Boise News

Jennifer Gelband, Come on down

Who’s That Boisean on the New Game Show Chain Reaction?

By Jennifer Gelband, 8-08-06

Breaking news: Boisean to appear on national game show Wednesday, August 9. NewWest can break this news before all other local media because the producers told me the air date last week. How’d I get such advance notice? ’Cuz I’m the Boisean who will appear on one of the first episodes of Chain Reaction.

It’s true, after a several-months-long application process, I flew to New York to film the game show that pits a team of three men against a team of three women for an exciting match “that takes 26 letters where no verb, noun or adjective has gone before!”

It’s a brand new show on the Game Show Network (well, a reworked show from the ’70s). Chain Reaction began taping over the summer and the first episode aired on August 1 around the country. Truth be told, I stumbled upon the show application while searching for how to be a contestant on the big-money greedfest Deal or No Deal, but Deal required a VHS tape with the initial application, and I don’t have a VHS recorder (and I couldn’t find a friend who owned such a relic either!); Chain Reaction required only paperwork and a team.

Chain Reaction is a word game from the producer of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” and though it is filmed on the same set that Regis made popular, the max prize amount available is only $25,000.

In the game, players take turns guessing words in a chain of phrases. It’s harder than it looks, especially with staffers waving frantic instructions beside the cameras and perilous wafts of smoke in your face.

My team, my sister Marissa and a childhood friend, practiced word-association games for weeks but I can’t legally divulge the results of the show or details of how it was taped or played, but I can admit that I no doubt made a complete fool of myself.

See for yourself when Chain Reaction airs tomorrow on the Game Show Network, channel 314 on local cable, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, which is either 7 p.m. (East Coast cable feed) or 10 p.m. (West Coast feed) in Boise depending on the carrier. (Most of Boise is on the West Coast feed.)

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.