WWTBaM question -- 7/21/03 ep

[leszekp]

They didn't know Tim's background when they picked him to be a contestant. He was selected solely based on the AP's judgment that he'd make a good contestant, probably for the same reasons that COAL picked him as well. And he was a good contestant, and he made for good TV, and that's what they care about.

Next thing you know, some weekend duffers will start complaining about how it's unfair that Tiger Woods gets to compete in so many tournaments, when after all he's already won a lot of money, and they'd like to get a chance at winning some of that money themselves.

[tvrandywest]

[quote name=\'leszekp\' date=\'Jul 24 2003, 08:19 PM\'] Next thing you know, some weekend duffers will start complaining about how it's unfair that Tiger Woods gets to compete in so many tournaments, when after all he's already won a lot of money, and they'd like to get a chance at winning some of that money themselves. [/quote]
Bingo. Perfect analogy.

It's all about making \"good TV\". No more, no less. Nothing else matters.

As an obnoxious brat from NY there was little chance of me ever being selected as a contestant on anything other than \"Who's Got The Bigger Chip On His Shoulder\"; unfortunately that show never even made it to pilot.

We've all watched contestants enough to know what kind of attributes \"work\" for TV. I wanted it badly enough that I bought some clothes and got a haircut. I learned what shows were looking for, and I played up those aspects of my personality. I found a \"hook\" that worked to make an impression in a 10 second interview; something that would fit nicely on a 3 by 5 card. And I ditched the things about me that didn't work.

I failed a lot of contestant auditions until I got it right and believable. I think few people could ever truly \"fake it\"; good contestant coordinators can smell it in the first 2 minutes. But I believe that most of us have the attractive, salable personality attributes in us somewhere that can be developed.

Would be politicians and news anchors are coached in this sort of stuff and get \"image makeovers\" all the time. Those who know me know that eventually I got to be a contestant on 9 shows, sadly all back in the day of $25,000 maximums on winnings. For many reasons, let's hope game shows become ubiquitous again. Then everyone who wants the 15 minutes of fame and a Croton watch can have them.

More power to those who were born with the endearing personalities and perfect smiles, but even greater congratulations to those willing to build on what they were dealt.

So don't bust the balls of people who appeared on multiple shows. More power to those who had what it takes to get in the door and had what it takes to kick ass. I'll drink to Tim's second million. And yes, by the length of the post you can tell it's another day off   ;-)


Randy
tvrandywest

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'Timsterino\' date=\'Jul 24 2003, 01:18 PM\'] [quote name=\'Gromit\' date=\'Jul 24 2003, 03:57 AM\'] This has nothing to do with my inability to get on the show. (As a Canadian, we're simply not allowed to try, which is a bit of an irritant, but not related. Sorry dsmith, by not knowing the rules you llama'ed the $100 question)

I don't even have a real problem with the professional contestants per se. If some guy wins 10 grand on Whammy, then gets on Millionaire, all the more credit to him.

But we're not talking about some Joe who's been on more than one show. We're talking one of the biggest winners in all of game show history. Quite literally, a millionaire (though that was such a gift, I mean Rueben Kincaid as a million dollar question? Fox threw a desperately easy stack there, hoping for a big win to make a splash for the new show: http://www.geocities.com/stormseekersite/g.../games/chance/)

Out of the thousands of contestants to choose from, is Tim the best ABC could come up with? [/quote]
Being that Tim is a friend of mine I think I need to bite my tounge a bit on this one. To be honest I do not give a crap how much money the contestant already has as long as they make a good contestant. Tim Hsieh made a good contestant, period. [/quote]
 You never indicated that you were ineligible because of your place of residence.  All you did was complain that a former contestant on IYCHOAL was on WWTBAM; and complain.

[GameShowFan]

Throwing my 2 cents in (and getting back a nickel in change):

First, our esteemed co-moderator said:

It sounds like what you're saying is that you don't mind if someone's been on a game show before, just as long as he wasn't too successful. If it's OK for someone to be on an earlier game, I fail to see how the amount he won on that previous appearance should make any difference.

And then Leszek immediately piped in with:

They didn't know Tim's background when they picked him to be a contestant.

(For the record, the Leszek's remarks after the above line are, of course, dead flush right.)

OK, here's my beef: The guy won $1 Million plus. What more does he have to prove? That he can get lucky twice? As for the contestant wranglers not knowing his previous experience, there are two ways that could happen:

1) The contestant application doesn't require you to list it. If not this, then:
2) Tim failed to list his appearance.

