My Experience on a Game Show, Part 8 - The Party and The Unparty

So, here it was.  August 17, 2000.  My wife was uncomfortably pregnant, and yet felt compelling to clean the house.  Because we were going to have two TVs full of Millionaire, and a room full of people who had no idea what was going to happen.  I mean, some of them pieced together parts.  There were those who had put 2 and 2 together, and realized that I was on two episodes - that only happens if you are the carryover contestant.  But those who didn't know about that little piece i.e. who were not lifelines were in for a huge shock.



Linda's mother came over to help clean the house.  We had snacks, a bunch of sheet pizzas on order.... a cake.  Now, it is important to note that I am not a fan of cake.  It's mostly frosting that I don't like.  However, much like my aversion to ketchup, I recognize that I am in the minority on that.  So there was cake.

I went to get the pizzas at our local pizza place.  I suppose I should also mention that I had wings.  And beer.  And all the soft drinks and coffee anyone could want.

I came back to a very full house of people - friends, family, friends of family, friends of friends, family of family.... and a few people I didn't know.  One of those people was from the WOKR-13 TV crew - once again, they sent a cameraman - a different one this time - to hang out and tape me as I watched the show with all my friends.

Who are these people?

We all ate - including the media! - and drank.  One friend of mine brought her own half gallon of milk - she, too, was pregnant.  And then, it was 8pm! Time for the show! Oh, no!  Places, everyone! The 30 or 40 people in my house jockeyed for position in front of my 2 TVs.  I wasn't going to be sitting down and watching.  I already knew what happened!

Can the contestant get you a drink?

Most of the people in the room didn't know that I had made it into the hot seat.  Most of them assumed I had, though.  I have good friends and family.  They thought a lot of my chances.

As the episode went on, Linda and I mingled and told a lot of stories.  About Frank Tangretti, who I loved, but I guess irritated a lot of the audience.... including his wife.  I got to hear her kibbitzing while in the Ring of Fire when Frank was in the hot seat - she was sitting directly behind me - so I wasn't completely surprised by her comments on air.  And about Nick Meyer.  No one liked him, even edited.

I agree that Nick was edited to be a little arrogant.  I didn't think he was quite that bad.

And then.... to the surprise of most of the room(s).... including the cameraman...

Hey! I know that guy!

It was my turn!

Needless to say, everyone was excited, and so was I! This was my shining moment, and I was proud, just as everyone in the room was proud.   Now, I did find a place to sit and watch.  It was painful to hear my own voice... and the picture of me at the end of the episode, of course, was frightening.

Is that the best shot they could have taken?

But I was going onto another day!

At this point, the phone and the doorbell started ringing.  Everyone who WASN'T at the party but was watching the #1 show on television, only to see my mug up there, wanted to know what was happening.

Bizarre sidenote to this story: one of the people who showed up at my door was my wacky next-door neighbor.  She was very much the type of person who would talk to you for hours on what she believed and not let you get a word in edgewise.  She was a nice, lonely lady who had poor social skills.  However, today she was in rare form.  She congratulated me on my time on Millionaire, and asked me all about it.

What she asked next is a little strange:  She asked if she could take a piece of pizza back to her kids.  My reply: "take two!".  Apparently, she thought I meant to take two full, overflowing plates of pizza back home.  Which she did.  I didn't find this out until much later.

Well, the TV crew said goodbye, and all the friends and family and strangers said goodbye, their bellies full.  We did tell the partygoers that there would be no party on Sunday, but I could not tell them why.  You know, $4 million lawsuit.

And, for the next three days, I got to see THIS on every newscast:

We were playing the interactive game at home!

And deflect questions.  And... this was bizarre.... GET RECOGNIZED IN PUBLIC!

On Sunday, I wasn't planning to watch the show.  I was at my brother-in-law's house.  The show was taping - I did want to save it for posterity - but the last thing I wanted to do was watch it live.  Which is why, when WOKR-13 called me, asking me if I would be having a party, that there was no hesitation in my "NO!"  However, they asked nicely if, even without a party, they could watch at home with me.  And so, we all went over to my house to meet the news crew.

What they didn't realize? They were getting a story.

Well, you all know what happened next - I was done within about 3 minutes of the episode start.  It was nice to see me edited into the show open, though.  I was glad I came home for that.  And then, of course....

Hey, guess what? I wasn't happy!

And, then, the comments from the roomful of people who KNEW what happened, right down to the letter.  Needless to say, that piqued the interest of the cameraman, who stopped packing up and started asking questions.

I was still not happy.

I gave him the entire story, right down to a copy of the letter.  He was very interested.  And WOKR ran with it!  They talked about this on every newscast for the next two days.  I was their poll question on their website - should I have a 2nd chance? 73% of visitors voted for me to have another chance. Unfortunately, that wasn't binding, but I am told that Channel 13 did present the results to the network, which might have prompted their response. I am also told that the newsroom, full of media insiders, was split on the correctness of my answer.

So, if media insiders couldn't get it right... how could I?

One person who did not vote for me was Bob Lonsberry.  Mr. Lonsberry is the voice of a popular midday afternoon talk show in Rochester, NY.  Who decided that it would be funny to call me the "Chili Whiner", after the town I lived in. (It's pronounced CHY-LIE, not Chi-lee!) So, hot-headed me called into his show.  I told the screener who I was, but he didn't tell Bob.  THAT was funny.  He was going off about me, until he found out that he was talking to me.

Anyway, despite how he was on-air before he knew who I was, Bob did take the time to be kind to me off-air.  And he gave me a chance to tell my story, my way, at a time when I was really angry.  I have no ill feelings against Mr. Lonsberry.  

However, my advice to anyone who is ever in a situation where you are on a game show - DON'T READ THE OFFICIAL FORUMS.  Full of haters who called me the most unspeakable names, and who said disparaging things about my wife.  Just nasty.  I wonder if that's how celebrities feel about tabloids. One of my fellow contestants - I think it was Mike Boris, but I honestly don't remember - kindly and verbosely defended me and told the story of the entire situation.  I certainly wasn't going to.

Well, that's my story.  It was a very good experience, and I would do it again.  I really would.  Heck, I wanted to go back immediately.  It is an addicting thing, being on a game show - one of my fellow contestants had been on two prior to "Millionaire" - "The Price is Right" and "Press Your Luck." I have tried to get on another show - I have gone through the qualifying rounds of "Jeopardy" and "The World Series of Pop Culture", with no success thus far.

But keep watching your screens.  I'll be back on the quiz show circuit sometime! You know I don't give up.