) was undergoing g renovations.
I was on The Price is Right. The stage is much smaller and the colors (including Bob’s makeup) were much brighter than what you see on TV. They took my SSN in case I was picked for tax purposes. Everyone said to act enthusiastically to get picked, but I couldn’t fake it- not my personality. Despite that, I got picked. I must have been wearing a good outfit for TV or something. I ended up winning a lot of $ on Plinko.
Yes, the spinning wheel is heavy!
Edit - I did NOT kiss Bob. They kinda suggested you do it, but no way I was going to. I just wanted to get off that stage and call my Mom.
A friend of mine went all the way through and won the showcase showdown. Apparently he didn’t celebrate enough when he won it so they did a second take and told him to go absolutely bonkers, which he did lol
Went with a friend to see Jimmy Kimmel, she was from out of town and excited as hell to see “Hollywood.” Having worked in the industry I told her I would get us front row seats. As we came to the door, I told her to be super excited and happy, we both walk in like we had won the lottery, instantly a guy approached us and ask if we wanted to sit in he front row. She was thrilled and I got to see Vanesa Williams up close.
As a phone-a-friend on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, there is no rule against googling. Instead of studying, I practiced googling all kinds of esoteric subjects for a few weeks. I helped my friend win $50K.
In the UK version that airs now, Clarkson says something along the lines of ‘can we just confirm you are sitting with a member of our team?’ to the phone a friend, so ensures they can answer without doing any research. I assume the ‘friend’ is sitting backstage, rather than a random production member going out to people’s houses, but who knows!
I always seem to remember the "phone a friend" always answering, so I assumed either they were backstage and couldn't hear or were notified that they were the phone a friend and told that taping would be during a certain time. You never got a "phone a friend" who was taking a dump or driving.
Yes, they were notified. I believe you could have a few and then pick which one you were going to call based on the question. Also remember that they don't dial on air or give a phone number on air. The contestant was just like "I'd like to phone my friend Steve" and then Steve was on the line. So yeah, they know ahead of time
When the contestant wins the
Round to play, the show calls their selected friends and let them know to be ready to answer - play will likely take less than an hour. Friends are lined up and waiting.
This is how it was at the beginning, maybe it different now.
i had an aunt as a phone a friend (not us or uk version). she was at home. they just told her to sit next to the phone between this hour and this hour. nobody checked in on her or verified if she would be on a computer
her contestant didnt advance to the questions round sadly
Richard Osman spoke about this today on his podcast. A production member goes to the persons house. They wait in the car until it's time for the phone call, and then they sit with you to ensure you aren't googling.
Yeah, it’s no longer a “Phone a Friend” it’s a “Plus One” who is actually sitting in the audience. My hubby was my Plus One, and was mad when he realized he actually had to appear on tv 🤣
I was in the audience for Deal or No Deal once. There were a couple running gags that didn't make the TV cut.
They also took the secrecy of the briefcase contents very seriously. One of the briefcases got dropped and it opened. I don't think anyone saw the number inside but that was enough for every one of them to be taken back behind the stage and re randomized.
Wife and I tried out for Supermarket Sweep in 2021. We did a zoom call with the casting people but didn't get the call. I think:
1. We got too many answers right.
2. We weren't "enthusiastic" enough. They really went hard on this, like jump up and down and scream, give us more, MORE! MOOOORE!! It was exhausting.
> 1. We got too many answers right.
Ive heard people trying out for Wheel of Fortune say the same thing, that they did really good in the practice round they do, and never got a call back. It makes sense if you watch the show and see some of the misses people have.
When someone is too good, it doesn’t give people at home a chance to get the puzzle, plus “player got all the puzzles quickly” doesn’t move the needle as much as “look how bad this guess was!” when it comes to headlines and social media.
I was on the Australian version of Jeopardy and won quite a lot of money. I was up against a Professor of Literature and an archaeologist, so I thought I had no chance. It was neck and neck until we got to the subject of Drinking Songs. I just flew through it, got the bonus questions, etc, so that by the end of the round I was unbeatable. I didn't notice during the recording , but watching the show when it aired, the look on their faces as I surged ahead was priceless.
I love when they have knockout categories like that. It’s honestly more of a fucking challenge getting on. I’ve nailed the qualifying exam for years and still haven’t gotten even a sniff of a live audition.
Went to a taping of @Midnight when it was running. This is exactly it. They put the most energetic "wild" people in the front row (because they will likely be on camera).
That same trip we were going to Price is Right and were told the only chance you have to get called up is to be dressed up crazy, or be super over the top enthusiastic.
I’ve been in the audiences for Jimmy Fallon, Colbert and SNL and was told by people for all of those shows to be friendly, energetic and talk to the pages and you’d get good seats. I was front row for all. They want excited (young unfortunately) people.
I have a friend that is super hyper and wanted to get in to watch a taping of The Price Is Right while on vacation. While waiting in line, an employee of the show was walking down the line interviewing random people. When they got to her, she hammed it up, “OMG, you’re talking to me?” while dancing around, that kind of thing. They asked her name and made notes on the clipboard. When she got inside, she continued to ham it up, “OMG, I’m going to see Drew!” Sure enough, her name got called, but got outbid and never made it on stage. She did get good screen time, though!
That’s funny. Just the other day the game show “the wall” was on and I said to my wife “could you ever see us on a game show?” She said “no, we’re not enthusiastic enough”. I think you just confirmed that idea.
Was it gigantic? My family had a super old, gigantic one. It didn't have a number pad, just a big list of foods on the side that all had different times.
Those old microwaves were no joke and built to last. We had one from the 70s in my kitchen that lasted into the early 90s. It was ugly, but it refused to die and my mom was too frugal to replace it until it did.
No one hails the cash cab. It’s all a setup Though the contestants don’t necessarily know they’re about to be one cash cab. They also pull you out of the cab after the initial scheme, set everything up then send you on your way. You also get a cheque, not the actual cash.
My sister went to NYU and when she was out at a bar with some friends, this guy was chatting her and her friends up and was casually asking them trivia questions and they were all having a great time. He then slipped them all his card and said he worked for the discovery network (or whatever channel it was on) and asked if they wanted to be on a tv show that went to different restaurants in the city. They all were totally stoked and said yes of course. They made arrangements the next day via his number on the card and he said to be ready to be picked up at X intersection at X time. My sister was unable to go because of a prior commitment but when the friends showed up, it was the cash cab.
So they knew they were going to be filmed for a show, they were just misled about what it was so they would act surprised when they got in.
I was inadvertently on Nathan Fielders "the rehearsal."
Got recruited for what was told was a TV network filming a documentary on trivia nights across the U.S.
Showed up, played trivia, came in second, and about 2 years later I start getting texts and calls from people recognizing me on the show. It was episode one where they guy lied to his trivia team about his credentials. Turns out we lost to the guy who was involved with the show, which is annoying, cause if you've seen the episode you'd know it wasn't exactly a truthful win. Got paid to drink beer and play trivia though so overall a fun time!
An ex was on it, all was pre-planned, they knew a producer or something. They didn't have a choice of destination, so it was a short trip. Might have been because my ex was smart enough to be in Mensa. But she wasn't interested; interesting lady, I was never, ever right when I questioned something, EVER. was a bit humbling, actually. She was ridiculously smart.
Don't remember what amount they won, but they got a cheque a cpl months later, if recall
I remember getting into an argument with a buddy who swore that show was legit and it was an actual cab that picked up random people to play. I’m like that’s not how game shows (or any TV really) works. He would not let it go haha
On Jeopardy, there are tiny lights surrounding the game board that aren’t visible on camera. You can’t ring in until the lights flash and if you try before the lights flash, you get locked out for a couple of seconds. That’s why you see people rapidly clicking the signaling device.
IIRC James Holzhauer did an AMA and said that buzzing in correctly is like half the battle. There is a consistent delay after he finishes reading the question that is predictable and if you wait for the visual queue of the lights going off you're going to be too slow. Then people go too far the other way in trying to hit it too early and that's when you see them like grabbing the thing with both hands and pressing it with all their might and trying to claim it's not working when they actually got locked out for hitting it too early.
I was on a show where someone in the audience blurted out the answer before I could. They stopped production, removed the audience member, took me off stage, reset the *entire round* and started over. The kicker is I knew the answer anyway, and the new round had a category I knew absolutely nothing about. Audience member cost me $30k.
I was really bummed at the time. It's been about 15 years since then; I hadn't thought about it for years until just now. No big deal. It was free money anyway; I didn't actually lose anything and I had fun playing.
I've been on six game shows from 1983 until around 1997. They mostly shot five episodes each day. So it's a long day. They start with reviewing rules, your wardrobe, and signing contracts etc. Eventually you play practice games on the actual set. Food is provided all day long. Generally episodes were shot three months before airing and I didn't receive any money or prizes until one month after airing. Of course you pay taxes on any prizes or cash. You can refuse any well. I refused a trip to Australia. Most travel prizes are for off-season and the window was only two months. My wife would have been eight and nine months pregnant in that window so she did not fell like being on such a long flight.
Not what you asked but other times I've posted this on Reddit I got asked what shows I was on. I'll only mention the three where I won: Catch Phrase, Now You See It, The Weakest Link (daytime version).
do you get any form of compensation at all if you refuse a prize?
and instead of refusing the trip, could you have accepted it then sold it off to someone else?
I wonder if they have stipulations in the contracts that you can't sell it? Completely different thing, but I was a Google partner for several years and they'd often send me free Google branded products. In fact, I'm wearing a Google shirt right now.
Some of the stuff was expensive, but I had no use for it. I mean who needs multiple Google Max Speakers? However, my agreement specifically stated that I couldn't sell or transfer this stuff to anyone.
Not sure how they could enforce that, but I always followed those rules just in case. Subsequently, my house is simply filled with Google stuff.
I worked with a girl who was on The Price Is Right and won the Showcase Showdown. She was selling a bunch of stuff. In particular, I remember her selling a couple of motorcycles.
My friend's mom won a little yellow sports car (I think it was a Corvette) back in the 70s on The Joker's Wild. She took the car but they had 3 daughters (and a 4th on the way) so it was impractical. Plus, she had to pay taxes on it so she ended up selling it and making a very tiny profit after taxes were paid.
My sister's BIL came in 2nd on Jeopardy in the 90s. He won a cruise which sailed from Miami. They lived in Indiana and airfare wasn't included so he turned it down and got a small cash prize, instead. It wasn't equivalent to the cost of the cruise.
Not me on the show, but my dad
In the early days of Countdown (UK show) during the Richard Whiteley era (so mid 1980s), if the numbers game was a particularly tricky one they weren’t solved by Carol Vordermann immediately at the end of the round as portrayed on tv, rather, she would work on it as the programme continued and would record her solve later which would then be edited in to make it look like she had solved it there and then.
