How to Get on a Game Show in LA

The Price is Right Drew Carey
The Price Is Right | Photo: CBS/The Price Is Right

If your dream is to be a contestant on your favorite game show, winning cash and prizes on television, Los Angeles is the perfect place! Open casting calls and auditions are held year-round in the L.A. area for some of TV’s most popular game shows. Each game show has its own procedures, but if you read and follow the directions carefully, present yourself with enthusiasm, and thoroughly explain why you should be the next contestant, you’ll already have a leg up on the competition.

Watch the Show
The best way to prepare for an audition is to watch the show. Learn what makes the audience cheer, how the game is played and what it takes to win. Practice buying a vowel, picking a case or answering in the form of a question, so you are a strong competitor when you land your audition.

Get Your Pride On
Game show producers often seek out visitors. Game shows reach a wide television audience and producers hope to find contestants who represent the viewers at home. Travelers to the Los Angeles area have an excellent chance of being selected. Show producers won’t pay your travel expenses — getting to Los Angeles is up to you — but they will do their best to accommodate charismatic visitors with the potential to be memorable contestants. 

Try, Try and Try Again
If at first you don’t succeed, try more than one game show.  While visiting Los Angeles, plan to attend more than one open call. If you aren’t a perfect fit for one show, you may be exactly what another show is looking for. Auditioning for game shows is a fun, adventurous way to meet people with similar interests while visiting Los Angeles.

Drew Carey The Price Is Right
Drew Carey, host of The Price Is Right | Photo: CBS/The Price Is Right

Go With the Classics
If the audition process isn’t what you had in mind, but you still want a chance to be a contestant, The Price is Right game show is taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood, and every morning long lines of people wait outside hoping to be asked to "Come on down!" “The Price is Right” is the only game show that doesn’t hold to the traditional audition process. 

To be a contestant on The Price is Right, you just reserve a free ticket on their website, show up at the studio and take your chances. Contestants are chosen by show producers from the line of audience members waiting outside CBS Television City. A studio representative will select people in groups of 10 to meet with the show's producer, who selects a cast of enthusiastic, funny and engaging people to be called to play during the game.

Get Online
Most networks offer tickets to game show tapings right on their websites, making it easy to include a studio visit in any trip to Hollywood. Audience companies also offer easy access to studio tickets and schedules of upcoming tapings to aid in planning your visit. If you’re traveling with a large group, audience companies can be very helpful in making arrangements to view a taping and even offer fun incentives for filling multiple seats.

On your next visit to Los Angeles, add a new adventure to your itinerary by attending a show taping or a casting call to be a contestant on your favorite game show. Win or lose, game shows are a fun experience and an exciting way to go home with unique memories or even cash and prizes, so on your next trip to Los Angeles, “Come on down!”