'Wheel of Fortune' comes to Houston; students try out

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by Chet Kapoor

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Several Rice students tried out to be contestants for the "Wheel of Fortune" show last Saturday.

The students were part of a group of 40 students from area colleges and universities trying out to be contestants on the show.

According to Producer Harry Friedman, the show periodically visits 12 cities across the United States.

This is the first time in about eight years that the show has visited Houston for tryouts.

The participants were picked through advertisements placed in the mass media.

They played a few sample rounds of the game, after which they were asked to take a five-minute written test and fill out a descriptive application.

About 15 or 20 people made the cut. Apparently, the test scores were just a small factor in deciding who was chosen.

There was no predetermined number of people who would qualify for further competition.

"We take as many [people] as we think will make good contestants," Friedman said.

While students took the written test, organizers scrutinized them according to several factors.

Friedman said that people were not judged solely on the basis of their test scores and applications but also on their "energy and enthusiasm," among other factors.

Will Rice College senior Matt Burger was one of the people who tried out for the show.

"They wanted people who looked like "Wheel of Fortune" contestants -- people who make the show look good and are not necessarily the best problem solvers," Burger said.

Another Rice student who preferred to remain anonymous said he went to the tryouts to see how participants for the show were picked.

He said that it was evident to him that test scores were not the only factor in the decision process.

"I may have been able to do as well as or better than many other people who got chosen," he said.

Thresher Editor in Chief Vivek Rao, who attended Saturday morning's tryout, said, "It seemed like people's abilities to solve the puzzles weren't quite as important as their appearances."

After the decisions were announced, a small raffle was conducted and many of the participants walked away with "Wheel of Fortune" memorabilia.

"A lot of these people that audition for the show have been watching it for [a long time], so this is really like a dream come true for many of them," Friedman said.

If invited to appear on the show, contestants have to pay for the expenses of their trip.

Since its 1983 syndication launch, "Wheel of Fortune" has awarded more than $67 million in cash and prizes, which amounts to an average of $40,000 per show.

Since Jan. 1975, more than 410,000 people have auditioned for the show. Those auditions have produced 17,000 contestants.

This item appeared in the News section of the February 16, 1996 issue.

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