I woke up at 5:10 AM this morning to act as a phone-a-friend for someone I know. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is taping at Walt Disney World this week, and apparently their shooting schedule in Florida is a bit different than when they tape in New York. Five freakin' AM! That first call was to make sure my phone number worked and I understood the lifeline procedure. Then I needed to be available from 7 AM to noon (10 to 3 Orlando time) when taping would occur. I'd get a call when the contestant got into the hotseat, then a call from Meredith Vieira if I was used as a lifeline, and then possibly a call to let me know when the contestant left the hotseat.
Except I never got any call at all. And neither did the other phone-a-friends. There's no Fastest Fingers anymore, so our friend was guaranteed a turn in the hotseat. We should have gotten a call when his turn came up. Unless he got the bottom end of the random order and time ran out before he could get a turn.
Still, some kind of phone call to the phone-a-friends would seem appropriate. If can forgive the contestant himself, who might not think of it amidst all the turmoil and disappointment, but not the producers. I don't care how crazy your production schedule is. It would take under 5 minutes for an intern to contact each of a contestant's phone-a-friends and let them know what's happening. It's just good manners.
Posted by Peter at January 16, 2005 11:25 PM