Author Topic: GSN Live Going on Nationwide Mall Tour (Read 19342 times)

JasonA1 · « **Reply #45 on:** March 13, 2009, 11:59:34 PM »

I took in episode 405. It was, as I'm sure you well know, impressive for a college game show. With that aside, the audio issues kept me from sticking with it for the entire program (the contestants were quiet/inconsistent, and you were shouting into the red on a number of occasions).

The being obnoxious to the contestants for missing questions seemed a bit unwarranted when it was largely bygone pop culture being asked to young college kids. Being game show fans and trivia buffs, maybe we think it's normal to know who sang "Just What I Needed," but on the average at this age, it's just not the case. I enjoyed a lot of it, I just noticed the shouting, as well as the mini-mushmouth while you were asking questions quickly.

-Jason

chad1m · « **Reply #46 on:** March 14, 2009, 12:13:12 AM »

Alright, I'm off to bed to prep for tomorrow. If I make it to the audition stage, I'll try to get a video taken of me hosting if any one is interested.

gsfan85 · « **Reply #47 on:** March 14, 2009, 02:04:07 PM »

[quote name=\'JasonA1\' post=\'210340\' date=\'Mar 13 2009, 11:59 PM\']
I took in episode 405. It was, as I'm sure you well know, impressive for a college game show. With that aside, the audio issues kept me from sticking with it for the entire program (the contestants were quiet/inconsistent, and you were shouting into the red on a number of occasions).

The being obnoxious to the contestants for missing questions seemed a bit unwarranted when it was largely bygone pop culture being asked to young college kids. Being game show fans and trivia buffs, maybe we think it's normal to know who sang "Just What I Needed," but on the average at this age, it's just not the case. I enjoyed a lot of it, I just noticed the shouting, as well as the mini-mushmouth while you were asking questions quickly.

-Jason
[/quote]

Thanks for the criticism. The episode you chose to watch happened to have 3 players who I had happened to meet the night before and was joking around with, a lot of that was all in good fun. Audio issues were one of our biggest problems.

If anyone did record GSN Live yesterday, PLEASE let me know!!!
-Adam

chad1m · « **Reply #48 on:** March 14, 2009, 04:37:33 PM »

Welp, I didn't make it to the finals. Guess I'm not as good of a host as I thought I was, lol. The two finalists (out of 8, who were pulled from both shows, as opposed to one from each set of shows) was Jason Antoweicz (sp?) and Mark Generes (sp?). I'm taking care of photos, so I'll upload an album full of images + the video of my hosting shortly.

EDIT: Here we go! Album is here: http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/chad1m/GSN%20Tour/ Password is gsntour.
My video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMpqP9rq4qs

Gus · « **Reply #49 on:** March 14, 2009, 06:15:26 PM »

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'210378\' date=\'Mar 14 2009, 03:37 PM\']Jason Antoweicz (sp?)[/quote]
Antoniewicz, aka JasonA1. Congrats!

JasonA1 · « **Reply #50 on:** March 14, 2009, 07:21:13 PM »

And I can now happily say that I was lucky enough to come out victorious! Mark Generous was an amazing competitor. We actually know each other from school, and he used to anchor Central Michigan University's newscast. We both said we'd go up to the broadcasting department head and tell him the program must be worth something if two people from it were able to get to the finals. :) Lots of spunk, got a lot of laughs, but if I had to come up with a reason why he lost, it would be minor mechanics things with the game itself (gave cutesy hints after the first player missed a question, missed the "lightning round" cue, etc).

For the curious: The trip is for three nights, with a rental car (featuring unlimited mileage!), Sony Studio Tour, and $200 in cash. In addition, I was given one of those neat GSN buzzer toys, Lingo DVD game, t-shirt, magnet set, pen, and dice. I'm a little lazy (and wired) to go look up which hotel specifically.

Apologies to Chad and the larger group for not saying hi sooner. I was sort of superstitious about throwin' my name out there and then being roundly rejected for an audition. But I did say hi to Chad in the final stretch, did say hi to Matt Ottinger again, got to meet Mike Burger and the esteemed Kevin Olmstead (along with his suit liner). Danny Seckel was actually not a bad emcee for this sort of thing, once he got going. Totally forgot he was on Midnight Money Madness, and it's clear he has that type of experience. Kept the crowd into it, even if he was a bit goofy/cheesy at times.

I may have more to say once I calm down, or upload media. For now - yay!

