Pat, I’d Like to Buy a Tie

If you’ve never seen a returning champion in a Gold’s Gym tank top ponder final “Jeopardy” or a player in head-to-toe spandex spin the “Wheel of Fortune,” you can thank the so-called “contestant coordinators” who enforce game-show wardrobe do’s and don’ts:

“Wheel of Fortune”

Appropriate attire: Office wear. For men, coats and ties; for ladies, preferably a two-piece suit to facilitate an easy microphone clip-on. No solid whites (“they bloom on camera”) or bright reds (“they bleed”). No busy prints, plaids or tiny stripes, which look as if they’re vibrating under the lights.

Do contestants ever wear “lucky” accouterments? “Sometimes they have charms or pictures of their children. Who knows? They might have on something we don’t know about.”

Anyone ever show up in the same dress as Vanna White? “No, that hasn’t happened.”

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“Jeopardy”

Appropriate: Professorial. For men, turtlenecks, blazers and suits; for women, sensible jackets and blouses, skirts and slacks.

Inappropriate: No solid whites, blacks or reds. No herringbone, checks or other small patterns. No men’s dress shirts with fine black and white stripes (“literally, the colors will strobe on camera”).

What happens if two contestants dress alike? “We choose them randomly right before the show, so we might pick three guys wearing gray suits. We can’t predict that.”

What if a contestant’s having a bad-hair day? “Our makeup person will add powder so their face won’t shine, but it’s not like they come here with wet hair.”

Any special “look” reserved for returning champions? “They need to bring changes of clothes since we tape more than one show in a day. If someone wins five times, we don’t want people to say, ‘Gee, that poor lady only has one dress.’ ”

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“The Price Is Right”

Appropriate: Tourist casual. T-shirts, jeans, shorts, baseball caps.

Inappropriate: Costumes, furs (host Bob Barker is a fervent animal-rights activist).

Not-so-subtle ways would-be contestants attempt to be asked to “Come on down!”: Many wear T-shirts emblazoned with such iron-on slogans as “Bob Barker, I want to shake your hand!” “I want to meet Barker’s beauties,” “Bob Barker for president,” or “Bob Barker, I had my pet spayed and neutered!”