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Game shows have entertained us since the early days of television. There's something about watching regular people win cash and prizes. It feels real. Relatable. But making a game show is a huge endeavor, and there's often a huge crew behind our beloved productions, working hard to create a worthwhile experience for viewers.

Recently, redditor olymp1a wanted to learn about what goes into the making of these shows. So they created a post, asking, "People who have been on TV game shows, what are some 'behind the scenes' secrets that regular viewers don't know about?" To everyone's amusement, the call was answered.

#1

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) "When my wife was a kid, she won a lifetime supply of Butterfinger candy bars. It was two cases. Not the cardboard flats you can buy at bulk stores, but two actual factory crates like a grocery store would get...so several hundred candy bars. She said when she first got them, she felt ripped off because while it was a lot, she was only a kid, so there was no way it was a 'lifetime' supply.

"She made it through half the first case before she started giving them away to anyone that would take them. By the end of the second case, she was throwing them away.

"Now, as an adult several decades later, she still won’t eat Butterfingers. So I guess it really was all the Butterfingers she would ever need for the rest of her life."

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One of the Reddit users who shared their experience was Epic-Hamster -- they appeared on X-Factor. "I auditioned because a lot of people in my life told me I was a good singer and because one of my mates who was great wouldn't go without me," Epic-Hamster told Bored Panda.

To them, the audition seemed "incredibly contrived" and the showrunners gave off a vibe like they weren't going for actual talent.

Before performing in front of celebrity judges, the singers must go through 'off-camera' judges first, meaning that every bad singer we see on the show has already been told they are better than the many talented ones not deemed TV-worthy.

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"I find the 'off-camera' judges to be a disgusting practice as it then seems like the people who are terrible singers or straight-up mentally ill are just sent through to be laughed at," Epic-Hamster explained. "Whereas if the on-screen judges where the first it would just be part of auditions. The disgusting part is the choice to portray someone awful for views instead of them showing up."

#2

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I auditioned for X-Factor.

You don’t go to the celebrity judges first you go in front of some “off camera” judges.

So every terrible and horrible singer you see on the show has already been told they are better than the many talented ones not deemed “tv worthy” which makes it a lot more disgusting to me.

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Interestingly, game shows started to appear on radio and television in the late 1930s. Both the first TV game show, Spelling Bee, and the first radio game show, Information Please, were broadcast in 1938. However, the first major success in the game show genre is considered to be Dr. I.Q., a radio quiz that began in 1939. 

Throughout the 1950s, as television cemented itself in popular culture, game shows quickly became a fixture. Daytime game shows would be played for lower stakes, targeting stay-at-home housewives and higher-stakes programs would air in primetime. During the late 1950s, high-stakes games such as Twenty-One and The $64,000 Question boomed in popularity, however, the rise of quiz shows proved to be short-lived. In 1959, the public discovered that many of the most popular higher stakes game shows were rigged and ratings declines led to most of the primetime games being canceled.

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#3

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) My teacher was on wheel of fortune Australia and he won a life supply of wd40. It turns out with average usage a can of wd40 lasts twenty years, so a life's supply is four cans.

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Primetime revivals of classic daytime game shows began to emerge in the mid-2010s. In 2016, ABC packaged the existing Celebrity Family Feud, which had returned in 2015, with new versions of To Tell the Truth, The $100,000 Pyramid, and Match Game in 2016. New versions of Press Your Luck and Card Sharks followed in 2019. TBS launched a marijuana-themed revival of The Joker's Wild, with Snoop Dogg as the host in 2017, complimenting the addition of original game concepts that appeared near the same time, including Awake, Deal or No Deal, Child Support, Hollywood Game Night, 1 vs. 100, and so on.

In March 2020, production on the four longest-running game shows in North America (Family Feud, Jeopardy, The Price Is Right, and Wheel of Fortune) were temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Family Feud, Jeopardy, and Wheel of Fortune have resumed production; however, because The Price is Right requires a studio audience in order to properly play the game, its production is still on hold.

#4

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I was on Wheel of Fortune. You have to get there at 5 AM where you draw straws with other contestants to decide when you will film. They film the entire week of episodes in 1 day. Pat Sajak is incredibly friendly and interacted with us on every break. The wheel is HEAVY

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#5

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I was on "Who wants to be a millionaire", and its all scripted. The filming took half a day for 30 minutes of film. When you win the intro round, you are taken out to get your make up on, and then they instruct you how to act when you celebrate.

