WWTBAM Bored

MarleysGh0st wrote:Individuals participating as Phone-A-Friends may do so only one (1) time within the eleven (11) episodes scheduled to be broadcast on the Network starting August 9, 2009.

Estonut wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:Individuals participating as Phone-A-Friends may do so only one (1) time within the eleven (11) episodes scheduled to be broadcast on the Network starting August 9, 2009.

The only ambiguity there is whether or not a non-called PAF is considered to have participated. It doesn't say "named as" nor "registered as"...

ten96lt wrote:

Estonut wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:Individuals participating as Phone-A-Friends may do so only one (1) time within the eleven (11) episodes scheduled to be broadcast on the Network starting August 9, 2009.

The only ambiguity there is whether or not a non-called PAF is considered to have participated. It doesn't say "named as" nor "registered as"...

I'm not a lawyer or an expert, just a person from the peanut gallery commenting. But I would think that it means you can only be on one list. My reasoning is.....say you have everyone on this board going to tape the PTBAM, ask Bob78164 (or just Bob, I'm still a newbie so I don't know what to call him) to be on their list. One gets in the hotseat and eventually uses him as a phone-a-friend. The rules clearly state that he can't be used as a PAF more than once, so for the other 4 potential contestants, they just lost a potential phone-a-friend contact. Now, they don't have time to find a replacement since they theoretically could be in the same show and I don't think tptb want Regis saying to the audience, that so and so has only 2 PAF's because his third one was just used by the last contestant and he's no longer eligible to be called again.

Estonut wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:Individuals participating as Phone-A-Friends may do so only one (1) time within the eleven (11) episodes scheduled to be broadcast on the Network starting August 9, 2009.

The only ambiguity there is whether or not a non-called PAF is considered to have participated. It doesn't say "named as" nor "registered as"...

MarleysGh0st wrote:

Estonut wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:Individuals participating as Phone-A-Friends may do so only one (1) time within the eleven (11) episodes scheduled to be broadcast on the Network starting August 9, 2009.

The only ambiguity there is whether or not a non-called PAF is considered to have participated. It doesn't say "named as" nor "registered as"...

I believe Bob already ran into this issue in this past season of SyndieBAM. Now that everyone on the PAF team is introduced and has their pictures displayed on air, TPTB interprets participating to mean appearing on a PAF list, regardless of whether or not one receives the PAF call.

This change supposedly added some human interest to the show, but it's cut the PAF list from five to three (a significant cut, when you're trying to assemble a team to field any topic imaginable) and it's cut the number of times a great PAF can offer his services (which may only affect use on the Bored, but still...).

EugeneF wrote:If you are a PAF on the Regis show, would that preclude you from being a PAF on the Meredith show?

Eugene

MarleysGh0st wrote:

EugeneF wrote:If you are a PAF on the Regis show, would that preclude you from being a PAF on the Meredith show?

Eugene

I don't think so. Each season of SyndieBAM resets the counter for PAF usage; I believe this prime times series will also be separate and distinct for this.

EugeneF wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:

EugeneF wrote:If you are a PAF on the Regis show, would that preclude you from being a PAF on the Meredith show?

Eugene

I don't think so. Each season of SyndieBAM resets the counter for PAF usage; I believe this prime times series will also be separate and distinct for this.

And what is the PAF limit? I have heard that it is two times a year, not that I am close to exceeding it. I am averaging four times every ten years--and I have gotten the call only once. Always the bridesmaid....

Eugene

Contestants must provide in advance as directed by Producer the names, phone numbers, photographs, and signed releases of each of their Phone-A-Friends. Failure to follow these guidelines may result in the inability to have an individual(s) participate in this lifeline. Individuals participating as Phone-A-Friends may do so only two (2) times within each Program broadcast season (to be determined in Game Sponsor's sole discretion

MarleysGh0st wrote:BTW, I've been on the PAF list four times, but I've never been called, so you're one ahead of me.

And that bridesmaid line was mine, dammit! Just ask the New York Times!

kayak wrote:I've now made other plans for the 29th and 30th, so I can't be a PAF. (Are we seriously updating this, as the window should be closed?) FYI!

