Replying to Wheel Or No Deal: The Summer of Pat Sajak and Howie Mandel

Gather round children, today I have a (long) story for you.  Have you ever watched game shows and thought to yourself "These people are so dumb, I could do way better than them," or something along those lines?  Well I often found myself saying this, so I decided to take action and do something about it. 

It all began with Wheel of Fortune.  I knew they had a College Week once or twice a year on the show, and judging from what I had seen I knew I could easily do better than any of the losers I saw on there.  So I filled out an application on their website sometime back in 2008 thinking "There can't be that many college kids who would think of applying to be on WOF" (I was later proved wrong when I found out somewhere around 5,000 students had applied).  Months went by and I didn't care too much, I was just glad I tried.  Classes ended and I came home in May and by then I had completely forgotten about it.

On May 11th I happened to check my school e-mail where I was greeted with 1 new message.  The subject read "WHEEL OF FORTUNE CONTESTANT AUDITION IN NEW YORK CITY ON THURSDAY MAY 28, 2009 AT 11:00 AM (BY INVITATION ONLY)!"  I told all my friends and they either didn't believe me or didn't think I was actually going to go.  Well when I say I'm gonna do something I do it, and sure as hell I showed up to the Westin Hotel in the city on May 28th.  Long story short, there were about 40 college kids in a room and we filled out a questionairre, did fill in the blank phrase stuff, and then finally played a little simulation game.

To really stand out and get attention, however, you had to be overly enthusiastic and pretty much a douche, which isn't anything like my personality.  I did great with the written test and solved a puzzle in the simulation, but I guess i wasn't enthusiastic enough because I didn't get to move on to the next round (Only about 10 kids were picked).  My dream of getting on tv and being able to win money in one of the easiest ways possible had faded away.  I had a good time, but still regret to this day that I didn't go all out and do whatever it took to get noticed.//

Fast forward to July 30th.  I was routinely browsing the NYC Craigslist when I noticed a posting that caught my eye: DEAL OR NO DEAL LOOKING FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS!!!  I replied, but didn't think much of it because I usually never get a response when I reply to Craigslist postings.  Tuesday of this week rolls around and I have an email from a casting lady from Deal Or No Deal saying that I got an audition for the show on friday the 21st.  This was my chance to make up for the WOF audition.  The auditions were taking place in Waterford Connecticut at the studio where they film the daytime version of the show, so yesterday me and friend headed up to CT from long island (what should've been a 3 hour drive at most).  After sitting through some of the worst traffic I have ever been in on 95, we arrived 5 hours later at 6pm to the studio.

The audition was at 5pm.  I knew this but went inside anyway because I wasn't about to have this trip turn into the story about that time I drove 5 hours to a Deal Or No Deal audition and then had to turn around.  Sweating profusely I explained my situation to the secretary, and she lead me to another women who gave me a clipboard with papers, opened a door to a dark room ,and sent me in.  I was embarassed to say the least, so I grabbed a chair in the back row.  In front of the room was a video camera on a tripod, a case on a stand like you would see on the show, and 3 people at a table with papers in front of them.  No one in the room acknowledged me or told me what to do, so I just started filling out the papers.  As I was doing this, people were called to the front one by one and had a mini interview thing in front of the camera, and would then open the case as if they were on the show. 

I handed in my papers to the people at the table and I was called up last.  Since I was given no directions and missed out on an hour of what the others had been through, I had no idea what to do other than follow what those before me had done.  More nervous than when i kicked a soccer ball through the window of a mini-van in 4th grade, I stood in front of the camera and said some stuff about myself, and then opened the case.  The amount inside was $.01 (which is good) so I assumed we had to act excited.  I did my best re-enactment of what the models do on the show, and then yelled with joy when I saw the amount.  I probably looked like a fool, but I didn't care because I couldn't go home wishing I was more enthusiastic.  After my performance the audition was over and the casting people told us we could be contacted as soon as 2 weeks or as late as christmas if we were picked.  As one lady put it, "If you don't hear anything by christmas, have a happy new year."

All in all both auditions were a great time and an experience I sure won't ever forget.  I encourage anyone thinking about applying to be on a game show to do it because at the least you'll come out with a good story to share with others, and probably get to see a few cute girls (or guys) along the way.  So if you ever say "I could do that," or "I should be on this show" again, then get up and take action.