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Druid City Living | april 2020
COMMUNITY Come on Down! – What It’s Like to Be on “The Price Is Right” BY SHEENA GREGG
Sheena Gregg is a registered dietitian and local “Filipino Foodie.” Follow her adventures at www.afilipinofoodie.com.
I know last month I got to briefly share that my recent trip to California included an appearance on The Price is Right. Well, now I’m ready to share some behind-the-scenes details from my experience. If you’re like me, The Price is Right is a total nostalgia bucket list show. Many of us have fond memories of watching the show with our grandparents or watching while home sick from work or school. When my husband Terry and I knew we’d make it to an episode taping, we did as much research as we could. Making the Custom Shirts One tidbit we learned from friends who’d been at tapings and those that have chronicled their Price is Right experience online is that wearing a custom shirt to the taping can definitely add to your chances of being picked as a contestant. The hubs and I thought we were clever with our son’s face on our shirt along with a little airplane flying from Alabama to California, but when we showed up to the taping, there were some folks that went next level with their shirts. I’m talking homemade bedazzled PLINKO boards made from rhinestones glued to shirts and every variation of trying to give Drew Carey a compliment on a baseball tee.
Hamming it up with the hubs before my big appearance on The Price is Right.
The Screening Process Once we got to the studio, we found ourselves immediately signing paperwork confirming our age and stating that we’d not been a contestant on other game shows in the past. For The Price is Right in particular, you can be an audience member unlimited times – but you’re only eligible to be selected as a contestant every 10 years.
I’ll never forget my Showcase Showdown experience.
After the paperwork, Terry and I had our pictures taken in front of a green screen where “The Wheel” is inserted afterwards. We heard that casting producers often look at these photos as they make final selections for contestants, so we hammed it up as much as possible. As part of the first 25 contestants in line, we were lucky to be in the first batch of 30 people to be casually interviewed by the casting producer. Questions included things like “Where are you from?” “What do you do?” and “What’s your favorite game on the show?” (Pro Tip: don’t say PLINKO or Cliffhanger because everyone says that, and it seems to annoy producers). Depending on the energy of your answers, the casting producer and Yep, that big wheel is heavy (if you’ve ever wondered). their assistant quietly take notes about the possibility of you being a contestant. The interview process for 300 audience members takes quite a bit of time, so honestly, we were probably waiting a good 3-4 hours before actually being able to go inside the recording studio. They know folks are getting restless by that point, so they try to amp you up by playing old reruns of the show while you’re waiting.