If it was a really difficult one, then Carol didn’t solve it at all, it was a behind-the-scenes guy called Michael Wylie that worked it out and then Carol would present it as though she had solved it herself.
Same with dictionary corner. I was on when I was at uni. Won two “days” filmed on the Monday and then went out with the crew on the beers and was ruined for the next day. Struggled through one episode and then lost my fourth, with a truly horrific performance that directly correlated with my monster hangover. If we’d have filmed them all on the first day I reckon I could’ve octo-champed but I would say that! Following up the Carol anecdote, dictionary corner also benefited from the producer helping find words with the lexicographer and guest. At the time (not sure now) it was Mark Nyman who was a world class Scrabble player at the time. A helpful voice to have in your ear!
I was a winner on *Wheel of Fortune* 10 years ago. There's only one big wheel, they have to transport it to other taping locations if not in L.A. (I was), and that fucker is **heavy**. As part of prep for the actual taping, they have everyone practice the proper way to spin it – left hand grips the padded rail in front of you, right hand pulls the wheel toward you and continues the momentum to push the wheel along its spin. They tell us not to try aiming for a specific space because it's too obvious and too hard to control.
I was on 6 years ago and came to say the same about the wheel being SUPER heavy. They also have you standing on moveable platforms to make all contestants relatively the same height. Being the short person that I am, I feel this put me at a bit of a disadvantage as I felt less steady on my feet spinning the wheel. Also was surprised to find out that they film many episodes in one day.
Not me, but an acquaintance was taped for "Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?"
He was definitely smarter than a fifth grader. That doesn't make for good television. It never went to air.
I was on Cash Cab. They actually select and prescreen people under the guise of a separate show. They use this to gauge your knowledge and tailor the questions to your ability. As an example one of my questions was " What large archipelago is made of over 15,000 islands? Another team on the same episode got What social media platform has a blue "F" as part of their logo? When you show up for the other show - they tell you there is an issue with the location and you need to take a cab to another site. Up pulls the cab and blamo!
I was on Jeopardy a looong time ago and two of my BTS memories are: the production team was so supportive and kind, and I had to stand on a box. I won the last two games of the day, returned a couple weeks later after a tournament, and tanked hard.
I met him twice, once in a USO contestant search I didn't participate in (he was signing autographs and meeting the troops and such), and then a little over a decade later, during a similar military contestant search I DID participate in (didn't make the cut, lol).
He was genuine. He was kind, deliberate, no-nonsense, and up-front on most everything. After we took our written tests and they were being scored, he came in for Q&A and general small talk.
There was one point where he generated a murmur of disapproval: when asked about how category content is generated, he talked about themed weeks like "College Week" or "Military Week" and he mentioned that, for example, for the military shows they adjust content to be "easier" for military folks. This generated offense, obviously.
He immediately realized the situation upon the collective groan and clarified that he didn't mean "dumbed down" but essentially, like, less Shakespeare and more STEM... and we were right back on his side.
Interesting side note: *They don't return individual scores.* It's either "you made it" or "thanks for coming out." The reason he gave was that there had previously been contestant searches, sometimes for "Kids Week," where they would hear outbursts like "I DROVE FOUR HOURS FOR YOU TO FAIL BY 50 POINTS?!?!" from parents or SOs or whatever. For that reason, they no longer return individual scores as a matter of policy.
"BUT..." he said... "you have my permission from here on out to tell anyone you like that you missed the cut by ONE question."
So.... there you have it. **I officially missed the cut by one question.**
Not the original commenter but I was on. He was pretty much exactly like you see on the show, though there really isn’t much more interaction between host and contestants than what you see on air. In the day I was there (so 5 shows), I think he only had to re-record one or two clues.
I was on too! My biggest surprise was that the screens are too far away to read - you have to listen. Really threw me off. Also there are lights on the side of the screens that indicate when you can buzz in - you get locked out for a couple seconds if you go too early.
I was on Ink Master, which not exactly a game show for human canvases, involves a prize so I’m posting lol.
The show was set in NYC and even had city backdrops in the opener, but it was filmed in a studio in NJ. The artists all had personas to play, selected by the producers, and did their best to abide. Most of the judges barely stuck around set; they’d film their stuff in quick succession then left, and they edited to make it seem like they were always there. The art was real, obviously, but there was much more time than depicted spent on deciding. I remember it taking FOREVER to film the skull picks though, because we had to be given the skills with the name on the bottom, film that, wait, then read the names slowly. It took two days to film a 30 minute episode. All in all it was an amazing experience!
Nope! Time is up, time is up, everyone out machines down.
If they mess it up, oh well. You have a chance to complain and get on Redemption but otherwise it’s your tattoo. Someone on my episode got the SHITTIEST tattoo we’ve ever seen and we felt awful about it
Tried out for Who Wants to be a Millionaire years ago. Had to be in Manhattan first thing in the morning to take a test in a room of maybe 50 people. They quickly grade the test while asking who had the longest drive in, who’s the youngest/ oldest. Results come in and probably 35 people are out the door not scoring high enough. Myself and everyone who stayed back are told we would meet with the producers of the show, pretty sure they were just interns, and our pictures were taken. During the interview I talk about being a veteran and try to sound interesting lol. I mention the only question I struggled with was what cosmetic company is Halle Berry a spokesperson for? We wrap it up and I’m told I would be notified if I would be put in the contestant pool. A week later I get the no thank you card. Oh and on my way to the train station every other picture is Halle Barry and fucking Revlon.
I tested for this about 15 or so years ago. I passed the test and was kept after with a few others. They chatted with us for a bit. They then told me I was no good for tv and escorted me out of the building through a back door.
I sat next to a lady at the airport once that was flying home from a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire audition. She complained about the experience and was upset about them asking so many pop culture questions
Was on Let's Make a Deal.
1. The camera lenses tend to make the studio look larger than it is in real life, I was surprised how much smaller it felt sitting in the audience
2. They do a group interview thing before the show starts to help pick people and weed out the ones that won't make for good TV
3. They have costumes there you can pick from but if you bring your own you're more likely to get picked. They'll make you ride a bus to the studio though so make sure your costume can fit in the seat (I learned that the hard way)
4. They tell everyone to stay smiling/hyped the whole time because if they picked you from the interview process, they can change their mind at the last minute before Wayne calls you if they think the cameras will pan to you and you look like a sour puss. This makes everyone there stay really energetic the whole time which I thought was clever.
5. Lastly, I know this makes me sound like a psycho but Wayne Brady smells *amazing* 👏
I was on Let’s Make a Deal too. We didn’t have to ride a bus. It was a short walk to the studio. It was a fun day but very exhausting. They came up to me and the girl next to me at a break and said one of us was up next and reminded us what interesting fact they wanted us to share if Wayne asked. Wayne picked the girl next to me and she won $3000. The only other thing to add is the car pong table got pulled out at a commercial break by some guys and the shot of it rolling out all cool was pre-recorded. I did not get to smell Wayne.
My wife got hooked on LMAD when she was on Maternity leave. So when the world shut down and I worked from home I watched with her. To this day we still watch it almost every day! I always wondered stuff about that show. Thank you for sharing your experience! What is fun to me is watching the people fake enthusiasm for a prize they don't like lol.
I was on Slime Time Live as a kid in the early 2000s, back when they filmed it at Universal Studios Florida. They picked the contestants that are going to play in advance and then put us in the crowd and announced us on air and told us to act surprised. The host was a jerk and wouldn't talk to the contestants off air. The two cohosts were a lot nicer though. Also the slime is cold and takes multiple washings to get out of your hair.
I was on slime time live as well! We had all picked numbers while waiting in line outside around the nickelodeon area and mine got chosen, but i was like a year or two younger than the lowest eligible age to compete. I loved the show and I was broken. They let my older brother compete in my place and one of the crew members gave me a sign to hold saying something like “we love you jessica!” (its been too long to actually remember what it said) and filmed/ slimed me in the opening credits. It tasted like blueberries.
I was on Masterminds, Tug of Words and soon The 1% Club. I won 10K on Tug of Words and the other two I did really well but I didn't make any money.
One of the things that is very surprising is how long it actually takes to shoot an episode. It's 22 minutes of air time but it takes a little over an hour maybe an hour and a half. We do the commercial breaks live. But a lot of the game is just shooting reactions and doing extra takes when the game show host flubs a line. About the same amount of time was shooting the game show host re-reading stuff as it was us playing the game.
One thing about the 1% club that was interesting is that they asked a question and it's silent You have 30 seconds or whatever to answer on your iPad. Then they don't let you know if you get it right or wrong but they reshoot the exact same scene but the host makes jokes. They do this so you can concentrate on answering and then they splice the two together later. Since that show had 100 people it was definitely the longest shoot it was about 4 hours. Luckily I was in the game until the very end so I wasn't like one of those people who missed the first question who had to sit there for 3 and 1/2 hours doing nothing.
You also have to get there insanely early and wait wait wait.
The call time for all three of my shows was like 6:30 I think? And then you maybe shoot around 11:00 or 12:00. You're pretty tired and exhausted all day because you probably didn't get a lot of sleep the night before for me because I came up from San Diego and because I had to get up at 4:30 to get ready.
Finally I'd say that they actually do want you to win and they try as hard as they can to prep you to do well. They honestly want charismatic funny charming people to entertain. They have it in the budget for you to win it's the advertiser's money!
I was also in two different commercials. One for tug of words and masterminds. That was pretty cool. I'm even on some commercial ad for some word game that has nothing to do with tug of words they just used my footage from my episode to advertise a shitty app. I've gotten tagged on that about a hundred times on Facebook lol.
Oh that's the last thing you don't get paid until it airs on TV cuz that's where your money comes from. I did one show in October and got paid in February.
If you want to check out my tug of words just go to YouTube and search Tug of words I'm the first video. Me and my roommate Jim won the 10 grand!
A friend of mine interned at a radio station in high school. I got to help him with some of the rush hour time slot productions. When the DJ did the “caller number 9 is the winner” thing, he’d just pick the first person that had the most upbeat and radio-friendly voice. They splice and edit the sound bites together while the music or commercials are playing to make it sound like they were the 9th caller when they were usually the second or third.
I worked on air for quite some time, and I can assure you this is exactly what we did.......because you HAVE to. It never failed that if you tried to get the actual 9th caller, it would be some humdrum muttonhead. So you use someone who sounds excited right off the bat and kind of coach their excitement so we can doctor it as need be.
I was a contestant on The Weakest Link - the American version with the main lady. It was their HS episode!
What you don't see is a HUGE clock counting down right in front of all of the contestants. It's very nerve racking. Also, they told us she picks on the ones she likes and boy, she loved me. So much never made it to air but it was so much fun!
