We want contestants

Saw a short but interesting thread on Matt Ottinger's game show board. A poster wondered about the contestant-wanted ads that used to appear in the LA Times classifieds for game shows.

Veteran game show announcer Randy West replied that the ads were an LA specialty. He never saw them in New York City. Their purpose?

A production company can never have too many prospective contestants applying, whether from in-show plugs or other referrals. It gives the show the picks of the litter without the need to "settle" on borderline prospects. That's why even Wheel of Fortune is still seeing hopefuls despite having files full of applicants. In addition, contestant coordinators use the applicants who respond to those ads for future shows.

Nowadays the Internet has taken over the contestant hunt. Casting call sites regularly invite the bright and bubbly (and often the young) of the world to take their chances on new game shows.

In fact, I recently got an e-mail from GSN that a second season Lingo casting call on the Internet was fake. I replied that I hadn't seen the call, but I probably wouldn't have believed it, anyway.

Didn't say it, but new original production seems dead at GSN right now. Maybe things will pick up with the hiring of new programming chief Amy Davis.