Coming soon, from The Land Of The Maple Leaf…

Hello, and Happy Tuesday to you! I have some cool news to share with you this week, by way of a welcome visit from our favourite Canadian guest blogger.

Serial game show contestant and aficionado Ryan Vickers has been a great friend of HowToWinGameShows.com for ages now, having written loads of great guest posts for the site since August 2017. You can find a choice selection of Ryan’s game show-related adventures right HERE.

It was Ryan who first alerted me to the fascinating series The Search For Canada’s Game Shows, (which you can watch at

https://www.CanadasGameShows.com/season-episodes).

Ryan appeared in the first series of this show, and since then, he’s developed a real rapport with its producers. Could that possibly, conceivably, somehow have a little something to do with Ryan’s return today?

Hm.

Let’s see, shall we? Take it away, Ryan…

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O Canada! O Game Shows! Season Two!
(Yes, I’m paraphrasing Stephen’s great title from last year!)*

Hi there friends! It’s guest blogger Ryan Vickers speaking to you from slightly-getting-warmer Canada.

I wanted to share with you that The Search for Canada’s Game Shows is back on GameTV here in Canada later this month! We are rolling out a three-night premiere with all-new episodes on March 29th, 30th and 31st (and an early shout out… Happy Birthday Mom!)

Our first season focused on the origins of Canadian game shows up until the turn of the 21st century. Our second season looks at more recent Canadian game show activity and the focus on more competitive shows that have taken over the prime-time airwaves here in The Great White North. We’ll explore shows created in Canada and how they’ve evolved; the proliferation of shows that have food as their centrepiece; the progression of prizes; the role of comedy and comedians in game shows and the future of game shows here.

I look forward to sharing some neat facts about Season Two after it airs; but for now, I also need to let you know that you can catch the show at the end of March (concurrently with the television broadcast) if you don’t live in Canada – all episodes will be available for viewing at CanadasGameShows.com. In fact, you can pop over there right now and see interview segments from this season’s episodes, as well as sneak previews of each episode in Season Two!

I hope you enjoy!

Ryan.

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Thanks very much for the heads-up, Ryan – I’m really looking forward to the new season, and to hearing more about it from your good self. 

But hey, Ryan shouldn’t have to do all the heavy lifting in the guest post department. If you – yes, YOU! the person reading this right now – ever feel inclined to write a guest post for the site, I’m always open to suggestions. It can be autobiographical, it can be behind-the-scenes info, it can be analysis or opinion…. as long as it’s game show-related, I’ll consider it. So, if you think you may have something to offer, something that I can help share with a wider audience, just email me at Stephen@HowToWinGameShows.com. You never know where it may lead!

I’ll see you next time, and yes… Happy Birthday, Mrs Vickers (Ryan’s mum). 

* Aw, shucks, Ryan… – SH

How To Quiz… HARD!

Hello! I’ve got something a bit different for you this week. And when I say “something”… that “something” could probably be more accurately described as “nothing”.

You see, I don’t actually, technically have a post for you this week.

Well, not one of my own, anyway. Frankly, folks… I got nothin’.

BUT what I CAN do this week is direct you to another blog, and another blog post, that I highly, highly recommend.

Stephen Scott – a game show connoisseur, enthusiast and serial contestant, and friend of HTWGS.com – recently tried his luck on the ABC’s Hard Quiz. He’s written an extremely informative and entertaining account of his experience as a contestant…. and if you’re thinking about going on the show, you’ll find some pretty darn useful tips there too. It really is a fantastic read, from someone who’s been there and done that.

Stephen’s episode of Hard Quiz aired here last Wednesday (October 14)… but if you’re in Australia, you can watch it on the ABC’s iview platform any time, right here:

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/hard-quiz/series/5/video/LE1841V029S00

And his comprehensive article about the whole experience is right here, at MEDIUM.COM….

View at Medium.com

(That’s Stephen, second from the right)

Good, isn’t it? I’d like to thank Stephen for permission to link to his article, and I hope you enjoyed it…. HARD!