ToLiveIsToFly wrote:Waiting by the phone this evening. And nervous.

MarleysGh0st wrote:

ToLiveIsToFly wrote:Waiting by the phone this evening. And nervous.

Are you PAFing for someone not on our list? And isn't the taping this afternoon, not this evening?

Regis Philbin finally called, and 30 million people were eavesdropping

After two days of an anxious vigil by the telephone, I now had the opportunity
to humiliate myself and bankrupt a friend.

Who wants to be a "Millionaire" lifeline? I had acquired some doubts.

How did I end up such a morbid, neurotic mess? A week earlier, I had felt
nothing worse than a mild case of envy. Stephanie Girardi, a close friend of my
wife Karen, was going to be a contestant on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

Possessing a Mensa mentality and the Episcopalian equivalent of chutzpah,
Stephanie had defied odds and obstacles to win a seat next to Regis.

Every day, 250,000 people somehow get through the show's jammed phone lines and
take the qualifying quiz. Approximately 3 percent of these aspiring contestants
pass the three-question test. A number of these survivors are randomly selected
to take a second quiz, consisting of five questions. Of those who correctly
answer the five questions, the 10 fastest competitors are invited to be on
"Millionaire." Stephanie was one of them.

For those of you pretending not to know the details, "Millionaire" permits its
contestants to have three lifelines for help with answers. Stephanie asked me
to be her "phone-a-friend," the mystic sage who could answer any confounding
question within 30 seconds. A contestant can choose five people to be a
"phone-a-friend" but Stephanie needed only three to supplement her knowledge
(the other two were an astrophysicist and a librarian with a specialty in
sports). Why choose me? To be honest, I am an idiot savant. Although I can't
remember my wife's phone number at work, I possess an unnatural command of
historical and literary details.

Consider this example. A lady once mentioned to me that "This is St. Anthony's
Day." I asked if she were referring to St. Anthony of Thebes or St. Anthony of
Padua. How does a Jewish boy know that? My cognitive quirks have even earned me
fame and fortune. In 1987, I appeared on "Jeopardy!" and won $70,000, a vacuum
cleaner and 14 bags of chocolate chips.

In case you were wondering, Regis' call is not a casual occurrence. I was given
instructions and indoctrination that made me feel as if I were paper-trained by
Pavlov. My first order was, on the day (a Wednesday) that Stephanie first
appeared for a taping, to wait by a telephone between the hours of noon and 3
p.m., and 4 and 7 p.m. Since I am a freelance writer and work from home, I
could accommodate that ridiculous schedule. At approximately 1 p.m., the phone
rang and I found myself being interrogated by a droning assistant from the
show.

No, I was not an employee of ABC or any affiliates. No, I was not an employee
or related to any employee of "Millionaire." (If I were, wouldn't she have
remembered me from the holiday party?) No, I had not been on another game show
within the last year. No, I had not been anyone else's lifeline. (You can only
be a lifeline twice in a year's time, so I can't make a career of it.)

Having survived the initiation, I was now drilled in the protocol of the show.

1. I was to be by a telephone from 4 to 7 p.m. that day. I could not use a
cellular phone. (Why? They did not say.)

2. I was the only person allowed to answer that phone.

3. I had to answer the telephone on the third ring. (Again they did not say
why.)

4. I was "not to make small talk with Regis."

There was nothing else to do but wait. At 4 p.m., the telephone rang and, with
heroic restraint, I picked it up on the third ring. It was only another
production assistant, telling me that the show now was being taped, and
reminding me to be available for the next three hours. I resumed the vigil.

At 10 minutes to 7, the phone rang. I picked up the telephone on the obligatory
third ring and heard the production assistant exclaim that Stephanie had made
it into "the hot seat." The day's taping was nearly over, however; so I was
asked if I would be available the following day from 4 to 7. Later that
evening, Stephanie called from New York to tell us all the details. She asked
if I was ready for the challenge. I lied and said, "Yes."

In fact, I was imagining everything that could go wrong.

In an average week, no one rings our doorbell; but when Regis calls, it would
be the most sadistic time for a Jehovah's Witness to drop by. What, if for some
inexplicable reason, our pugs awoke and started barking while I was trying to
hear Stephanie? At least, I had a solution for these potential crises: My wife
could handle them.

