Pig in a box

A busy, busy weekend...Saturday was a bit game-show filled. Ted, Drew, and I went to see a taping of "Hollywood Squares" in the morning. 'Twas a good set of shows featuring Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog sharing a square. There was also some very funny comments by Whoopi in regards to the end of her run as the center square. We saw three shows in all.

Later that day, my friend Michael from San Diego dropped by to visit and check out my game show video collection. Even later on in the day, Drew came over and Gary showed up soon after that. Ted cooked up a great dinner highlighted by Cap'n Crunch coated fried chicken and cheddar mashed potatoes...mmmm....In my opinion, it was the best dinner Ted's cooked up since I've been roomies with him. We watched a few game show oldies over dinner and then whipped out some board games from the game closet. Did a little Password, Taboo, Scattergories, Press Your Luck...and Pyramid. Little did I know what I was getting into by playing Pyramid against Gary. Gary and Michael teamed up and they were an unstoppable powerhouse. Drew and I were the first to play against them...We were summarily defeated twice. Then Ted and Larry stepped up to the plate. They were also beaten quite handily by Gary and Michael. In the midst of all this, we had a somewhat surprise visit from Chris and Brian who brought along their friend Luke. Oh, and Chris and Luke were also trounced by Gary and Michael. Note to self...Be careful next time about playing "Pyramid" against somebody who plays "Pyramid" as part of a regular segment on their online talk show. We all ended up hanging out at my place until about 1-ish in the morning...wayyyy past the roomies' bedtime and honestly wayyy longer than we should have because....

Sunday, a bunch of us went to Magic Mountain. Earlier in the week, Chris called up Ted wanting to go to Magic Mountain. So, Chris and Ted wrangled a bunch of our friends to head to Magic Mountain. BOY, was it crowded. And BOY was it hot...There were lines everywhere. There was a one-hour line to get photos taken for the season passes!! It was a total 180 of how things were when I went last Tuesday. The line for "X" was four hours long. A few of us (including myself) broke away from the X crowd to go on some other rides while the X bunch waited. I don't care what anybody says...X freaks me out. And four hours is just a ridiculous amount of time to be waiting for one ride. Also, that day there was some big cheerleading/drill team competition. I swear, I've never seen that many sequins in one place at one time in my life. For a moment there, I was thinking I had stepped into a tribute to Liberace. Quite an interesting sight to say the least...Still, despite the heat, increased number of people, and constant paranoia that Kirsten Dunst would pop out saying that the park was being run by a "cheer-ocracy," it was fun. :-)

After a week of winding down from "Whammy!," worked kicked back into gear today. Got word of my next project which should keep me busy for the next week.

In other things, I've been reaching deep into the CD collection recently and popping in some CDs in the car's CD changer that I haven't listened to in a while. This week's random flashback...The Jacksons' "Triumph" album. The only reason I bought this one was for the first track, "Can You Feel It," my favorite semi-popular Jacksons song. I used to use it warm-up the audience for the game show I did in college. I just loved the video they did for it...Ya know, the one with the Jackson spreading their magic pixie dust all over the city complete with that cheesy, pre-Tron computer animation. Good stuff...

Flying bikes

For some reason, my post from Wednesday night didn't go up...It should be up now...It's just a little blurb about my visit to "The Price is Right..."

Thursday was a bit laid back...Spent the day going through "Whammy!" tapes to double check on the records I'd been taking during the tapings. Not too many people came over for "Survivor." Rob and Christie were the only ones that dropped by. I admittedly was half-there myself even though I was at home. I really, really just haven't gotten into "Survivor" this year. I dunno why...And contrary to what Ted says, it's not because Gabriel and John were voted off. I thnk it's mostly a case of the new season coming too soon off the heels of the Africa edition. Oh well...it's one less bit of appointment TV I have to worry about.