-Jason

JasonA1 · « **Reply #51 on:** March 14, 2009, 08:20:24 PM »

[quote name=\'gsfan85\' post=\'210369\' date=\'Mar 14 2009, 02:04 PM\']
Audio issues were one of our biggest problems.
[/quote]

I can sympathize. I hope my post didn't come across as only negative, because I really liked the show on the whole. Is there a more formal fan-ish website with full format and screengrabs and all that fun stuff? I can't recall seeing much in the way of that on the link provided.

-Jason

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #52 on:** March 15, 2009, 10:57:13 AM »

Very interesting event. The whole operation seemed pretty well run, but that certainly wasn't true of the technical aspects of the host tryouts themselves. Lots of audio problems, and about halfway through the day the buzzers stopped working. They didn't even have library bells as backup so they resorted to hand-raising and name shouting, putting even more pressure on already nervous candidates and making the whole thing look even more amateurish.

Still, that was the worst of it. Contestants (and there were lots of chances to be a contestant) won cash and prizes doing such things as spinning a prize wheel, grabbing play money in a wind machine and winning the trivia contests the candidates hosted. As it turned out, the Livonia event was pretty sparsely attended so they were desperate for trivia players. Mike Burger and I each won our respective games, pocketing $50 cash in the process. Earlier, I was lucky enough to get host Danny Seckel's attention when he was looking for someone who "knew game show trivia" (HA!). That got me a home version of Bingo America (I actually had my choice, and that's the one I didn't have!) for knowing the original, kissing host of Family Feud. As I said, HA! Overall, they must have given away more than a thousand in cash, plus bucketfuls of board games and smaller prizes.

Jason, Chad and Mark were all terrific. And how great a name is "Mark Generous" for a game show host? I think the only thing that hurt Chad compared to the other two (they were clearly the top three) was what appeared to be a deliberate choice to underdress. Jeans and brightly-colored sneakers was certainly a distinct look, but maybe not what the judges wanted. Millionaire millionaire Olmstead was also there to audition but wasn't selected to be in the field of eight, probably due to a misguided effort at gender balance. The women who tried out were uniformly awful. It's not sexist if it's true.

I was not particularly impressed with Seckel, who admittedly had a difficult job since the small audience was just barely paying attention most of the time. At an event where part of the tryouts was judging how amateur wannabes handled contestants, Seckel himself was average at best, and completely dropped the ball on one of the wind-machine games. The contestant was scooping the play-money bills off the floor of the booth in a clear violation of...basically the only rule. Rather than stopping and restarting, which would have been easy and taken seconds, he repeatedly told her and everybody else that she was cheating, joked about it, let her get away with it, and then passed her off to the local PAs who counted her points and awarded her the top prize of $250 to great fanfare. Had it been a larger or nastier crowd, anybody else who played the wind machine game before or after her and won a GSN magnet would easily have a gripe.

Still, I'd encourage anyone interested in the host tryouts to give it a shot. I didn't realize that the winner from each location got the GSN Live grand prize. That's pretty decent odds for a very nice prize if you're at least competent. All in all, a very enjoyable afternoon. And congratulations to Jason, who now must remember to tell us when he'll be on!

chad1m · « **Reply #53 on:** March 15, 2009, 02:47:09 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'210421\' date=\'Mar 15 2009, 10:57 AM\']I think the only thing that hurt Chad compared to the other two (they were clearly the top three) was what appeared to be a deliberate choice to underdress.[/quote]Eh, that's a good point. I figured it wouldn't be too bad, though. I mean, it's not like Fred is in a three-piece tux on GSN Live.

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'210421\' date=\'Mar 15 2009, 10:57 AM\']The women who tried out were uniformly awful. It's not sexist if it's true.[/quote]For the most part, definitely. This woman, (Betty Dills, who is sweet and kosher according to her opening spiel) who played with my aunt (who sadly, got crushed by Mike Burger. ::shakes fist:

proceeded to botch her interviews and mangle and leave out a lot of the words she spoke, not to mention dropping her cards. This lady was okay, but had the unfortunate luck to have the buzzers break down in the middle of play.

clemon79 · « **Reply #54 on:** March 15, 2009, 02:56:30 PM »

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'210430\' date=\'Mar 15 2009, 11:47 AM\']
Eh, that's a good point. I figured it wouldn't be too bad, though. I mean, it's not like Fred is in a three-piece tux on GSN Live.

