Well, it finally happened. On December 11, 2018 I got to hear those three little words I've been waiting my whole life to here that special someone say to me: "Come on down!" Grab some popcorn, a drink, and your favorite candy bar, because I'm about ready to tell you about the most amazing week of my life!
About a year ago some rodeo friends of mine told me they were going to Las Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo, which occurs every year in December. I've always wanted to go, and they told me it was an amazing experience and something every rodeo fan should see. My mom told me there was no way I was going to let me go to Vegas without her (this is something she's wanted to do for years). I looked up the TPIR schedule and saw that they were taping shows the week after we were going to Vegas, so we decided to spend a week in LA for Price. When tickets were available we ordered priority tickets for all four early tapings that week, plus the early tapings of Wheel of Fortune for that Friday.
After spending a week in Vegas, we arrived in LA on Sunday, Dec. 9. We stayed right across the street from the Fairfax entrance to Television City at the Farmer's Daughter's Market Hotel. We got up early the next morning, ate some breakfast, and then walked across the street to the lot. After presenting our tickets we got in our first line. We were numbers 16 and 17 that morning. The guy sitting next to me was a gentleman named Roscendo, who was a LFaT of the show and has been to over 135 tapings with Drew. He was a contestant with Bob back in 1994 and lost Spelling Bee and then went on to the Showcase, but he went over. We talked a lot about the show, the games, and even some of our favorite retired games. The shirt I wore this day said, "Jeffrey is my name and Plinko is my game." Mom wore a shirt that said, "Lydia is my name and Cliff Hangers is my game."
A guy came out and passed out our numbers and paperwork, which just made sure you were eligible to be a contestant. It only took a few minutes to fill out. After this, a lady came by and gave us our nametags. Then we got our picture made at the old Showcase podiums and then our souvenir picture made at the green screen. They only offer the Big Wheel as a background nowadays, as in the past I had heard they gave you a choice of the Wheel, Cliff Hangers, and Plinko.
The next line was for the interview with Stan. He has a ton of energy! He asked me what I did and I told him I work at rodeos and I'm an RN, which comes in handy when I injure myself at rodeos! I wasn't too energetic; at this time I still wasn't sure if I wanted to be a contestant or just watch the show (that feeling didn't last long, though). After the interview security took our phones from us and we got in the last line before the studio. We watched an episode from season 46- and it was awesome to watch TPIR with a bunch of other fans without the distraction of smartphones! After waiting a bit longer we finally got into the studio.
I was in awe of how surreal this was; finally seeing my favorite show in person. The set really does look a lot smaller in person! It also looked a bit dull with all the lights turned off. We walked in and they were playing a collection of party songs, and everyone was dancing and getting into it! After the songs they introduced George, and I went straight into fanboy mode. George did a great job at his warmup and then we heard Adam Sandler's voice, who told George it was time to start the show. From them it was fast and furious, and the next thing we know Drew was walking out the big doors (insert fanboy mode here). From there, it moved fast. This was show 8621K which aired Feb. 11. The show was definitely in budget mode, but it was still a blast, since it was my first ever show in person. The first game I ever got to see was Side By Side, and then Punch-a-Bunch, which was super neat to see live. After Cover Up was lost, Drew and George started talking about the Cover Up strategy and how if you watch the show enough you would pick up on that. They both said, "It pays to watch TPIR!" (I swear Drew is truly morphing into Bob every day!)
I had met Zachary, who played Vend-o-Price, on that show. I was really hoping he would win, but he lost. It was still neat to see someone who I had met in line up on the stage. After a loss in Balance Game we finally got our first win in Swap Meet- and we all went crazy! We finally had a win! After the first show was finished taping we picked up our phones and souvenir pics and grabbed a bite to eat. I was in bed pretty early that night, since the show really does wear you out!
The next morning I woke up and started thinking about what I was going to say in my interview. After seeing the show in person I knew I could do it and I started thinking of what I could say to impress Stan and show him I would be a good contestant. I made up my mind and we set off (across the street) to the Bob Barker Studio for the second taping.