After "Survivor," Drew dropped by. He and I went to the Arclight Cinema near Sunset and Vine to watch "E.T." This was the first time I'd been to the theater since they renovated it. It used to be the old Cinerama thetaer. It's GORGEOUS...probably one of the classiest theaters I've been to. It's a bit pricier, but it shows. We saw the 10:25 PM showing of the movie. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the last night the movie is playing there because it was just Drew, me, and a couple of other people in the theater. I had forgotten how great "E.T." is. I almost even shed a tear there watching it. My big question is what ever happened to the actor that played Michael, the older brother?

All in all a good night...Plus, I just love hanging out with Drew. It's so cool that there's somebody else who can crack the same dumbass jokes I do and get away with it. And before you all start asking, "Geez, you've been seeing a lot of Drew lately...what's up with that?"...I'll just say this...He and I have become really good friends in such a short time. It's been a while since I've met somebody whom I just really connect with and whom I just randomly call up and talk with day after day. And that's how things stand now...Whether there's more to this than I'm seeing now, I have no idea. And I won't even dare to guess...I've fallen into that trap many times before and have gotten burned because of it...Whatever happens happens....

Priceless...

'Twas a fun day at work today. I gotta love when my job entails heading over to CBS Television City to check out a taping of "The Price is Right." And that's indeed what I did today. I stopped by the Bob Barker Studio to catch a taping of the third or a series of prime-time specials "Price" is doing for the summer. This particular one was a salute to the U.S. Air Force. So, almost everyone in the audience was a member of the U.S. Air Force. The show was great. The format is the same as the daytime version but with bigger prizes, some slight set modifications, a $100,000 top prize on the Showcase Showdown Wheel, and some jib camera shots. Oh, and there was live fanfare from the Air Force band to start off the show. Good stuff and Bob is still the best. I've never seen anyone hold that much command over an audience. The specials start airing May 17th and will air through the rest of May and the month of June on CBS primetime.

So closes this chapter...

Wow...wow...wow....Yesterday marked the last tape day for the inaugural season of "Whammy! - The All-New Press Your Luck." We have 65 episodes all done now. And we ended the season with quite a bang. A lot of nail-biters! Our 65th episode was a theme episode which will air during a future GSN marathon. It had some great game play and it looks really good. We even re-dressed the set a bit to fit the theme.

I have had such a blast working on this show! Everybody has been a delight to work with on the show. While this has been one of the smallest production staffs I've worked with, it's also been one of the most fun and tight-knit staffs too. The birthing process was a bit rough, but once things settled into place, things were just great. I've never worked on a show which has given me such an adrenaline rush. There were many times during those tense final-round moments where I couldn't sit in my chair. This is a show where you can't help but get sucked into the excitement of the game! And it wasn't just me...EVERYBODY from the P.A.s to the prize staff to the producers to the crew to the execs got into the game. It was quite a sight to see.

We capped off the last day of taping with a wrap party. A nice spread of food and there was even a raffle drawing for gifts for the staff and crew. I managed to win a stereo in the midst of all of this!

I know some of the people who work on the show and GSN read this site...so again, to everybody involved with the show who's read this site, THANKS. Thanks for making the show the success it's been and for making one of this little game show geek's dreams come true!

So, what happened the day after....? I took a rare day off today. Drew invited me to join him and his friends from out of town to Magic Mountain. 'Twas a LOT of fun...and to use a word Drew coined that day...it was "Moosetastic." Got my Season Pass renewed and we pretty much saw everything in one day. Quite a rarity with Magic Mountain seeing how the load times for a lot of the rides are slow. I braved "Superman" for the first time. It was cool and wasn't the freak-out I had expected. However, my chicken gene kicked in for the two new coasters there..."X" and "Deja Vu." I was the D.N.R.P.M...Designated Non-Riding Party Member for those two rides. All in all, it was a great way to spend the day off and to spend a day without having Whammy on the mind.

Now, it's just a means of waiting...Waiting for the elusive pickup for another 65 episodes. There's really no word as to when we'll hear about a decision, but there is one way you can help. WATCH the show. Also, tell everybody you know with Game Show Network to watch the show. This is a show that deserves a really long run and there are too many people who've put in a lot of hard work into this to have this only last a season or two!