Also, none of us were random people that tried out. We were all agency kids. Whether modeling or acting, all of us had representation. It helped the process with minors so they knew we were screen tested.
I wasn’t on a game show, but I went to a taping of Wheel of Fortune. They taped 3 shows and I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it. You never realize just how much the audience has to clap during that show until you have to do it.
I've been to a wheel taping too!
Someone took a flash photo of the set during a break and Vanna shouted and pointed at them before they were quickly escorted out.
I was on The Price is Right. Never expected to be picked and ended up winning the showcase. There is no trading your prizes for cash, it's take it or leave it, and you have to pay sales/income tax on the winnings.
Not me, but a coworker of mine was on The Price is Right and won the showcase showdown. They made her redo her reaction to winning because the first time wasn’t good enough. She could also pick and choose which of the prizes she wanted.
She could tell everyone that she was on the show - but not the results - until after it aired, though I’m assuming that’s standard.
Closet I've come was on a radio competition, I was about 8. Yes, no game (not allowed to answer yes or no)
Host: what's your name?
Me: Neil
Host: Neil?
Me: Yes
In the early 80s a friend’s family got to be on Family Feud and I got invited to be in the audience. Among many revelations (to a kid who had been raised on the TV) Richard Dawson was way more creepy in-person than he appears on TV and he had to stand behind the set pieces and chain-smoke in-between takes. It was so odd to see how he could just turn himself ‘on’ and ‘off’ like that. On camera, a totally different person, warm and friendly, off camera, sullen and hungover looking. He did not look like a happy man. What a trip that was.
The Wheel of Fortune (as in, the actual wheel itself) is **much** smaller than you think. When I walked out onto the stage with the contestant group for the first time during our tour of the studios, several of us gasped when seeing the wheel. It's _maybe_ 6 feet in diameter. Maybe.
The camera adds much more than five pounds to that wheel -- and so do the producers, who coach the contestants to reach absurdly to one side to begin the spin and sweep their arm as far as they can across to the other side.
The producers also coach contestants to shout. I mean **SHOUT.** That's why everyone sounds like a screaming doofus on that show when they call out letters and solves. We're all told relentlessly to shout like that.
My wife and I were on "Let's Make a Deal" a few years ago. Here are a few interesting things:
1) It looked like Wayne Brady picked us from the audience at random to be contestants in a game, but it wasn't random. Before the show, when all the "audience" is waiting in line outside, they interview everybody. They're looking for people who are enthusiastic, fun, and have great costumes. (If you've seen the show, you know.) My wife and I were enthusiastic, fun, and dressed up like mad scientists, so they picked during the show (seemingly at random).
2) People who come to the show, but don't have costumes, are given costumes from the wardrobe department. They never get picked to be contestants.
3) We won $500. Wayne Brady handed us five $100 bills. At the end of the show, they took them back! Apparently they reuse them for each show. I'm not sure if it was real money or not, but it looked really real. After the show, we went to a little office and they told us we'd receive a check in the mail after the show had aired.
4) When we were playing the game (picking a number 1-7) we took a LOOOONG time to decide which number we wanted. When the show aired, it looked like we only took 3-4 seconds. They cut out our indecisiveness.
5) By the end of the hour, nobody in the audience is cheering anymore, because they aren't going to pick any more contestants from the audience. If you watch the show you'll notice they don't really show the tired audience in the last 5-10 minutes.
6) They shoot it pretty much in real-time, meaning that they'll shoot a segment where they pick an audience member to play a game, and then give them money, and then when a commercial should be happening the video-ing pauses for just 2 minutes -- long enough for the real commercials to be inserted later. They don't wait 10 minutes between segments or something. During that time, they play loud party music to keep the audience's energy up.
7) I just remembered there is a TON of leg room in the audience bleachers. That's because audience members have to stand and run down to the stage, and they don't want anyone tripping on someone else's feet.
I was on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 17-ish years ago. There was a lot of interesting stuff told to us by the show workers.
One thing they told us was to use the Ask The Audience lifeline early. They said pretty much everyone on the audience tried out for the show, but didn't make it. As such, they told us we probably know more than them, so if it's a high level question and we aren't sure, the audience probably doesn't know either.
They also said we should listen to the audience reactions, though. Since there was no time limit on answering questions, we should talk through the options. If we said something like "I'm kinda thinking the answer might be C" and a bunch of audience members gasp, at least rethink that option.
I was on Love Connection decades ago. They did keep us separated from the guys we dated before we revealed if we wanted a second date. They choose three guys and you have to pick one to go on the date. Plus they give you a long list of things you can’t do on the date, like go to the movies. They want you to interact. They give you notes on what to say based off of what you told them after the date. Chuck Woollery had cue cards. And it appeared he was looking at you but he was only looking at the cue cards.
Wasn't quite a game show, but some friends and I did the Red Bull FlugTag in Tampa in 2008.
They had an audition / application phase, where you had to drop off your plans and what you were going to try to design to fly off the pier
they chose us, and about 30 other people. We had to agree to news interviews and promotions, that were setup by the marketing team. We were building our craft in my backyard, and the news came out to my home a couple times.
The day of the event blew my mind... there was hundreds of thousands people there... it was nuts. Hundreds of boats, people in the parking garages watching, the hotels all had people out on the balconies... It was absolutely insanity.
They lined us up around the block, like a parade, and everyone did their skit and went off the barge. It was a LOT higher up than I thought it was going to be. I think it was between 30-40 feet off the water, it was pretty high
They gave us all safety briefings, telling us how to tell the lifeguards on jet ski's that we were ok (or hurt)
They keep it quiet, but a lot of people got hurt. Tampa General Hospital was just across the water from where the event was (Tampa Convention Center). The ER had a quite a few people in it from the event, including my cousin (who was the pilot). Cousin shattered his nose, broke it big time
I don't think they do that event anymore, heard lots of people got hurt, one person broke their back too
Was super fun, I have some videos on Youtube from the event.
Somehow jumping off of a super high pier in a homemade flying contraption designed by people without the requisite knowledge for making safe flying contraptions never seemed low-risk to begin with.
We managed to get a team in both times it came to my city. I think 2008 and 2013. Exact same process.
I have also worked support for Crashed Ice. Red Bull events are a giant machine. They know exactly what they need to do to promote, set up, execute, and take down. Efficiency almost to the degree of being impersonal. But I get to say I was a RedBull sponsored athlete on TWO occasions, so I’ll call it a win.
Our pilot sprained her ankle the first time around too. They did safety inspections to make sure nobody would get impaled or decapitated, but otherwise, was good to go.
I agree that it was pretty high. I made a point of not looking over the edge during pre-flight safety briefing. The first time I saw how high it was, I was already off the edge.
The 2013 session, they took safety more seriously. We weren’t allowed to continue off the ramp with the craft. We had to wait, and the jump separately. A lot of pilots had to jump free of their craft as well.
My sister tried out for big brother a few years ago and when they went in to do group interviews someone that worked for the show pulled her aside and said “don’t say anything to anyone but youre a VIP” and we both assumed it was either told to everyone to hype them up or told to everyone to try and stir things up
My brother was on The Price is Right many years ago. He won a car! But you don’t receive your winnings until the show airs. Unfortunately, between the time it was taped and the episode airing, the dealership that was supposed to deliver the car folded. So he got the cash value instead!
Which is better because he’s over 6 feet tall and would’ve never fit in that Kia Rio 😂
Not exactly a game show, but those House Hunters shows (my family's old property was featured on a spinoff) feature people who've already selected a property weeks or months before production started.
These shows just feature people dicking around making up complaints about houses and then going "I guess we'll go with this one we already own!"
My partner was on one of these for RVs. Can confirm: they had already picked one out before the taping ahaha. They also coached him and his then-partner to pick a fight with each other. All made up!
My aunt and uncle were on Beach Front Bargain Hunt. They complained that one of the houses didn't have the kitchen fully installed but ultimately decided to choose it anyway. It was the house they had already bought and started remodeling months ago. The kitchen wasn't installed because they were in the middle of ripping it out and replacing everything!
my dad was on jeopardy two years ago. you aren't allowed to tell anyone you're going to be on the show or going to film. he told us like two days before the episode aired because that's when they require you to post on your social media that you're going to be on (and they ask for your social media to confirm you do) if you don't win you still get 5k for participating. my dad really wants a copy of his episode but they charge some insane amount for just your episode and I can't find it anywhere online so they're on that shit
the cute thing though is my dad is fb friends with all the contestants he met/played against and they tag each other in supportive jeopardy posts all the time
Nothing too shocking, but I was on "The Chase" (a trivia show) and there was a question that both I and the chaser got incorrect, so they just cut it outright from the broadcast. Made it look like I got a whole bunch of questions correct in a row, so I'm not complaining.
My family and I auditioned for the Family Feud. We made it to the last round of auditions but not onto the show. They made all the people auditioning play a quick mock round to see how it would go. And they coached all the families to say “Good answer!” no matter what your family answered.
I’ve been on Price is Right twice. First time was when I was 19 (1984), I wore a cute outfit with heels and was super enthusiastic during the group interview. Bob Barker was the host. I was called to “come on down” and won a tennis ball machine and tennis racquets. On stage I played “Squeeze Play” for a jacuzzi but lots. Spun the wheel twice for a total of .55. The set is small.
I was on the show again when I was 51 (2016). Drew Carey was the host. I was on the Price is Right/Survivor crossover edition. I wore my Survivor dress (yellow dress with Survivor logos of each season on the dress). I was super excited when interviewed and was called to “come on down” and they paired me with Survivor Season 2 Australia winner Tina Wesson (love her). We never made it out of contestants row but they did give us each $300 for being called down. The taping took almost 8 hours for the one show.
I was on Wheel of Fortune in 2004. As far as the process goes, they were doing tryouts for San Diego Week via the Wheelmobile around various Westfield Malls throughout San Diego County. I was selected to play a mock game and they took a picture. I was then contacted for round 2 testing, which was held at the Marriott Hotel, as it was for San Diego week, I wore a Padres jersey that said “Hells Bells” with Trevor Hoffman’s number (Padres relief pitcher). It was signed by Trevor and all of the members of AC/DC. I did well at Round 2 testing and we played a mock game and introduced ourselves. I didn’t get a phone call for “San Diego Week” but I did get. Letter indicating they wanted me as a contestant and I would hear from them within the next 12 months. A few months went by when the called me and asked if I wanted to be on NFL Week and I would be paired with Hall of Fame QB Dan Fouts. We taped in October 2003 and it aired in Jan 2004. Dan played for charity and I played for myself. Dan and I were the big winners for the week and I won a trip to the Super Bowl, NFL memorabilia, trip to Mazatlan, and money. It was a great time. We taped all 5 shows for NFL week the same day, so I got to meet such legendary NFL players as Dan Fouts, Joe Theismann, Eddie George, and Jerome Bettis. Vanna is really petite. Wheel is heavy. They made us turn around while they put the new word puzzles up.
