by John Hatch

Created on: August 08, 2009   Last Updated: August 10, 2009

There are four television shows coming to Connecticut this year: Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, Steve Wilkos, and "Deal or No Deal". Unfortunately, none of them are interested in hiring me. So when I saw an ad on craigslist inviting people to come to an open audition for "Deal or No Deal", I thought, "Yeah, maybe that's even better than working on the show". At least I could learn more about the behind-the-scenes process including how Audience Coordinators work, and how they cast for game shows like this.

The audition was at the Hartford Marriott, and it was a true cattle call. Hundreds of people, filling out applications with questions like, "What's the luckiest thing that's ever happened to you? "Do you carry a good luck charm? and "Is your first or last name Howie?" (True!).

Next, we were called into one of the larger conference rooms, and seated in 50 rows of 15 chairs each, and a young production assistant comes out and asked us if we were ready to be on "Deal or No Deal", and of course no matter how much noise we made, no matter how much screaming and carrying on, it's never enough. "I can't heeear youuuu! he says, and we do it all over again, (not me), until even he finally got bored and explained the rules to us. Then, in smaller groups of ten at a time, we approach a desk at which two members of the production company are seated, and we each have 30 seconds to make a really good impression and tell them how interesting we are. Everyone tries to be entertaining, but really, what do they want us to say? They made one old lady tap dance, or maybe she volunteered, I don't know which, though I sensed she might have been acting out of desperation. I played along, and I felt more than my own share of regret. I felt as if I were being used in a most unseemly way. I am the type of person that likes to get to know somebody before I start grinning like an idiot and whooping and hollering.

Anyway, at the interview table, where we get our 30 seconds to impress these quasi-judges, I realized I was the only male in my group of ten. The rest were women of all kinds, housewives, ambulance dispatchers, students, etc. When it was time for them to perform, the girl at the desk would say things like, "What would you do with the money, if you won $1,000,000?" or Tell us, how would the money change your life? Most contestant hopefuls responded with, "Oh, I'd travel", or "I'd buy a new house". I was right in the middle of the group, so I had a few moments to try to

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