Hinnerichs tapes 'Millionaire' appearance

<p class="p1">Steeleville resident and Pistol City Restaurant and Saloon owner Kyle Hinnerichs recently completed a taping of the TV game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"

<p class="p1">Hinnerichs taped parts of two episodes of the show on Aug. 16 in Las Vegas, but the air date of his appearance has not yet been announced.

<p class="p1">"Taping lasted for parts of two shows, but that is not indicative of how I did," said Hinnerichs, who signed a non-disclosure agreement preventing him from publicly discussing his success, or lack thereof, on the show. "As soon as one contestant is done, another contestant comes right on.

<p class="p1">"I could, theoretically, have come on for one question of the last show and then started the next show."

<p class="p1">Hinnerichs said he's been auditioning for shows for years, having passed the "Jeopardy!" qualification test three times. An appearance on that show remains a goal for him in the future.

<p class="p1">"I've always been a trivia junky and for whatever reason, had the ability to recall strange facts that I picked up along the way," Hinnerichs said. "It's nice to finally get paid for that."

<p class="p1">Not surprisingly, the entertainment quality of contestants plays a part in who ultimately gets to appear on the shows.

<p class="p1">"From the perspective of the studio, that's excatly what it is," Hinnerichs said. "They have to have a couple of big winners to keep ratings up.

<p class="p1">"Some of the most memorable contestants are those who may not have won a large amount of money."

<p class="p1">Like "Jeopardy!" Hinnerichs also had to pass a qualification test to get on "Millionaire." He noted that out of the 70 people in his group who took the test, only 11 passed.

<p class="p1">"The 11 who passed had more paperwork to fill out and a three-to-five minute interview with an associate producer," Hinnerichs said."I think that's to weed out people who are not particularly interesting or who may freeze up."

<p class="p1">Out of the 11, four were asked to stick around for a video interview with the executive producer.

<p class="p1">"After my videotaped interview with the executive producer, I was thanked for my time and sent on my way," Hinnerichs said.

<p class="p1">A short time later, Hinnerichs received an email that he was in the contestant pool for "Millionaire," where 75 to 80 percent of the final contestants are selected from.

<p class="p1">One week later, the phone call came.

<p class="p1">"The show used to be based out of New York City and this year, they moved the entire production to Vegas to, I assume, save on production costs," Hinnerichs said. "They taped the entire season, 175 shows, in 30 days. Both morning and afternoon sessions."

<p class="p1">Hinnerichs came prepared for his turn on the stage, as six-time "Jeopardy!" champion - and 2015 Tournament of Champions winner with more than $400,000 in winnings - Alex Jacob was his plus-1 lifeline.

<p class="p1">"They no longer have the old 'Phone a Friend' as people were very quickly Google-ing answers from home," Hinnerichs said. "So, they now make you bring a '+1' to the studio and you get to call them down for help on exactly one question."

<p class="p1">As far as when Hinnerichs could appear, that could come any time between Sept. 12 and the end of the season in April.

<p class="p1">He noted that contestant appearances are not shown sequentially on television.

<p class="p1">"I'll get notified two weeks before the show airs," he said.

<p class="p1">As to what channel he may appear on, Hinnerichs said there's currently a contract dispute between KDNL Channel 30 in St. Louis and "Millionaire" producer ABC/Disney that has caused KDNL to drop the show.

<p class="p1">"We're hoping that gets resolved by the fall season," he said.

<p class="p1">WSIL TV 3 in Carterville and WPSD Channel 6 in Paducah are, however, still airing the show. Hinnerichs is also contractually prevented from appearing on another game show for one year.

<p class="p1">"For now, 'Jeopardy!' is 100 percent the focus," Hinnerichs said on his future plans. "It so fits with my background and knowledge base. Not to mention I am pretty good with a buzzer.

<p class="p1">"'Millionaire' throws you one question that if you miss it, you're done. 'Jeopardy!' definitely favors someone who is more prepared."

<p class="p1">At Pistol City in Coulterville, Hinnerichs has been running a contest in which a customer could win 1 percent of Hinnerichs' earnings on the show.

<p class="p1">"Theoretically, if I went on to win the million, that would be $10,000," he said. "Theoretically, it could also only be $10, but someone's going to win more than that."