The Game Show Hustle – The Time Rules

September 6, 2013

I mentioned yesterday that if you’re really going for optimal game show appearances, you might want to try for shows that are more individual than pair-oriented.

But why did I say that? Could you just do a pair one and then an individual one if it happened to come up later?

Well, not exactly.

Did you know that many people have a list of game shows they want to go on – in the order the want to go on them?

For instance, with Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, and Price is Right, you can’t have been on 3 game shows in the past 10 years. Therefore, you’d have to do those 3 first since one you’ve hit 3, you’ve gotta wait ’til your decade’s over.

With Let’s Make a Deal, you can’t have been on 4. So, that would have to be next.

(Additionally, with TPiR, they now have a rule that you can go on once every 10 years… So if you need to redeem yourself (or for any other reason you want to return), now you can after a decade. (It used to be only once in a lifetime.) I believe the same rule applies with Let’s Make A Deal now as well. Wheel is one and done.)

With most others, it just can’t have been a year since you were on a game show in general.

But many people don’t know about all those little rules. I doubt some of these things will matter to the majority of us, but I thought I’d throw them out there. These are well known rules in the little game show world, but I didn’t know if the great big world knew about them.

With almost every single game show you go on, you must wait a year since your last game show appearance.

I’ve actually been emailed (since I’m in people’s files) about trying out for 3 different things since Price, but each time, I’ve said, “Well, I was on TPiR in March. Does that matter?” And they’ve each said, “We’ll see you again in 2014.”

As I mentioned in my other post, I’ve had so many close calls that if history repeats itself, I very easily could audition all year (or longer) and still not actually get booked on anything. But, rules are rules, baby. Gotta cool my heels on trying out for stuff.

(Though I think you can probably start trying for many things out a month or two before your year is up, because for most shows you’re not gonna make it to try out to tape to air in such a short window.)

For the record, even though I, and others, might have the dream scenario of what game shows we’d love to go on, and in what order – I am a total game show adorer. And I would be ecstatic to go on anything anytime.

So, even though I’m pointing out that you can only go on one a year, and that technically the best ones offer big prizes and let you play individually – if I got the offer to be on any game show, I can’t imagine ever turning one down saying, “This isn’t what I want my one chance for the year to be.”

It’s rare to be invited on one. And I’d be extremely lucky if I actually did get one a year! If we start with the first year I was on one, I’m averaging about one every 3 years.

So, let’s keep our fingers crossed for Wheel of Fortune in 2014. 😉

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