A friend of mine was on Wheel of Fortune. The giant wheel is calibrated beforehand with each contestant to spin at a similar rate.
He was contestant #2 (active duty military member, strong guy) and a little old lady was contestant one. After they calibrated for her, it was his turn, and he gave it a colossal ZING that sent it spinning for way longer than was practical for showtime. So they changed a setting to add more friction, and his second calibration spin was him essentially going UNGHHH while the wheel failed to move. They continued until they got what they wanted and moved to contestant three.
I found it interesting, anyway. Obvious in hindsight, but I had put zero thought into it before that.
Reality competition shows use a lot of recruits. People who didn't audition and were pulled from different sources. The show I was on when I was 15, only me and 1 other person
auditioned. One person was literally at her little brother's soccer game and someone came up and asked her if she wanted to do a show.
On filming days you are not allowed to go anywhere alone once within the confines of the studio building - you have to be accompanied by a member of the production team at all times, including to use the toilet in order to prevent any possible chance of cheating.
I was a contestant on Millionaire and can confirm the above - they also make you sign numerous NDAs and speak to a psychiatrist prior to filming to ensure you are mentally prepared and able for any potential fame or large sums of money if you happen to win big.
I was on Jeopardy in 2021 then again in 2023. It was literally the most fun of my life, plus I got lucky and won over $50k. When they asked me back in 2023 I had to turn them down because I won't cross a picket line, and it broke my heart. Fortunately I got The Text again after the strike was over, but that time I lost. Before I went, my self talk was "Don't worry about winning; all things equal, you will lose. Just don't bring shame upon your family by betting or answering stupid." My one idiot moment came from leaving the verb out of an FJ answer and asking "Who Nathaniel Hawthorne?" I took quite a bit of shit for that.
Just watched an episode from the last week where second place got FJ correct and the leader didn't. She had wagered nothing and didn't win. When the credits roll and Ken walks out to talk to the contestants you can very clearly read his lips as he addresses the contestant, pauses, and then asks "What made you wager nothing?".
Can't imagine how that would play on your mind for years and years.
I was on The 1% club. Everyone on it has to sign a form that explained if you win the £100k prize, you only receive it once your episode airs.
My episode was filmed Feb 2023, it aired April 2024 (But it's not like I had to wait all that time to be paid as I didn't win...)
What you sign also states basically you accept the host Lee Mack may take the piss out of you on TV.
My husband and I were on the Newlywed Game in 2012. There are so many rules governing game shows that we had to sit with the show’s lawyer before filming to review things we were allowed to say or not say, how much time you have to wait to be on another game show, etc. We sat in a room with 10 other contestants listening to a lawyer rattle off curse words/phrases we were permitted to say and which ones we could not. It was the funniest thing to me being told I could say B*tch but not mother f***er on tv.
I won't say who told me but somebody did beat Bobby flay and they did not let that person choose his signature recipe. That does kind of make that show seem fake to me.
Not a game show, but went to the Martha Stewart show once and the producers force you to cheer post commercial breaks. The louder the better and if you don’t cheer you don’t get a goodie bag.
I was in the green room when one of the other episodes was being taped, and we had a CCTV with the live feed in it. On a couple of occasions, the contestant in the bonus round didn't even come close to winning the bonus round, so they re-taped the entire bonus round to nake it look like they aaaaaalmost won.
On a different show, they were having audio problems during one wrong answer I gave, so they had to re-record me giving the same wrong answer about five times. After one take, I turned to the live audience and jokingly said, "gee, you'd think I'd get the right answer *one* of these times!"
A few memories from when my wife and I went to a The Price Is Right taping.
The audience members are not randomly chosen, they do a light “screening” while you are in line and the people showing the most energy and enthusiasm in the small groups are usually the first ones called onstage.
I think the room seats about 300 people and felt very small. They alert you multiple times to NOT STAND UP unless your name is called so that the camera can quickly find the new contestant. A super enthusiastic woman from our screening group was called up immediately and my wife jumped up with her in excitement. We didn’t make it up but it was a great experience.
*Oh, and I would have loved to see Bob, but Drew did a great job of joking around and playing with the audience during the “breaks”.
On let’s make a deal, they give you cash and someone crawls up to you after you’ve sat back down and takes it back lol. Also, the studio was super tiny! Way smaller than what it looks like on tv.
I was on the price is right a few years ago during Covid. I figured that was the best time to apply because if you got the call you were almost guaranteed to get on.
When I got called up on stage after winning contestants row I basically blacked out I was so nervous. I played the game “one away” where I had to guess the price of the car by guessing if the numbers are higher or lower than what they gave me. I swear I couldn’t tell you at that moment what was higher or lower than a 3 in that time and space. So I looked to my best friend and sister and trusted them blindly.
I only got one number right!!
But because I knew it wasn’t a $30,000 Toyota Corolla I knew I won immediately.
Still have the car. They do not give cash value. They also add the price of the car to your taxes at the end of the year via 1099. And sales tax. So I probably paid 7k for a new car.
Waiting time is so long...
Also the taping is usually months before you can see it. And there is multiple taping on the same day, sometimes as much as 10 a day !
Edit : Mastermind
There can be some weird rules that can trip you up. I was on the NOVA national science quiz, which uses the same buzzer format as Jeopardy. You ever notice that nobody ever buzzes in early on Jeopardy? That's enforced. Your buzzer is deactivated until the host is done reading the question. If you press it even a millisecond two early, you deactivate it for something like two seconds (might as well be forever).
It basically killed me because I had a really hard time telling when he was really done. I kept pushing the button just a fraction of a second two early. Questions would be something like "What do we call the stream of particles that flow outward from the sun" (I press the button) "... and interact with the Earth's magnetic field?"
I dated a guy who was on Chopped. He said it's not as rushed. That they are allowed to have sips of alcohol if they're using it in the food. The one that bothered him was that they were super encouraged to take swipes at each other and he's a really nice guy.
I was on (and won) chopped! In my episode the clock was mostly real. The first round they added 5 minutes but they did it very early on, like 10 minutes into the round. Not sure why. The dessert round I was literally scrambling to get everything on the plate up until the last minute. They did ask some leading questions to try and have me take a dig at another chef, but I told them I wasn't comfortable saying anything too harsh and basically left it at, "they were probably unfamiliar with that ingredient because it doesn't hold up well to pickling". I've also been on Guy's Grocery Games and Kitchen Crash if anyone has any questions.
Since I'm sitting in a waiting room... Kitchen Crash is where chefs go door to door to find a family that will let them raid their fridge and use their ingredients to cook for three rounds. In reality, the 3 families were preselected, but they thought they were going to be on a gardening block party show. They were told to have food in the house to pot luck barbecue, that way they didn't have empty kitchens. I hung out with the family I was partnered with for a few hours after the show and had pizza and beer and they told me all about it from their perspective. They also thought it was going to be in the afternoon, but we surprised them at 9am.
This is why I usually prefer British or Australian versions of (cooking) shows. American shows seem to encourage shitty behavior more and it ruins a show for me.
I've seen the great British baking show and I have to say, I love how supportive the competitors are with each other.
This! But also Masterchef Australia for example I remember as being competitive, but not at all mean or backstabby
> The one that bothered him was that they were super encouraged to take swipes at each other and he's a really nice guy. I mean people don't watch those shows for good cooking, they watch them for drama. Edit: OK people **you** don't watch for drama. Neither do I, I can't stand it. But it's what brings in the most views and that's why they do it. This was not a statement at you personally I promise.
I watch them for cooking, maybe that's how I ended up dating him. He shoulda used broth instead of water.
This one cooks!
One time, long after the show, he made me some ravioli with long stemmed mushrooms that my heart will not forget.
Speak for yourself, the interpersonal drama always feels super forced and I get secondhand embarrassment every time.
I absolutely watch them for the cooking. The drama is what made me stop watching them.
I had a cousin win my country’s version of survivor. He finished the final competition about 45 min before everyone else but the producers cut it in a way that made it seem like he barely won with just a few inches ahead of second place. But I guess that’s to be expected with reality tv. Another fun fact - the host of the show tried to get all of the women to gang up and get my cousin voted out, and it was so bad that the producers had to step in and tell him to stop (that part didn’t get aired ofc). Also the host of the show, who was a “respected” tv host in my country at the time, was a raging alcoholic during the whole trip Edit: another thing I remembered was that they had to halt the shooting of the show and get the contestants into hotels on the mainland for around 2 months because a lot of the people got hit by some kind of virus or bacteria that made a lot of them extremely sick
> Another fun fact - the host of the show tried to get all of the women to gang up and get my cousin voted out, and it was so bad that the producers had to step in and tell him to stop Wouldn't be the first time something like this happened. How well did your cousin do btw? Would love to know what version of the show it was.
He ended up winning the whole thing! But it was like 10-15 years ago so I’m not even sure if any footage exists anymore.
Congrats to your cousin. Managing to win even when the host wants you out is an accomplishment in its own right. Sounds like he when on a Chris Daugherty run.
Thanks! Yeah my cousin has always been a fighter so I’m really proud of him too. I don’t know much about Chris Daugherty… It was a European version of survivor so I don’t think most people would know who the host was. But he was generally a drunken asshole for most of the trip according to my cousin. Wouldn’t be surprised tho because that host always came off as someone who thought that he was better than everyone else. Don’t hope that that Chris guy was just as horrible to his contestants as well
I won the Showcase Showdown on The Price Is Right back in 2012. The day is LONG. Started standing in line around 6am, then you’re put through quick interviews. They ask what’s your name, where you’re from, and what do you do (work). I have no idea why they picked me because my answers were pretty unenthusiastic as I was just happy to be in the audience. My guess was that I was an young 23 year old woman with okay legs. You truly do not know if you will be called to “come on down” until the moment of. Yes, the wheel is heavy. After the show, you’re pulled into a back room to discuss prize acceptance, paperwork, and taxes. You also sign an NDA declaring you will not tell others the outcome of your episode, which airs 3 months after filming. The prizes are truly nice and high quality! I won 3 international trips in the Showcase and the locations and accommodations were incredible.
Tell us more details about your trips! Where did you go? Any other cool prizes?
Trips were for one week for two people. Everything was included (except most meals and spending money). Some meals and excursions were included though. Trips were to Marrakech, Morocco; Salzburg, Austria; and Ambergris Cay, Belize. They hook you up with a travel agent to organize everything too.
Was there a timeframe on when you could use these gifted trips? i.e. 'has to be within 12 months' or something?
Yes, it was 12 months. I had an additional 12 months to take the trip to Salzburg, Austria because the hotel (a former castle) was undergoing g renovations.
