I was seen on the E! network in a celebrity profile (I went to college with the celebrity).
I was on Mad T.V. for no less than one second as the camera flew over the audience. The coolest part was meeting David Faustino (Bud Bundy) after the show. They were ushering us out of the studio and my ex-wife and I slipped down to the front seats and got his attention just before he went back stage. We asked for his autograph and my ex can’t find a pen in her purse. So David looks around for a minute and finally a camera guy give him one. Damn, we felt like such dorks, but it was cool non the less.
I did a couple of national TV shows in Japan. The first was for a video clip/variety show called “Sanma’s Super Karakuri TV”. They have a regular segment called “Karakuri’s Funniest English” where their gaijin host Thane Camus asks people to talk about some experience they had, then asks them to tell the same story in English. They invariably make some weird mistakes, and the subtitles on the screen show the audience the exact meaning of what they’re saying. Last year, they decided to shuffle it a bit by doing “Karakuri’s Funniest Japanese” segments, where they would the same thing with foreigners, but in reverse (tell the story in English, then screw up the Japanese). It’s set up like a ‘man-on-the-street’ interview, but I found out it’s actually very carefully planned and staged: I went to an audition the day before and told my story in English and Japanese, got a call-back with instructions on where to meet the TV crew, met them on a street corner in front of a photogenic park, and then got my instructions on what to say. I was told to speak ‘like a foreigner’. IOW: speak slowly, with a very heavy accent, and overdo the politeness. In addition, they had added a punchline of their own for me to say. All in all, it wasn’t bad. Thane Camus was friendly, but tired, like they’d been pushing him 24 hours a day.
My other foray into TV land was as an extra on the drama “Beauty Seven”. I got to meet Kaori Momoi, who was extremely friendly and energetic, even though we were filming at 1am. Even at 50, she was still sexier than any of the other women on that show.
I also did a long segment for a cable TV show where I had to wear jeans, a tank top, and a cowboy hat while wrestling with a bunch of other guys. It was for a children’s show on Fuji BS called Amuse. At least, that’s what they told me. Never saw it, and neither has anyone I know. I’m quite happy with that.
I was interviewed on A Current Affair as “friend of” the person who was the subject of the segment. The strangest thing about it was how often that show was played in syndication. For YEARS after, people (strangers! people on the bus! the teller at my bank!) would tell me they had seen me on A Current Affair last night.
I was on Say What Karaoke on MTV when MTV was in Seaside Heights the first time. I came in second.
I was on University Challenge in 1996.
A few times.
Romper Room, when I was about three, was my big break. From there I extended my range through “Guy in Audience” on a number of shows - including one where I got a few seconds centre-screen time (Studio 54 - a live music show - featuring Rev Horton Heat. I came straight from work, and as such was the only guy in a flannel-and-denim crowd wearing a double-breasted black suit and tie).
My starring role, though, was entirely unexpected. I found myself on National Nine News in an uncredited cameo as “Homeless Guy”. I’d evidently fallen asleep in Hyde Park with my newspaper over my chest, and I got put to air as colour footage in a piece on homelessness. My mother wasn’t impressed when she called to demand why I was embarrassing her on national TV…
I’ve been shown in the audience of Wheel Of Fortune watching my friend win three “nights” in a row. She did quite well, even if she did ask for “T” twice in the final round.
I was strolling past the Stock Exchange the day of the Tech Crash and I made A Current Affair that night (not talking, just strolling past).
Jeopardy also, in 2000. I came in second.
Lots of second place finishers here, aren’t there?
For the record, second place got me a trip to Puerto Rico.
Can we all commiserate? My second place on Jeopardy in 1996 got me a big-screen TV (and I keep getting asked about the Final Jeopardy question I missed after leading at the end of Double - you others get that, too?).
My first time on Millionaire didn’t get me into the hot seat, but I won some decent cash the second time. I did a high-school quiz team show on local TV back in the mists of time, too. Trivia: In rehearsals, we had Pamela Wallin as the moderator, practicing for the short-lived Canadian version. The first contestant to run her through a lifeline, c’est moi.
I’d say Regis Philbin is about 5’9", 140 lb, and just as energetic as he seems onscreen. Alex Trebek is just as snotty as he seems, too.
I was on Jeopardy! in 2001, 5 time undefeated champion [hence my user name]. Crashed & burned in the Tournament of Champions, however.
I’ve been on CPAC [Canadian Public Affairs Channel] here in Canada several times, in televised court cases.
When I was in college, I was with the student television station. We got word that MTV ‘personality’ Kennedy was going to be doing some spots from the campus. For several seconds, I was in the background with a bunch of other students, doing jumping jacks on the lawn in front of a dormitory, as Kennedy talked about… well, whatever it was, I can’t remember.
I played a forensic technician in an episode of “The Prosecutors” that airs on The Learning Channel. Im in it quite alot. Removing the dismembered torso from the crime scene. Removing the decapitated head from another crime scene. Taking pictures of the crime scene. Analyzing evidence, etc. My ex gf was a producer for the show.
Funny Anecdote:
The production company also produced “New Detectives” and “The FBI Files.” They ran at 8, 9, and 10 pm respectively (Prosecutors first.) In the Prosecutor’s they were only allowed to show 6 drops of blood in any one crime scene photograph. New Detectives could show 9 and The FBI Files, 12. The idea being that the later the show the more “gore” they could show. This edict came down from TLC, not the production company. Anyway the props girl couldn’t remember how many drops she could place which is why this whole thing came up. When the cameras started rolling, my “partner” (who was a real cop just moonlighting) sprayed the luminal, clicked on the flourescent light and said, “Looks like we got six drops of blood here people. Yep that’s right, six drops of blood.” God bless him - the crew just erupted in hysterics.
I and three friends were interviewed about Esperanto on the Canadian network TalkTV once. Unfortunately that was when it was only on digital cable or satellite, and no-one we could contact during the few hours’ notice we had was able to receive and tape it…
** Sublight**, that is so cool! And I can understand about the setting-up…
We were on a TV show here a couple of years ago. The theme was “Tough Mothers” and I was on as a foreigner trying to raise two kids while my husband kept nicking off to ride his mountain bike. At one stage, we had an argument; of course it was totally staged and it was all I could do to stop myself from laughing! They filmed for two days, and it was cut down to twenty minutes. Stll, we were given 40,000yen for our time, and it was a fun experience.
I was shown on tv when I saw Jimmy Swaggart in Houston…Wonderful sermon , hate how it turned out.
I was on Art Linkletter’s House Party back in the spring of 1954. Well, OK, you couldn’t see me, but my pregnant mother was chosen to try to win a washer and dryer. Her task was to spell hoity-toity… she forgot the hyphen.
I would do anything to get a recording of that show!
Gee, I was proud of doing the intro on Good Morning America until I read some of your credits!
Ivylass, you have my curiousity up. BTW, what did you think of Donahue?