I love game shows. It’s true. I don’t watch them as much now as I used to, but when I was in college I watched an awful lot of The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune. I also tuned in to old school episodes of Press Your Luck and Family Feud on the Game Show Network. Dork, I know.

My greatest game show fantasy is to be on the Price is Right and make it all the way to the showcase showdown. A few years ago when we went to L.A. I was crushed to find out Price is Right was not taping while we were there. We’ll have to go back sometime, because being on that show is on my must-do list.

So when I heard that Wheel of Fortune was having auditions in Savannah, I just had to give it a shot. On Sunday, I showed up at the mall where they’d set up a makeshift stage in the center court.

Vanna and Pat were there in cardboard form, standing in front of the big gold drum into which all of our applications were placed. The “host” pulled applications out of the drum randomly and chose players to come up on stage for a quick mini-show. Based on your performance in the mini-show (i.e. are you zany and can you solve puzzles?), you might get selected for a future final audition and eventually, THE SHOW.

In case you were wondering, the answer to the puzzle pictured above was “Chef Paula Deen,” and I solved it before the person on the stage did. GRRRRRR!

As much as I wanted to get picked, there were other people who wanted it far more than I did. Several who made it on stage sang songs; one even wrote a song just for the occasion. A woman standing beside me bowed her head and crossed her fingers each time the host dipped into the drum, clearly desperate to be selected. Others brought camping chairs and made themselves comfortable as they watched the spectacle unfold.

Alas, my application was never pulled out of the drum. I left a little disappointed, but at least I can say I tried. And maybe I’m just saving my game show karma for The Price is Right one day. (Yeah, I know. Still a dork).