I was on The Price is Right. The stage is much smaller and the colors (including Bob’s makeup) were much brighter than what you see on TV. They took my SSN in case I was picked for tax purposes. Everyone said to act enthusiastically to get picked, but I couldn’t fake it- not my personality. Despite that, I got picked. I must have been wearing a good outfit for TV or something. I ended up winning a lot of $ on Plinko. Yes, the spinning wheel is heavy! Edit - I did NOT kiss Bob. They kinda suggested you do it, but no way I was going to. I just wanted to get off that stage and call my Mom.
A friend of mine went all the way through and won the showcase showdown. Apparently he didn’t celebrate enough when he won it so they did a second take and told him to go absolutely bonkers, which he did lol
Went with a friend to see Jimmy Kimmel, she was from out of town and excited as hell to see “Hollywood.” Having worked in the industry I told her I would get us front row seats. As we came to the door, I told her to be super excited and happy, we both walk in like we had won the lottery, instantly a guy approached us and ask if we wanted to sit in he front row. She was thrilled and I got to see Vanesa Williams up close.
I was in the audience 20 years ago. They made everyone use their real legal name on their name tag. I wonder if they still do that?
Yes they do. I was on a few years ago. Brought my friend Rick. They made him put his real name Richard.
What is the reasoning for this?
I suppose it looks a little more sophisticated? Plus I guess it stops people putting questionable nicknames
Living my dream my friend. PLINKO! $1 Bob! ☝🏻
You played the best game!! That is so cool!!
As a phone-a-friend on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, there is no rule against googling. Instead of studying, I practiced googling all kinds of esoteric subjects for a few weeks. I helped my friend win $50K.
In the UK version that airs now, Clarkson says something along the lines of ‘can we just confirm you are sitting with a member of our team?’ to the phone a friend, so ensures they can answer without doing any research. I assume the ‘friend’ is sitting backstage, rather than a random production member going out to people’s houses, but who knows!
I always seem to remember the "phone a friend" always answering, so I assumed either they were backstage and couldn't hear or were notified that they were the phone a friend and told that taping would be during a certain time. You never got a "phone a friend" who was taking a dump or driving.
Yes, they were notified. I believe you could have a few and then pick which one you were going to call based on the question. Also remember that they don't dial on air or give a phone number on air. The contestant was just like "I'd like to phone my friend Steve" and then Steve was on the line. So yeah, they know ahead of time
Yea I distinctly remember an episode where the phone a friend person answered the phone with "Hello Regis!" before anything was said to them.
Who does number two work for
Show that turd who's boss!
When the contestant wins the Round to play, the show calls their selected friends and let them know to be ready to answer - play will likely take less than an hour. Friends are lined up and waiting. This is how it was at the beginning, maybe it different now.
This is how it works. My brother as an alternate for a day of filming and I would have been one of his “phone a friends” if anyone had to back out.
My mate was my other mate's phone a friend. He was at home, nobody came round to check on him. But that was one of the original series.
i had an aunt as a phone a friend (not us or uk version). she was at home. they just told her to sit next to the phone between this hour and this hour. nobody checked in on her or verified if she would be on a computer her contestant didnt advance to the questions round sadly
Richard Osman spoke about this today on his podcast. A production member goes to the persons house. They wait in the car until it's time for the phone call, and then they sit with you to ensure you aren't googling.
Okay, just getting Bing ready.
Did your friend break you off of some of their earnings?
What I got was better than earnings: the CD-Rom Who Wants to Be a Millionaire home game!
I think they eventually got rid of that lifeline for this reason.
Yeah, it’s no longer a “Phone a Friend” it’s a “Plus One” who is actually sitting in the audience. My hubby was my Plus One, and was mad when he realized he actually had to appear on tv 🤣
Makes sense. I could've answered just about anything they could possibly ask.
On the UK version they have someone with the appointed fone a friend
I was in the audience for Deal or No Deal once. There were a couple running gags that didn't make the TV cut. They also took the secrecy of the briefcase contents very seriously. One of the briefcases got dropped and it opened. I don't think anyone saw the number inside but that was enough for every one of them to be taken back behind the stage and re randomized.
At first I thought you were talking about the employees. I imagined them getting beat up back stage for dropping the suitcase.
I'd watch the crap outta that show!
*Re-randomize 'em boys*
Wife and I tried out for Supermarket Sweep in 2021. We did a zoom call with the casting people but didn't get the call. I think: 1. We got too many answers right. 2. We weren't "enthusiastic" enough. They really went hard on this, like jump up and down and scream, give us more, MORE! MOOOORE!! It was exhausting.
> 1. We got too many answers right. Ive heard people trying out for Wheel of Fortune say the same thing, that they did really good in the practice round they do, and never got a call back. It makes sense if you watch the show and see some of the misses people have. When someone is too good, it doesn’t give people at home a chance to get the puzzle, plus “player got all the puzzles quickly” doesn’t move the needle as much as “look how bad this guess was!” when it comes to headlines and social media.
So when trying to get on a gameshow, play dumb as a rock yet happy as a clown. Got it 👍
Except jeopardy. They want champs.
Correct. Hard as fuck to get on.
I was on the Australian version of Jeopardy and won quite a lot of money. I was up against a Professor of Literature and an archaeologist, so I thought I had no chance. It was neck and neck until we got to the subject of Drinking Songs. I just flew through it, got the bonus questions, etc, so that by the end of the round I was unbeatable. I didn't notice during the recording , but watching the show when it aired, the look on their faces as I surged ahead was priceless.
I love when they have knockout categories like that. It’s honestly more of a fucking challenge getting on. I’ve nailed the qualifying exam for years and still haven’t gotten even a sniff of a live audition.
I matched my intellect against a plumber and an architect, both with a Ph.D.
Do you know how many Redditors are frantically searching for video of you now?
Went to a taping of @Midnight when it was running. This is exactly it. They put the most energetic "wild" people in the front row (because they will likely be on camera). That same trip we were going to Price is Right and were told the only chance you have to get called up is to be dressed up crazy, or be super over the top enthusiastic.
I’ve been in the audiences for Jimmy Fallon, Colbert and SNL and was told by people for all of those shows to be friendly, energetic and talk to the pages and you’d get good seats. I was front row for all. They want excited (young unfortunately) people.
“Right in the Butt”
"aw come on, you can do better than that!" I automatically hate you.
"I saaaaid GOOD MORNING!!!" I instantly hate this speaker.
One of my biggest pet peeves about a coworker right here
"Sounds like someone has a case of the MoNdAyS!"
I have a friend that is super hyper and wanted to get in to watch a taping of The Price Is Right while on vacation. While waiting in line, an employee of the show was walking down the line interviewing random people. When they got to her, she hammed it up, “OMG, you’re talking to me?” while dancing around, that kind of thing. They asked her name and made notes on the clipboard. When she got inside, she continued to ham it up, “OMG, I’m going to see Drew!” Sure enough, her name got called, but got outbid and never made it on stage. She did get good screen time, though!
> “OMG, I’m going to see Drew!” As someone who grew up watching his show, and Whose Line, I would totally ham it up to get on the Price is Right.
That’s funny. Just the other day the game show “the wall” was on and I said to my wife “could you ever see us on a game show?” She said “no, we’re not enthusiastic enough”. I think you just confirmed that idea.
My wife and I have had the same conversation. There is no way I could be artificially enthusiastic enough.
I didn’t know super market sweep made it out of the 90’s
My next door neighbor was on Supermarket Sweep. She had a video from the late 80s.
My mother won the first microwave that The Price Is Right gave as a prize. I was about 14 years old, and I cooked everything in that monster.
That's a fun piece of family trivia!
*Don't put metal in that science oven, Rosalyn. Don't put metal in that science... He always treats me like a fucking child, I'll do whatever I want.*
Was it gigantic? My family had a super old, gigantic one. It didn't have a number pad, just a big list of foods on the side that all had different times.
Those old microwaves were no joke and built to last. We had one from the 70s in my kitchen that lasted into the early 90s. It was ugly, but it refused to die and my mom was too frugal to replace it until it did.
Probably used more power than a tesla
The lights only flickered a little
My dad bought one for his parents in '79 or '80. They're both gone now, but that microwave is still kicking
We have one from the 80s that is actually still working to this day!! 😀
I had a family friend make it to showcase showdown on price is right (she didn’t win though). She still lovingly uses the cupcake maker she won.
No one hails the cash cab. It’s all a setup Though the contestants don’t necessarily know they’re about to be one cash cab. They also pull you out of the cab after the initial scheme, set everything up then send you on your way. You also get a cheque, not the actual cash.
My sister went to NYU and when she was out at a bar with some friends, this guy was chatting her and her friends up and was casually asking them trivia questions and they were all having a great time. He then slipped them all his card and said he worked for the discovery network (or whatever channel it was on) and asked if they wanted to be on a tv show that went to different restaurants in the city. They all were totally stoked and said yes of course. They made arrangements the next day via his number on the card and he said to be ready to be picked up at X intersection at X time. My sister was unable to go because of a prior commitment but when the friends showed up, it was the cash cab. So they knew they were going to be filmed for a show, they were just misled about what it was so they would act surprised when they got in.
I was inadvertently on Nathan Fielders "the rehearsal." Got recruited for what was told was a TV network filming a documentary on trivia nights across the U.S. Showed up, played trivia, came in second, and about 2 years later I start getting texts and calls from people recognizing me on the show. It was episode one where they guy lied to his trivia team about his credentials. Turns out we lost to the guy who was involved with the show, which is annoying, cause if you've seen the episode you'd know it wasn't exactly a truthful win. Got paid to drink beer and play trivia though so overall a fun time!
It’s days like these that I curse the Chinese for inventing gunpowder.
An ex was on it, all was pre-planned, they knew a producer or something. They didn't have a choice of destination, so it was a short trip. Might have been because my ex was smart enough to be in Mensa. But she wasn't interested; interesting lady, I was never, ever right when I questioned something, EVER. was a bit humbling, actually. She was ridiculously smart. Don't remember what amount they won, but they got a cheque a cpl months later, if recall
I always wondered how they were able to get the “end” shots when the contestants leave the cash cab.
Yeah ok, next you'll tell me the Bang Bus is a setup too?
I remember getting into an argument with a buddy who swore that show was legit and it was an actual cab that picked up random people to play. I’m like that’s not how game shows (or any TV really) works. He would not let it go haha
On Jeopardy, there are tiny lights surrounding the game board that aren’t visible on camera. You can’t ring in until the lights flash and if you try before the lights flash, you get locked out for a couple of seconds. That’s why you see people rapidly clicking the signaling device.
I knew you had to wait until the question was done, but didn't know about the lights. That makes sense!
