Below is a a fairly lengthy description of my Million Dollar Password experience. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Let me start off by saying never in a million years did I even think about trying out. I was planning on trying out for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire when they came to Detroit in mid-August. But by some form of
serendipity, I was able to take part in the most curious and best four
weeks of my life.
I'm a big fan of Million Dollar Password, so I designed my own PowerPoint version of the show,
where one could control and host the game in his own home with his own
words. I posted that on the Game Show Forum so other fans could
download it and play at home. About a week after posting that, I got
this email, on Tuesday, July 15:
"Hi Chad,
My name is Jill Scott and I'm a Contestant Producer for "Million Dollar
Password." My senior producers asked me to contact you. They saw your
Power Point version of MDP and were very impressed. We would like to
personally invite you to the audition. We are holding an audition in
Chicago on Saturday (July 19th)... If you have any questions, please
feel free to email me at -------@gmail.com. Or you can call me directly
at ###-###-####. Please do not publish that number. I hope to hear from
you."
Kind of cool, I thought. So, I was able to get my aunts to go with me,
and we stayed in a hotel, awaiting the audition. I got at the hotel at
8:20, 40 minutes before the advertised start time of 9. I got in line
and was assigned a number, 0032.
We were all ushered into a ballroom. I filled out the five-page
application and the release form. Guidelines for proper game play are
reviewed (clues that are allowable and those that are forbidden).
Sample words are given out to the group, with one half of the room
seeing the word while the other half shields their eyes, then people
raise their hands and are called upon to give their clue or their
guess. This is just to ferret out any issues that the entire group
might have regarding gameplay. We were then given a five word test (3
clues given by the contestant coordinators for each word) that I'm
nearly certain you had to get 4/5 or 5/5 to pass. They came back and
read the names of everyone who passed. (Yay, I got called!)
We then waited to be paired up with another applicant to play the game
in front of the contestant coordinators in a separate room (You have to
get your partner [or have to have your partner get you] to say five of
the passwords in thirty seconds or less.). People are paired by their
numbers, so the earlier your number is the quicker you will be done
with the process. My partner and I (Russell) then went into the room,
where a video camera was set up. We each told our name, age,
occupation, etc into the camera. Then, we played the game. We set a day
record, getting five words in seventeen seconds. She told us we might
get a call back later that night to come back for the next round if
they were impressed enough with our gameplay, personality, etc. Well...
at 6 PM that night, I got a call! So back to the hotel I went the next
day, with significantly less people in the ballroom.
After going over the rules again, we were led two-by-two into another
room. We played the game in front of the camera and a CC again. Also
sitting there were the main producers of the show (big difference from
yesterday!). We played a few of the main games again (where we broke
our record, getting five words in thirteen seconds), and then two of
the levels of the end game (getting five out of ten in 90 seconds or
less, using no more than three clues). The coordinators put me with my
partner from yesterday, with whom I absolutely rocked. The producers
noted me for my PowerPoint, so I hoped that was a positive!
Then I played the waiting game. The show was being taped in L.A. on
August 2, 3 and 4. I certainly hoped to get a call that week, or at the
worst, early next week. If it turned out I didn't make it, well, hey. Millionaire was holding an audition in Detroit on August 13.
To my enjoyment, Jeremy from FremantleMedia (owners of Million Dollar Password)
called me at home at 4:16pm on Wednesday, July 30 to let me know I'd
been chosen to fly to L.A. to participate in a taping of the program!
My tape date was selected to be August 4. So, on the phone we went over
personal details, eligibility requirements and stuff. I flew out of
Flint Bishop Airport that Saturday morning, August 2nd, and checked
into my hotel, the Coast Annabelle Hotel (very small, but very nice), by about 4 PM Pacific. I then waited to head into the lobby for
what the producers called a "Boot Camp", sort of a one last going-over
and practicing of rules.
I piled up into the van along with some of the other "campers" and we
were driven to the CBS Radford Studios (where the show would tape
tomorrow) and headed into the green room. As more people arrived, the
final count of sixteen people sat around the table in the green room.
Among the people in this boot camp was a lady who had won $25,000 on Super Password, two former Wheel of Fortune contestants, a woman who was chosen to play on the first season of the
show but was passed over and Michael Kearney, former child prodigy, Gold Rush champion and $25,000 winner on Millionaire.
Producers such as Vin Rubino, Angelou Deign, Chris Ahearn and
consultant Sande Stewart went over the rules once more, along with some
strategies on playing the game. Then, the producers left and went out
into the hall. We were picked one by one to go out and play the game
with the producers under $10,000 bonus round rules (five out of ten,
three clues.)
I was called to go out and play. Sande showed me the words that I had
to give to Chris, as Angelou and Vin watched. I was able to give all
five in three clues or under. We were advised that we could take our
time and think of the perfect clue during this, but I felt I didn't
need to; they sort of formed in my head as I saw the word! After
everyone had played, we were thanked and reminded that, as part of our
agreement, we MAY NOT BE CHOSEN AS A CONTESTANT.
