Since I'm a local, I'll try to help... :)

Did your family watch the game on DirecTV or Dish? Some satellite TV fan Web sites mentioned last season that they've seen Peachtree TV-broadcast games commercial-free through MLB Extra Innings or a local sports package. It's possible DirecTV was connected to a field broadcast of the game, not the direct Peachtree TV broadcast (I've seen DirecTV do that before with NFL exhibition games, with the announcers talking about very strange things during commercial breaks).

JD

For whatever reason, that appears to be the case. It's DirecTV all right, but nothing fancy like the Extra Innings package. They watch on the regular slot assigned to Peachtree TV. They tell me it's been like that all season.


THAT I would pay extra for!

According to the Wiki article, there's a goofy thing where Canada was getting the WTBS feed instead of the national TBS one, and a lot of cable outlets still do that after the switch to Peachtree because they would have to get separate clearance to switch to the national TBS feed. So I wonder if this has anything to do with why DirecTV would be carrying the satellite backhaul of the game instead of the intended-for-air version.

Interesting; Mediacom here in south GA also broadcasts the same formatted Braves Peachtree TV games.

Hallelujah.

I sent them something but I don't know if they'll take me, I don't know what their eligibility requirements are. But if anyone does hear positively back from them, be sure to let us know!

I just fired off an application. While I'm not "in the tri-state area", NYC is but about 4 or 5 hours from me. Easy trip.

This is awesome news. Hopefully that's really what it means...I'm trying hard to not get excited but I am going to contain it until I see an official announcement.

Rumor has it one could come as early as tomorrow, but yeah, this is about as close to an official announcement as we're going to get until it happens.

Here's something interesting from radio-info, another board I frequent:

I sent a picture of myself, then they sent an application, and I sent back the completed application, but without a picture attached. So I sent the completed application again, this time with a picture attached. The first attempt won't mess me up, will it?

Don't worry about it. Stressing at the very beginning of an audition process will do you no favors.

I just sent an inquiry for the show, with my stats and picture. I honestly don't care that I live in Chicago, but I wanted to give the old graduate student try.

I am about to send in an application for the $1,000,000 Pyramid. My question is, and I may be stressing out too much on this, but would a contestant coordinator would be less likely to choose a contestant for a callback who sent a professionaly taken photo rather than a recent vacation photo?

They don't like hats and sunglasses, otherwise a recent picture is a recent picture. I sent in one that I did have taken on my most recent vacation about a month ago, but it's no different than what I would look like if I were in my classroom.

OK... may seem goofy, but I did it anyway. Went ahead and signed up for Pyramid even though I'm way out here in Cali-land. Hopefully if they see enough interest out in the west coast, they will hold an audition out here.

I live in Chicago, and sent an email yesterday, but haven't heard anything back.

I e-mailed them Tuesday night and found the application in my inbox the next morning. Depending on what day they plan to hold auditions (would prefer a Thursday or Friday), I have no problem driving to NYC or could take a commuter flight out of Newport News...

Just to add to the application train, I don't know if I'm eligible or not but I sent in my application earlier in the week. I had to put that I was on Password on the app, so we'll see if it matters.

That's funny, seeing how I live in the burbs, and I got an application within an hour...

Sent in the e-mail yesterday afternoon, had the application arrive in short order.

/eligibility, schmeligibility

I sent in an application the 21st and have heard nothing.

I can't say I like the fact you have to send a picture with the initial email.

I'm not directing this toward you or anyone else, but it's simple: I (along with the casting agent and others, I assume) really don't want to watch ugly people on television. If they can see before you even start that you're not good looking enough to be on TV, that's less hearts to break. Yeah, it sucks, but them's the breaks. It's the way the biz works. Whether it's for good or for bad or fair or unfair is one's opinion. In 2009, being a game show contestant is just like being cast for any TV show or movie - if you don't fit what they're looking for, they won't accept you.

Does not Approve.

...and yet, it still came off completely dicky.

Jeez, you've got SUCH a way with words.

I don't think it's quite that superficial. I'm more inclined to believe they want to put a picture to the face. Honestly, if I'm looking for game show contestants, a big pile of papers sounds quite a bit boring. I'd like to a) see what I'm working with, and b) go for some diversity. I want to avoid the "middle-aged white guy" syndrome that plagued Regionaire* its first season. However, I also want to make sure not every contestant looks exactly the same. Not every production company uses Endammitall's line of reasoning.

*Coined c. 2009 in Norfolk, VA

That being said, I sent my application, pic and all. Hope they like the sweater vest. :-P

Chad, truly... are you quite sure you don't want to reword that?

/Y'ain't exactly Fabio there, Mr. Rubble...

First off, are you saving photos of me? That's really creepy if you are, because that hasn't been available anywhere on the internet for the past 24 hours. Obviously, I deleted that because it's a terrible photo.

Secondly, I don't think I'm good looking, I never have and I appreciate you adding to my level of feeling self-concious and body issues. The fact that people want to put me on TV, though, helps me offset that and maybe make me think otherwise. Call me dickish (unfairly, IMO) or what have you when I never commented on anybody's looks at all, but I'm just talking about the way TV works.

I think Michael Davies called it "Blue Shirt Syndrome."

Found the photo linked somewhere. Somebody may be all creepy-stalkery for you, but it isn't me. And if you're so pleased about your success in making it on game shows while (despite?) being average-looking, then why say something that would only come out of the mouth of an arrogant, image-obsessed creep?

