Let me back up a little bit. When I was younger and I lived in England, I was quite obsessed with American culture (I'm using the word 'culture' loosely here). I would visit my Mom in Florida every summer and get completely wrapped up in TV Land. We didn't have cable back home, so watching hours upon hours of Nickelodeon and VH1 was like a drug to me. I couldn't get enough, and to make matters worse, I mainlined infomercials at a startling rate. I remember begging my Mom to buy Didi-7, because didn't she know it could get stains out of ANYTHING? I mean, I watched her bleach her work pants over and over again...here in this little tube was a powerful cleaning agent that could handle that for her, and when she was done with that she could clean the drapes and get stains off the carpet - oh my! My Mom humored me enough to watch a few of these with me and I couldn't understand why she didn't want to call now (because these were limited time offers, and if she called RIGHT NOW we'd get twice as much) and give up her credit card information. Between, Didi-7, That's Incredible (which featured car wax that you could light on fire and still buff out to a mirror-like shine) and Picture Page I was hooked. And then, then there was Nickelodeon. I don't know a single kid who didn't want to be on one of their shows. Much like every other kid from that time, I wished soooo much that I could go on Family Double Dare...we were a smart family, my Step-Dad was athletic and I had watched enough episodes to get through even the super-sloppy variety without a hitch. We went to Universal Studios once and visited the Nickelodeon sound stage, they picked audience members to participate in a Double Dare challenge and later a bunch of people got picked to be "slimed" in front of the crowds.
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| Oh how I wanted to be slimed!!!! |
What I wasn't prepared for was the behind-the-scenes aspect of a game show. To me, what was perfect about them was the over-styled hosts and helpers, perfect sets that glittered under studio lights, prizes as far as the eye could see...I wasn't ready for this ugly side to the game show industry. I was hastily pushed through the process, and it seemed more like a cattle drive than an audition. There was a preliminary stage where they asked questions in order to see if you fit the criteria, onto a timed written exam (basically half-filled out puzzles)...those who did well here moved on to the "mock game". This is where it all fell apart for me. You see, as outgoing as I can be now, I was a painfully shy teenager. I never really got my stride, in fact, I like to say that my awkward stage lasted for over a decade. While I nailed the written portion of the tryout, I could barely squeak out a consonant when it was my turn. Even worse, they really wanted you to get into it like you see on TV. You know, all psychotic screaming "big money!!!" and "I'll take an 'N' for Nana" and clapping like a deranged lunatic. I couldn't do it. I more or less froze up and blew my chances of being on the show. They told me later that I didn't have the "game show personality" that they were looking for.
You can imagine, I was gutted by this comment. My love for quiz shows didn't falter though, and now with my self-confidence at an all time high, I'd say I would make a pretty good contestant.
And where does this all fit in with my white whale, my future horse? I'll tell you...
My future horse's show name will be: Game Show Host.
Love the future horse name lolol :)
ReplyDeleteI tried out for Jeopardy once, when my short term memory was more reliable and I was convinced I was smarter than I actually am.
The upshot - just because you know ninety percent of the answers sitting in your living room... It didn't help at all that the day I took the try out test I had a raging case of poison ivy pop up all over my midsection. The ex had neglected to wash up after yardwork... no worries - I never would have passed the personality test either ;)