I'm such a do-nothing

Ahh...Had a weekend where I did NOTHING. Well, not really...but I just vegged for the most part this weekend. I was initially planning to drop by the Westin Bonaventure to check out the auditions for "American Idol," the next big project Fremantle is doing. But I figured I'd catch up on some rest. A bunch of people came over on Saturday night...many of which had not seen "Showgirls," so Ted popped in the DVD of "Showgirls" to introduce them to this fine piece of crap. Earlier in the day we attempted to go to Hometown Buffet for dinner, but as always, it was damn crowded.

What else...what else...Today, I met up with my friend Max from high school. Did a lot of catching up. It was quite nice to meet up with a familiar face from my Florida past. And it looks like there are a couple of other people from my Florida days in L.A. or planning to head out here. Other than that, it's been a nice relaxing weekend. Drew dropped by out of the blue in the middle of one his runs for the temp P.A. gig he has, so that was pretty cool.

Other than that...just eagerly awaiting tomorrow...the last of the first 65 shows of "Whammy!" are being taped. One of the shows we're planning to do is another themed show for another upcoming marathon GSN is having. Word is the ratings have been good so far, but we won't really hear about a pickup for a while. Keep those fingers crossed guys and keep watching if you want to see us back with more shows!

So closes the first week...

The first week of Whammy! has aired and again, thanks for the E-mails and kind words again on the boards. As always, I'd like to address some questions that have popped up...

In regards to tonight's episode, somebody noticed we only asked four questions. Ahh...while there were only four aired, five were indeed asked. We always ask five questions. However, if a show is running long and there happens to be a question where nobody earns any spins, that question may be edited out of the program for time's sake. You might have also noticed the lack of contestant interview as well despite the fact that we taped one.

Some people have asked what exactly my role is on the show. Well, I don't have one paritcular role. I've basically helped with a lot of different aspects...

One of which is the game board. Once we locked down on a design of the game board with our set designers and director, I along with game show stats guru David Hammett came up with a board configuration that would fit the show's budget and GSN's guildlines as well as create the best gameplay possible. One thing I made sure of was that we slipped in some nods to the old show by putting in such "homage" spaces as $470, $525, $1200, $1400, and of course $2000-or-Lose-1-Whammy. We also came up with some new spaces that had the spirit of the old show like $1000 or spin again as well as the new oddball $740 space. Because there were no real "corners" on the board, we couldn't to "Pick a Corner" However, I placed some 3-way "Move 1 Spaces" on the spaces where they reside in Round 3 to create a similar 3-choice dilemma including the classic situation of having a "Whammy" (or in this case "Double Whammy") pop up every now and then as one of the choices. It was a bit surreal doing this seeing how I had in a way been doing this for years coming up with board configurations of my own on Curt King's "Press Your Luck" computer program. In "Move 1 Space" cases, we made sure that there's always a dilemma for the contestant. For example, you'll never have a choice between $1200, $1500 or a prize. It just doesn't make sense because $1200 is obviously a wrong choice to make...

Another thing I've helped out with is coming up with Whammy ideas. It's been quite cool to see some of my Whammys debut this week and to see the reaction to them. One of my favorites that I came up with is the "Spelling Bee Whammy." Next to the *NSync Whammy, it's one that I feel best captures the "insult" feel of the old Whammys. Some others that have popped up this week that I've helped with creating are the Emeril Whammy, Judge Whammy, *NSync Whammy, and Pillow Double Whammy. There are a few others of mine which will be popping up later this season. :-)