I’ll be back next week, with my next EXCLUSIVE interview… this time, with a game show host! Hmmm…. who could it possibly be?

That’s actually a rhetorical question for me. I’m perfectly well aware who it is, thank you very much. Obvs.

You, however, will have to check in next Tuesday to find out who this special exciting exclusive MYSTERY GUEST is.

INTRIGUING, No?

Huh. Thank you Tyrion.

Until then, then!

P.S. If you ARE considering applying to go on Hard Quiz, my interview with contestant Markos Hasiotis might also be worth a look for you.

Ryan’s Life in Game Shows, Episode 17: The Talking Head… Part II

Hello and welcome to the second and final part of our most recent guest post from the Real Canada Man himself, Mr Ryan Vickers. Last week, Ryan had heard that a documentary series on Canadian game shows was about to go into production at Game TV. He’d emailed the producers expressing his interest in being involved, and he’d received a positive response from them. Within in a week, he’d had a preliminary chat with the project’s director Dave Hodgson. 

Now read on….

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Fast forward to the end of October. The entire session lasted for about three hours – one hour was dedicated to ‘set-up’, on either side of the filming, and then it was me talking for about two hours! We started off talking about Reach for the Top and then segued into other Canadian game shows such as Definition, The Mad Dash and the craziness that was the elevator-laden production of Pitfall.

PRO TIP: Even if you’re very busy and it’s only just a quick note or a short phone call to schedule a follow-up chat, make sure you make time for those in the game show industry. Don’t give away your shot!

Being interviewed for the documentary was, 100%, a very exciting experience! Compared to other productions, it was quite a quick turnaround from the time it was shot to the time of its release. The Search for Canada’s Game Shows premiered on Game TV on January 16th and as the six-episode first season has now finished airing, all episodes are now online for your viewing pleasure at canadasgameshows.com.

On a personal level, it was a great thrill to get to see not only my contributions on the small screen, but also to learn things about Canadian game shows that I never knew! I was also happy to see who they enlisted to be subjects in the documentary. Yes, I’m slightly biased because of my involvement (!), but it was wonderful to see how the production team covered aspects of the Canadian game show scene over the last 50 plus years.

At this point, I figured my involvement with the production was done. But I was about to be surprised with something that I never could have imagined. I met up with Dave, the director of the project, for coffee in mid-February. Dave returned the the game show footage that I had loaned him, and we got to talking about the documentary. Then he mentioned that they were doing small documentary subjects exclusively for the production’s YouTube channel – and you’d be wise to subscribe to Canada’s Game Shows on YouTube – things that didn’t fit into the documentary as a whole. These have included a piece on Howie Mandel (host of US Deal or No Deal) and his involvement in game shows, an interview with Bill Shizas, one of the few contestants who made it onto Who Wants to be a Millionaire: Canadian Edition for its two episode run (not a misprint!), a retrospective on Test Pattern, which was an “anti-game show” and a quiz with Steven Page (formerly of the band “Barenaked Ladies”) as he had appeared on the show Bumper Stumpers.

Dave then casually said “Oh yes, and we’re doing one on you as well”. This took me greatly by surprise and I feel both flattered and honoured that they chose me as a subject. If you’d like to take a look, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zstBSeHEzc0&

So in summary – definitely a wild ride. I can’t wait to see what the future holds – maybe a Season 2 of The Search for Canada’s Game Shows?

Post script: If you liked the show, please consider sending a note to https://www.igametv.com/contact-gametv/ – it will go directly to the management of the network and it will increase the chances of the show coming back for a second season! Thanks!

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No, thank YOU Ryan, for taking the time to share your wholly unique experience with us. I’ve watched the series (and of course, Ryan’s interview) and can highly recommend it to anyone who’s a fan and / or student of game shows… and I have a sneaking suspicion that would include most of the people reading this. 

To stay abreast of what Ryan’s up to, you can follow him on Twitter, right here

I’ll see you back here next week, for the next in my series of PatentedHowToWinGameShowsReminiscences, in which I’ll travel all the way back to 2002, as I recall my tenure as Head Writer on the long-running Australian game show Shafted

If the words “long-running” can apply to one season comprising eight weeks. 

