The Price is Right

Living in southern California truly has its perks...warm weather all year long, lots of native Spanish speakers for me to chat with, and opportunities to see tapings of different shows. Last spring break I got to see a taping of "Rules of Engagement" with David Spade, which was really entertaining (wish I would have been living here when "Friends" was being taped!) and yesterday I got to see a taping of "The Price is Right."

I honestly used to watch this show every day of summer when I was growing up - I remember back in the day when Bob Barker was hosting it, along with a guy named Rod something...I would sit with my breakfast in the orange swivel chairs in the piano room and watch The Price is Right from 10-11am every day. So you can imagine how excited I was to see it taped LIVE and get a chance to end up on contestant's row!

At 6am a bunch of us from my church met and drove to the CBS studio. Our fearless leader Nic had already done most of the work of telling CBS a group was coming, so we were automatically guaranteed a spot in the studio. We waited outside practicing our reactions for when we got called down (because out of a group of 15 you'd think...) Then we had to fill out these cards about ourselves...write a short paragraph about the most interesting things in our lives. YIKES. What to write? Of course I had to mention the AI audition I had last week and did not make...so since I didn't make it onto that show, I'd love to make it onto this one! Then we got the classic yellow price tag name tag with our name written on it - love it.

As a group of about 15 of us, we sat in line for a long time....but nothing is ever borning with Nic - our youth pastor at church. He came up with a response cheer in which he'd yell, "I say DREW, you say CARREY," and other such phrases. We also had a short dance contest because a guy sitting near us was wearing a jacket that said "Ithica College Ballroom Dance" on it - but that guy didn't even show us his moves! Lame.

Right before we went into the studio - we stood in front of some producer who asked us all where we live and what we do. Then we entered the studio. Um..welcome to 1968. Seriously. The place was lined with fake flowers on strings...light blue curtains, and the stage is much smaller than you'd think. The entire thing once inside the studio took 75 minutes of yelling, cheering, attempting to get my face on camera, and waiting to be called "Come on down!"

Let me just say...Drew Carrey hardly does anything on that show. The guys that actually do all the work - the announcer (not Rod something anymore..but some other guy). And all the "little people" behind 20 cameras, the random interns encouraging us to participate more, etc. Drew Carrey - meh - he has to know how to play each game and explain it - but the games literally last 3 minutes each...so.....

Sadly none of our group made it on stage, nor to contestant's row. We did see a girl when "A brand new CAR!" though, which was cool. And you know what? With the prizes, either you can have it shipped to your house or you can just go to the car dealership you normally use and pick out a car of equal value. Interesting, no?

After it all - we were exhausted. It is a lot of work being an enthusiastic audience! But I will say that it was worth it and very fun in the end. I honestly would not have had a clue what to guess number-wise had I actually made it up there - and I probably would have run into a camera or something (oh wait...that was a different guy...) At the very end I thought for sure we'd get to go home with some type of prize...if not just a chocolate bar or something...but nope. Nothing. One girl got a 100 dollar bill and the DVD game of The Price is Right - so that is cool...

Fun times out here in southern Cali. I love summer - I love summer - I love summer. This fall/winter I would love to get tickets to the Ellen Show - she's my favorite day time host.

Alright - time for a walk with Carolyn, then off to have coffee with some fun people. Happy Wednesday!