There are other things which I've helped out which I'll eventually get into detail somewhere down the line. During the actual tape days, my roles include checking in with our prize coordinator and CBS Electronics on the board status. During the show, I'm over at the producer's table with Michael Weinberg and Kevin Belinkoff while on headset in communication with the booth where Bob Boden and Jeff Mirkin are. I run the computer that feeds Todd the questions during the question round. Also before the question round, Michael and I prep Todd with the notes about contestant interviews. During the spin rounds, I function as another set of eyes...keeping a close tally of what's hit and player totals of spins, dollars, and Whammys so that if there are any inaccuracies we can catch them as soon as possible. This also helps to make sure everything is right should there be any stopdowns due to technical malfunctions on the board. I'm also there as another set of eyes to provide a heads up if anything unusual in game play should pop up like a Whammy-out causing a win or a potential of a $0 tie at the end of the game. In the midst of all this, if Kevin is there at the table he and I usually play the "What would I have done?" game as to whether we'd press or pass if we were in the shoes of the contestant. Needless to say, it's a LOT of fun...Everybody just gets into a frenzy in the heat of the game. Not only is the audience screaming to press or pass but you've also got staffers and people in the wings also screaming too. Without a doubt, this is the most energetic show I've worked on and one where I get so wrapped up in the show that I forgot that this is all part of the job! :-)

So..that's a little insight as to what I've been up to Whammy-wise. In other stuff, things have been quite interesting. I'll have to speak in vagaries...but there's a been a bit of slight drama lately in the personal life. In the little spare time, I've had lately, I've been hanging out with Person X. Now, Person X was introduced to me through Person Y, a friend of mine. It turns out that Person Y has had some interest in Person X and has been a bit miffed about the time I've been spending with Person X. Now, I'm just friends at the moment with Person X and from what I gather Person X is just looking for friends. Still, I must say it's been a long while since I've met somebody whom I'm enjoyed spending time with or clicked with as Person X. But I'm not one to make a first move. Person Y has sensed my liking of Person X and through a little chatting online revealed that a several days ago he and Person X got together and that he sensed that there could be something more between the two than just a friendship. Yet, Person X has not called Person Y since. Confused? You won't after tonight's episode of SOAP! Oh...wait...sorry...Broke into my Rod Roddy impersonation there...Needless to say, I dunno what to make of all this and I'm a bit torn as to where I should go with this. I really like Person X as a new friend and I would love it if it did blossom into something more, but I don't want to jeopardize the great friendship we've built by being too pushy. Also, I don't want to hurt Person Y. Ack...Grrr...Can't this be easy for once?!? I just hate the fact that in Person X, here's somebody whom has almost everything I look for in a guy...but it could just be simply a friendship. Not that having a great new friend is bad...but geez, this cycle of "so close, yet so far away" situations is getting quite tiresome...In any case...stay tuned...

HOORAY!

Yet again, another long drought period of blogging...It's been another busy week. We're almost done with the 65 episodes of "Whammy!" that Game Show Network ordered. We tape the final six episodes on Monday. After that, we just wait and hope we get another pickup for another 65.

Monday was quite a big day for us since it was the premiere of "Whammy!" on Game Show Network. Earlier in the day, we taped seven episodes, many of which were great. After the shows were done, we wheeled in some TVs to the stage floor and watched the debut of "Whammy!" 'Twas quite exciting. Later that evening, Drew and Gary came over to watch the premiere and to check out some of the new GSN stuff I TiVOed. We even dusted off some of the old game show tapes in my collection and watched a couple of those.

And it looks like people like the show. To those of you who have sent me E-mails of congratulations and those of you who have posted kind words about us on the message boards and newsgroups, THANK YOU. It means a lot that game show fans like "Whammy!" This is the one show I've have worked VERY closely with from its earliest development stages to production. I've tried to put in as much input in as many aspects of the show as possible from putting together the rules, host language, setting up what goes where on the big game board, writing questions, etc. etc. Without a doubt, this is the most FUN show I've worked with. It has helped that we have a great staff and a great network to work with. Everybody has put in an A+ effort in making the show the success it has been.

And upon seeing the overnights the following day, that effort paid off. Monday night's "Whammy!" was Game Show Network's biggest debut in its almost eight-year history! I just hope that the ratings hold up and better yet, that they build in the weeks to come. We have some great episodes coming down the line, a few of which were taped on Monday and Tuesday. In fact, one episode we taped on Tuesday is a historic episode...something that never happened in PYL history (including the 80s version) occurred on one of the seven shows we taped that day. I won't divulge any more than that, BUT...it will surely get the boards talking when it airs...