See you then!

 

 

Ryan’s Life in Game Shows, Episode 17: The Talking Head… Part I

Ryan Vickers, on the set of ‘Countdown’

Hello and welcome to our first guest post for 2020, from our old friend in The Land of The Maple Leaf, Mr Ryan Vickers.

You may recall previous guest posts from Ryan, who’s a lifelong game show enthusiast, many-time game show contestant, and a sometime game show host as well! You also may have spotted him in the recent series (which you can watch online) The Search for Canada’s Game Shows, which I reviewed in an earlier post.

Aaaanyhoo, Ryan’s kindly penned another post for HowToWinGameShows.com, and it brings us up to speed with what he’s been up to for the past 12 months. It’s a biggie, so I’ve split it into two parts, and Part 2 will go up here next Tuesday. But before that, here’s Part 1. Take it away, Ryan!

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My Life in Game Shows Episode 17: The Talking Head…

Hello everyone! It’s been a year since I’ve talked to you so I wanted to catch you up on a few things that have happened just before I get to the main bit.

My life continued to be filled with game shows in 2019.

I made a trip to Philadelphia in March to see a the making of a game show called The ClassH-Room, which resembles Reach for the Top. I was lucky enough to be a guest of the show and after watching two episodes from the audience, during the third I was invited to watch the show in the control room. You really get to see the fun of the production staff when it is episode six of six in the recording day! I also got to sit down and chat with (the show’s host) Richard Curtis after the show, and we swapped game show hosting stories. A great experience. The show posts episodes on YouTube, which are not geo-blocked – you are highly encouraged to go and watch!

In early May, I trekked to New York City to see my second recording of The $100,000 Pyramid, where I was chosen as one of the Most Enthusiastic Audience Members. This led to being the warm-up comedian’s sidekick during the entire taping session. I not only got to perform his jokes, but I also got to hype up the audience by simulating the host’s opening spiel! What a huge thrill that was, not to mention the fact that I was allowed to have a picture on stage.

Ryan on the set of ‘The $100.000 Pyramid’

Later in May, I also performed my duties as host of Reach for the Top, which featured one of our best matches in the decade that I’ve been involved. Finally in July I was present for the final taping day of Au Suivant! in Montreal. It was a great kick to be in the audience and I was flattered to be recognized by the host, post-show when I had a chance to say hello.

I figured that might have been it for the year, and I would have been pleased with all of that (as it is quite a bit!). However…

In early September, my good friend Jay in New Brunswick emailed me a link to a website that talked about someone making a documentary on the history of game shows in Canada. I made a mental note to get in contact… but as it was the first week of school I had to get some other stuff done. About a week later, I was talking with one of the production staff at Reach for the Top, and I mentioned hearing about this potential documentary. “Oh, yes, they got in touch with us”. Aha! Shortly afterward, I wrote a letter to the production staff of the project that basically served as my “pitch” to be involved. I guess I could imagine a world in which I’d never been in a SCUBA diving documentary, or a sport stacking documentary (two other hobbies of mine)… but I really didn’t want to miss out on being a part of a game show documentary!

PRO TIP: While this article doesn’t deal directly with getting on a game show, the skills are transferable. When you pitch yourself to be on a game show, via video or email, put your best foot forward! Imagine that there is only a spot on this game show for a limited few (which is usually the case) and tell them why YOU should be involved. The worst case scenario is that they don’t reply, but at least you know you’ve tried your best!

So I sent the email. I started with my Reach for the Top qualifications, and then I just let it snowball from there – I told them about my game show appearances and the dozens of game show tapings I’d attended as an audience member, as well as my extensive list of footage on DVD and VHS.

The next day I had an email response from the production, saying they were “definitely very interested” in speaking with me. Within a week of sending that email, I was talking to Dave (Hodgson), the director of the project.

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WILL Ryan be interviewed on camera for the Canadian Game Show project?

WILL the interview go well?