[/quote]
Using Fred Roggin as your template as to what a quality television personality should be is always going to end in tears.

chad1m · « **Reply #55 on:** March 15, 2009, 02:57:34 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'210432\' date=\'Mar 15 2009, 02:56 PM\']Using Fred Roggin as your template as to what a quality television personality should be is always going to end in tears.

[/quote]Touché, Monsieur Lemon.

JasonA1 · « **Reply #56 on:** March 15, 2009, 03:59:45 PM »

Betty Dills also did something even my mom and girlfriend noticed - she read through to the end of the question, even on an early buzz-in. The people in the back said you can "host however you want" and allow for that sort of thing, but it struck most of us as odd. Suffice to say, though, if you were within earshot of the place, you probably had a friendly conversation with her at some point. She was as big a fan as anybody, talking about all the classics as they whizzed by on GSN montages, as well as relating her story of meeting Chuck Woolery at her church.

-Jason

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #57 on:** March 15, 2009, 04:15:52 PM »

There was also the woman who referred to Batman as "The Capped Crusader".

chad1m · « **Reply #58 on:** March 15, 2009, 04:16:21 PM »

[quote name=\'JasonA1\' post=\'210438\' date=\'Mar 15 2009, 03:59 PM\']she read through to the end of the question, even on an early buzz-in.[/quote]I still wonder if that was intentional, or if she just wasn't aware enough of her surroundings to notice the buzzer sound going off.
[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'210443\' date=\'Mar 15 2009, 04:15 PM\']There was also the woman who referred to Batman as "The Capped Crusader".[/quote]Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure that was Betty.

SamPrainito · « **Reply #59 on:** March 15, 2009, 11:28:17 PM »

(I apologize for the incoherent rambling in this message. I'm running on very little sleep!)

I went to the St. Louis event today.

Of course, how could I pass up this opportunity?!?! I mean, I have a replica Plinko board and Showcase Showdown wheel in my garage!

I wanted to be there early to beat close the front of the line, and to my surprise, at 8:30 am I was the second person there! A woman named Jeni was first in line. She was there at 6am!

The audition interviews with a GSN producer started around 10:30. Jeni was in her interview for a very long time, but she came out with a card indicating what time she would host a live game show in the mall.

My interview consisted of telling a bit about myself and why I want to be a host. I told my "spayed and noodled" story and talked about Game Show Night for the American Cancer Society. I was also asked to recite a few lines from shows like "Come on Down!", "It's time to Press Your Luck", and "Let's start the Feud!". The producer also asked my favorite show, and favorite hosts. I rattled off the names Bob Barker, Gene Rayburn, and Bill Cullen. Then I was asked to read some trivia questions for the camera, with the producer playing the part of an obnoxious contestant. At that point the producer asked if I could stick around for 20 minutes or so. I told him I would, and left the audition area. I didn't get a card. I thought
I had bombed, and I considered leaving.

Jeni convinced me to stay, and after a few more interviews, the producer called a few of us without cards over and told us we'd be alternates, and to not go far.

After more waiting, the producer singled me out, and told me I would be on at 2:40. I WAS GONNA GET MY SHOT AFTERALL!

I ended up being the seventh candidate. My game went smoothly, which was great news since the buzzers were acting up!

After the last candidate hosted their game, the finalists were announced, and I MADE IT!! The other candidate was Jeni!

Just about this time, I stepped off the stage after being declared a finalist, and who shows up? MOM! She knew I was an alternate, and I updated her when I knew I'd host for sure, but I never got a chance to call her to let her know I was a finalist. She just happened to show up at the right time!

After a few minutes, Jeni and I each hosted one more game, and then the results....Jeni won.

She won the trip to LA and the appearance on "GSN Live", but don't feel bad for me. I ended up with a DVD Game Collector's

Tin with TEN different game show DVD games, plus a GSN gift bag, and $100 cash! Not bad for a total of fifteen minutes of hosting!

Everyone from GSN was great, and the producer told me it was a very, very, very close decision. Jeni was that good. I showed him a snapshot of last year's ACS Game Show Night, and he could not believe the detail I put into it. He also said "I have some friends in LA you need to talk to!" I wonder what he meant by that?!?!? I told him to "Let me know if I can ever help you guys.", to which he replied "Wanna go to Phoenix?" (The tour's next stop). I must have made an impression on the GSN people!

It was a great experience, and I'd do it again if I could.