Not All Shows Are Created Equal

To the average viewer, Game Shows are simple. Usually, you’ll watch at home and constantly remark to the screen, “I know that answer” or “I could have won that money/prize!”

Sometimes, you’ll actually play at home and notice that you are “winning”, either by answering along with the questions asked, or by imagining yourself doing the skills they are completing. OK, then you may be perfectly suited to try getting on that specific show (or a similar one).

Although the difficulty of the challenges presented varies from show to show, the basic Game Show formats are pretty much unchanged from the early days of television. The host asks questions or reveals clues, or sets up different tasks for the contestants to complete, with the overall winner going on to the “final round” and getting the big cash or the glamorous merchandise & prizes offered. Sometimes it is individuals on their own and sometimes it is teams. In all cases, you have to make a determination if the particular level of challenge is within your capabilities. Once you feel that it is possible to succeed, then the first step is to apply as a potential contestant.

Big Cities, Big Shows

There are many production companies and many networks offering Game Shows. Obviously, Los Angeles and New York are the Big Two with their major studios which are the “Holy Grail” for anyone who wants to be on TV. The contact information for these shows is readily available, as often a number (or address) is given right on the air at the end of the program. In all cases, you should be able to get in touch with any production team fairly easily. All you need to do is write or leave a message asking for them to get in touch, as you are serious and enthusiastic to appear.

Serious and Enthusiastic. Those are two words which are music to the producer’s ears. Both go hand-in-hand as you go forward in the process. Be aware, there are many steps along the way to getting on stage, and you really need to keep focused on the game you’ll be playing, as well as remain focused on the producer’s instructions, and also maintain your energy at a constant high level. Many people just think that all they need to do is be good at the game itself, but they forget that before even getting to that point, the producers ask the applicants to “play” along with the various and sometimes difficult and intense routines set up by the studios to determine who will be chosen for the contestant pools. If you hope to become a part of a Game Show, that is your immediate goal: Convince the production staff that you are a wonderful and happy player.

Into the Pool

Auditions are the way that applicants get into the contestant pool. A pool is merely a large set of good participants, that the producers can pick from when they start “live” taping in front of an audience. Depending on the game, sometimes more than one round of auditions is arranged, to get the best possible people to be part of the pool.

At these auditions, you not only have to demonstrate your skill at the game itself, but you have to illustrate that you are overjoyed and thrilled to be playing it! Always play every question as though it’s the one final question being asked for that ultimate top prize and you are going to win the whole shebang, right there! Jump, squeal, clap, smile, laugh, act like you are actually on stage with the lights, the audience cheering, the host urging you on, your family watching! At every minute, you need to be “upbeat”, as if the cameras are rolling. Don’t just show that good feeling when it’s your turn: Be excited for everyone! Once you get past the auditions, you’ll be in front of those cameras soon, for real, and you’ll want everyone cheering for you, too.

The Show is Everything

The most important thing to keep in mind is that your time has little value to the network executives. You are assumed to have a totally free schedule and be without any other obligations in your life other than their Game Show! You’ll be expected to appear at their whim, not only for call-back auditions, but for the actual tapings as well, should you be selected for the pool.

In fact, you may even be requested to set aside several “possible” taping days, only to be called at short notice to come in to the studio. Also, once you come to the taping, there is no guarantee that you will be offered a chance to go on stage at all. They might go through several shows without calling you, but still ask you to return the next day (most productions are taped back-to-back in a day, with entire studio audiences changed between each show).

Prepare for your entry into the contestant pool by adopting the view that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you must set aside all other distractions (even work) for the chance to appear and win. If you have even the slightest hesitations or reservations or should indicate (Heaven forbid) that your schedule is rigid, the producers have many others who are flexible in the extreme, and those are the ones who are going to be sitting together in the “Green Room” (a backstage waiting room at the studio, where nervousness and anticipation among members of the “on-deck” pool is so thick you can cut it with a knife).

“Come On Down”

All right, you have gotten this far; you sat for hours waiting for auditions, you sat for weeks at home waiting for the call to come in for a taping, you sat for hours waiting in the Green Room. Then, suddenly the Assistant Producer comes in and says your name. You are about to go on stage and be in the spotlight.

Ignore the spectacle. Ignore the cameras. Ignore your family and friends in the audience. Just deal with the host, follow his lead. That’s his job, to put you at ease, while your task is only to do what you came here for. Follow the inner voice that has spoken all along: “You can win this!”

Seriousness and Enthusiasm. You’ll need an equal dose of both and naturally you will have no problem with that, since you’ve been preparing for this moment since you first saw the show in your living room. You have watched hundreds of others up here, and now it’s your turn. With a little luck (and some perfect questions that you know the answers to), that top prize will be yours! Congratulations.