WILL the interview make it in to the finished product?

For the answers to all of these questions*, be sure you check back here next Tuesday, for Part II of Ryan’s Life in Game Shows, Episode 17 – The Talking Head…..

 

* Actually, it’s the same answer for all of them; “Yes”.

Ryan’s Life In Game Shows, Episode 16: Conquering A Mountain – Part 3 of 3

Hello!

And welcome to the climax of Guest Blogger Ryan Vickers’s three-part post on his experience as a contestant on the French Canadian quiz show Au Suivant (which translates as.. Next!)

So far, Ryan’s applied to be on the show, he’s been interviewed to be a contestant, he’s been selected to be a contestant, he’s made his way to the studio, he’s met his fellow contestants, he’s met the show’s host Stephane Bellavance….

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And then it was show time! I was lucky to snag spot number one in the line so I got to lead off the show. Here’s the episode in its entirety.

As you can see, it was an awesome experience – let me touch on some highlights:

THE HOSTING GIG: When Stephane came backstage to discuss conversation topics, I gave him a choice of three scuba diving stories… or my ambition to be a game show host. I can’t even start to tell you what a MONSTROUS thrill it was to get to host, and to interview Stephane before the show started. The production staff arranged that – and I had no knowledge that it was going to happen before I arrived at the studio. And then came the wait for six months to see if it would make the edit – which it did! I’ve had a fun time sharing that clip.

WINNING THE FIRST ROUND: I was so nervous when the first question came up but so thrilled when the third came up. I had set a goal to at least get one scroll, and now I had the chance. That excitement you see is genuine!

PICKING A SCROLL: We had lessons on how to do this. Use your fingers to slow the carousel. Don’t stop it immediately. Don’t grab a scroll while it is moving.

ON WHETHER OR NOT TO STOP: I had run some numbers based on average winning scores from the previous year’s shows. $6K wasn’t going to cut it. It’s like stopping on 60 cents when you’re the first spinner on the Showcase Showdown on The Price is Right. Sure, you’re probably going to go over, but at least you control your own destiny.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU’RE DONE: You realize you’re done. If you’re me however, you’ve got a massive grin because it was one of the craziest five minutes of your life and you have a smile plastered on your face.

THAT BONUS ROUND: We were SO happy that Sandrine won. Having won big on a game show at a young age makes a massive difference.

My friends and I stayed around for the second episode, got a few pictures and talked with Stephane after it was done.

To conclude: When I was fifteen, I was in an article in the local newspaper, saying that I wanted to be a game show host. 26 years later, it came true. Never give up on your game show dreams!

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I couldn’t agree more, Ryan! I’d like to thank Ryan again so much for taking the time to share his story over the last three weeks, and – in case I haven’t said this before – for his endlessly positive, joyous attitude. Always a pleasure. After all, they are called game shows… and games are supposed to be fun! 

Remember, you can follow Ryan on Twitter at Real Canada Man

And hey – if you’d like to follow in Ryan’s footsteps, and write a guest post (or two) for HowToWinGameShows.com, just let me know! You can contact me, as always, at Stephen@HowToWinGameShows.com. So if you have a game show-related story – or stories – to share, drop me a line! I’m always open to new contributors and ideas. 

See you next time, for ….

Ryan’s Life In Game Shows, Episode 16: Conquering A Mountain – Part 2 of 3

Hello!

As you’ll remember from last week, Ryan had applied to be a contestant on Au Suivant, a French Canadian quiz show, somewhat similar to Australia’s Millionaire Hot Seat. He’d made an audition video and sent it in, and subsequently received an invitation to do an audition / interview for the show on FaceTime.

WILL the interview go well?

WILL the contestant selectors take a shine to him?

WILL Ryan be selected as a contestant on the show?

Let’s just say that there’s a lot riding on the outcome of this interview.

Now, I don’t want to give too much away, or spoil that outcome for you… so I’ll just let this picture do that.

Now read on!

