The time I was on a game show...

I have always been a huge fan of game shows, especially Jeopardy. After taking the Jeopardy test online and realizing that you had to be a rocket scientist/biochemist to know the answers to any of the questions, I decided to go a different route. Whilst browsing through some casting calls back in 2007, I saw that "Chain Reaction" on Game Show Network was casting. So OF COURSE I had to go for it. After submitting my application and going through the Q&A process, I got a call back saying that they wanted me and my 'team' to come in for a face-to-face audition! My team consisted of myself, my older sister Nikiya and my friend Kate. A few days later we were sitting in an auditorium with 50 or so other people waiting for our audition. We must have done pretty good because we got a call back to come to NYC and film the show!! To say I was ecstatic is an understatement! Fast forward a few weeks, and it was the morning of the audition. In order to get there we had to get up at the ass-crack of dawn, drive to the train station an hour away, and then take an hour train ride into the city. My sister woke up sick that morning, and after plenty of begging and coaxing I convinced her to suck it up and get dressed. Out the door we went on the way to the Big Apple, imagining how we were going to spend our winnings....

Fast forward 8 hours later. Not only had we gone up against 3 of the smartest nerds I have ever met and lost horribly, my sister also got yelled at for chewing gum on national TV, and then we got back to the car to find a hefty parking ticket on the window! We had spent around $150 between the train and cab ride to the studio, plus another $180 on the ticket, and we won a whopping zero dollars on the show. On top of that, I had planned a viewing party at my apartment for everyone to watch our episode, which now would end up turning into a half hour of laughing and cringing over our lack of game show skill. Lessons learned:

1. Guessing answers from your couch is MUCH easier than guessing an answer when you have 10 TV cameras in front of you and a studio audience behind you
2. When parking at a train station in Trenton, NJ, be sure to look around EVERYWHERE for parking meters (even across the parking lot and around the corner...because apparently that is where they are located)
3. "Colored textbook" is not an acceptable answer and will cause you to lose the game

All in all, it was a fun experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I videotaped the episode and have watched it a bunch of times since then, each time still laughing at how awful we really were. The best part of the whole thing? 7 years later, GSN still airs my episode and every few months I will get a text or Facebook message from someone I haven't seen in years telling me that they are watching me on TV! I once got a message one time from my high school geometry teacher telling me that he had just watched my episode!! If you have spare 30 minutes and would enjoy a good laugh, I have included the link to the video here. (I am the one in the middle) Please allow the following disclosures---First of all, I don't know why I couldn't take 20 minutes before the show to dye my damn hair! My roots are about 7 inches long!! Second, I look like I am about 14 years old, but I was really 22.  Third, the make-up artists caked a good 5 pounds of makeup on my face before the show, so I kind of resemble a hooker. And finally, I swear I am not nearly as arrogant and as the video makes me seem! Don't say I didn't warn you!

Always being on the lookout for my next game show adventure, a few months ago I found a casting call for a show in LA looking for a fun, energetic family to star in a new trivia show. Hello?! Perfect family, right here. I sent in the application and got a call from the casting director, but unfortunately the show never took off. With the application, they wanted a picture of your whole team together, and I figured why not share that picture with all of you?

 

From left: My hubby, my niece Camden, me, my momma, my nephew Mason, my brother-in-law Brett, my nephew Aiven and my sister Angela. And yes, we seriously all dressed alike and posed in my living room for a picture. 

I hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far! We are in the middle of an ice storm down here in Florida--apparently the worst storm in an entire generation--so its been a lot of vegging out by the TV and snuggling under cozy blankets!! And I have no complaints when it comes to snuggling!!