The reason the audience is so completely useless (And why you see so many press wrong on obvious answers) is because 20-30% of the audience is friends and family to the other 7 contestants who are waiting for their turn. We spent two days in the studio, and if the initial contestant loses, the others get their chance. If one contestant goes far and takes a lot of time, no one else gets a chance, so the audience tells the wrong answer on purpose.

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MrLoufoque
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was on the French version of Who wants to be a millionaire and it was completely different (probably much closer to the original British format). Rehearsals took place in the morning and shooting (three 60-minute shows) in the afternoon. Each show features 10 contestants and there's a preliminary round to select who's gonna play at the center of the set. Each contestant can come with only one friend or family member and the rest of the audience is comprised of outsiders, so the answers when using that joker are more accurate. And since it's a requirement, there is a law officer on set to make sure no one cheats and the game is not rigged. Overall it was a very good and exciting experience!

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#6

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I was on Cash Cab. You can't just hail a cab in New York which turns out to be the Cash Cab. There is a vetting process, but you don't know you are going to be on the show so the reaction is genuine. Also, there is alot of awkward silence time while he is listening to the producer in his ear. There is a cameraman riding shotgun unseen on TV. The money he gives is prop money for TV. They mail you a check after the show airs. Ben Bailey was genuinely a nice guy.

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#7

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) The dishes the MasterChef contestants make are normally stone cold by the time they get to the tasting table, so the judges usually taste the elements of each dish as they're walking around the kitchen during the cooking stage. This allows them to have some idea how the finished dish will taste and to see the contestants' proficiency with kitchen equipment

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RaroaRaroa
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always assumed the food must be cold by the time they get to taste it. Not as fun as it looks being a cooking show judge.

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#8

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I went to two separate recordings of the BBC Robot Wars revival a couple years back as an audience member which to my surprise was actually fairly accurate to what is seen on TV. The main things I can remember being of note are:

The pits and the arena are actually right next to each other with no dividers (this one is more notable since the original run made it seem like they were different rooms). It was pretty much just a warehouse outside Glasgow they stuck an arena and some seating in.

The robots are all quite small, even Sir Killalot. I'm struggling to come up with a size comparison that isn't really weird, but he could just about fit in a bath for reference.

There is a LOT of waiting between matches. There were a couple of times when teams were having technical difficulties that they'd switch matches around for more time, but often you'd be waiting 30 minutes or more between bouts. They had a local radio host there to keep us entertained during low carnage moments.

The robots with spinning weapons are far more terrifying in person - it's hard for the camera to properly convey that hum of dread as Carbide got its blade up to speed, or the feeling in the room when a piece of robot comes flying off and embeds itself partway through the plexiglass barrier surrounding the arena.

10/10, just as good as I'd imagined it would be.

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Scagsy
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At last! A GOOD experience. I was starting to think that all game shows were made in Hell and the contestants all demons in waiting.

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#9

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) My formers BFF's sister was a contestant on "Swedens Next Top Model" many years ago and she told me it was all fake, from the start they were told who would win and they told her that she had to be a b***h on the show because that was her character.

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Your Local Lizard
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

;^; this makes me feel bad for hating the 'horrible' people on these 'reality' shows

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#10

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I was a guest on The Tyra Banks Show back in 2005. The 'stylist' dressed me and the other guests in clothes that still had the tags on. They made sure to hide the tags so they could return the items after the show.

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#11

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I attended a taping of Conan several years ago. As soon as the show is finished Conan grabs a mic and roams the aisles while singing, “This is the after-the-show song that nobody knows about” or something similar. Definitely a crooner, and I openly swooned because come on, Conan is a dream and a treasure.

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Thomas brennan
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Listening to his podcast Conan Needs a Friend and he seems like a genuinely nice person. Check it out if you're looking for something new to listen to

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#12

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I'm a film carpenter and I worked on big brother. The "house" is actually inside of a huge warehouse. I found it kinda creepy that when they lead a contestant to the games room, they put a black bag over their head and you're not allowed to talk to them also the camera alleys mean that anyone working on the show can just wander behind the walls and watch the contestants in any room. I will never understand why people apply to be on that show. It looks stressful af!

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#13

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) The green slime at Nickelodeon tastes like pineapple.