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The day came. I put on a nice outfit, sat down and got ready. Two things happened that weren’t really to my advantage. First, I put the phone down to put FaceTime on horizontal and all of a sudden, my two-person interview panel became two half-faces! The next bump came for my very first question; “What is the main ingredient in hummus?” I knew it was chickpeas but I couldn’t find the French word…

My interviewers said “Tu peux le dire en Anglais!” (You can say it in English!)

Which I did… and I thought might be the end. However, it was not and I used that to my advantage. One of my interviewers told me to just say a funny answer if I didn’t know the real answer. I decided to roll with it; I figured it might not go anywhere and so I should treat it as a fun learning experience. Several times during the interview I made the interviewers laugh. In addition, the personality section went well.

That was late April.

The first Friday of June was a particularly difficult day at work. I had a long road trip planned for that evening, so my mind was probably somewhere else as I checked my email on my phone. I read the first line of the new email that had arrived.

« …vous avez été sélectionnée comme candidate pour la prochaine saison d’Au Suivant ! »

After years of trying, I had finally made it! I was going to be on a French-Canadian game show! I was pumped. Following that long drive, I sat at breakfast the next morning at my hotel and ordered the Au Suivant board game online.

For the next two months, I played the game incessantly with friends. I dug out my old copy of Qui Veut Etre Un Millionaire? to use as flashcards. I recruited a friend who had been on both Jeopardy and Millionaire to conduct Skype sessions twice a week. I was going to be ready for this.

I found myself at Radio-Canada in early August. We were led down into our green room where we went over the rules and contestant agreements. I talked with the other contestants (in my group there was someone who had been on five game shows and another person who’d been on eleven!), and generally just relaxed.

About a half hour before the show we were led onto set to practice where we should stand, where we should look and where we should exit, if luck was not on our side. It was at this time that my friends arrived to sit in the audience and I was pretty excited. This was the first time in a long while that I had a rooting section! We were then led back to the green room.

We were just shooting the breeze when Stephane, the host, came in to say hello! He gave us some sound advice – keep it moving but have fun! – and talked to each of us individually to see what we would talk about on air before we started our round of questions… that is IF we got to play. The structure of the show doesn’t guarantee that everyone gets to play, although we were told that if we didn’t get to play, they would try to bring us back for a future episode.

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Next week, as this three-part post concludes, Ryan meets up with Stephane again, when he takes to the stage to play Au Suivant

See you next Tuesday!

Ryan’s Life In Game Shows, Episode 16: Conquering A Mountain – Part 1 of 3

Hello!

This week sees the first part of a new three-part post from my regular guest blogger – and game show contestant / game show enthusiast / game show host – Ryan Vickers. And this time, our Canadian friend, who you can follow on Twitter by the way (@RealCanadaMan), gets all impressively bilingual.

So… Emporte-le, Ryan!

Which means “Take it away, Ryan!” 

(Well, it does according to Google Translate anyway.)

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My Life In Game Shows.

Episode 16: Au Suivant, 2019

“I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down!” 

Tubthumping by Chumbawumba

Dear reader, when I had last written you, I figured this might have been the end. Luckily, it wasn’t!

In the summer of 2017, I had a number of whirlwind game show experiences. One of them was seeing a new show (to me at least) called Au Suivant, which was a French-Canadian adaptation of the original Italian show Avanti Un Altro! Loosely translated it means “NEXT!”. Think of it as Who Wants to be a Millionaire, but with a line up. This all boiled down to a warm summer’s night when I found myself at the Radio-Canada studios to watch a taping in August of 2017. I was fascinated by this show (more than you know!) and after the taping, I vowed to apply for the next season.

Quick back story: we lived about 90 minutes’ drive from Montreal when I grew up which means we had all access to Quebec TV channels, most of whom adapted formats from the USA with smaller budgets. I dined on such shows as Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, Jeopardy!, Street Smarts, Supermarket Sweep and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, helping me to improve my French as life went along. I was a bit nervous to apply and when I finally did, my love of Fort Boyard was not to be, as it was cancelled before I had the chance to apply. I did have auditions for shows such as Le Cercle and Paquet Voleur which required a long six-hour ride to Montreal but they didn’t pan out.

