Nevertheless, Ms Osmolik, 40, says she is tickled pink to have had the opportunity to compete and to meet host Regis Philbin. She plans to use the $1,000 cash prize to buy a big screen television for her family.

The taping of the show was done back in mid-September and finally aired this past Sunday night, at 8 pm on ABC (Channel 8). The local contestant wasted little time in getting to the “big chair” with Regis after winning the fastest finger segment. However, after managing to answer the first five questions correctly, she became stumped on the one worth $2,000. The killer question: what sporting event’s motto is “swifter, higher, stronger.” The choices were (A) Ironman, (B) Olympics, (C) Tour De France, (D) Iditarod.

On Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? contestants are given three “life lines” to assist them in answering questions they are unsure of. They can poll the audience, have two of the four answers removed, or phone a friend. For the “swifter, higher, stronger” question, Joanne polled the audience, but the results were inconclusive. Without relying on another “life line,” she decided that her final answer would be “Ironman.”

The answer was “Olympics.”

Joanne had been ousted without getting to use all of her “life lines.”

“I had a great time, though,” she said this week, now free from her “gag order” agreement with ABC. “We went down there figuring we had a free trip to New York City. They put us up in a beautiful hotel and gave us spending money.”

She was accompanied by her boyfriend, Bob Rinaldi, and her nine-year-old son, Stephen, a Middle Gate School student, who became an immediate favorite with the show’s production staff.

Incidentally, Joanne said the “life line” she would have used to help her answer the question did not know the answer. In fact, she has received several e-mails from people all over the country who felt the question was unfair. Most had never heard of the motto, while others said they had only heard it used in Latin. Of course, like most people, Latin was not one of Joanne’s strongest areas. She prefers questions that have to deal with science (her father is a retired chemist), current events, geography, and music.

Joanne admitted to being nervous as she approached the “big chair.” The bright lights shine in your face as the cameras roll. It is certainly not the most comfortable environment in the world in which to take a million-dollar test.

After Joanne left the stage, Regis admitted his disappointment in her not winning the big money. “Sometimes you get a contestant who you really want to see win,” he said of Joanne.

Joanne works full-time for the chairman of the Department of Medicine at Bridgeport Hospital. You can also find her behind the deli counter at the Newtown General Store on Sunday mornings.

“I always watched Jeopardy and people always said I should go on the show. Last year I called and answered three questions. They said they would call me back if I was selected,” Ms Osmolik, 40, said this week.

But no one ever called. In August, however, she tried again, answering three timed questions in which she had to put names of authors, musical groups, etc, in order. This time ABC officials called back to say she was one of 40 people selected (out of 240,000 entrants) from across the country to take part in the semifinal round.

After answering more questions correctly over the telephone, Joanne was ready for the bright lights, big city.

It was a stroke of good luck that followed a streak of bad luck for Joanne and her family. First, the home she and her boyfriend Bob bought along South Main Street near Leo’s was gutted by fire. Then, a tree fell on their home during a violent storm this past June. Finally, Joanne’s parked car was “totaled” after being hit by another car driven by a man who suffered a fatal heart attack while behind the wheel.