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#14

I was on Lockup. That s***ty MSNBC reality TV show that showed what it was like to be in prison. I was interning at Wabash Correctional Facility in Indiana and they were filming the summer I was there. The camera crew was awesome, they were some of the nicest people you will ever meet, but the producer was a huge a-hole. She refused to call me by my first name, just simply "Intern" and insisted that I not get in the shot. Only the "real people" should be on the TV. I was working with the Internal Affairs office at the time, and they really didn't care for the documentary crew being there either, so they just told me to ignore her and do my job like they were not there. So at one point we (my boss and I) were talking to a violent offender in a private cell room, who had just sent his cellmate to the hospital in a huge fight, and we both exited the room once we were done talking, then BOOM! Cameras right in our faces. I was shocked, so I just stood there next to my boss who was being interviewed. The producer lady was violently waving me out of the way, so I ducked out of the camera shot. She later on scolded me and said "Why didn't you just stay in the room until the shot was complete???" Uh... no lady. I will not be staying inside of a locked room with a violent offender who is not handcuffed. I am just a college student trying to get my s**t done. But as a whole, the prison was really calm. We only had a couple of incidents that summer, but the camera crew always stirred up drama. The offenders knew they were going to be on TV, so they wanted to look super scary so their friends on the outside could see them. Once the camera crew left, things went back to normal. Boring and quiet.

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#15

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) Not really a game show but I was an audience member with my class for America’s funniest videos. They literally had empty plates/cups at some tables and a light up sign telling us when to laugh.

Sometimes they would even move audience members depending on how well they laugh. This field trip was for our school drama club btw

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RaroaRaroa
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You could always tell on this that those who laughed in the most over-the-top, unrealistic fashion got more onscreen time.

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#16

I was on Wheel of Fortune:

The wheel weighs a TON. Some people might watch and think that it’s easy to target a particular dollar wedge, but to spin that thing well, you practically have to throw your arm out.

Pat Sajak is really quick-witted. In the taping before us (they film 5-6 episodes at once) a woman won the prize puzzle and started to cry like crazy as they cut to commercial; Sajak yelled to the director (or someone in the production crew) to throw him a box of tissues, so that when cameras came back up, he could be dabbing her tears as a joke. It was very lighthearted and added to the game-show atmosphere, for sure.

The bonus round wheel does NOT weigh a ton. I was the night’s champion (but sadly did not get the bonus puzzle for an extra $45000); the smaller wheel looks a lot like the main one, and they don’t give you a practice spin, so I just wound up and threw that sucker and I thought it was going to fly into outer space

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#17

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) My wife got a tattoo on a tattoo competition show. They gave her headphones to wear while she was being tattooed, but she wasn’t allowed to actually plug them in and listen to music. Pure product placement lol

Other than that it was a really good experience! Producers worked with her for several weeks leading up to and made sure she got a tattoo subject and style that she wanted.

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#18

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) They let the other girl in the Showcase Showdown (Price is Right) rebid after the audience booed her original bid (something silly low like $10,000). When it aired, they cut her original bid and showed only her second, winning bid. I lost.

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#19

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) Was in the audience at a Food Network taping and Iron Chef America really is a 60-minute competition. That's not fudged. The judging on the other hand takes foreeeeever.

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#20

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I was in the audience at the price is right. You wait like 4+ hours just to get into the taping. They come by and give you a short interview to see if you are a good prospect to make it to contestant row. I was with a group of 4 and none of us made it. The studio audience is significantly smaller than it appears on tv. Drew Carey told jokes between filming. The set is tiny. The wheel is tiny. No secrets to reveal except that they must use some serious lenses and angles to make it appear bigger. It was a long day but it was a cool experience.

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#21

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) "Earlier this year I was on House Hunters, and obviously, everything was staged. You buy the house first and then you get to go on the show. You can always tell what house they’re going to buy because it’s always the empty one. The house touring was fake for us, at least when we did it, because one of the houses didn’t want us filming there, so we had to get a fake house to tour. I remember we were filming us going somewhere in the car, and I was dropped off in a cornfield.

"The filming crew were really nice and took us out for lunch. They were all super fun to be around and made us laugh during cuts. But the filming process lasted over three weeks, and it’s only a 20-minute show, so it was definitely tiring. I remember everyone, even people I barely knew, watched the show, and it was kind of embarrassing, but still a fun experience overall."

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RaroaRaroa
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always wondered how it was the buyers always find something worth buying from the 3 options they're given.