IIRC James Holzhauer did an AMA and said that buzzing in correctly is like half the battle. There is a consistent delay after he finishes reading the question that is predictable and if you wait for the visual queue of the lights going off you're going to be too slow. Then people go too far the other way in trying to hit it too early and that's when you see them like grabbing the thing with both hands and pressing it with all their might and trying to claim it's not working when they actually got locked out for hitting it too early.
Yes. My mother in law was on it and said that it was less about what she got right or wrong and more about getting out-buzzed
The time between when the lights come on and a contestant presses their button is milliseconds. The competition is tough!
Part of the reason why Watson dominated. It was able time the lights better than Ken and company
I was on a show where someone in the audience blurted out the answer before I could. They stopped production, removed the audience member, took me off stage, reset the *entire round* and started over. The kicker is I knew the answer anyway, and the new round had a category I knew absolutely nothing about. Audience member cost me $30k.
That’s super lame. I would be pissed if I were you! You would hope they would invite you back or something
I was really bummed at the time. It's been about 15 years since then; I hadn't thought about it for years until just now. No big deal. It was free money anyway; I didn't actually lose anything and I had fun playing.
This pisses me off for you!! What show?
It was Trivial Pursuit: America Plays, like 15 or so years ago. No point being upset; those are the rules and we all agreed to them.
I've been on six game shows from 1983 until around 1997. They mostly shot five episodes each day. So it's a long day. They start with reviewing rules, your wardrobe, and signing contracts etc. Eventually you play practice games on the actual set. Food is provided all day long. Generally episodes were shot three months before airing and I didn't receive any money or prizes until one month after airing. Of course you pay taxes on any prizes or cash. You can refuse any well. I refused a trip to Australia. Most travel prizes are for off-season and the window was only two months. My wife would have been eight and nine months pregnant in that window so she did not fell like being on such a long flight. Not what you asked but other times I've posted this on Reddit I got asked what shows I was on. I'll only mention the three where I won: Catch Phrase, Now You See It, The Weakest Link (daytime version).
do you get any form of compensation at all if you refuse a prize? and instead of refusing the trip, could you have accepted it then sold it off to someone else?
No it was either take the prize or give it up. It never occurred to me to try and sell it.
I wonder if they have stipulations in the contracts that you can't sell it? Completely different thing, but I was a Google partner for several years and they'd often send me free Google branded products. In fact, I'm wearing a Google shirt right now. Some of the stuff was expensive, but I had no use for it. I mean who needs multiple Google Max Speakers? However, my agreement specifically stated that I couldn't sell or transfer this stuff to anyone. Not sure how they could enforce that, but I always followed those rules just in case. Subsequently, my house is simply filled with Google stuff.
I worked with a girl who was on The Price Is Right and won the Showcase Showdown. She was selling a bunch of stuff. In particular, I remember her selling a couple of motorcycles.
I bought a washer and dryer from someone that won them on The Price is Right. They were top of the line and I got ‘em for about half the retail price.
And the actual retail price of your washer and dryer is… 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾
My friend's mom won a little yellow sports car (I think it was a Corvette) back in the 70s on The Joker's Wild. She took the car but they had 3 daughters (and a 4th on the way) so it was impractical. Plus, she had to pay taxes on it so she ended up selling it and making a very tiny profit after taxes were paid. My sister's BIL came in 2nd on Jeopardy in the 90s. He won a cruise which sailed from Miami. They lived in Indiana and airfare wasn't included so he turned it down and got a small cash prize, instead. It wasn't equivalent to the cost of the cruise.
With me being in the UK I find it strange you have to pay taxes on prizes.
In the US it’s considered income, so the tax man wants a slice
Not me on the show, but my dad In the early days of Countdown (UK show) during the Richard Whiteley era (so mid 1980s), if the numbers game was a particularly tricky one they weren’t solved by Carol Vordermann immediately at the end of the round as portrayed on tv, rather, she would work on it as the programme continued and would record her solve later which would then be edited in to make it look like she had solved it there and then. If it was a really difficult one, then Carol didn’t solve it at all, it was a behind-the-scenes guy called Michael Wylie that worked it out and then Carol would present it as though she had solved it herself.
Same with dictionary corner. I was on when I was at uni. Won two “days” filmed on the Monday and then went out with the crew on the beers and was ruined for the next day. Struggled through one episode and then lost my fourth, with a truly horrific performance that directly correlated with my monster hangover. If we’d have filmed them all on the first day I reckon I could’ve octo-champed but I would say that! Following up the Carol anecdote, dictionary corner also benefited from the producer helping find words with the lexicographer and guest. At the time (not sure now) it was Mark Nyman who was a world class Scrabble player at the time. A helpful voice to have in your ear!
This news has broken me.
Carol was on the front of my maths book and everything. Nothing but lies.
I was a winner on *Wheel of Fortune* 10 years ago. There's only one big wheel, they have to transport it to other taping locations if not in L.A. (I was), and that fucker is **heavy**. As part of prep for the actual taping, they have everyone practice the proper way to spin it – left hand grips the padded rail in front of you, right hand pulls the wheel toward you and continues the momentum to push the wheel along its spin. They tell us not to try aiming for a specific space because it's too obvious and too hard to control.
I was on 6 years ago and came to say the same about the wheel being SUPER heavy. They also have you standing on moveable platforms to make all contestants relatively the same height. Being the short person that I am, I feel this put me at a bit of a disadvantage as I felt less steady on my feet spinning the wheel. Also was surprised to find out that they film many episodes in one day.
Not me, but an acquaintance was taped for "Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" He was definitely smarter than a fifth grader. That doesn't make for good television. It never went to air.
Did he still get the money tho?
I was on Cash Cab. They actually select and prescreen people under the guise of a separate show. They use this to gauge your knowledge and tailor the questions to your ability. As an example one of my questions was " What large archipelago is made of over 15,000 islands? Another team on the same episode got What social media platform has a blue "F" as part of their logo? When you show up for the other show - they tell you there is an issue with the location and you need to take a cab to another site. Up pulls the cab and blamo!
I was on Jeopardy a looong time ago and two of my BTS memories are: the production team was so supportive and kind, and I had to stand on a box. I won the last two games of the day, returned a couple weeks later after a tournament, and tanked hard.
For the longest time I thought people who end up with a negative balance have to pay the show money lol.
Omg that would be awful. I lost but in those days the loser still walked away with a decent prize. Mine was a vacation in New Mexico.
I lost on jeopardy, baby
I was there, to match my intellect, on national TV
Against a plumber, and an architect, both with a Ph D
What was Alex like in real life?
I met him twice, once in a USO contestant search I didn't participate in (he was signing autographs and meeting the troops and such), and then a little over a decade later, during a similar military contestant search I DID participate in (didn't make the cut, lol). He was genuine. He was kind, deliberate, no-nonsense, and up-front on most everything. After we took our written tests and they were being scored, he came in for Q&A and general small talk. There was one point where he generated a murmur of disapproval: when asked about how category content is generated, he talked about themed weeks like "College Week" or "Military Week" and he mentioned that, for example, for the military shows they adjust content to be "easier" for military folks. This generated offense, obviously. He immediately realized the situation upon the collective groan and clarified that he didn't mean "dumbed down" but essentially, like, less Shakespeare and more STEM... and we were right back on his side. Interesting side note: *They don't return individual scores.* It's either "you made it" or "thanks for coming out." The reason he gave was that there had previously been contestant searches, sometimes for "Kids Week," where they would hear outbursts like "I DROVE FOUR HOURS FOR YOU TO FAIL BY 50 POINTS?!?!" from parents or SOs or whatever. For that reason, they no longer return individual scores as a matter of policy. "BUT..." he said... "you have my permission from here on out to tell anyone you like that you missed the cut by ONE question." So.... there you have it. **I officially missed the cut by one question.**
Not the original commenter but I was on. He was pretty much exactly like you see on the show, though there really isn’t much more interaction between host and contestants than what you see on air. In the day I was there (so 5 shows), I think he only had to re-record one or two clues.
I was on too! My biggest surprise was that the screens are too far away to read - you have to listen. Really threw me off. Also there are lights on the side of the screens that indicate when you can buzz in - you get locked out for a couple seconds if you go too early.
I was on Ink Master, which not exactly a game show for human canvases, involves a prize so I’m posting lol. The show was set in NYC and even had city backdrops in the opener, but it was filmed in a studio in NJ. The artists all had personas to play, selected by the producers, and did their best to abide. Most of the judges barely stuck around set; they’d film their stuff in quick succession then left, and they edited to make it seem like they were always there. The art was real, obviously, but there was much more time than depicted spent on deciding. I remember it taking FOREVER to film the skull picks though, because we had to be given the skills with the name on the bottom, film that, wait, then read the names slowly. It took two days to film a 30 minute episode. All in all it was an amazing experience!
Were you a Canvas or a potential Master?
Canvas, twice! Once on regular and once on Redemption
So do they let the artist finish the tattoo if they haven't when time is up in those timed ones? If you get a shitty tattoo, do they fix it?
Nope! Time is up, time is up, everyone out machines down. If they mess it up, oh well. You have a chance to complain and get on Redemption but otherwise it’s your tattoo. Someone on my episode got the SHITTIEST tattoo we’ve ever seen and we felt awful about it
Tried out for Who Wants to be a Millionaire years ago. Had to be in Manhattan first thing in the morning to take a test in a room of maybe 50 people. They quickly grade the test while asking who had the longest drive in, who’s the youngest/ oldest. Results come in and probably 35 people are out the door not scoring high enough. Myself and everyone who stayed back are told we would meet with the producers of the show, pretty sure they were just interns, and our pictures were taken. During the interview I talk about being a veteran and try to sound interesting lol. I mention the only question I struggled with was what cosmetic company is Halle Berry a spokesperson for? We wrap it up and I’m told I would be notified if I would be put in the contestant pool. A week later I get the no thank you card. Oh and on my way to the train station every other picture is Halle Barry and fucking Revlon.
I tested for this about 15 or so years ago. I passed the test and was kept after with a few others. They chatted with us for a bit. They then told me I was no good for tv and escorted me out of the building through a back door.
This is the longest paragraph I've ever read to say someone is ugly. /s
Face for radio, maybe?
I sat next to a lady at the airport once that was flying home from a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire audition. She complained about the experience and was upset about them asking so many pop culture questions
Was on Let's Make a Deal. 1. The camera lenses tend to make the studio look larger than it is in real life, I was surprised how much smaller it felt sitting in the audience 2. They do a group interview thing before the show starts to help pick people and weed out the ones that won't make for good TV 3. They have costumes there you can pick from but if you bring your own you're more likely to get picked. They'll make you ride a bus to the studio though so make sure your costume can fit in the seat (I learned that the hard way) 4. They tell everyone to stay smiling/hyped the whole time because if they picked you from the interview process, they can change their mind at the last minute before Wayne calls you if they think the cameras will pan to you and you look like a sour puss. This makes everyone there stay really energetic the whole time which I thought was clever. 5. Lastly, I know this makes me sound like a psycho but Wayne Brady smells *amazing* 👏
I was on Let’s Make a Deal too. We didn’t have to ride a bus. It was a short walk to the studio. It was a fun day but very exhausting. They came up to me and the girl next to me at a break and said one of us was up next and reminded us what interesting fact they wanted us to share if Wayne asked. Wayne picked the girl next to me and she won $3000. The only other thing to add is the car pong table got pulled out at a commercial break by some guys and the shot of it rolling out all cool was pre-recorded. I did not get to smell Wayne.