So, it happened this past Easter, in early April 2018 that the contestant call for Au Suivant went out. I wasn’t about to miss my chance. I put together an audition tape.

PRO TIPAs others may have said, make sure that your audition tape is sharp and gets across your personality. I put in an interesting tidbit (I am one of the coaches for Team Canada for ‘sport stacking’), showed my love of travel (by saying hello in front of one of the TV station affiliates when I was away on vacation a month previously) and made myself stand out (I explained why I should get picked by sitting on my staircase, talking clearly with my scuba diving gear in shot).

Take a look at my interview video! I’m not above saying that I did about twenty takes before I got the right wording on the stairs! I also filled out the application and sent it off.

My phone rang about three weeks later when I was sitting in our staff lounge. I read the name on the inbound call and raced to my classroom to find out that I had booked a tryout! And unlike last time, I auditioned for them via FaceTime!

PRO TIP: I had lead time of about two weeks for the audition. I made sure to organize two key things. Firstly, I arranged a room at my workplace that was going to be extremely quiet. Secondly, I recruited a French-speaking friend to simulate the interview – both the “personality” section and the “knowledge” section.

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And that’s where we’ll leave it for this week. Next week, we find out whether Ryan’s audition is successful or not (spoiler alert: it is), and exactly what homework he did in preparation for this, his latest game show appearance. 

Jusqu’à mardi prochain!

Which is “until next Tuesday!” in English. 

I think. 

Ryan’s adventures conclude… for now.

Guest blogger Ryan Vickers

Hello!

This week, I’m very pleased to bring you the final instalment in the adventures of my very first guest blogger Ryan Vickers. Ryan’s series of posts ‘My Life In Game Shows’ began here back in August last year, and he’s related all of his experiences appearing as a contestant on shows such as Countdown, Let’s Make A Deal and The Price Is Right.

Along the way, he’s offered lots of Pro Tips, which I hope you’ve found helpful. Ryan’s a real game show enthusiast, he takes his ‘job’ as a contestant seriously. He truly has been there and done that….. on many, many occasions.

Ryan’s also a keen quiz master, currently hosting Canada’s premier student game show Reach For The Top.

Today’s post is Ryan’s final one (in this series, anyway), so I’ll get out of the way now and throw it over to him.

Enjoy!

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My Life In Game Shows

Episode 15 – The Future – for now, so long! (But just for now)

Game shows are an interesting bunch. Much like other media, they come and go. Currently in the USA (and we get these shows here in Canada too) there is a resurgence of “reboot fever”… in the last two years we’ve seen new versions of $100,000 Pyramid, Match Game, To Tell The Truth, The Joker’s Wild and much to the delight of my generation, Double Dare (with the original host, Marc Summers, along for the ride). Game shows are definitely “back in style”.

Side note: I’ve been able to get to New York City and see Pyramid and Match Game tapings. Game show tapings are a fun experience – I’ve been to see over twenty different shows in five countries! And maybe you’ll get a chance to play the game… you never know!

After my writings, what would I like you to remember? Here are some of my favourite tips from previous posts:

BEFORE THE AUDITION

  • New shows need people. They are willing to take more risks on contestants that might not get on the show later in the run.
  • Going on vacation? Game shows LOVE players that aren’t from the taping area.
  • Practice any way you can. Home games, internet simulations, etc.
  • If you’re going to be on a show with buzzers, GET OR MAKE A BUZZER. A clicky-pen, a hotel bell, whatever works for you. If you’ve got a long lead time until taping, consider purchasing a professional set.
  • Pick game shows that play to your strengths. If you’re not good with words, don’t try to get on Wheel of Fortune, for example.

AT THE AUDITION

  • When auditioning, give answers to ‘personality’ questions that are different. You might want to pay bills with your winnings, but try instead to tell the contestant pickers what else you might do with it.
  • When you’re auditioning, whether you get on or not, take note of how it went. Try to write down what happened to remember for next time.

