Game Show Contestants

Most people have probably seen game shows, Whether it's "The Price is Right", "Do You Want to Be a Millionaire", or any number of other programs, we've seen them in some form.
But today, we're here to discuss the contestants of said shows. More specifically, the more... shall we say, exasperating contestants.

I was watching 'Price is Right' today, and thinking, "Man, I wouldn't have the patience to stand there and be pleasant when some of these contestants are screaming, jumping around, and otherwise acting insane." And then I wondered if, after the show was over, the game show hosts ever talk to the other people working there, or to their friends and family, saying, "That one person who came onto stage... I had trouble maintaining a cheery demeanor."

Did you really just say the answer was "D"?

I mean, these people have a chance to be on a game show. Pretty cool. But sometimes their excitability is really over-the-top. I mean, to the point where they're jumping up and down, screaming their heads off (the shrieking and whooping really gets on your nerves). They're flailing their limbs, running around. Then they throw themselves on the ground, spinning, twisting, executing twenty thousand dance moves...

Another problem is the poor game show host, who has to deal with these individuals. I think one of the main reasons Bob Barker retired from 'Price is Right' is because he wanted to remain in one piece, enjoy the feeling of not having broken bones or his back thrown out. A lot of the contestants, upon reaching the stage, have to greet the host by virtually attacking them. Jump on the host, body-slam the host... They expect the host to pick them up, or they pick up the host. Meanwhile, poor Bob is getting older and has back problems, and crazed people are threatening to snap him in two. I once saw Bob literally flee from a excitable woman who wanted to jump on him. One of the models came over and calmed the woman down.

Another thing I love is when people are playing timed games. I wish there was a special plate of glass or something between audience and stage, so that the audience can see what's going on, but the contestants can't see the audience. The host will say, "Now, you only have a certain amount of time, so move quickly, and don't be looking at the audience for clues." So what do some of the contestants do? They stand there, pointing to items, trying to get the audience's opinion, while the clock is ticking down.

I must admit, though, some of the grandest fails come from really bad answers. In some cases, they get nervous or answer without really thinking about it. You can see their faces fall a moment after they say it. One woman accidentally replied "owl" for what animal uses an ink sac as a defense mechanism. Right after saying "final answer", the horror swept over her features.

Contestant on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'.
"That's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me... Can I start over?"

And then again, we have instances where the contestants fail to know things that seem really obvious to everyone else. A man got stuck on whether an animal was an herbivore, because he couldn't figure out what an herbivore was. Another guy didn't seem to understand the definition of "face" when asked how many a cube had. He said that a cube had eight faces, and needless to say, he got it wrong. There's also item six on this article, but we won't even discuss that. I hope the rest of the world doesn't use that example to judge the education level or intelligence of Americans.

But enough with my grumbling. To conclude this blog post, one of the masters of 'Price is Right'.