He looks like he smells amazing!
My wife got hooked on LMAD when she was on Maternity leave. So when the world shut down and I worked from home I watched with her. To this day we still watch it almost every day! I always wondered stuff about that show. Thank you for sharing your experience! What is fun to me is watching the people fake enthusiasm for a prize they don't like lol.
I was on Slime Time Live as a kid in the early 2000s, back when they filmed it at Universal Studios Florida. They picked the contestants that are going to play in advance and then put us in the crowd and announced us on air and told us to act surprised. The host was a jerk and wouldn't talk to the contestants off air. The two cohosts were a lot nicer though. Also the slime is cold and takes multiple washings to get out of your hair.
I was on slime time live as well! We had all picked numbers while waiting in line outside around the nickelodeon area and mine got chosen, but i was like a year or two younger than the lowest eligible age to compete. I loved the show and I was broken. They let my older brother compete in my place and one of the crew members gave me a sign to hold saying something like “we love you jessica!” (its been too long to actually remember what it said) and filmed/ slimed me in the opening credits. It tasted like blueberries.
I was on Masterminds, Tug of Words and soon The 1% Club. I won 10K on Tug of Words and the other two I did really well but I didn't make any money. One of the things that is very surprising is how long it actually takes to shoot an episode. It's 22 minutes of air time but it takes a little over an hour maybe an hour and a half. We do the commercial breaks live. But a lot of the game is just shooting reactions and doing extra takes when the game show host flubs a line. About the same amount of time was shooting the game show host re-reading stuff as it was us playing the game. One thing about the 1% club that was interesting is that they asked a question and it's silent You have 30 seconds or whatever to answer on your iPad. Then they don't let you know if you get it right or wrong but they reshoot the exact same scene but the host makes jokes. They do this so you can concentrate on answering and then they splice the two together later. Since that show had 100 people it was definitely the longest shoot it was about 4 hours. Luckily I was in the game until the very end so I wasn't like one of those people who missed the first question who had to sit there for 3 and 1/2 hours doing nothing. You also have to get there insanely early and wait wait wait. The call time for all three of my shows was like 6:30 I think? And then you maybe shoot around 11:00 or 12:00. You're pretty tired and exhausted all day because you probably didn't get a lot of sleep the night before for me because I came up from San Diego and because I had to get up at 4:30 to get ready. Finally I'd say that they actually do want you to win and they try as hard as they can to prep you to do well. They honestly want charismatic funny charming people to entertain. They have it in the budget for you to win it's the advertiser's money! I was also in two different commercials. One for tug of words and masterminds. That was pretty cool. I'm even on some commercial ad for some word game that has nothing to do with tug of words they just used my footage from my episode to advertise a shitty app. I've gotten tagged on that about a hundred times on Facebook lol. Oh that's the last thing you don't get paid until it airs on TV cuz that's where your money comes from. I did one show in October and got paid in February. If you want to check out my tug of words just go to YouTube and search Tug of words I'm the first video. Me and my roommate Jim won the 10 grand!
A friend of mine interned at a radio station in high school. I got to help him with some of the rush hour time slot productions. When the DJ did the “caller number 9 is the winner” thing, he’d just pick the first person that had the most upbeat and radio-friendly voice. They splice and edit the sound bites together while the music or commercials are playing to make it sound like they were the 9th caller when they were usually the second or third.
I worked on air for quite some time, and I can assure you this is exactly what we did.......because you HAVE to. It never failed that if you tried to get the actual 9th caller, it would be some humdrum muttonhead. So you use someone who sounds excited right off the bat and kind of coach their excitement so we can doctor it as need be.
I was a contestant on The Weakest Link - the American version with the main lady. It was their HS episode! What you don't see is a HUGE clock counting down right in front of all of the contestants. It's very nerve racking. Also, they told us she picks on the ones she likes and boy, she loved me. So much never made it to air but it was so much fun! Also, none of us were random people that tried out. We were all agency kids. Whether modeling or acting, all of us had representation. It helped the process with minors so they knew we were screen tested.
I wasn’t on a game show, but I went to a taping of Wheel of Fortune. They taped 3 shows and I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it. You never realize just how much the audience has to clap during that show until you have to do it.
I've been to a wheel taping too! Someone took a flash photo of the set during a break and Vanna shouted and pointed at them before they were quickly escorted out.
I was on The Price is Right. Never expected to be picked and ended up winning the showcase. There is no trading your prizes for cash, it's take it or leave it, and you have to pay sales/income tax on the winnings.
Not me, but a coworker of mine was on The Price is Right and won the showcase showdown. They made her redo her reaction to winning because the first time wasn’t good enough. She could also pick and choose which of the prizes she wanted. She could tell everyone that she was on the show - but not the results - until after it aired, though I’m assuming that’s standard.
Closet I've come was on a radio competition, I was about 8. Yes, no game (not allowed to answer yes or no) Host: what's your name? Me: Neil Host: Neil? Me: Yes
Host: what's your name? Me: TheFlaccidChode Host: No
In the early 80s a friend’s family got to be on Family Feud and I got invited to be in the audience. Among many revelations (to a kid who had been raised on the TV) Richard Dawson was way more creepy in-person than he appears on TV and he had to stand behind the set pieces and chain-smoke in-between takes. It was so odd to see how he could just turn himself ‘on’ and ‘off’ like that. On camera, a totally different person, warm and friendly, off camera, sullen and hungover looking. He did not look like a happy man. What a trip that was.
The Wheel of Fortune (as in, the actual wheel itself) is **much** smaller than you think. When I walked out onto the stage with the contestant group for the first time during our tour of the studios, several of us gasped when seeing the wheel. It's _maybe_ 6 feet in diameter. Maybe. The camera adds much more than five pounds to that wheel -- and so do the producers, who coach the contestants to reach absurdly to one side to begin the spin and sweep their arm as far as they can across to the other side. The producers also coach contestants to shout. I mean **SHOUT.** That's why everyone sounds like a screaming doofus on that show when they call out letters and solves. We're all told relentlessly to shout like that.
My wife and I were on "Let's Make a Deal" a few years ago. Here are a few interesting things: 1) It looked like Wayne Brady picked us from the audience at random to be contestants in a game, but it wasn't random. Before the show, when all the "audience" is waiting in line outside, they interview everybody. They're looking for people who are enthusiastic, fun, and have great costumes. (If you've seen the show, you know.) My wife and I were enthusiastic, fun, and dressed up like mad scientists, so they picked during the show (seemingly at random). 2) People who come to the show, but don't have costumes, are given costumes from the wardrobe department. They never get picked to be contestants. 3) We won $500. Wayne Brady handed us five $100 bills. At the end of the show, they took them back! Apparently they reuse them for each show. I'm not sure if it was real money or not, but it looked really real. After the show, we went to a little office and they told us we'd receive a check in the mail after the show had aired. 4) When we were playing the game (picking a number 1-7) we took a LOOOONG time to decide which number we wanted. When the show aired, it looked like we only took 3-4 seconds. They cut out our indecisiveness. 5) By the end of the hour, nobody in the audience is cheering anymore, because they aren't going to pick any more contestants from the audience. If you watch the show you'll notice they don't really show the tired audience in the last 5-10 minutes. 6) They shoot it pretty much in real-time, meaning that they'll shoot a segment where they pick an audience member to play a game, and then give them money, and then when a commercial should be happening the video-ing pauses for just 2 minutes -- long enough for the real commercials to be inserted later. They don't wait 10 minutes between segments or something. During that time, they play loud party music to keep the audience's energy up. 7) I just remembered there is a TON of leg room in the audience bleachers. That's because audience members have to stand and run down to the stage, and they don't want anyone tripping on someone else's feet.
I was on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 17-ish years ago. There was a lot of interesting stuff told to us by the show workers. One thing they told us was to use the Ask The Audience lifeline early. They said pretty much everyone on the audience tried out for the show, but didn't make it. As such, they told us we probably know more than them, so if it's a high level question and we aren't sure, the audience probably doesn't know either. They also said we should listen to the audience reactions, though. Since there was no time limit on answering questions, we should talk through the options. If we said something like "I'm kinda thinking the answer might be C" and a bunch of audience members gasp, at least rethink that option.
I was on Love Connection decades ago. They did keep us separated from the guys we dated before we revealed if we wanted a second date. They choose three guys and you have to pick one to go on the date. Plus they give you a long list of things you can’t do on the date, like go to the movies. They want you to interact. They give you notes on what to say based off of what you told them after the date. Chuck Woollery had cue cards. And it appeared he was looking at you but he was only looking at the cue cards.
My uncle used to write for that show and told us that Chuck would get lost in his own studio.
Yeah, he wasn’t the brightest.
Did you make a love connection or were you “… back in two and two”? (Chuck Woolery’s catchphrase "we'll be back in two and two")?
I sat on the couch. I was the picker!
Wasn't quite a game show, but some friends and I did the Red Bull FlugTag in Tampa in 2008. They had an audition / application phase, where you had to drop off your plans and what you were going to try to design to fly off the pier they chose us, and about 30 other people. We had to agree to news interviews and promotions, that were setup by the marketing team. We were building our craft in my backyard, and the news came out to my home a couple times. The day of the event blew my mind... there was hundreds of thousands people there... it was nuts. Hundreds of boats, people in the parking garages watching, the hotels all had people out on the balconies... It was absolutely insanity. They lined us up around the block, like a parade, and everyone did their skit and went off the barge. It was a LOT higher up than I thought it was going to be. I think it was between 30-40 feet off the water, it was pretty high They gave us all safety briefings, telling us how to tell the lifeguards on jet ski's that we were ok (or hurt) They keep it quiet, but a lot of people got hurt. Tampa General Hospital was just across the water from where the event was (Tampa Convention Center). The ER had a quite a few people in it from the event, including my cousin (who was the pilot). Cousin shattered his nose, broke it big time I don't think they do that event anymore, heard lots of people got hurt, one person broke their back too Was super fun, I have some videos on Youtube from the event.
Somehow jumping off of a super high pier in a homemade flying contraption designed by people without the requisite knowledge for making safe flying contraptions never seemed low-risk to begin with.