ON SET

  • Pay attention to what they tell you before the show. Sometimes it’s a tip, sometimes it’s a “must-do”.
  • Keep up your energy. Whether you need to be proper or crazy, remember that you’ve been picked for a reason!
  • It’s fun, it’s chatty
  • Don’t play your cards early if you don’t have to (strategy wise). Keep something in the tank!

Where do I personally go from here? Well, I was asked that by two game show friends and I basically mentioned that most of the US shows are “used up” for me for now… but you never know when shows will come along! Also, there are other countries to find game shows in!

I’ll keep looking, and I hope you do too!

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Thanks so much, Ryan – I’ve really enjoyed your contributions to the site, and I wish you all the very best in all of your future game show-related endeavours.

If you’d like to know what Ryan’s up to right now, you can find him on Twitter, as @RealCanadaMan.

And if Ryan’s posts have inspired you, and YOU have some game show related stories you’d like to share here on the site, please… let me know! 

Just email me at Stephen@HowToWinGameShows.com, or find me on Twitter; @How2WinGameShow, or via the Facebook page at: Facebook.com/HowToWinGameShows.

Until next time!

Game shows: The Cutting Edge

A photo of the primordial soup, snapped billions and billions of years ago.

The Game Show has been a highly adaptable form of entertainment, since The Very Dawn of Time. 

Well, maybe not the very dawn of time… I mean, the earliest unicellular lifeforms drifting about in the primordial soup probably weren’t all that great at pop culture, geography, or sports trivia. Word puzzles? They’d have been useless. Guessing which briefcase contained the big money? Not a chance in hell. And of course they didn’t stand a chance when the subject was history.

Because there hadn’t been any yet.

No, come to think of it, game shows have not been adaptable since The Very Dawn of Time, and I’m now sorry I wrote that. But game shows are adaptable these days. And that, I think, is the point of this week’s guest post from Mr Ryan Vickers. Now read on… 

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My Life in Game Shows

Episode 14: Game show as technology – ‘Complete the List’, 2017

With the advent of so many different platforms such as Netflix filling in for what used to have been our television watching, something else great has come down the chute – podcasting and apps. And with podcasting and apps has come internet game shows. Played mostly for pride and not for prizes, this allows anyone with an internet connection to play from the comfort of their home. The hottest thing going right now is HQ Trivia, an app whereby hundreds of thousands of players try to get twelve questions in a row right for a split of the game’s cash prize. In fact, for three seasons Let’s Ask America ran in US television syndication and while the host was in the studio contestants were on Skype at home.

In the traditional game show vein, Complete the List is a podcast game show run by Canada’s Andy Saunders (disclaimer: I have known Andy for years, and he is the tournament director at Reach for the Top, and he does a damn good job!). After hearing a few episodes, I knew I wanted to apply, and it was a simple as filling out a Google Form.

PRO TIP: Podcast game shows are always looking for players – why not have a try at Complete the List yourself?

Three players (and on occasion teams) are given a list of eight categories, in the vein of Pyramid, whereby you’ll have to decipher what they actually mean and that’s part of the fun. Players give answers in turn, in an attempt to score points. But in a neat twist, if you can’t think of another answer you can copy someone else’s – well, at least if you think it’s right! Other rounds include having to name a year a series of events happened as well as answering a question within a certain numerical range.

I first played on Episode 21, whereby to my surprise, I was against two other Canadians. It turns out Andy had prepared a slate of questions that were Canadian-themed. I then started to try and figure out what the categories might mean.

PRO TIP: On a show like this, pen and paper are not only allowed, but you need to use them. When a category came up, I started to scribble down possible answers. When it came to the “name the year”, I divided everything up by decade. Also make sure to take time to write down what other contestants had said so I wouldn’t repeat answers where I didn’t want to.

One of the great things about this podcast is the variety of questions – I’ve had to name countries who produced a Tour de France winner, Canadian Prime Ministers, currently running soap operas, characters from The Hunger Games and so many more things. As well the calibre of contestants has been quite high – the second of two episodes I played against two recent Jeopardy! contestants – one of who made it to the semi-finals of the recently finished Tournament of Champions.

