LIKE millions of Americans, I have been watching the American Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) popular quiz programme Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? for the last three years. I have always wanted to become a contestant in the hot seat, as it is called. And for the last one year, I have also been playing the game on the Internet.
Last year, I tried to get a chance to audition through the Internet, but was not lucky. This year I was excited when I got an email in the first week of June, 2004 from the office of the producer that my audition to become a contestant would be one of two dates in the second week of August, but a confirmation for the actual date and time would be sent later. I became so excited that I sent an email to the faculty of North Georgia College — where I have taught at the math and computer science department for over seven years, requesting volunteers as a lifeline, such as ‘phone a friend’. Some sent me good luck and some offered their help.
I waited for a few weeks for the confirmation, but got none. Thinking that the producer’s staff might be busy, and I had to go to Pakistan to visit family and friends, I booked a flight to New York, where the audition was scheduled at the ABC’s studio. When I returned from Pakistan, a few days before the audition, I was surprised to find no confirmation for the audition. After making some phone calls, I was told to get to the ABC studio by 4:30pm, when I arrived in New York, and I would be allowed to appear for the written test before I got a chance for the audition.
On August 10, I took the Delta Airline’s flight from Atlanta to New York at about 1:30 and reached La Guardia — one of the three airports in New York — at about 3:45pm. I took a taxi and reached ABC’s studio on the 67th Street in Manhattan, New York at about 4:25pm. A big queue of people had come from all over the US to become contestants. After waiting for about half an hour and filling a four-page questionnaire, we were asked to walk round the block — ABC has a very big building and occupies the whole block — and then enter the cafeteria of ABC’s studio. When I looked around that cafeteria, there were more than 200 people. The young man who was our host said that to start with we would have to take a 10-minute test. The test was inside an envelope that had a number, which would be our ID or roll number, and should be written on the scantron card — the answer sheet — along with our name. The test contained 30 multiple-choice questions, covering history, geography, film/TV/music of the US and the world. When we asked about the criteria for the selection, he said that he could not disclose it. He said that only those whose IDs were called would be auditioned and would be informed through a post card, that their names were selected and placed in a ‘pool’ from which the programme’s anchor person, Meredith Viera, would make the final selection or decide not to call any people from that pool.
I appeared in the test, but my number was not called for audition. Only 15 or 20 people were asked to stay for the audition. Some people had been coming for this test for more than 10 times, but could to pass the test.
At the moment the whole procedure of selecting a contestant is not only unfair and ambiguous, but it also depends on the whims of the anchorperson, or selections could be based on profiling. It is quite unfair for the producer of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? not to tell prospective contestants the actual criteria, and their actual score, so that they could know where they stand in terms of their knowledge, and in which ‘fields’ they should improve their knowledge. Also, from the list of all those who pass the test, a certain number, depending on the studio’s capacity, should be allowed to become contestants and given a scheduled date for taping. Those contestants who are unable to come on the scheduled date should be replaced with the people from the list or pool. This procedure should be done for the whole taping season, and if any candidates are left over from the current season, they should be carried over to the next season.
My desire to become a millionaire or win at least a couple of thousand dollars to pay off some of my debts ended in a fiasco, and now I am more than convinced that in the US there is no such thing as a ‘free lunch’. All such attractive offers have a catch or some hidden cost, obligation or ambiguity. As long as human beings have the temptation or desire to get something for nothing or become rich overnight, such offers and programmes will continue.
LIKE millions of Americans, I have been watching the American Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) popular quiz programme Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? for the last three years. I have always wanted to become a contestant in the hot seat, as it is called. And for the last one year, I have also been playing the game on the Internet.