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#22

UK Weakest Link contestant - although the show appears quite frantic and fast paced, there was at least a 10 min break in between each round. Anne would leave the studio set and you had an opportunity to appeal questions you think you might have got right (happened a few times) have a drink, use the loo etc. If the appeal was upheld, you redid the whole round.

You then voted a person off and there would be another short break before they did the Anne speaking to people. We were warned that Anne was playing a character and that we should try to be witty.

They also asked you in your application forms what subjects/questions you would be good at - also what you would be weakest at. Surprise surprise people (including me) started getting multiple questions on their weak areas. We all realised as we discussed after the show. This leads me to believe the game is semi-fixed/stacked in certain people’s favour.

Fun experience - free food - did not win but was not the (first) ‘weakest link’.

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#23

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) A work colleague of mine was one of the couples in married at first sight.

She had a horrible experience, needed counseling afterwards and is still receiving an “appearance fee” (read hush money) even though her season aired like 5 years ago.

Her words: unReal may as well be a documentary

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#24

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) It’s not a game show, but I was at a group date for The Bachelorette. As you can imagine, the show is heavily produced. They only aired about 5% of what actually happened on the date. I have a really reactive face, so they used a bunch of my reactions in the show, but they were completely out of context because they cut all of the actual drama out of the date, and only aired the vanilla stuff. So one contestant says something like “women are always right” and they show me making this gasping face, that’s totally out of place haha.

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#25

I was in a sort of "kids racing games" show. It was cancelled shortly after I participated on it. I can't remember the exact details because I was like 6 or 7, but I will never forget how they made me feel. Basically, we were a bunch of little kids racing each other to complete the most games in a certain time, if you completed the whole thing (around 20 games or so) without the time running out nor breaking certain rules for each "level", you won a s**t ton of toys or something like that. They made "tests runs" that were actually them recording the whole thing without us knowing I completed the whole thing in like 7 minutes -it was suppossed to last at least 15- The "level helpers" took me aside and told me it was an amazing run so I got qualified to appear on the TV show. In the actual "recording", the level helpers sabottaged me, they grabbed me to prevent me from popping the balloons of the first level, pushed balloons away from me, pushed the correct balloons towards other kids (you were suppossed to pop balloons to find a key for the next level), gave me "time out" for breaking rules that I wasn't breaking. I specifically remember running up a ramp, after being sabbotaged a LOT by the ""helpers΅", to get to my next level, I was catching up to the other kids, and they f***ing grabbed my ankle and made me fall off the ramp. I was "disqualified", because "i took too long to get to the other level". They forced me to sit on the losers box and watch all of the other kids, that I had already beaten up in the test run, finish the thing and win. I did not appear in that episode when it showed on TV. Not even me "failing".

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Nadine Bamberger
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Another reason you shouldn't let your kid do a TV show. I'm sorry you had to go through this.

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#26

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) Not a gameshow but was in the audience for the steve Harvey show. Holy crap is he a shallow and fragile individual. We were told we could ask him questions between takes if he was in a good enough mood - which he would only be in if we reacted well during takes. We also were not allowed to ask him any questions about his teeth or mustache. He also said that his lifelong dream was always to just be on television and that's it.

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RaroaRaroa
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can understand him not wanting questions about teeth and moustache. It's probably likely asking a tall person "how's the weather up there". Heard it all too many times.

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#27

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I was a contestant on the Price is Right. They don't choose people at random. They interview everyone in the audience for about 30 seconds earlier in the day and decide who to pick based off that.

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Sharon Collier
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My brother won on The Price is Right--Got a car! and a bunch of other stuff.

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#28

I was on Pointless in the UK. If you're the first couple to answer and haven't thought of anything, they just give you longer by doing some chatting with the other contestants.

Alex and Richard were incredibly friendly, and Richard has the biggest hands I've ever seen

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#29

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I was in the audience of Polish versions of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. To prevent cheating you have to pass 2 metal detector Gates before entering studio. No phone or other electronic allowed. Everything takes sooo long here. Episode lasts around 30 minutes, but recording it - 2-3 hours, there are only 3 episodes recorded every day. Once the big screen behind host back broke and we had to sit for 4 hours until it was repaired. At least we got paid extra. Friend you phone in one of the lifelines is sitting in the same building as studio, just other room.

I've also been author of few question for Jeopardy (which is called Va Banque here, pretty badass name). Most of the authors had to be Ph.D. Or experienced experts in their field, I was accepted as a student just because they were short on economy and mathematics question. Sadly it was only one-time gig, but it was pretty fun seeing contestants trying to find question for answers I wrote. It also paid pretty nice, 100 złotys (so around $25) for each 5 question from 1 category which was like 15 minutes of work.

