TAPING REPORT: Show #8711K. Taped 2/4/19, Aired 4/8/19. I was contestant #33.
“In which I wasn’t called, but I gained notoriety for knowing a lot about the show.”
For some background about what happens at a taping, see my post here:
http://www.golden-road.net/index.php/topic,29948.0.htmlINTERVIEW: As I mention in my generic “what happens at a taping” report, Stan asked me about what I do and where I live. I thought the interview went well, but of course, they only take 9 people. So you never know, but you should never count on being called. I certainly wasn’t.
SEATING LOCATION: I was the third person to the right of the very front of the blue $ sign, if you’re looking at the audience from the stage. I had an excellent view of everything happening.
BACKGROUND ABOUT MY VOICE: I don’t have an inside voice. I’m always loud, and when you put me in a loud crowd, I can get REALLY loud. In other words, people around me will hear me if I want them to, even in a loud studio. Now on to the game notes.
GAME ONE: Most Expensive. Zane was almost right next to me in line so I was ecstatic when he was called and he got up on stage. It was his second taping that day, as he had attended the 8:30 AM taping, didn’t get called, but he & his wife had so much fun they got back in line. Stan asked him during his interview what his favorite part of the previous taping was and he said seeing Bruce win the showcase. As for the game, I ran into his wife after the taping was over, and she said she was trying to get him to guess item #3, as was most of the audience. After Zane lost, he apparently committed to listening to his wife for any future decisions he had to make on the show. Smart man
.
GAME TWO: Card Game. Card Game looks fantastic on TV, but it’s a total dud from the audience’s perspective, as we can only see the back of the prop, which is some nice wood panelling. So if you see us craning our necks during the game, it’s so we can see the TVs hanging from the studio’s ceiling to keep track of what’s happening. Anyway, when Franklyn drew the Ace, I was screaming $23,500 for the Compass. That wasn’t quite within the $1,000, but the people around me still were complimenting me for a job well done.
GAME THREE: Cliff Hangers. I hadn’t seen those prizes before, but this game has been winnable by guessing $20/$30/$40 for the three prizes in almost every playing for the last 20 years. So as soon as George finished the descriptions of the prizes, I shouted “20 30 40!” The audience around me turned around and gave me some looks, but then the prices were revealed. First prize: $20. Second prize: $30. Third prize: $40. Now I’m getting a lot of high fives from the people around me—and some looks from the corner of the stage from Stan Blits, the guy who interviews everyone before the show.
GAME FOUR: Safe Crackers. There was an edit here, as they forgot to put the marks on the stage where Drew and the contestant were supposed to stand. Anyway, two keys to winning this game: a) the price of the small prize always ends in 0, and b) listen to the cost of the entire prize package and do some math. In this case, the whole prize package was $7900-something, and the two possible prices of the headphones were $790 & $970, based on the 0 rule. Doing the math, if the headphones were $790, then the trip would be $7100; if the headphones were $970, then the trip would be $6900. $6900 is a much better sounding price than $7100, so I was confident $970 was the price of the headphones. When Chad dialed in $790, I’m screaming at the top of my lungs, and I think his friends took notice of it, and started screaming at the top of their lungs to get him to change it. Eventually he got the hint and changed it. Phew. I got more high fives from the people around me, and more looks from Stan. Drew commented during the commercial it was a good thing his friends got his attention.
ITEM UP FOR BIDS #5: I dabble in photography, so when I saw the camera, I figured it’d be around $700. Then Drew reminded the bidders to bid on the camera and the case. I pegged the case at $30, so I shouted $730. Actual retail price: $730, and now everyone around me is going nuts.
GAME FIVE: Push Over. The first price is never right in this game, which left two realistic options: $8624 and $6249. Now everyone around me is looking at me before attempting to help the contestant. No pressure! But the motorcycle didn’t look like an $8000 bike and the $xx49 ending felt better. Thankfully, $6249 was right.
ITEM UP FOR BIDS #6: Slight edit here. When Rosa bid $3000, for some reason, her screen showed 300 and the extra 0 showed up on the podium on her right. They had her re-give her bid.
GAME SIX: Hole in One (or Two). Everyone around me is looking at me, but I’m clueless about grocery product prices. Good thing Katherine wasn’t looking at me. The entire audience was shocked when the smoothie was 99 cents, and when Katherine started to line up her first putt, Drew told her she had the putter backwards. This resulted in the awkward-looking edit in the show. In any event, when she made the second putt, we all went nuts—you couldn’t help but be happy for her. By the way, during Drew’s putt and the contestant’s putt(s), a stagehand is holding a card that says “Shhh!”
SHOWCASES: Of course, everyone’s looking to me for my best guess at the prices. My guesses were $31,500 and $29,500. Both ended up being over, so it’s a good thing neither contestant paid attention to me. And I was really happy when Zane won—he and his wife will have a great time in France.
On the way out, people were asking me how I did it, and I explained all the above to them. They were all amazed. I decided I had so much fun, I’d come back a couple of days later, and hope the producers didn’t think I was the next Ted Slauson. That show airs a week from today, so more on that when it comes out.
