My Experience on a Game Show, Part 3 - The Pre-Game Show

The 6am wakeup call came waaaaay too early for me.  I am not a morning person.  Nevertheless, Linda got up and showered, and I did the same after her.  Linda and I gathered our things, including our two clothing changes - we were to carry them both other - they had been approved the night before - and a book and shirt I wanted Regis to sign.  We then went downstairs to discover we were among the first to arrive at the van to take us to WABC studios.



So, we piled into the van, and we waited. Eventually, all 18 of us arrived, and we drove to WABC.  We could have walked quicker - we had the night before - and by the way, these were nice neighborhoods - but that's not how Disney does things.

A continental breakfast awaited us.  I had my fill.  So did my wife.

I haven't yet made a big deal about this - it plays into the story a bit later - but my wife was significantly pregnant.  Linda was quite the trouper - she was in excellent shape, and it was an easy pregnancy, but this was a lot for her to go through in the beginning of her third trimester.  We may have our differences now, but I appreciate that she did this, mostly, for me.  Not that she didn't enjoy the free trip to New York City, but it was my trip.

After this, we were ushered into the studio.  If you are familiar with the show, you know that there is a plexiglass floor - it might have actually been acrylic, but it was clear - lit from beneath.  A large steel structure held a lot of lights that waved up and down.  There was a circle of ten seats around the center of the stage - we all had assigned seats.  And about 200 audience seats surrounded the stage. I know, you probably thought there was a lot more.  There aren't.

The studio was also chilly.

Episode 2 contestants had also arrived by this time - they didn't need to be so early, but they did need this orientation part.  We all sat in the audience seats at first.  And we watched a highlight film compiled from past episodes.  People are quite animated when they win Fastest Finger, and when they win some money.  And when they lose.  It was an interesting video (and one that I think I am part of now).

It was time for us to meet people.  We had a couple of producers that we got to know well throughout the day, and they were doing most of the talking.  At this point, we did have a couple of guest speakers.  The first was Executive Producer Michael Davies.  He was a Scottish man who considered "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" to be his baby.  He welcomed us all personally, and was sincerely appreciative to have us all there.

The second was the show's attorney, an abrupt, unfriendly woman who was quite clear in telling us that we had signed paperwork that required us to not disclose anything before the show's airing.  And also in no uncertain terms telling us that the show's decisions on questions was final, and we would lose a lot of money if we tried to sue them.  She left me with a feeling of great dislike, a feeling that would grow exponentially later.

Back to our producers.  They gave us two words of advice.  The first was, don't take advice on questions from Regis.  He's the worst game show host at trivia, and is usually wrong.  (They were also quick to point out that Alex Trebek was almost as bad).  The second - there was no time limit on questions.  The producers furthermore went on to tell us that the record for longest time spent on a single question was 12 minutes... until the previous Sunday, when a woman spent 31 and 33 minutes on two questions.  They did not reveal to us how she fared on those questions - I did make a note to check; she missed the 2nd one.  They also mentioned that Regis hassled her on both questions. He was to be tuned out and ignored.

And we were told what we were going to experience.  We'd be sitting in the Ring of Fire - where the Fastest Finger was - at the beginning, and the carryover contestant - a jolly man named Frank Tangretti - would go to the hot seat with his old buddy Regis.  After he was done playing, we'd be introduced, and we'd have about 1 second on camera, so we'd better make it count.

The week that this was taping happened to be Kathie Lee Gifford's last week on Regis Philbin's other show - Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee.  One reason that the WABC studios were used for this show was the proximity to the Live! studio at WABC.  Anyway, he was apparently in a particularly foul mood that week, because all the fanfare around Kathie Lee was wearing him out and he was a bit of a narcissist and couldn't handle all the spotlight on her.

Also, all our million dollar fake checks, as well as fake checks for all other amount, were already printed.  We'd be leaving with the big checks as souvenirs.  Which I thought was pretty cool.  And before the episode, we'd all walk in for the audience's sake, and Frank Tangretti would be introduced separately and was going to be playing to the crowd.  Watch him carefully, Episode 1 people - that could be you later this afternoon.

Episode 1 was to tape at 1pm, with a dinner break after, and an Episode 2 tape time of 5:30pm.  Episode 1 people, with the exception of the carryover contestant, could leave afterward if they wanted to.

Did I mention the studio was chilly?  The studio was chilly.

Now, it was time for us to get on stage!  Episode 1 contestants were brought down to our assigned seats, and shown the equipment.  The Fastest Finger competition was played with screens in front of each contestant.... and five buttons.  Four buttons were assigned to each choice, with the fifth going to a "Submit" button.  It was important to make all four choices in order, and then choose "Submit".

Time for us to practice!  There were six questions.  I won two of them, and came in second on the other four.  Nick Meyer won three of the other four questions.  We had Fastest Finger down!

Episode 2 had their turn in the trial seats while we watched.  That was hard.

And we all got to sit in the hot seat.  That was fun.

Well, it's time for an early lunch.  We were ushered into the WABC lunchroom, where we got to eat... just the couples - in this case, Linda and I - and a floor producer, or an intern - they were soooo young.  Their job - to get some interesting stories about me to feed to Regis.  They wanted fun, interesting, embarrassing television.  They got a couple of tidbits for small talk - obviously, Linda's pregnancy.  They got something about me not liking my food to be touching that they were going to use - I am pretty particular about that.  I really don't like my food to be touching.  Actually, the producer could see that from my plate.

Time for us to change, for the hour was upon us.  Linda and I put on our game show clothes, and went to makeup.  I have never liked having makeup on - not as a kid at Halloween, and certainly not now - but for this, my dream, I was willing to go through it.  The makeup artists were very nice and very encouraging.

On the way down to the set, we met Regis Philbin.  He wasn't all that warm and friendly to any of us, but he was cordial enough.  We could hear the comedian warming up the audience - we weren't told about that, but I knew about it from what I had read elsewhere.

The butterflies were looming in my stomach.  Linda was led to her seat in the audience - she had one reserved for her, just as all the other travelling companions did - and I was left to walk on stage.  With my competition.  Right next to Nick Meyer.  I was going to be sick.

No time for that.  Time for us to walk out and meet the audience.  Let's begin!