The process was the same as the day before, but this time mom and I were wearing shirts that said, "We flew 2,147 miles just to take a walk down the Golden Road." I got to my interview with Stan and he recognized me from the day before. He asked what I did and this is what I told him: "I'm from Augusta, GA and I work at rodeos... and I have a really cool story! Last year in April I was working the arena at a rodeo and a bull named Backstabber came up behind me while I was on the fence and started ramming into me and broke my ankle. I spent a few months out of work recovering from ankle surgery, but every day I watched TPIR with my grandparents. My papa always told me I need to get on this show. He passed away later that year, but I told him I was going to come out here to get on the show, and now I'm here! And don't worry about that bull- he's at McDonald's now!" Stan laughed and then he asked me what my favorite game was (besides Golden Road). I told him Plinko and he asked why. "Because it's pure fun and I love watching the chips bounce around the board! I also love Shell Game, because my Grandma would play that with me using Dixie cups and a marble."
After the interview was over, the lady standing next to my mom, Mary Jane, who had been to over 100 tapings with Drew, told us that she could tell that Stan liked us and that his assistant was taking notes like crazy on me- which was usually a good sign! Also, there was a family ahead of us in line kept calling out people's names "for practice when we come on down!" When he called me I went running down the line and was high fiving everyone. He did this several times- his name was Raymond and I told him that everybody loves him. I hope my energy during that also helped in deciding to call me down.
When we got in the studio for this taping all of the monitors had the "Dream Car Week" logo on it. I freaked out! We were at DCW! Yadi, the stagehand who tells the audience when to clap, be quiet, shout out answers, etc., and who revealed the names of the contestants had two car drawings attached to her headphones. George's warmup was the same as the day before, but he talked about it being DCW and that one person was going to get to play for a luxury car!
The show started like normal, except Drew was pushed out in the Porsche Boxster. The crew on this show was absolutely amazing, as they pushed Drew out in the car, pushed the car back out, showed and took away the first IUFB, brought out Pick-a-Pair and had it hidden behind the GPT all before they played the first game- they are a well-oiled machine! After this, they went straight into the next game, which was an evil setup of Switch? Then they went to commercial and reintroduced Drew to the audience. They had to redo his intro each episode, so they had the first four back in Contestant's Row and redid from George saying, "You are the first four contestants on TPIR!" all the way to Drew asking to have the first IUFB revealed. During the commercial break I noticed there was a camera directly in front of me, and I was thinking that someone from my section was going to be called down. Had no clue it was me, though!
They came back from commercial and then George said a name. I thought he said Jeffrey, but I wasn't sure. Yadi flipped that sign around and there was my name! My mom and I started freaking out! I jumped out and everyone sitting near the aisle started high-fiving me. It felt like a dream. I got to the front and there was Drew. I grabbed his hand. I was kind of in a state of shock- I got called down on TPIR!!! So cool! I knew the next game was Pocket Change, because I saw the side of the board behind the GPT after they had set it up. The next IUFB was a coffee package. I had studied up on prices on the show (thanks to Adam's recaps!) and I knew a lot of the coffee packages were between $800 and $1,000. I figured $899 sounded nice- just over by $30! Darn, although Pocket Change was set up hard, so at least I avoided a mean setup.
They went to commercial and Stan came over to Emelia, Eunice, and me and told us we were doing great and to keep up the energy! He told us that we needed to show the folks at home that same special spark that Stan saw in us. He's awesome!
They came back from commercial and called down Shannon, who was sitting across from me in the line outside the studio. They showed the grill and I knew that those can get pricey, especially those pizza ovens. I also realized that I was bidding last. I didn't see any games on the main stage, so I knew that it was either a turntable game or a game behind the big doors- probably a quickie. I didn't really care, I just wanted to play a game! I listened carefully to the bids and I noticed they were on the low side. I did the old-fashioned one-up bid and I won! That grill is getting sold, by the way; except the knives since mom wants the knives. I can only cook things in a microwave and it's too dang hot to grill out here in Georgia!