And while this show only plays for pride, there is tons of it at stake. You can hear me play on episodes #21 and #25 wherever you find your podcasts – just search for Complete the List!

Next time, my life in game shows comes to a conclusion – well… for now…

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Well, the game show as a podcast – who would have thought? I’d like to thank Ryan for once again opening my eyes to a new corner of the game show universe that I was completely unaware of, before he came along. That was, as he mentioned, the penultimate instalment of his Life In Game Shows guest post odyssey…. but before he returns for one last round, perhaps you’d like to follow him on Twitter, at @RealCanadaMan.

And just a reminder that you can follow me too, at @How2WinGameShow.

Until next time!

The Trivia Championships of North America!

Hello! Guest blogger Ryan Vickers is back again this week to take us through a trivia-related phenomenon that I had never even heard of – shame on me! Now read on…

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My Life in Game Shows

Episode 13 – Meeting with like-minded folks – TCONA / ‘Game Show Throwdown’, 2017

In the world of fan conventions – because geek is now chic – Comic Con is come-one-come-all for everything pop culture in San Diego, California. Musical Theatre fans have Broadway Con in New York City.

But what does that leave for us game show (and trivia) aficionados? The Trivia Championships of North America (TCONA)! Held in Vegas every year, this has some loose connections to the previous “Game Show Congress” which occurred during the 2000s but truly today TCONA stands on its own. Trivia players from all around the world (including game show writers, contestants and talent) attend and play in events such as LearnedLeague Live, Last Quizzer Standing, and Total Recall about Strange Happenings (TRASH). There’s something for everyone.

It also means there is a boatload of game show contestants there.

PRO TIP: If you ever find yourself at an event whereby there are this many game show contestants, make sure to ask them about their experiences! And furthermore, ask them what they did to get on that show that you want to get on!

I’m not joking about the alumni – far from it. My quiz bowl team included two people that had reached the $500,000 level on Who Wants to be a Millionaire and a Lingo champ, for example. I ran into alumni of shows like Win Ben Stein’s Money, The $100,000 Pyramid, Whammy!, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Weakest Link, $ale of the Century… and the list goes on and on and on…

On a personal level, I had a blast. It was not only great getting to meet all of these wonderful game show people, but it was also the activities as well. I went with a friend to see a taping of Millionaire and got to stand on the set where the host stands and actually “host” a question. I spent time playing Jeopardy! with actual Jeopardy! alumni in someone’s hotel room. I played trivia titans in a 15-player head-to-head game of Last Quizzer Standing (similar to Britain’s Fifteen-To-One) where I came in fifth place.

PRO TIP: Don’t play your cards early if you don’t need to. In this fifteen-player quiz battle, I might not have been the strongest but gave confident answers and then did not make eye contact during the second round (where players nominated other players to answer) which helped me make it as far as I did. Know the rules of the game and figure out how they can work to your advantage!

I also had one of the best nights of my life with approximately twenty other Wheel of Fortune alumni with dinner at a restaurant (where someone did the math and there was over $300,000 in winnings at that table alone!) and then a nightcap singing karaoke with those fine people. Don’t get me wrong – I had a great time but I’m not posting the footage!

The highlight of the weekend for me was raising money for childrens’ hospitals across North America. As part of a group that put on the “2017 Game Show Throwdown” we raised over $7,000 by playing different game shows for 24 hours with contestants from the TCONA audience. You’d be surprised, but I got to host a cult-Canadian game show at 4 am and it was a blast. We live streamed on the internet so everyone could watch as well!

PRO TIP: If an opportunity comes where you can use your game show skills to give back, please try and do it! I have helped out with events at various locations and trust me, it will warm your heart. Not to mention you’ll have funny anecdotes to tell for years to come based on the answers that players give!

I can’t wait to go back!

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Thanks for the heads-up, Ryan; I was completely unaware of the existence of this event. It sounds like a lot of fun! Hopefully I’ll manage to get there one day. 

One day….