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#30

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) Not me but my uncle's friend went on Big Brother this year and was a COMPLETELY different person. They made him the villain of the show which is completely different to him in real life. IRL he's actually a really nice footy bloke.

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#31

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) Was on a MTV game show called "fist of zen" on MTV. Basically a group of people subjected to painful and nauseating tasks for cash. We won every round but the producer asked us to purposefully "fail" one to change things up. Despite losing one round we were still paid the full prize money.

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#32

I was on one that required like 30 second shot (don't quite remember) of the contestants scrambling around picking up the supplies they want. Turns out we didn't need nearly that long, but they had us continue to scramble and push through even though there was plenty of space and no real rush

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#33

How fast they want to get rid of you when it's over. I was on Millionaire and it ends when they shoot everyone gathering around the host, laughing, shaking hands etc as if it's the start of an after-party.

They end the shot and then you have just a few minutes to grab your stuff from the dressing room and get on the bus out of there. I can understand it - their post-production work is just beginning, and most of the contestants are about to get a big disappointment hangover. You arrive full of hopes and dreams and then most people will not get into the chair, or will flame out pretty quickly.

Some of the contestants were already starting to get cranky, and the production staff have no further use for them.

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Jaded Queen
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well this list just confirmed my firm belief that people who watch reality show with interest are among the most idiotic and moronic of our species. Instead they could actually do smthg useful and not cry how they r dying when they get cancer and stuff. Life is wasted on such people

#34

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I was on Slime Time Live because my family visited Universal Studios Florida, including the old school Nickelodeon Studios building. They gave my sister and I an entire change of clothes, including boxer shorts (I'm a girl too) and watershoes.

Our team was eliminated the first round so they took us back to get dressed in our regular clothes. Then we got to sit in the audience for the rest of the show.

My family took 2 weeks off of school in order to make that Florida trip. I realized that Slime Time Live only filmed on weekdays, and not during summer, so 12-year-old me came to the conclusion that you had to be playing hooky in order to get on the show.

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Cassie
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How odd that they would film a kid show with kids only during school days. That seems like poor planning.

#35

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) I was part of the "paid" audience for american ninja warrior. I was actually with a vegetarian group that collected the money earned for charity, so that was cool.

What wasn't cool was getting downtown at midnight, for there to be hundreds of bats flying around and a two hour delay.

We were only allowed to wear certain colors, no logos, and yeah they did take the audience cheering/booing to edit in later, which was honestly a good thing because at around 3 am, most of the audience started leaving. The stands were empty so they had us moving down the course as they filmed to make it look more full haha.

I got to meet a couple of the warriors, we all were on tv, and we nabbed a sign from the set. Overall was fun.

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#36

Not a game show but me and my sister were in the audience of America’s Got Talent a couple years ago. It was winter and freezing outside, but because they were releasing it in the warmer months they asked everyone to take off all their coats etc to make it look as live as possible (which sucked because I was still cold haha). I only remember two acts— one was Piff the Magic Dragon and another guy who the audience and judges boo’d and disliked. The guy who was boo’d, unfortunately, had to stay on stage longer because the producers wanted more shots or something. I remember how uncomfortable he looked while everyone had to wait silently, staring at him, while the producers made up their minds.

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#37

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) There’s an indicator that tells you when you can chime in with your clicker when responding to a trivia question/clue; if you try to ring in before it lights up, you are “locked out” for a few seconds, perhaps long enough for another contestant to ring in.

In Jeopardy the indicator is a set of lights on the perimeter of the big board; in Win Ben Stein’s Money, it was literally a lamp on a lampstand sans a lampshade.

Viewers never see it because the shot is of something else (e.g. the contestants or a closer shot of the game board).

I was on WBSM in 2002 (became the episode’s champion but couldn’t beat Ben in the bonus round), and Jeopardy in 2013 (led at the end of Double Jeopardy but the competition was tough, bet big on Final Jeopardy but blanked, losing and coming in third).

