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News & ArtsTuesday, July 20, 2010
City / Life / TV Hot Tip from Someone Who Thought She Wanted to Be a Millionaire But Changed Her Mind
Posted by David Schmader on Tue, Jul 20, 2010 at 11:01 AM
Take it away, Hot Tipper Dani:
Is it newsworthy? Probably not. Unforgettable? Definitely. There's not much that will make me skip a morning of work, but I'll be damned if I'd miss my chance to win a million bucks. My mom "got a vibe" that I should definitely NOT miss the tryouts for Who Wants to be a Millionaire? at Bell Harbor last Friday morning. So I called one of my employees and made her skip work and come with me. At 4:30 am. To line up in the cold.
Observations from Hot Tipper Dani's morning as a wannabe game-show contestant after the jump.
1. People are crazy about winning money. And standing in line. For hours. The gentleman in front of me brought a lovely snack bag (keep in mind it was 5am) consisting of, among other things, GoGurt and BBQ potato chips. And a whole roll of paper towels. The 150-year-old woman behind me literally told two people said she would "kick their ass" if they attempted to cut in line.2. People love game shows. A larger, bold, gregarious fellow in front of me, who I dubbed "Mr. Monologue", basically kept his mouth running for the full two and a half hours of being in line. And he really thought he was funny. Neat fact: He was actually on The Price Is Right some years ago and won a gazebo and a motorhome. He loves television, a lot, and speaks of celebrities like they are his friends. He also shared with us the "white boy rap" he performed on The Price is Right, and it was terrible.
3. Standing in line, I realized that the general public is very stinky.
4. We got free t-shirts. There was a bit of an upset when they ran out of extra larges and some people had to squeeze into a large.
5. A guy in front of me wanted to share with me these three pieces of trivia just before we went in, hoping they would help us on the test:
*A porpoise hears up to 150,000 hertz.
*Darius Rucker, formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish, is now reinventing himself as a country singer
*The most difficult job in ancient times was making the color purple. People had to seek out the right sea urchin or something, squeeze it to break it open, and get the inky stuff inside and mix it right. Huh. And here I thought the most difficult job would be making buildings without tools.6. I stink at trivia. And I'm worse at movie trivia. I don't know the correct order of each month's birthstone, or what planet is furthest from Earth now that Pluto isn't one anymore. I didn't know what math term is another word for "tartar" (options: logarithm, calculus, algebra, geometry). And I guess I'm not entirely familiar with each and every movie quote spoken by Julia Roberts. Or which presidents Henry Kissinger served under. What I do know: I probably won't ever line up for a game show ever again. It smelled really bad. (Unless Wheel of Fortune comes to town. NOW THAT'S MY GAME!)
2
when they were here (at Fisher Plaza) YEARS ago, (I think it was the year they started the syndicated version), I went to the audition. I passed the test and made it to the interview round which I apparently bombed since I didn't get asked to be on the show...in my defense, I was interviewed by a snarky, nasty, New York type, low level producer/coordinator woman who seemed to be unhappy she was in Seattle on a beautiful summer day. And, in reality, I don't think ANYONE who passed the test made it to the show...the majority of the people who made it that far strongly resembled "Comic Book Guy" from The Simpsons, with the personality to match...in general, everyone left standing had a face meant for radio.
Oh, I took the afternoon off from work, stood in line for a couple hours with hundreds of people, took the test and PASSED it, along with maybe 15-18 other people and all I got out of it was a moderately interesting story and a "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" PENCIL! Fuckers were too cheap to give out proper parting gifts...I mean, would a fucking T-Shirt have bankrupt ABC/Disney?
Bastards.
Oh, I took the afternoon off from work, stood in line for a couple hours with hundreds of people, took the test and PASSED it, along with maybe 15-18 other people and all I got out of it was a moderately interesting story and a "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" PENCIL! Fuckers were too cheap to give out proper parting gifts...I mean, would a fucking T-Shirt have bankrupt ABC/Disney?
Bastards.
3
You know what's really hilarious? Even if you get on the show and win, you don't walk away with any money. They set up an annuity in the amount you won that pays off over 20 years, and the first payment doesn't start until up to a year later. Fuckers.
4
@2, did the producer at Fisher Plaza (I think it was 2003) have short curly dark hair and an obnoxious NY accent? Man, I didn't like her either.
I was in the same testing session with Hot Tipper Dani last Friday (each session had a different test, and I had the same questions she did). Passed both the general trivia and movie trivia tests--the producer was much more pleasant this time. The people near me were ok with the exception of one totally obnoxious turd who bragged about his mad skillz (and didn't pass either test).
I was in the same testing session with Hot Tipper Dani last Friday (each session had a different test, and I had the same questions she did). Passed both the general trivia and movie trivia tests--the producer was much more pleasant this time. The people near me were ok with the exception of one totally obnoxious turd who bragged about his mad skillz (and didn't pass either test).
5
Wheel of Fortune is an awful show. Count the number of seconds in between people clapping, you won't make it to five. Ever. I'm surprised they don't all go home with bruised palms. I hate all those fuckers.
Rant over.
Rant over.
