Anniversary Blog: An LRW FAQ

6 years ago, on this date, I evacuated New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina bore down upon us like the wrath of God. I didn't miss the irony of it. On this very same date in 2002, in Los Angeles, I felt the Hand of God in a pretty big way myself. For those of you who have forgotten, this is the very day that I taped my appearance on the game show, The Weakest Link. (The best part is when they don't know how it ends!!)
Here it is if you haven't seen it!

I often like to show my DVD of the episode to close friends, along with a live commentary, but until we can clear the rights, I will offer you my recollections of the Best Day of My Life. I have noticed people generally have a specific set of questions about my appearance, so here goes:

1. How did you get on the show?
I had been a big fan of the show since the hour-long prime-time version with Anne Robinson. When the show changed format to 30 mins during daytime with George Gray, I was still just as hooked. Every time they ran an ad after the show with a phone line to call in to be a contestant, I was dialing that phone like the very last kid with ADD, & usually all I heard was a busy signal. One fateful summer afternoon the line actually rang. I left a msg basically saying that I was a big fan of the show & that if they ever came to NOLA to cast they should give me a call.

At the time, my outgoing voicemail msg was:
"Hey Hey Hey
It's Sam Ray
& Who Can Say
Where I am Today?
Leave a message & I'll call back right away, OKAY??"

& will never forget it because one day I noticed an LA area code on my caller ID & got this msg:
"Wow Sam, if you are half as much fun as your voice-mail, you are just what we are looking for on The Weakest Link! We will be coming to the Marriott on Canal St in NOLA to hold try-outs, bring your friends and be ready to be there for a few hours!"

I was quivering already.

A few weeks later, I went to the hotel & there were about 100 of us in a big conference room, all seated at long tables. Packets were handed out for us to fill in, with questions about our hobbies & interests. Well, for the last several years, my hobbies had mostly been taking drugs, dressing crazy, talking crazy, going to clubs/bars/raves & somehow that just didn't seem appropriate to Weekday TV. So I told them about my obsession with Wonder Woman. How much I had loved her my whole life, and how my favorite power of hers is not the Magic Lasso (although a bondage toy that makes ppl tell the truth would surely come in handy) nor her super-strength but rather the fact that a quick spin was all she needed to have a whole new outfit, with accessories!!

Each one of our seats had a number in front of it, and we all had to introduce ourselves to the group and then we took a written, 20 question test. After a short break, the associate producers came back and read out the list of ppl who'd passed the written test & were moving on to a taped mock game for the producers to review.

After we finished with that, they sent us on our way, and by the following week, I had a voicemail that said:

"Pack your bags, Sam, you're coming to Hollywood! NBC has booked you on a round-trip flight to L.A. plus 2 nights at the Hilton Universal. The only money you need to bring is enough for meals and entertainment."

& That's how I got on the show.

2. How did you get around in LA?

NBC sent a limo-bus to pick me up from the airport. I had to find a driver with a sign with my name on it like you see in the movies. The next day, a limo picked myself and all of the other potential contestants from my show as well as potential contestants for a fireman-themed show, at about 7AM.

3. How long were you with the other contestants before you started taping?
We arrived at NBC studios around 7:15, where those of us from the hotel met up with 2 other potential  contestants. We spent most of the day, waiting for the producers to arrive so we could meet with them in person. We knew that they were only going to use 6 contestants, so 2 people wouldn't make it through to the taping. We passed the time, chatting and eating pastries and drinking sodas, always supervised by Contestant Coordinators. Right until I went in to see the producers, I had those Wonder Woman bracelets in my pocket. I wasn't sure whether to wear them or not. I had consulted with this guy Victor that I knew about it, and he said "Grrl if you wear those things, you will be voted off in the 1st round."

His words echoed in my ears when I heard it was time to go in to see the producers. I said to myself, "No Guts, No Glory" & snapped those babies around my wrists. It's Showtime, Synergy. (OK that's Jem, not WW but it works for me)

We began taping around 3PM & it lasted about 1.5 hours.

