Saturday was an exciting day for my husband's family. My brother-in-law Mark had been chosen to appear on Wheel of Fortune during the show's college week, and several of us went to Navy Pier to see the taping.
They were taping five shows in two sessions that day -- three in the first, two in the second -- and my husband and I only had tickets to the first. Once we arrived, the guy in charge told us we could stay, that the second set of tickets was just so we could leave and come back, but we couldn't leave Stella that long anyway. Luckily, Mark made it on the second show.
They had seated us in the "contestant guest" section, which on a baseball or concert ticket would be described as "obstructed view." Guy-in-charge told us that was on purpose, because they didn't want anyone giving hints to the players they came to see. He also warned us that if we were caught saying answers, we ran the risk of being kicked out and having Mark disqualified. It made sense, I guess, but boy, I've left and re-entered the country under fewer rules.
It was an interesting experience, sitting in the audience, even if we didn't get to see anything. We spent the first 25 minutes of the taping smiling and applauding while the crew got audience shots. Our seats were beyond where lights or cameras went, but at least I got to add to the soundtrack by clapping and yelling "Wheel! Of! Fortune!"
We were right behind the roommates of the girl who won the first show, although no one was more excited than the random lady sitting next to them, who chatted with them throughout the entire show and kept turning around to tell her friends, who were sitting next to us, all about the girl's life. I admit, I thought it was cool the girl won, but only because her name was Erika, not because I knew her or anything about her, at least until I heard Excited-Lady-Who-Also-Didn't-Know-Her talking. When she found out the guy in the second game was related to us, I thought she'd explode.
I won't go into all the gory details of Mark's game (you can see it for yourself on April 29), but suffice it to say that he cleaned up, and I was very glad not only because he is my brother-in-law but also because the other two contestants were a squeaky girl and a letter shouter. Unfortunately, the bonus puzzle was too tough for him, but in the end, he took home (an affidavit that says Wheel of Fortune will, within 120 days of the air date, send him a check in the amount of) $33,650.
Not bad for a day's work. Or, you know, a year's.
Note on a completely unrelated topic: It didn't take me long to realize that chronicling good deeds is boring when your good deeds are all things like waiting for someone to leave the parking lot before pulling your car out. Rest assured, I'm still striving to do one every day, but unless I save a baby from a burning building, don't expect to hear about my good deeds.
1 comment:
yay!! =)
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