Back in ye olden days before email, if you wanted to be a contestant on, say, Card Sharks, you presented yourself in person to the Goodson-Todman offices and arranged to come to a contestant tryout. All comers were admitted, but from the moment you set foot in the office they knew what you looked like. They had you fill out a contestant application, took a Polaroid photo of you and attached it to a yellow 5" x 8" card with your name, address, phone number, SSN and all that stuff on it. In the case of Family Feud, all five family members stood belly to back and had their picture taken. They then had positive identification of you.

Take it from me, if the contestant coordinator knows what they're doing, they're looking for competent game players first and foremost (c.f. Jeopardy!). Appearance is secondary, particularly if they're going for a panoply of types. The few times I watched Donnymid I don't recall seeing many contestants over the age of forty.

Back in ye olden days before email, if you wanted to be a contestant on, say, Card Sharks, you presented yourself in person to the Goodson-Todman offices and arranged to come to a contestant tryout. All comers were admitted, but from the moment you set foot in the office they knew what you looked like. They had you fill out a contestant application, took a Polaroid photo of you and attached it to a yellow 5" x 8" card with your name, address, phone number, SSN and all that stuff on it. In the case of Family Feud, all five family members stood belly to back and had their picture taken. They then had positive identification of you.

Take it from me, if the contestant coordinator knows what they're doing, they're looking for competent game players first and foremost (c.f. Jeopardy!). Appearance is secondary, particularly if they're going for a panoply of types. The few times I watched Donnymid I don't recall seeing many contestants over the age of forty.

First, it's their company. If they want to conduct themselves in that way, it's between them and God, as far as I care.

I am so tired of watching "the good looking people" winning piles of cash on game shows that require you to be able to say numbers aloud, and the like. I would much rather see "average" looking people play a game well, than "good looking" people play a game poorly.

(And I think just about anyone can be cleaned up to move from "ugly" to "average" with the right tools.)

Alright. I apologize for any lack of tact or sensitivity I may have exercised in my post. I don't regret or retract the essence or the point of my statement because I feel it's accurate regarding the television industry, but I regret not forming my words in a way that would not be viewed as offensive or rude to most. I hope anyone who feels slighted or looks negatively upon me and/or my words will accept my apology and join me in moving on to discussing other aspects of these wonderful new prospects.

See Boyle, Susan.

/Well, maybe not, but she can sing.

Good enough for me.

As for the picture requirement, I can definitely see the want for diversity being part of that. But from the episodes of 80s Pyramid I've seen, it's seems that the contestants there are often pretty young. Is it just the nature of fairly fast-paced game?

In any event, I'll most likely wait until next summer to apply, because (1) I'm still in the 18-month wait for Jeopardy!, and (2) I want to see if The $1,000,000 Pyramid becomes a hit show with the potential for a long run.

There is certainly some merit in your first point, though being accepted for both and having to pick one or the other wouldn't be a terrible problem to have. But your second point doesn't make a lot of sense. If the show turns out to have a short run, you will have missed out on your chance to play by waiting too long to apply.

I've heard this kind of reasoning before, and it's just the strangest idea to me. Money is money. Right? If you can get on a game show that will probably only last 4 weeks but you get accepted, and they want to pay you $25K or more to play a word-association game, why on Earth would you turn that down? I don't get it.

For some reason, when I got to the later stages of the audition process for Povich 21, and they hadn't had the rules ironed out yet, I vaguely recall having that sort of attitude. Ten years later (and wiser, and with a mortgage payment to boot), I don't know why I felt like that, and it seems like an elitist feeling in hindsight. $100K for winning one game on that ridiculous show in the first couple episodes? Count me in any day.

Chad, in all his glory, got to play MDP (very well, to boot), and that lasted all of 12 episodes, but I wouldn't think for a minute that he hasn't cashed that check yet.

I can kind of understand that reasoning if it's a game show that has never aired anywhere, or has significantly changed its rules. I'd want to be sure that I understood how the game worked before I went on and risked a lot of money without knowing how to best play the game (for example, it took me a couple of weeks of watching the new season of Millionaire before I fully understood how I would handle the clock and the revised lifelines -- of course, I wasn't trying to be a contestant...). But from what we've seen, this looks like it'll play pretty much like classic Pyramid.

(Or to remedy that concern, if I was trying out for an unknown game, I would just try to attend a few early tapings as an audience member to get a feel for everything before I was selected as a contestant.)

I received an application this afternoon, 2-3 days after requesting one.

JD

The only thing I can think of is that you might get a better celebrity once the show has reestablished itself, possibly someone who gets a better hang of the game.

Then again, I would like to think that they'll get strong celebrities to open the game and build an audience.

/Then again, MDP's celebs seemed to get worse.

We saw how well that worked out on the Osmond Pyramid.


Of course, the MDPs didn't air in production order.

For those of us who are having our picture taken this weekend but don't have the application yet, anybody know the size/parameters of the picture they covet?


--Mike

They do not specify.

I just wish it was a done deal. Steve Beverly is reporting that decisions have been postponed until the first week of August while CBS looks at more pilots.

by what medium is Steve Beverly doing his reporting? I haven't seen anything of his since he closed down his website awhile back.

The Game Show Fix, an email newsletter.

Finally completed my application and sent it in. I'll keep fingers crossed and update if I am contacted.

GOOD LUCK! =)

I sent my ap in last week. Has anyone heard anything back?

According to Steve Beverly, decisions concerning what's replacing Guiding Light have been postponed until next week. So I wouldn't think they'd call/email contestants to be on the show if it's not even picked up yet.

Believe me, I wish they did. I put my application in too, and I would LOVE to be on the show.