3.I noticed you got rid of Hap in the 1st round, although he was the strongest player, Why?

Bottom line: He wasn't really nice during the pre-show. He was smug (if not mean-spirited) about the fact that he had previously been on Jeopardy, where he was runner-up, and he clearly felt that The Weakest Link was a big step down from Alex Trebek's stage. One of the lights actually went out during his "walk of shame" so he had to do it TWICE! I was thinking "Suffer, bitch!!!"

4. How could you miss the question about Cartman? You watched South Park for years, you went to see the movie, hell you even owned the movie?

I have no idea.

5. After Dr Ingrid changed her vote to keep you on the show, you voted her off, you are SCANDALOUS! What gives?

Well, I was originally going to vote off Marcy, but it was like a blessed wind from Paradise Island blew through that studio & ruffled that little curl on my forehead and I almost heard a voice that said "Look Over." So I glance over to my right, and I saw Dr Ingrid writing an "S" curve and I said to myself: "Bye Bye Dr Ingrid, I am gonna take my chances with the Hooters Waitress." If you pause the video when I announce my vote, you can see that I began to write an M, but scratched it out.

A word about Dr Ingrid: She was one of the most kind people I've ever met. After the taping, she said to me: "Sam, I just got out of Med Skool, I have a quarter million dollars in Financial Aid debt, 30K is a drop in my bucket. But it's a life-changing amount of money for you, and I'm honestly glad you have it." Then she even took me out for dinner & drinks & palmed me a few bucks for cover charges and cocktails.

6. What was the host really like?
I don't know, but he was relentlessly Letting Me Have It about the bracelets. Most of it got edited out but that's the biz I guess.

7. Did you ever get a car like you said in your closing remarks?
No. Actually they asked a few different questions and did 3 takes at that point and I ended all of them the same way, with the Amazon salute & the phrase "Justice HAS prevailed!!" but the first couple times I think I hit my mike, so that was the only usable take. That is my only regret about the whole thing, that I messed up the previous takes & they had to use that one.

8. What happened right after?

Well, I had to pee like CRAZY & I was sent out of the door by the booth where we gave the comments to NBC's public lobby restroom, i.e. the same restroom all these audience were using on their way out of the building. It was the Weirdest thing. People parted for me. Strangers calling out my name. "Way to go, Sam!!" "You're awesome!!" "Love the Bracelets!!" "Make way for the champ!" The line of men in the restroom let me go ahead of them. Afterwards, I went back upstairs, filled out some tax paperwork & gave Marcy the Wonder Woman lapel pin I was wearing in my collar as our limo bus dropped her off in the parking lot & the rest of us contestants headed back to the hotel.

9.How much tax did you have to pay on it?

When I finally got the check, 6 months later, as stipulated by the contract, California had withheld about $1500 in State Tax (most of which I got back later) & I pre-paid 20% of it off the top to the IRS.

10.What did you do with it all?

I cleared up some outstanding debts to Entergy & Cox Cable (the final legacy of my snaggle puss tranny roommate, Summer Teef), and paid my rent for a year. Since I had already started at school, I repaid my boyfriend for the tuition he'd paid & the books he'd bought & then paid for a few more semesters of school and books.

11. How did it feel?

It felt better than any drug I could imagine. It felt like sunshine in my belly. It felt like I was finally getting what I had always wanted, ever since the 1st time I saw The Price is Right or Tic Tac Dough or any number of other game shows. It felt like someone was telling me "Yes you can, Sam. You can wear the bracelets, you can be yourself, and you WILL be rewarded for it."


3 years later, 6 years ago, I left NOLA, sure that I would be back in just a few days. I stayed away a lot longer than that, but that, Gentle Readers, is a story for another time.

9 years later, I am at another crossroads: I begin a job tomorrow as a 3rd grade teacher's assistant at the International School of New Orleans on Camp Street. I also recently interviewed for a position as a Spanish Language Interpreter for the DA's office. I am waiting to hear back from them to discover if I will get a second interview. I may not wear the bracelets but dammit in some ways, I never took them off....

Praise Bless!