Newtown Man Competes Monday––

Reid Warner Wants To Be A Millionaire

By Dottie Evans

To find out whether Newtown residents can claim they know a brand new millionaire, the thing to do is take a long lunch hour Monday, January 19, and spend it in front of the TV with the channel set at 7 (ABC). The show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire begins at 12:30 pm.

That is when Reid Warner, a Newtown High School Class of 1998 graduate, pole vault champion, runner, Eagle Scout, and Dartmouth grad, will be sitting under the bright lights in front of the television cameras, answering contest questions posed by Meredith Vieira, the shows’ host.

The daytime show is the syndicated version of the show that was broadcast in the evenings and hosted by Regis Philbin several years ago.

The episode scheduled for January 19, 2004, was taped in September 2003, which means that there are at least three people who know what happened that day. But they are not at liberty to tell.

These people are Reid Warner, the contestant, and his parents, Diane Warner and Dr Neil Warner, owner of Newtown Animal Clinic, a longtime veterinary practice at 98 South Main Street.

“[Mr Warner and the other contestants] spent a lot of time with the lawyers. We were told since there was a lot of money involved, we absolutely could not reveal any details about what happened before the show was aired,” Mr Warner said.

He was interviewed about his experience when he visited the offices of The Bee just before Christmas, when he was home on a break from his job at Yale Child Study Center in New Haven. He is currently living and working there as part of a team helping autistic children and their families.

‘I Could Do This!’

Mr Warner said he first got the idea of competing on the show while watching the Regis Philbin Millionaire show during its evening run. He always imagined what a challenge it might be to answer the questions under pressure.

“I get these ideas, and I find myself going for certain things. I thought to myself, ‘I could do this.’ So I got on the Internet and figured out how to apply as a possible contestant,” he said.

After applying, Mr Warner was given a date at the end of August to come to New York City, where he took a preliminary test of 30 multiple choice questions covering diverse areas such as science, the movies, and pop culture.

“I felt I did pretty well on the test. There were 100 of us in the group and after it was over, they called 15 of us up for an interview. They asked what special angle there was about each of us personally that might be unusual. I told them about my pole vaulting at high school, and about breaking Bruce Jenner’s record,” Mr Warner said.

After the interview, he was told to go home. He would be hearing via a postcard about whether or not he had won a spot as a contestant –– sort of the classic “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You” scenario.

“I assumed that I even if I got asked to come back, I would still have to beat the others for a spot on the show by winning the ‘Fastest Finger’ time clock elimination round.”

No More ‘Fastest Finger’

This assumption turned out to be wrong.

Mr Warner had, indeed, been selected and when he was asked to return for taping at the end of September, it was for the real thing.

“If I had known this ahead of time, I might not have slept much after getting that postcard,” he admitted.

On the appointed date – September 23, 2003 – Mr Warner showed up at the Channel 7 television studio in New York City dressed in the clothing he had been advised to wear –– business casual with no logos, no black, and no patterns.

He and the other contestants were cordially welcomed and then totally sequestered in a room together. All their personal items such as cell phones, wallets, papers, and other items were taken away.

“We were in this room together and we started to chat, sort of sizing each other up. I kept thinking we had to pass that ‘fastest finger’ thing, and that some of us wouldn’t make it. Then someone said to me, ‘Didn’t you know they don’t do that anymore? Everyone here is going to sit in that chair!’”

Mr Warner said an immediate rush of adrenalin washed over him. At the same time he felt excited and yet totally unprepared.

“They told us we’d be called up in turns for taping that same day. The anxiety was incredible. We all rooted for each other and we got to watch on closed circuit TV as we each went up. When it came my turn, I felt more nervous than I ever thought I would.”

Bright Lights, Music,

Audience Noise

When Mr Warner found himself actually sitting in the contestant’s chair with the bright lights shining in his face, the audience clapping, and the music blaring, he was totally overwhelmed.

“I felt like my mind was short-circuiting, my brain was going soft, and it was a huge effort to concentrate. I think I went on autopilot at that point. When the first easy questions came, I felt like I wanted to take forever to answer them –– trying not to make a stupid mistake.”

As the questions got harder, Mr Warner decided to use one of his Lifelines –– sources who are predetermined individuals who might be able to help with certain questions. These sources had already promised they would stay home by the phone during the time of the taping in case Reid Warner called.

The Lifelines were a roommate in New Haven, a college professor at Dartmouth, his grandfather in California, and a friend of a friend who worked at ESPN.

“When they placed the call on the show, I could hear the phone ringing and ringing in the studio. It was really tense because my friend didn’t answer for so long. It turned out he was on the computer and had to sign off before he could use his phone.”

Asked how he thought he did answering the questions, Mr Warner said he was satisfied with the results. He had made up his mind ahead of time to take a conservative stance and not guess.

“It was a great experience. The station did a lot to try to make us comfortable, but I was much more nervous than I thought I would be. And there is always that voice inside that says you could have done better. But I’m happy.”

If Mr Warner was nervous one can only imagine how his mother, Diane Warner, was feeling during the taping session, as she and his grandparents watched from the audience.

“I knew he was taking a long time to answer those early questions. But he’s a person who has had a lot of experience with pressure, so I tried not to panic,” Mrs Warner said.