(Say it with me now: (2) is highly unlikely. (1) is possible. Perhaps other auditioners can fill us in.)

Maybe if the original contestant qualification process was still being used, it wouldn't hurt so much. Frankly, if I had been the contestant wrangler and saw his form, I would have dropped him unless the rest of the pool was so bad, I didn't have a choice.

Go ahead, call me bitter. You'll only be stating the obvious.

[thgames65]

This is Tim Hsieh.  After hanging back and watching the discussion, I think it's best to respond to a few of GameShowFan's comments.

The contestant application does ask to list previous game show appearances.  I listed my previous appearances on Jeopardy! and It's Your Chance of a Lifetime.  The application does not ask what the result was.  I was not asked how I did during either my 2001 audition interview for Prime Time WWTBAM nor during my 2002 interview for Syndie WWTBAM.  I did not offer the information to them, for reasons you might suspect.  In 2001, I did not get a postcard indicating acceptance into the contestant pool from the 2001 audition.  I was accepted in 2002.  Perhaps they \"knew\" me in 2001, but forget the following year.  IYCOAL was only on for 5 shows, all run within one week, back in June 2000.  I'm not surprised that the production staff weren't aware of me.  They likely aren't as devoted to game show minutiae as the rest of us are.

Only during the pre-show interview prior to taping WWTBAM did they ask me about details of my previous game show appearances.  When discussing It's Your Chance of a Lifetime, the production assistant only had a vague recollection of the show.  He asked me how I did, and I responded \"I won 1.04 million dollars.\"  His immediate reaction was \"What do you mean by that?\"  It apparently never occured to him that someone who had been a big winner could be trying for their show.

What do I have to prove?  Nothing, really.  I wanted to win some more money for stuff I happen to carry around in my head, bottom line, and WWTBAM is currently the biggest fish in the ocean for people who know trivia.  In another year, I'll be looking again for a proper opportunity.  And I don't feel I have anything for which to apologize.  If anyone feels \"the system\" stinks because it allows this to happen, I echo the thoughts of others and say don't watch the shows.

Tim Hsieh

[Matt Ottinger]

Fascinating insights, Tim.  Thanks -- and, of course, congratulations!  

You story reminds me of something that may be quite astonishing to the hardcore game show fans that make up this forum.  Contestant coordinators and production assistants, in many cases, are simply employees, not game show fans.  The fact that the PA had only a \"vague recollection\" of \"It's Your Chance of a Lifetime\" doesn't surprise me at all.  I'd even bet more than one person saw that on your form and thought it was a talent show or something.

Back when I applied to be a contestant on Sale of the Century, the contestant coordinators asked a small group of us whether any of us had been on a game show before.  One guy said he had been on The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour.  The coordinators -- both of them -- asked which of the two shows he had been on!  Even after being corrected, neither one of them remembered the hybrid program (actually thought we were making it up!), and this was only a couple of years after it had aired.

[leszekp]

OK, here's my beef: The guy won $1 Million plus. What more does he have to prove? That he can get lucky twice?

Using this argument, anyone who ever achieves anything notable or exceptional based on a particular skill or talent (winning an Oscar, Wimbledon, the heavyweight championship, Grammy, the World Series, etc.) should immediately stop employing that skill because they have nothing to prove. Riiiiiiiight.

[PeterMarshallFan]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jul 25 2003, 07:24 AM\'] Fascinating insights, Tim.  Thanks -- and, of course, congratulations! 

You story reminds me of something that may be quite astonishing to the hardcore game show fans that make up this forum.  Contestant coordinators and production assistants, in many cases, are simply employees, not game show fans.  The fact that the PA had only a \"vague recollection\" of \"It's Your Chance of a Lifetime\" doesn't surprise me at all.  I'd even bet more than one person saw that on your form and thought it was a talent show or something.

Back when I applied to be a contestant on Sale of the Century, the contestant coordinators asked a small group of us whether any of us had been on a game show before.  One guy said he had been on The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour.  The coordinators -- both of them -- asked which of the two shows he had been on!  Even after being corrected, neither one of them remembered the hybrid program (actually thought we were making it up!), and this was only a couple of years after it had aired. [/quote]
I never tried out for $otC..... That's a funny story though. Thanks for sharing it!

And BTW, if the PA should have thought IYCoaL was a talent show, they'd partially be right, in the wrong way: \"Chance of a Lifetime\" was a 50's talent show with Dennis James (I think it aired on DuMont).

And welcome to the nuthouse, Tim!