For Jeopardy, they tape five episodes (a week’s worth) a day, two days a week (the same crew works on Wheel of Fortune, which is literally next door). Twelve contestants show up for the taping day: the returning champion from the previous week, enough challengers to fill in the first four episodes, another challenger for the Friday episode, and two “alternates” in case something happens; the alternates tend to be locals from the LA area in case they have to come back later. Before the final taping, if the two alternates haven’t gotten to appear, one of them is randomly chosen to be the second challenger on the Friday show; the one who isn’t chosen is invited to come back on a future taping date, but then with a guaranteed slot as a challenger. Selections of challengers and even sets of clues are random, in order to stay fair.

During the episodes’ taping, the rest of the “week’s” contestants sit in the front few rows way to the right of the audience, and thus won’t appear in audience reaction shots. In the middle of the day (after the third taping), remaining contestants are sequestered and treated to lunch at the studio commissary; if you’re done playing, you’re expected to leave/go home.

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#38

For my 19th birthday, we went to a Jerry Springer taping. This was about 12 years ago when it was still in Chicago. It's faker than I thought but far more entertaining than seeing the occasional episode on TV. The guests are small time actors trying to get screen time in. One was actually an eloquent British woman but her character was supposed to be a "gutter dyke". Not sure that would fly nowadays. Most of whats filmed is never used and you also get tired from non stop clapping. However, during breaks they show live marionette sex scenes and also give beads to women if they go topless. (These are audience members). You're also encouraged to antagonize the actors on stage with one-liners. 10/10 would never go back but it was fun

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#39

I got top gear tickets before the original cast left. It was a great day but I didn't expect the director to keep stopping to move audience members around. He openly admitted that the best looking/disabled/charity workers will get to be at the front in view of the cameras. You could see so many die inside when he's like you! Can you take two steps back please

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John Smith
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Did you get to have a meet and greet with the hosts, get their autographs or anything?

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#40

So, if you tape a show but it never airs you won't get the prizes and money you 'won'.

Years ago I was on the most renowned, long-running game show in my country 'Sale Of The Century' - which aired every weeknight at 7pm nationwide. I got on the show and won fancy golfclubs and $10k prize money. Safe right?

My show was scheduled to air about 2 months later - on Wednesday, September 12th, 2001.

24 hours earlier all regular programming was suspended, and my show was canceled BUT I was saved because another contestant was a carry-over champ and for continuity, they had to air it at some point - which they did, highly irregularly, that following Saturday night. Those terrorists never won out.

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#41

Saw a taping of Jimmy Fallon in 2018. Before the music guest and after the show he sat with the audience in the stands for a good amount of time just talking to people and answering just about any questions they had. Idk if they all do this but he seemed pretty sincere.

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#42

Producers keep an eagle eye on contestants throughout the day, even escorting you to the bathroom. This is because of the quiz show scandals of the 1950s.

And because the whole week tapes in a day, you have to bring 4 changes of clothes with you. All in solid colors so the patterns don’t bleed on camera. (This was the 80s, so recording technology may have improved since then)

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BusLady
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh, they didn't make you wear clothes with the tags still attached?

#43

The short people stand on risers to make it look like everyone's the same height.

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GFSTaylor
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was on 15-1 I stood on a riser just so I wasn't mostly hidden by the podium you stand behind.

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#44

I was on Jenny Jones back in the day of Rude Jude. I had brought my friend on (started as a joke). I guess we were being too chill cause between shots, they told us that if we didnt get louder, they would kick us off and make us walk home. So after the break, I stood up and yelled at the audience. That's how they get the shots of people standing and yelling!

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#45

I was a judge in a segment on something called 'Beauty and the Geek' many years back.

Not knowing much about how reality shows work, I was kinda surprised to see almost every take on the show done repeatedly, over and over until the producers/director were satisfied with the final product.

Kinda burst the balloon for me, thinking reality television was spontaneous and unedited for the most part.

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#46

This isn't a game show, but I was on Judge Judy. The civil cases are real. The producers of the show go through small claims court paperwork to get your phone number and call and ask if you want to be on the show. I was actually suing my landlord in real life and they found my case. They pay you to go on and if you are the one who lost the case or owes money, you get humiliated but you don't have to pay out of pocket yourself, the show does it for you. They film about 2-3 cases all in that one day.

Also auditioned for American idol back in 2010. They don't care if you can sing or not. They are always looking for specific people. They were purposely picking people who couldn't sing that would be good for TV and picking alot of teenagers since that was the year they lowered the age range. Younger people was what they were looking for whether you could sing or not.

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#47

I've been to three tapings of Hell's Kitchen as an audience member. One was a premier episode, one was a season finale, and one I actually got to eat at the restaurant.

