243 - alone

he sound of the buzzer indicated the end of the round, and Rick tapped his little note cards against the podium, as he always did. He smiled and turned to the camera, going through the same routine he had gone through in each of the 6,722 episodes preceding this one.

"That sound means we're out of time. Joanne is currently leading with $5,200, Merv is in second place with an even $4000, and Michael is right behind him at $3800. We'll be back with the Double Round, right after these words," Rick said, the words rolling out of his mouth without the need of a teleprompter.

He continued to smile as the studio audience's applause filled the air, but inside he was dreading what came next. The director yelled out, "Cut!" and a flurry of action erupted around the set. Cameras were moved, make up was touched up, and lights were brightened or dimmed accordingly.

This break between segments would eventually be filled by three minutes of commercials when the episode was broadcast, but in the studio they paused for only as long as it took to get ready for the next shot. Such was the grind of filming three complete shows in one day, and by now Rick was definitely feeling the burden of having two shows already in the can.

While Rick walked from his host's podium to the lecterns where the contestants stood, the director handed him a fresh stack of cards and quickly briefed him on the next segment. Rick appreciated his director's efforts, but at this point, he didn't care. Interviewing the contestants was death.

He knew that he shouldn't blame the contestants themselves. It was the format of the show, to help the audience feel a more personal connection to the people they were watching. The producers had to desperately prod, poke, and craft some kind of interesting anecdote out of the mundane details of these people's lives. Truth be told, the kind of people who stayed at home and memorized trivia in order to compete on game shows were often not the types who had the greatest stories to tell about themselves.

Yet, here they were. Rick standing next to Joanne, smiling, as the cameras began to roll and the director counted down. The red light above the camera went on, and Rick glanced briefly at the card in his hand.

"So, Joanne, I understand that you once had an interesting run-in at a border crossing?" Rick said, allowing her to cheerfully launched into a pre-approved story about an amusing passport mishap that happened while traveling abroad. Rick mostly tuned out, knowing by now it was safe to do so. There would be no follow-up questioning required, and the audience's reaction would give him his cue to smile a bit bigger or emit a chuckle.

Rick moved on to Merv and repeated the process. "Now, Merv, I've been told that you discovered your family's relationship to one of the founding fathers in an interesting way. Can you tell us about that?" he asked, somehow finding a way to hide his seething contempt for the entire process that was bubbling just beneath the surface.

After Merv's questionably-interesting tale about Benjamin Franklin, Rick moved down the line to Michael. The fact that Michael was currently in last place gave Rick the slightest bit of solace. Michael had been the winner of the last three episodes. With each successive episode, Michael's anecdote likewise became increasingly boring. Rick shuddered to think what they would talk about tomorrow if this contestant somehow continued his streak. He needed to lose.

"And finally, our returning champion, Michael. You once met the late Evel Knievel. What was that like?" Rick asked.