Speaking of the boards, there have been lots of comments about the show. A bunch of them were printed up and have been seen by a lot of the staff including Todd. The audio issue that many of you mentioned is being addressed. In regards to questions about $0 ties at the end of the game, the players tied for $0 who haven't Whammied out are eligible to come back on a future show.

So again, to those of you who've watched the show, thank you for your support. I hope this is the beginning of what will become a long run and triumphant return of one of the greatest game shows ever made. Hell, I even got my name in the credits (on my own card even!) in full screen tonight! Woo-hoo! For those of you who missed it, it will be on tomorrow afternoon's rerun at 12:30 PM (Pacific)/3:30 PM (Eastern).

Big day!

Well, yesterday went by VERY quickly. Went to USC in the afternoon to watch Caleb's sitcom class's "pilot." After that, I dropped by to fortheboys.tv to be guest on Gary and Steve's show. As always, it was a blast! We capped the night off by watching the "Pink Lady" DVD. It's amazing how the "Pink Lady" gets worse and worse with each repeated viewing!

Today's the big day..."Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck" makes its premiere. It debuts at 10 PM on the east coast and 7 PM on the west coast on Game Show Network. And it repeats three hours later. Please let me know what you all think about the show. Our premiere show features a GREAT game and great contestants and of course, the great hosting stylings of Todd Newton. A lot of hard work and effort has been put into this by all involved and as you'll see, it shows! Speaking of which...of to the studio I go! Another seven shows to tape today!

Bizarro

Ahhh...Had a splendid time last night. Ted, Larry, Chris, Brian, Drew, and I went mini-golfing at the the Castle Park at Sherman Oaks. We kicked things off with dinner at P.F. Changs at the new Galleria. I kinda like what they've done with the Galleria. We milled around the Tower Records before getting seated at the restaurant. During dinner, Ted went off yet again on why he hates "Shrek." I tried to get a discussion started on the merits of "Fox and the Hound," but to no avail.

After dinner, we went to Castle Park to play the most bizarre game of mini-golf. I actually did all right...Hell, I got two under par for whole course! Even weirder was that Ted and Larry were tied, Brian and Chris were tied, and Drew and I were tied. On top of that, there were other odd happenings. I lost my golf ball on the old "fort" hole and Larry's golf ball kept bouncing bance on the old "chapel" hole despite his being able to get the ball in the hole repeatedly.

We got home around midnight-ish and hung out for a little bit. I whipped out the Pink Lady DVDs while Ted unleashed his Krofft DVD collection to show to Chris, Brian, and Drew. All in all, a LOT of fun. Chris and Brian are quite the adorable couple. And Drew's the best...Every time I talk with the guy and get together with him I find out yet another thing he and I have in common. 'Tis very cool. It's been a while since I've met somebody who's on such the same wavelength as me.

Slept in a bit today. Woke up to find that the Whammy has invaded all of GSN's lineup. :-) Did a few errands today. Got some pics developed, some of which you'll see here in the next few days. I also stopped by CompUSA to ogle the iMac yet again. Just gotta do some planning as to how much I need to save for not only the computer, but all the software I'll need for it. After which, I met up with Ted to check out the "The Great Indoors" at the Empire shopping center in Burbank. It's like an "AP-level" IKEA. And it's a gay man's shopping paradise. I was quite fascinated with the number of bidets they were selling there. Not only that...but the bidets had different types of spigots. There were the classic style bidets with the spigot that shot straight up and then there was another style which I'd never seen before. The spigots shoot horizontally...which makes me wonder about angling and such. Geez, I can't believe I just spent that much internet bandwidth talking about something that shoots water up your ass!

Anyhoo, keep an eye out over the next few days for a special new section on the page about my involvement with Whammy! from its development stages (which start as early as February of 2001!!) to where we are now with the big premiere just days away! And here's a pic of me with the Whammy!...albeit one in punching bag form...