For the audience only bits: they're fun. You just sit and watch Gordon or other judges react to the food. Ramsay is a serious professional at getting the right takes or shots for things. Sometimes he will react to something 2 or three different time and in different ways, I assume for editing purposes. It's interesting to watch.

When we actually ate there... It was quite the experience. Firstly, it's not an actual restaurant, it's just a really well designed set on a sound stage, I forget where but it's somewhere in LA. You get all dressed up, but no one actually walks the red carpet like you see on the show. Everyone is taken into a green room, and you're handed menus to choose ahead of time what you want to eat. We had a unique experience, as we got a different menu from everyone else. Apparently Gordon starts deciding pretty early on who will be making it to the finals, and they will spend a service or two testing their final menu on various guests. That's the menu we got. I dont remember what all it was (this was nearly 10 years ago) but I remember it was really good.

We were a bit far from the kitchen, so we didn't see a lot of drama, but we did hear some occasional yelling. I don't think we made it into the final edit much, but I do remember that the guy who played Rufio from Hook was sitting at the table next to us.

All in all, very cool experience, just sad I didn't get to try the Wellington.

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#48

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) In Deal or No Deal only the interesting people get picked, if you are outgoing and excited you've got a high chance of being selected. Also, if you appear to be their target contestant, but turn out to be a dud, then I think they have the option of not putting you on air and no prize for you (whether that is a threat they follow though with or not I'm not sure).

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#49

My dad was on Countdown on Channel 4 (UK broadcaster) back in the days of Richard Whiteley.

There is a LOT of stuff that gets repeated and recorded multiple times to fix stuff like reflections off glasses, coughing, eyes closed, continuity etc.

Also Carol Vordermann wasn't the maths genius she was portrayed as. She did do most of the numbers game calculations, but for the REALLY hard ones where neither contestant can get the exact answer, it wasn't Carol who worked it out, it was a Scottish guy called Michael Wylie.

He'd spend ages scribbling away while the rest of the show was being recorded and when he eventually worked it out, the calculations would be passed back to Carol who would record her bit which was then edited into the show to make it look like she had worked it out in real time.

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#50

Everything looks waaaaayyyy cheaper in person. Like most stuff is made of plywood. Commercial breaks usually include a weird stage manager telling you to do something different or the audience to get more involved. Those were as a contestant. Working on those shows is a whole other story. I nearly murdered the director of Masterchef because we spent 12 hours setting up the sets, then he wanted everything to shift over about a foot. Luckily the union stepped in and said nope.

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#51

My mum was in the audience for a Christmas special of Pointless in the UK. She says a lot of stuff gets cut, mostly when contestants are struggling to come up with an answer. They had one guy on as Santa, and in one round he was there for ages before he could think of an answer. The only other bizarre thing was it was filmed in May.

She also says Richard Osman is massive, but you don't see it on screen because he's sat down the whole time.

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John Smith
Community Member
3 years ago

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Why do Brits say sat instead of sitting? Sat is past tense.

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#52

I was an audience member for dancing with the stars and a family friend of one of the stars and i remember they had 3-4 front row seats were theyd snickily place friends/family of the people dancing to cheer them on and when they stopped dancing theyd place the next persons relatives/friends on the same seats

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#53

Had a teacher in middle school who won full carpeting for a house on the price is right when he was in grad school. He did not own a home in grad school.

He also said you could see which games were coming up in line off on the side, and literally everyone was trying to hold out winning the first game for plinko lol

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#54

I was in the audience of Wild N Out in LA back in 2017. It was a double taping (two 30 min TV segments) that in reality took 6+ plus hours because they record everything *multiple* times and ask us to laugh/react in multiple different ways so they have a variety of audio/visual to use. They'll hold up signs telling us to laugh and then yell at us to laugh harder because we weren't laughing enough! We (repeatedly) had to chant "wildin" back and forth for like 15 minutes.

After the episode aired, I even saw myself on the final segments on YouTube/TV and people I knew actually recognized me lol. Plus it was pretty cool that I got to see Kehlani perform live.

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#55

People Who've Participated In TV Shows Reveal Some Hidden Secrets That Regular Viewers Don't Know (30 Posts) They tell the audience to clap and cheer and they film that to edit it in during appropriate events. If we didn’t cheer or clap loud enough, they had us retake it. The same goes for grimaces/negative reactions and shock/surprise.

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