I wake up Monday, August 4th at 6 am and get to the lobby at 6:45.
We're driven again to the studio where there are, in total, fourteen
people for, most likely, eight slots for taping. Depending on how late
in the day it is, that's a 57 - 25% chance you'll get chosen. As
everyone settles in, the producing team comes in, along with a few
P.A.s and the CBS S&P rep. We go over the rules once more, try to
alleviate any fears they have and they mention a few tweaks they've
made in the rules (the two biggest being allowed to try again at
$25,000 if you fail and establishing $250,000 as a safe haven, making
the million a freeroll.)
Next, we're taken to the studio to get a bit of a tour of the studio.
It allows us to practice with the monitors, podiums, mics and someone
else who was there. (Odd fact: One of the words in the run-through some
poor sap got was "circumcise.") We then went to talk with some CBS
execs and some of the regular MDP heads. I can't remember exactly what we talked about, but I remember
there was some discussion about why I wanted to be here. Some other
contestants reported playing the game again, but I didn't do that. We
all got on the elevator to go back to the basement and into our holding
room.
Everyone is taking turns getting made up and having our hairs did in
preparation for potential participation. In walks Angelou, ready to
announce the first two contestants, not me. That kind of gets me a bit
upset, because I was aware that the first taping featured my game show
idol, Betty White. I was really hoping for a chance to play with her.
The rest of us wait for a little while, being entertained by the arcade
plug-n-play games set up, the board games strewn around and the Password box game and Pictionary cards someone had brought in. I was primarily
practicing with a pretty, young, blonde woman named April.
Angelou rolls in again for the purpose of not selecting me. So, we all
eat a catered lunch after about four or five hours of waiting. After a
brief period of post-lunch waiting, she enters again to take out two
more players, leaving one more chance for selection. After another
period of waiting, Angelou announces that the final contestants are...
Chad... and April! Haha, yep. I was going to play against the woman I
practiced against for the better part of the day. Unfortunately for me,
I knew she played well.
April & I were led backstage so we could be mic'd up and we watched
the action from the first part of the episode on the monitor. Angelou
was back there with us and we three sat and dissected some of the
clues, trying to give better ones. As the last game drew to a close
(good work on the $100,000 victory with some ridiculous $250,000
clues), we were led to the side of the stage. April & I walked up
the "invisible" stairs and I was ready to play.
As they were checking to make sure my microphone was working and final
make-up adjustments are made, the great Regis Philbin walks up to me,
shakes my head, and welcomes me to the game. It took a few seconds for
me to realize, "Holy crap! I just shook hands with Regis Philbin!" For
the record, he's got the softest hands of anyone I've shook hands with
in recent memory.
[Insert what you saw on TV or in the above YouTube video here,
including the fact that I mispronounced Phil Keoghan's name wrong upon
meeting him (Koe-gan, not Kee-gan; its okay though, he thought it was
mosh-er, not moe-sher). I also chatted and joked a bit with Julie Chen
regarding me being a fan of Big Brother.
We each made some fun references. No real taping stops, except for once
when they checked to see if one of April's answers beat the buzzer or
not. It didn't. Also, we re-taped the ending three times; Julie kept
blocking the view of the camera.]
Phil was still pretty apologetic about the whole thing, but I assured
him it was okay. He offered to send me his book and I gave him my
address on an index card provided by a P.A. I was de-miced and was
ushered into a room outside of the studio to look over the official CBS
winnings form and agree to pay taxes. As I walked to the room, I had
many staff members congratulating me, with Anthony, one of the P.A.s I
had known since Chicago telling me I was "the best player [he's] ever
seen", truly the ultimate compliment on this trip.
Below are some statistics about my appearance!
-
In round one, Phil got me to say four passwords in 21 seconds. He then
used the last 9 seconds to look at me and not give one clue. Haha.
(It's okay, though. It was a fairly difficult word, "whimper".)
- In round two, I got Phil to get all five password in 27 seconds.
- In round three, Julie gave such good clues I was able to figure out all five passwords in 20 seconds.
- A fourth round was not played because I had already mathematically defeated April.
- On the $10,000 level (5 out of 10), we completed the round in 1
minute and 11 seconds. I passed on no words and we used up all three
clues unsuccessfully on 3 words.
- On the $25,000 level (5 out of 9), we completed the round in 1 minute
and 1 second. I passed on no words and we used up all three clues
unsuccessfully on 3 words.
- On the $50,000 level (5 out of 8), we completed the round in 34
seconds. I passed on no words and we used up all three clues
unsuccessfully on 1 word.
- On the $100,000 level (5 out of 7), we completed the first four words
in 48 seconds. (I also passed on no words and we used up all three
clues unsuccessfully on two words.) I entered my final word with 42
seconds on the clock. After giving my first two clues and receiving
responses in 16 seconds, I used 16 more seconds to come up with my last
clue, which was not responded to correctly. We had 14 seconds left on
the clock.
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