I remember thinking two things: don't trip on the stairs and see where Drew was going. I saw Drew go up to the turntable and I just remember thinking, "Turntable, turntable, turntable." I didn't want to be one of those people who get up and are frantically looking all around for Drew. I get up on the turntable and hug Drew (I didn't want to hurt him- big rule of Price is "don't hurt the host"). He asked me where I was from and I told him Augusta, GA. They showed me the trip to Hong Kong and I immediately look at my mom, who told me "Don't win anything stupid like a trip to Asia!" Mom was freaking out. When George said that I could drive across one of the longest bridges in the world, Drew turned to me and told me, "I thought he was going to say a trip to the Florida Keys!" And then he cracked himself up! I love Drew.
While George was describing the trip I asked Drew what game I was going to play. He said, "Oh, I don't know..." and I told him I knew the rules to every single game on the show! I asked him if I was pricing the trip or small prizes, since they had already played a GP game. He told me it was just the trip. So, I was about to get one-prize quickied on The Price Is Right. I figured the price was probably somewhere between $9,000 and $12,000, so I figured Check Game was out. This left Flip Flop, Squeeze Play, Coming or Going, and Push Over. Flippy and Squeezey can be crapshoots. CoG has the trick to it, and I usually win Pushy when I watch at home. George concluded the prize description and the turntable started turning. I remember it felt like an eternity watching that turntable spin around to reveal my game. I also remember thinking, "Not Squeeze Play or Flip Flop, please! Come on Push Over or Coming or Going!"
And then I saw Push Over... I was so relieved. I took one look at the setup and figured it had to be $11k. As you could probably tell, I knew what I was doing. When I stopped at $11,848 the crowd went crazy, so my pick was confirmed. Drew told me I was confident, probably because it didn't take me long at all to decide on a price. Then he revealed that I had won- and I lost it! Mom lost it too! I remember thinking what I should do next. I saw the stage manager, Eric, hold up his tablet with the word "STAY" in red letters on it. I stood right next to Drew and gave him (and the camera) the thumbs up. Eric gave it back to me!
Then I turned to Drew and told him the story about getting my ankle broken and how I promised my Papa I was going to make it on the show one day. The crew was also there listening to my story, including Eric, Chris the game producer, the cameramen, Yadi, and the page who leads people off the stage. I also told Drew that the bull was now at McDonald's.
And Drew cracked up.
I couldn't believe that I had just cracked up one of my favorite game show hosts/comedian/improvisational superstars! Drew turns to the audience and George and says, "Hey, George, listen to this!" He then tells everyone the story and how the bull who broke my ankle ended up at McDonald's. George and the whole audience started laughing! I got to sit right in front of my mom, so that was neat! Next was 1/2 Off (I would've gotten all the SP's right) and then Money Game. Money Game was easy for me. I tried my best to get the contestant to pick 14. I kept yelling, "14! 14! El Cheapo! El Cheapo!" But it was to no avail. After they went to commercial, Drew asked the audience who would have won the game. About half the audience applauded. Then he asked how many in the audience had ever heard of El Cheapo, and about a fourth of the audience applauded. Drew said, "Jeffrey was going crazy over here, trying to get Jose to pick El Cheapo. I bet Jeffrey watches the show every day, don't you, Jeffrey? See? It pays to watch this show!" LFaT confirmed by Drew himself! Yeah!
Then we got to spin the Wheel, which was heavy. I was glad that Eunice got the dollar, since she was pretty upset after losing 1/2 Off. I told her she was going to get that dollar and go to the Showcase! I was hoping she would have won that car, though!
After the show the four of us guys were lead to the back of the audience, then the three left in Contestant's Row, then Eunice, and then Zakia, whose whole body was shaking after she won the Showcase. They called the $100 door prize winner and he joined us. We were lead to an office and we waited for them to go over our paperwork with us. I talked with Eunice a lot during the time, since they did us towards the end. They gave me all my papers and the cue card with my name on it. I met up with my mom and we freaked out all over again! We went to Chipotle, which is next to the studio, and then we went back to the hotel. They told us at the show to not tell anyone about our appearance, but I had to call my grandma and let her know!
Okay, so that was just my first two days. Since this post is getting a bit long I'm going to stop here. I'll fill in the other two days and my WoF story in my next post!
