There are a lot of forms of success.  Yesterday was full of fun although the end may not have been as successful as some might think to me it was a very fun time!  My aunt took me to breakfast for my birthday before I had to go to work.  After work and grabbing a bite to eat, I headed out armed with the GPS to the city for the Millionaire casting call.  I arrived at my hotel in good time (enough to watch a rather depressing All Star Game).  I did manage to get a few hours of sleep before I woke at 4AM.  I arrived at the Hilton about 5AM and was given instructions on where the other auditioners were assembling (the doors did not open until 6).  I was pleasantly surprised in seeing only 25-30 people in front of me.  I was not sure if there would be people with tents and sleeping bags or not.  I also noticed the local tv crew on the scene.  I texted the house to have someone start taping… just in case.  However, for whatever reason, my sister (who drops her daughters at the house before she goes to work at 6) failed to receive the message. Figures since the gentleman right in front of me was interviewed. I will have to keep checking the site to see if the segment pops up.

By 6AM, there was a good number of people in line.  The camera travelled the length of the line along with staff from Millionaire who encouraged us to show some enthusiasm.  Of course, that was not difficult for me.  Some of the people behind me were a bit camera shy wishing for a paper bag to put over their head.  Honestly, what would happen if one of them were selected to be on the show if they could not be on film for a passing camera?

At about 6:15, the first 300 were corralled into a waiting room where t-shirts were thrown out.  Then came the big moment.  We were shown to the the testing site where we were given a 10 minute 30 question multiple choice test.  I thought I was back in grade school with a bubble test with a number 2 pencil.  This made it extremely easy to learn who passed since the cards with our responses were fed into an electronic reader. Although I thought that I had done well, my number was not one of the many of my group who were announced.  However, there were a few from my table who did.  Plus, a friend from the theater who was in a later group successfully completed the test and was to return for an interview at noon.  Good luck, Squirmy!

On my way home, I stopped into Wal-Mart where one of my former co-workers said that she had seen me on the news.  After  grabbing some breakfast at McD’s, I came home and crashed.  So although I will not be advancing to NYC and being asked “Is That Your Final Answer?”, the experience was priceless.  Plus, he newscast at noon reported that the response was so positive that there may be another cattle call in the future.

I think I must have been in the right place Friday afternoon.  On my lunch hour, I was watching Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. During the last commercial break, an ad promoting auditions in my neck of the woods came across.  I thought to myself… well maybe I will go.  After prayer and consideration, I made the decision that YES I WILL GO! I remember  back about 13 years ago after the premiere episode hosted by Regis, I dialed the then “900” number to play the fastest finger round and tried to make the cut.  A few years later after trying each time the opportunity arose (eventually, the number became toll-free), I successfully completed round one and waited for a follow up call the next day. Alas, I was unsuccessful in round two.

This Wednesday beginning at 7AM, I will be attending one of the show’s Summer Tour audition calls.  Instead of once again getting up at 4AM, I decided to make a reservation and stay  the night.  Five years ago, I had one of the best experiences in the city when my best friends, our chauffeur, and I made our way to the television studio to promote one of our community theater’s productions.  I think this experience will be very fun.  And I am not thinking about anything but this initial step.

So at this point, I just pray that I am safe in my journey and have as much fun with the experience as possible!

I am a self-professed game show freak… AND PROUD of it.  Maybe that is why I enjoy the semi-weekly game nights.  If I had a bucket list, I would put being on a game show high on that list (not number one but high).  I very nearly made it on Who Wants to be a MIllionaire when it had the phone in game.  I made it to the second round at which point I got a phone call and had to get through another set of questions in order to progress to New York City; unfortunately, I did not pass that test.

Tonight saw the return of Password, hosted by Mr. Regis Philbin.  Two celebrities are paired with two contestants.  Actress/comedienne Aisha Tyler and actor/director (maybe not so much… has he directed anything aside from the forgetable Star Trek V?)/author/and now, celebrity interviewer William Shatner were the stars.  To say that Shatner was his normal, over-active self would be an understatement.  At half-time, the celebrities switch sides, Bill nearly fell over something and almost ended flat on his face.  You would have thought he was back on the starship Enterprise being tossed around, holding onto the railing for dear life.  His game play was nothing short of memorable… if you take my meaning.  But he was in there punching, having a good time, and able to have a good laugh even at his own expense which has been a trademark for his 50 years in entertainment.  Unfortunately, I did not find a clip of  tonight’s episode, but surely the memorable performance will be preserved in cyberspace very soon for all to enjoy over and over.  However, here is a clip of a younger Bill playing a solo round of Pyramid.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE 3-27 EPISODE OF ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER (AND CARE TO) SKIP THIS POST)

Last thursday night on the coming attraction for tonight’s “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader”, it was announced that someone gets to the million dollar question and answers it. I was totally flabergasted that they would actually announce that someone would finally win the top prize more than a year after the show first aired. Then I remembered watching “Live with Regis and Kelly” (or was it Kathie Lee at the time…. who cares). On one particular morning, Regis announced that on that very night someone would win a million on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” At the time, it seemed exciting and of course I watched. I even remember the question (Which president made an appearance on the television series “Laugh In?”). Over the past few years, it seems like a cheap way to increase ratings.

It seemed like deja-vu while watching 5th Grader until the contestant who graduated from UCLA and has an MBA from USC got to the second question:

“What is the subject of the following sentence? Sierra baked a cake for Olivia.” He even got the three choices:

A: pronoun; B: proper noun; C: common noun

Unfortunately, this smart (?) guy thought the subject of the sentence was “cake” so he chose answer C. Sorry to say, the fifth grade student who could have saved him also chose the wrong answer. So the bright guy who knew he would be the first million dollar winner on the show flunked out on the second question and went home with nothing.

AH, but wait….. since the man was sooooo sure that he would not only get to the top question but answer it correctly, Jeff showed the question and it was answered correctly.

I guess the advertisement did not say that the million dollars was actually won only that the question was asked and answered. CHEAP RATINGS PLOY. If it were five days from now, some would have shouted “APRIL FOOLS!!!“