A few minutes before 4 p.m., I isolated myself in the bedroom. At 4:30 p.m.,
the telephone rang and I discovered one of the immutable laws of the universe.
In such circumstances, a relative or friend will telephone. "Have they called
yet?" I believe this was the first time my sister-in-law Barbara heard me
hyperventilate and stammer. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. Karen coped
with it. I had become acutely aware of my heartbeat.

Then the phone rang.

"Hi, Eugene. This is Regis Philbin."

I could barely hear him. "Our friends at AT&T" could improve the acoustics. I
greeted him and, since this wasn't a private conversation, I added "Hi
America." Stephanie was contending with a $125,000 question and she needed my
help. She began reading the question, and I could only discern a few words:
painting, California, swimming pools. Then, she began reciting the possible
answers: David Hockney. . . . I interrupted with an emphatic, "Yes."

She continued with the other possible answers (Chuck Close, Jasper Johns, Andy
Warhol).

Then I repeated, "California swimming pools . . . David Hockney."

"That's what I thought," she said.

"I'm obnoxiously certain," I replied.

How could she doubt me? Stephanie answered "David Hockney" and won the
$125,000. She then went on to win $500,000. Stephanie knew that Mick Jagger
went to the London School of Economics and that the island of Rapa Nui is
better known as Easter Island.

Let's deal with the ugly and obvious question: Everybody asks, what's my cut? I
was motivated by vanity not venality. We never discussed what I could expect
for answering the question. Let's just say: Stephanie is a gracious person.

As for me, my breathing has returned to normal and I remain the most successful
"Jeopardy!" player from Rogers Park. Now I find myself frequently asked a
question I can't answer: When am I going to be on "Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire"? I guess I will have to find out.

EugeneF wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:

ToLiveIsToFly wrote:Waiting by the phone this evening. And nervous.

Are you PAFing for someone not on our list? And isn't the taping this afternoon, not this evening?

We are obliged to be by the telephone from 2:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. (EST).

I wish that I could tell you how much fun it is to watch cobwebs grow on your telephone. At least my first experience--way back in 2000-- was not an exercise in futility.

MarleysGh0st wrote:

ToLiveIsToFly wrote:Waiting by the phone this evening. And nervous.

Are you PAFing for someone not on our list? And isn't the taping this afternoon, not this evening?

ToLiveIsToFly wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:

ToLiveIsToFly wrote:Waiting by the phone this evening. And nervous.

Are you PAFing for someone not on our list? And isn't the taping this afternoon, not this evening?

Is there an OTC list? My understanding that none of us got called for today's taping. I didn't add my name to the list mainly because tonight was the only night I could really do it, and we didn't have anybody.

I was contacted through other channels.

ToLiveIsToFly wrote:As will I. But today we should be rooting for kbhirsch's cousin.

MarleysGh0st wrote:

EugeneF wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:
Are you PAFing for someone not on our list? And isn't the taping this afternoon, not this evening?

We are obliged to be by the telephone from 2:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. (EST).

I wish that I could tell you how much fun it is to watch cobwebs grow on your telephone. At least my first experience--way back in 2000-- was not an exercise in futility.

So you also are PAFing today for someone not on our list? Can you give us a hint about this someone?

Alas, I know something about cobwebs. I've been on PAF lists four times and never talked to Regis or Meredith.

EugeneF wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:

EugeneF wrote:
We are obliged to be by the telephone from 2:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. (EST).

I wish that I could tell you how much fun it is to watch cobwebs grow on your telephone. At least my first experience--way back in 2000-- was not an exercise in futility.

So you also are PAFing today for someone not on our list? Can you give us a hint about this someone?

Alas, I know something about cobwebs. I've been on PAF lists four times and never talked to Regis or Meredith.

My date with vicarious glory is Friday. My contestant learned of me from here--far more reputable than having my name on a washroom wall. ("For an erudite time, call Eugene") My contestant is not a regular BB here; but compared to the many garrulous contributors here, neither am I. I will ask his permission if I may reveal his identity.

Eugene