Chug, chug, chugging along

Well, as we near the end of the week, we get closer and closer to the big premiere of "Whammy!" We're just about set for next week's tapings on Monday and Tuesday. After that, we've just got one more and the 65 Game Show Network are all done. There's a bit of buzz brewing about it...If you check out this week's TV Guide (the one with Jay Leno on the cover) there's an article about us. And I think we're reviewed in Entertainment Weekly. From what I've heard, Entertainment Weekly didn't have the best things to say about us. Grrr....You can't please them all...

Had the ritual "Survivor" get together tonight. So much drama...on the show that is...This is the most dysfunctional group of contestants they've had since the first season. A big "yay" for the booting of Rob off the island. I'm still a bit miffed though that they got rid of Gabriel so quickly...BOOO!

As we've gotten into a groove with "Whammy!" and production on this order of 65 winds down, "free time" has made a return into my life. Caught up with Drew and "San Diego" Mike on the phone last night. "San Diego" Mike (the friend of Steve's from fortheboys.tv) is coming back to town on the weekend of the 27th so it'll be cool to see him again. And tonight, Drew is joining Ted, Larry, and me for a little round of mini-golf. Yep, gonna try to see if I can suck even more than I did last time at the astroturf. :-)

Finally, a reminder that this Sunday I'll be appearing on fortheboys.tv as a guest on the show. You can watch the show on your computer by going to the fortheboys.tv website. The show airs LIVE on Sunday at 7 PM (Pacific)/10 PM (Eastern). As always, it should prove to be a lot of fun.

Whoa...

Well, we did it...over the course of Sunday, Monday, and today we taped TWENTY episodes of "Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck." Lots of very exciting shows...really a true testament to how solid this game is. Today was really cool...I got a chance to play the big board during rehearsal. It was actually the first time I've tried the big board since we've started the show. In fact, I don't even think I got to try the board during the pilot. Needless to say, I was QUITE excited. And needless to say, it's quite different from playing the either of the computer versions that Curt King or Brian Dominy did.

A lot of you have been E-mailing me asking what my involvement exactly has been with the show. Over the next few days, I'll be putting up posts recapping in a bit more detail my involvement with the show from the initial development stages to the pilot to where we stand now..almost 2/3rds of the way done with taping the 65 episodes that Game Show Network has ordered. Speaking of which, spread the word about the show to all your friends and family. If you know anybody that has Game Show Network, tell them to watch this show!

Ted, Larry, and a bunch of other friends came to the Sunday taping. It was quite cool to see the reaction from my friends who weren't of the "game show fan" ilk like myself. There's just something about this show that strikes a chord with people in general around my age. I just hope that the sentiment translates to a lot of viewers come April 15th!

Not much else to report...The past three days have been very "Whammy!"-intensive. And that's a very good thing. :-)

Random ramblings...

Ahhh...A busy week comes to a close with just one day of rest today. We've got a three tape days in a row beginning tomorrow! The goal is to tape twenty episodes of "Whammy!" over the course of tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday. So, you can see why the posts have been very few and far between as of late...

Today, I went to the Glendale Galleria to check out the Apple Store. For the past several months, I've been contemplating getting one of those new iMac computers. Went to the store today to see one up close and personal. I gotta say, I'm pretty sold on the idea of getting an iMac. They're so neat-looking and they pack quite a bit of power. Plus, I'm looking to dabble in a bit of videomaking on my own and it'd be nice to have a halfway-decent computer to edit on. It looks like I've got that in the iMac. I just love the design and look of it too. And it looks like the transition from PC (which I've been using since 1983!!) to Mac won't be too bad. It also helps that I've got a couple of friends who are Mac-savvy to show the way. I'm about 99% that I'll probably be getting one of them before the end of summer...My hope is that once I get one and have it up and running, I can do some little video shorts that I can post up here on mandelweb.com. Thus, answers the question as to what that "MandelwebTV" link on the side is meant more. :-)

What else...what else...I have a favorite new commercial. It used to be the Zoloft commercial featuring the cute, but depressed Zoloft blooby. (Poor blooby...) The new favorite commerical of mine is that Burger King commercial touting the Chicken Whopper...the one with the animated chickens singing the old "Have it your way" jingle. Something about dancing, singing chickens just puts a smile on my face. Hee-hee...