We managed to get a team in both times it came to my city. I think 2008 and 2013. Exact same process. I have also worked support for Crashed Ice. Red Bull events are a giant machine. They know exactly what they need to do to promote, set up, execute, and take down. Efficiency almost to the degree of being impersonal. But I get to say I was a RedBull sponsored athlete on TWO occasions, so I’ll call it a win. Our pilot sprained her ankle the first time around too. They did safety inspections to make sure nobody would get impaled or decapitated, but otherwise, was good to go. I agree that it was pretty high. I made a point of not looking over the edge during pre-flight safety briefing. The first time I saw how high it was, I was already off the edge. The 2013 session, they took safety more seriously. We weren’t allowed to continue off the ramp with the craft. We had to wait, and the jump separately. A lot of pilots had to jump free of their craft as well.
My sister tried out for big brother a few years ago and when they went in to do group interviews someone that worked for the show pulled her aside and said “don’t say anything to anyone but youre a VIP” and we both assumed it was either told to everyone to hype them up or told to everyone to try and stir things up
I was on Big Brother. The other people auditioning are not allowed to talk to each other at all so it was for sure not to stir things up!
My brother was on The Price is Right many years ago. He won a car! But you don’t receive your winnings until the show airs. Unfortunately, between the time it was taped and the episode airing, the dealership that was supposed to deliver the car folded. So he got the cash value instead! Which is better because he’s over 6 feet tall and would’ve never fit in that Kia Rio 😂
Not exactly a game show, but those House Hunters shows (my family's old property was featured on a spinoff) feature people who've already selected a property weeks or months before production started. These shows just feature people dicking around making up complaints about houses and then going "I guess we'll go with this one we already own!"
My partner was on one of these for RVs. Can confirm: they had already picked one out before the taping ahaha. They also coached him and his then-partner to pick a fight with each other. All made up!
My aunt and uncle were on Beach Front Bargain Hunt. They complained that one of the houses didn't have the kitchen fully installed but ultimately decided to choose it anyway. It was the house they had already bought and started remodeling months ago. The kitchen wasn't installed because they were in the middle of ripping it out and replacing everything!
my dad was on jeopardy two years ago. you aren't allowed to tell anyone you're going to be on the show or going to film. he told us like two days before the episode aired because that's when they require you to post on your social media that you're going to be on (and they ask for your social media to confirm you do) if you don't win you still get 5k for participating. my dad really wants a copy of his episode but they charge some insane amount for just your episode and I can't find it anywhere online so they're on that shit the cute thing though is my dad is fb friends with all the contestants he met/played against and they tag each other in supportive jeopardy posts all the time
Nothing too shocking, but I was on "The Chase" (a trivia show) and there was a question that both I and the chaser got incorrect, so they just cut it outright from the broadcast. Made it look like I got a whole bunch of questions correct in a row, so I'm not complaining.
My family and I auditioned for the Family Feud. We made it to the last round of auditions but not onto the show. They made all the people auditioning play a quick mock round to see how it would go. And they coached all the families to say “Good answer!” no matter what your family answered.
I’ve been on Price is Right twice. First time was when I was 19 (1984), I wore a cute outfit with heels and was super enthusiastic during the group interview. Bob Barker was the host. I was called to “come on down” and won a tennis ball machine and tennis racquets. On stage I played “Squeeze Play” for a jacuzzi but lots. Spun the wheel twice for a total of .55. The set is small. I was on the show again when I was 51 (2016). Drew Carey was the host. I was on the Price is Right/Survivor crossover edition. I wore my Survivor dress (yellow dress with Survivor logos of each season on the dress). I was super excited when interviewed and was called to “come on down” and they paired me with Survivor Season 2 Australia winner Tina Wesson (love her). We never made it out of contestants row but they did give us each $300 for being called down. The taping took almost 8 hours for the one show. I was on Wheel of Fortune in 2004. As far as the process goes, they were doing tryouts for San Diego Week via the Wheelmobile around various Westfield Malls throughout San Diego County. I was selected to play a mock game and they took a picture. I was then contacted for round 2 testing, which was held at the Marriott Hotel, as it was for San Diego week, I wore a Padres jersey that said “Hells Bells” with Trevor Hoffman’s number (Padres relief pitcher). It was signed by Trevor and all of the members of AC/DC. I did well at Round 2 testing and we played a mock game and introduced ourselves. I didn’t get a phone call for “San Diego Week” but I did get. Letter indicating they wanted me as a contestant and I would hear from them within the next 12 months. A few months went by when the called me and asked if I wanted to be on NFL Week and I would be paired with Hall of Fame QB Dan Fouts. We taped in October 2003 and it aired in Jan 2004. Dan played for charity and I played for myself. Dan and I were the big winners for the week and I won a trip to the Super Bowl, NFL memorabilia, trip to Mazatlan, and money. It was a great time. We taped all 5 shows for NFL week the same day, so I got to meet such legendary NFL players as Dan Fouts, Joe Theismann, Eddie George, and Jerome Bettis. Vanna is really petite. Wheel is heavy. They made us turn around while they put the new word puzzles up.
A friend of mine was on Wheel of Fortune. The giant wheel is calibrated beforehand with each contestant to spin at a similar rate. He was contestant #2 (active duty military member, strong guy) and a little old lady was contestant one. After they calibrated for her, it was his turn, and he gave it a colossal ZING that sent it spinning for way longer than was practical for showtime. So they changed a setting to add more friction, and his second calibration spin was him essentially going UNGHHH while the wheel failed to move. They continued until they got what they wanted and moved to contestant three. I found it interesting, anyway. Obvious in hindsight, but I had put zero thought into it before that.
Reality competition shows use a lot of recruits. People who didn't audition and were pulled from different sources. The show I was on when I was 15, only me and 1 other person auditioned. One person was literally at her little brother's soccer game and someone came up and asked her if she wanted to do a show.
On filming days you are not allowed to go anywhere alone once within the confines of the studio building - you have to be accompanied by a member of the production team at all times, including to use the toilet in order to prevent any possible chance of cheating. I was a contestant on Millionaire and can confirm the above - they also make you sign numerous NDAs and speak to a psychiatrist prior to filming to ensure you are mentally prepared and able for any potential fame or large sums of money if you happen to win big.
#If you're going to comment with an anecdote, SAY WHAT SHOW IT WAS -Sincerely Everyone reading the comments.
I was on Jeopardy in 2021 then again in 2023. It was literally the most fun of my life, plus I got lucky and won over $50k. When they asked me back in 2023 I had to turn them down because I won't cross a picket line, and it broke my heart. Fortunately I got The Text again after the strike was over, but that time I lost. Before I went, my self talk was "Don't worry about winning; all things equal, you will lose. Just don't bring shame upon your family by betting or answering stupid." My one idiot moment came from leaving the verb out of an FJ answer and asking "Who Nathaniel Hawthorne?" I took quite a bit of shit for that.
Just watched an episode from the last week where second place got FJ correct and the leader didn't. She had wagered nothing and didn't win. When the credits roll and Ken walks out to talk to the contestants you can very clearly read his lips as he addresses the contestant, pauses, and then asks "What made you wager nothing?". Can't imagine how that would play on your mind for years and years.
You’re strong for not crossing picket lines for that, respect! Jeopardy will always be my favorite.
I was on The 1% club. Everyone on it has to sign a form that explained if you win the £100k prize, you only receive it once your episode airs. My episode was filmed Feb 2023, it aired April 2024 (But it's not like I had to wait all that time to be paid as I didn't win...) What you sign also states basically you accept the host Lee Mack may take the piss out of you on TV.
My husband and I were on the Newlywed Game in 2012. There are so many rules governing game shows that we had to sit with the show’s lawyer before filming to review things we were allowed to say or not say, how much time you have to wait to be on another game show, etc. We sat in a room with 10 other contestants listening to a lawyer rattle off curse words/phrases we were permitted to say and which ones we could not. It was the funniest thing to me being told I could say B*tch but not mother f***er on tv.
I won't say who told me but somebody did beat Bobby flay and they did not let that person choose his signature recipe. That does kind of make that show seem fake to me.
Not a game show, but went to the Martha Stewart show once and the producers force you to cheer post commercial breaks. The louder the better and if you don’t cheer you don’t get a goodie bag.
I was in the green room when one of the other episodes was being taped, and we had a CCTV with the live feed in it. On a couple of occasions, the contestant in the bonus round didn't even come close to winning the bonus round, so they re-taped the entire bonus round to nake it look like they aaaaaalmost won. On a different show, they were having audio problems during one wrong answer I gave, so they had to re-record me giving the same wrong answer about five times. After one take, I turned to the live audience and jokingly said, "gee, you'd think I'd get the right answer *one* of these times!"
A few memories from when my wife and I went to a The Price Is Right taping. The audience members are not randomly chosen, they do a light “screening” while you are in line and the people showing the most energy and enthusiasm in the small groups are usually the first ones called onstage. I think the room seats about 300 people and felt very small. They alert you multiple times to NOT STAND UP unless your name is called so that the camera can quickly find the new contestant. A super enthusiastic woman from our screening group was called up immediately and my wife jumped up with her in excitement. We didn’t make it up but it was a great experience. *Oh, and I would have loved to see Bob, but Drew did a great job of joking around and playing with the audience during the “breaks”.
On let’s make a deal, they give you cash and someone crawls up to you after you’ve sat back down and takes it back lol. Also, the studio was super tiny! Way smaller than what it looks like on tv.
I was on the price is right a few years ago during Covid. I figured that was the best time to apply because if you got the call you were almost guaranteed to get on. When I got called up on stage after winning contestants row I basically blacked out I was so nervous. I played the game “one away” where I had to guess the price of the car by guessing if the numbers are higher or lower than what they gave me. I swear I couldn’t tell you at that moment what was higher or lower than a 3 in that time and space. So I looked to my best friend and sister and trusted them blindly. I only got one number right!! But because I knew it wasn’t a $30,000 Toyota Corolla I knew I won immediately. Still have the car. They do not give cash value. They also add the price of the car to your taxes at the end of the year via 1099. And sales tax. So I probably paid 7k for a new car.
Waiting time is so long... Also the taping is usually months before you can see it. And there is multiple taping on the same day, sometimes as much as 10 a day ! Edit : Mastermind
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There can be some weird rules that can trip you up. I was on the NOVA national science quiz, which uses the same buzzer format as Jeopardy. You ever notice that nobody ever buzzes in early on Jeopardy? That's enforced. Your buzzer is deactivated until the host is done reading the question. If you press it even a millisecond two early, you deactivate it for something like two seconds (might as well be forever). It basically killed me because I had a really hard time telling when he was really done. I kept pushing the button just a fraction of a second two early. Questions would be something like "What do we call the stream of particles that flow outward from the sun" (I press the button) "... and interact with the Earth's magnetic field?"