6
Maybe it's different on the road, but I had a great time auditioning in NYC. I mean, you can audition anytime they're filming here, so maybe it diluted some of the crazies, but when I went the people (both people who were auditioning and people who worked for the show) were very nice. Everything was super efficient (I think the entire audition, from the test through both little interviews, lasted about a half hour), but I had a great time. And, tooting my own horn a little, I even got picked for the show...and couldn't go because I was out of town for work. Ugh. Ah well, I'm back in the contestant pool for another couple years. Fingers crossed.
7
The most difficult job in ancient times? Who the hell made that up? I'd vote "mine worker" or "galley slave" a bit before "murex shellfish milker."
8
Hey, the annuity thing only kicks in for prizes above $250,000, i.e. the $500K and $1 million prizes. Everything else gets paid 30 days after. Even with the top prizes, you still get $250K cash out: http://www.dadt.com/millionaire/rules.ht…
And tartar = calculus.
And tartar = calculus.
9
Ah, Millionaire. I did pass the test, the interview and was on Millionaire back in 2003. It was quite fun and I did win a little bit of money ($16k) plus the free trip to NYC. (Rumor is that you have to pay for the plane trip now which would be a bummer.) The good thing about it was no fastest finger thing so every contestant rooted for every other contestant. And there were some people that desperately needed money for health reasons and for schooling, etc.
TenrSinger, go with your gut instinct on every single question. If you have no initial instinct, then suss it out (although now I see they have a time clock on how long you have to answer). You have decide if you are willing to guess; I wasn't and so walked away.
Funny thing, they asked me a complete random question for my "ask a friend" question, here goes:
On the grounds of the White House, which of the following is NOT there?
a) putting green
b) tennis court
c) volleyball court
d) swimming pool
Now, the "on the grounds" kind of threw me because I wondered if they meant inside and out. My initial thought was "volleyball court". I knew that because so many Presidents golfed, there had to be a putting green and probably a tennis court. But I had never seen a photo of the White House with a swimming pool so I thought there might be one indoors. Not knowing for sure, I quit. My phone a friend was absolutely no help.
Turns out...volleyball court. So I was right in the first place. There had been an indoor swimming pool which got floored over and turned into a press room. There is an outdoor pool at the White House.
It was a fun experience but yes, I wish I could have a do over.
TenrSinger, go with your gut instinct on every single question. If you have no initial instinct, then suss it out (although now I see they have a time clock on how long you have to answer). You have decide if you are willing to guess; I wasn't and so walked away.
Funny thing, they asked me a complete random question for my "ask a friend" question, here goes:
On the grounds of the White House, which of the following is NOT there?
a) putting green
b) tennis court
c) volleyball court
d) swimming pool
Now, the "on the grounds" kind of threw me because I wondered if they meant inside and out. My initial thought was "volleyball court". I knew that because so many Presidents golfed, there had to be a putting green and probably a tennis court. But I had never seen a photo of the White House with a swimming pool so I thought there might be one indoors. Not knowing for sure, I quit. My phone a friend was absolutely no help.
Turns out...volleyball court. So I was right in the first place. There had been an indoor swimming pool which got floored over and turned into a press room. There is an outdoor pool at the White House.
It was a fun experience but yes, I wish I could have a do over.
10
The most difficult job in ancient times was making the color purple.
It's true. According to AncientTMZ.com, Oprah was a huge a pain-in-the-ass on the set.
I don't know the correct order of each month's birthstone, or what planet is furthest from Earth now that Pluto isn't one anymore. I didn't know what math term is another word for "tartar" (options: logarithm, calculus, algebra, geometry)
I don't know about the birthstones either but you've never heard the "Many Very Early Men Ate Juicy Steaks Using No Plates" sentence for the order of the planets? Of course, now that Pluto's out, I guess it would have to be Using Napkins, or something like that. (The Ate, by the way, is for the Asteroid Belt.)
And hasn't your dentist, or dental hygienist, ever used both the tartar and calculus terms while cleaning your teeth?
It's true. According to AncientTMZ.com, Oprah was a huge a pain-in-the-ass on the set.
I don't know the correct order of each month's birthstone, or what planet is furthest from Earth now that Pluto isn't one anymore. I didn't know what math term is another word for "tartar" (options: logarithm, calculus, algebra, geometry)
I don't know about the birthstones either but you've never heard the "Many Very Early Men Ate Juicy Steaks Using No Plates" sentence for the order of the planets? Of course, now that Pluto's out, I guess it would have to be Using Napkins, or something like that. (The Ate, by the way, is for the Asteroid Belt.)
And hasn't your dentist, or dental hygienist, ever used both the tartar and calculus terms while cleaning your teeth?
11
If you don't know what presidents Kissinger served under, you really shouldn't be auditioning for trivia shows.
And if you insist on auditioning for trivia shows without knowledge of trivia, perhaps the general population aren't the idiots.
And if you insist on auditioning for trivia shows without knowledge of trivia, perhaps the general population aren't the idiots.
12
I went to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire today and took the audition test. Your questions above are the ones they gave us today, 10/28/10. I still don't know what Tartar means, or the order of the birthstones, or Henry Kissenger. By the way, what is the African language that makes sounds as you pronounce the language. I guessed "Hissing" but they also had choices like, snap, clicking, and who remembers the other. Now where is a question on Snap, Crackle, and Pop Cereal. Get real "Millionaire"!!!! I need the show, Deal or No Deal.....just open suitcases....Where are they.
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