Finally, if all goes according to plan, I should be making a return guest appearance to fortheboys.tv on Sunday, April 14th at 7 PM (Pacific time)/10 PM (Eastern time). Also, tomorrow night, my good friend Matt will be appearing as a guest.

Grog

Whoa...felt a bit groggy this afternoon...guess the past two days had finally caught up to me...

Yesterday was GREAT. We taped seven episodes of "Whammy!" There were a lot of really, really good shows. The audience was going nuts. Drew dropped by to the afternoon's set of tapings taping. I just love bringing people to tapings especially game show fans like Drew. He looked so excited and happy to be there watching it live. Gotta love that...That sort of response to the show is the icing on the cake. I must say if the home audience has even just half the reaction Drew had to the tapings, it's all worth it. It's so great to be starting up a new game show that's just pure fun. It's not mean-spirited. It's got the spirit of a classic game show with a modern 21st century-look.

And for those of you who still have doubts about Todd...lemme tell you this. After taping seven shows last night, he hopped on a flight in time to get to New York in time to be on the Today Show where he and the giant Whammy made a cameo with Al Roker. He's really putting in a 150% effort to do make a great show and to get the word out about it. And it's not just Todd that's been doing great...It's everybody involved from the staff to the crew to the execs at both Fremantle and Game Show Network. And that hard work is going to show...

We got done at the studio a little before 8 last night. After taping finished, Drew and I went to Mel's for dinner. We got a chance to talk and get to know each other more. He is truly a game show fan. It was neat how a lot of us had little similiarities growing up. We both would doodle game show sets when dazing off in class. We both would "host" game shows with our friends as little kids. We're both TV junkies and have similar music tastes. It's just so cool to have somebody that "gets" the stuff I do. Such a nice, sweet guy. Plus, he really wants to get in the game show biz. I hope he does...he'd be a good guy to have in the game show circle. We had gotten so wrapped up in our conversation over dinner that before we realized it, it was almost midnight! Needless to say, it was a great night that capped off a great day. I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing more of each other soon... :-)

Wanna quickly say...

Short, short post today...Yesterday's tape day went well. Another set of good shows. The last show of the day was a special "theme" episode which will air during a marathon that's happening in several weeks on Game Show Network. I'll hold back for now on details, but this episode marks the first time something like it had ever been done in the entire history of "Press Your Luck."

Ah, but a taping looms in the horizon in just matter of hours...Off to the studio I go...

RIP, 2001-2

It pains me to say that this is the last edition Mandelweb. With all that's been going on with "Whammy!" I really haven't found any time to update this thing as much as I wanted to. Plus, I've realized that there's some stuff I don't want to be getting out and about so easily to many people.

Thanks to everybody who's followed Mandelweb in these past several months. It's been a lot of fun and I'm glad that there are a few (albeit a VERY few) of you out there who've visited the page regularly. It's been nice to share a lot of what I've been experiencing with so many people. I just regret that I can no longer do this.

You've all been great...I love you all...

And I think I'll just close this...

the last blog I'll ever post on the web...

with

these

parting

final

immortal

beloved

words...

APRIL FOOL'S!!!!

Oh, c'mon...you think I'd really give up my little soapbox on the 'net! Seriously, though, thanks to all those loyal visitors to Mandelweb.com. It has been a great few months and I hope this website keeps going for a while.

Well, I best be getting to work...We're taping SEVEN (count 'em, SEVEN!) episodes of "Whammy!" today and tomorrow. For those of you who are eager to see a little video preview of the new show, you can visit this site by my friend Brad. And THAT'S no April Fool joke. ENJOY!