Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Hollywood Squares’ has NU going for the win

Who wants to be a millionaire? Many students do, although they seemed more interested in getting three X’s or O’s in a row during the Oct. 5 tryout for the college edition of “Hollywood Squares.”

“Hollywood Squares,” now in the fourth season of its third incarnation, holds an annual college tournament where students from universities nationwide compete for money, prizes and three-in-a-row in tic-tac-toe.

Tryouts for Northwestern students were held at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friday in the Michigan Room at Norris University Center.

About 70 students tried out for the show on Friday, and one will definitely participate in the college tournament, search coordinator Lauri Janober said. The participants should know if they are chosen by the second week of January. The shows will be taped Jan. 26 and Jan. 27 at the Bob Barker soundstage in Hollywood. “Hollywood Squares” is shown weeknights at 6 p.m. on CBS.

“I decided to try out because I thought it would be a fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Kimberly Schultz, a Weinberg freshman.

The tryouts began with the college search coordinators, Janober and Darren Bunkley, and the associate college coordinators, Jennifer Crary and Chad Patterson, saying they were looking for students with enthusiasm and energy that showed they were worthy of being contestants.

“We’re looking for people that can give us 110 percent of themselves: People who can smile, clap, play tic-tac-toe and not be afraid of being in front of nine cameras on a Hollywood soundstage,” Janober said.

Janober then took a roll call to see who was there by having all the students say their names in a loud, clear voice.

All the candidates filled out an informational form with their phone numbers and interests. They then answered a written, 25-question quiz, which tested the candidates’ knowledge of past “Squares” trivia.

“The test was hard and nerve-racking because I don’t know that much about trivia,” said Victor Limjoco, a Medill junior.

While the coordinators graded the quizzes, students watched a tape of the first season’s college tour. The coordinators later returned and announced who passed the quiz and would therefore participate in the next round. About half of the candidates passed.

The coordinators gave the students name tags and took their pictures. Next, Janober explained how to play tic-tac-toe “Hollywood Squares” style.

She began by going over various terminology the players use such as “for the win” and “for the block.” She then diagrammed and discussed at length strategies for winning “Squares”-style tic-tac-toe.

Janober said contestants should always begin with the center square. In addition, they should avoid going for a square that could potentially set up their opponents.

She described the celebrities in the squares with whom the students were going to play a mock game. Janober explained how accurate each celebrity was, as well as the various areas of expertise and the potential blunders each celebrity might create for the contestants.

Whoopi Goldberg, the center square, is correct about 70 percent of the time, Janober said; if she assures you she’s right, always go with her.

Gilbert Gottfried, on the other hand, will frequently go on rants while responding to the question and contestants need to focus on his answer and not his outlandish ramblings, she said.

For the mock game, two players competed simultaneously. Patterson played the host and Janober played the role of all the celebrities. Just like in the real show, Patterson shook hands with each of the students and asked them where they were from and what they did in their spare time.

“I thought this tryout was fabulous,” Janober said. “The kids were very enthusiastic. Nothing makes our job easier than having students that want to participate.”

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Hollywood Squares’ has NU going for the win