It’s who plays the game that counts

Leslie Aqua Viva Shulman

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Game show contestant producer/casting director

Current credit: NBC’s “Identity.”

Titles: “I am actually known, and can verify this, as the ‘Queen of Contestants.’ Sony even wrote that up about me when I did ‘Pyramid’ with Donny Osmond.”

Credits: “I did ‘The Newlywed Game’ when they brought it back with Bob Eubanks. I was trained on ‘Hollywood Squares’ with Peter Marshall in the late 1960s. The first show I oversaw myself was ‘Gambit’ with Wink Martindale. I had seven shows on the air by the time I was 27. I did ‘High Rollers’ with Alex Trebek. I did ‘Family Feud’ with Louie Anderson. Those shows were daytime and nighttime. I did ‘The Chair,’ which was on ABC, which was short-lived. I did ‘Shop ‘Til You Drop.’ ”

Job description: “I do the element I think makes a game show, which is all the contestants. I am very hands-on. The way I was trained, I do the whole thing from the initial interview, where we may have 200 people at one time, and I give the tests. If I do an open call, the first thing I’ll say is, ‘Introduce yourself to me.’ You hear it immediately in their voice [if they are a good contestant]. I don’t look for cookie-cutter contestants.”

Recruiting: “In the heyday of game shows, I was trained by interviewing the lines. People would get tickets to go to game shows, so you would find out who [in line] wanted to fill out applications, and 99% of these people did. There were several of us who did that and from that we would do callbacks. I just developed a really good sense of knowing what makes a good contestant.”

The secret: “I will tell you who makes a great contestant -- someone you want to root for. You want them to win. I can tell within 30 seconds if somebody is worth investing in. First of all, you want somebody who is a warm character and a lovable person and then, of course, if there is a format like on ‘Pyramid,’ they have to be able to play the game really well.”

When desperation sets in: “I have 30,000 people in my files. So there are certain people you will call [to be a contestant] after a certain amount of time. You will always have those contestants in your files who are great, but [if you call them in] they have to go through all the regimens from A to Z. You show them no special attention.”

The rewards: “I love to interview because I like finding new people. I like people.... “

Venturing into reality: “I did ‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.’ I was called literally with two days’ notice. I did their third season and got them an Emmy nomination. The person who was running the company knew me well, and they needed someone to go back to New York.

“I am like a cheerleader. You give me a task and it will be done and done well. I was trained in network television and you didn’t make mistakes and you did your job. That show was hard to do, not because of the five guys, but Bravo had final approval and so you really had to do a song and dance for them. I got them whatever they wanted. I got them a nudist.”

Beginnings: “I actually was a contestant when I was 18. I auditioned for a game show called ‘Temptation’ in 1966 with Art James as the host on ABC. I am not quiet, but I was trying to be reserved. The man who auditioned me, whose name is Arthur Alisi, was at the time doing the contestants. I had just graduated from high school and I was doing musical theater and, in between, someone said, ‘You should audition for this game show’ and I went to the Hollywood Palace, that’s where they taped it.

“The producers thought I might be too quiet, but Arthur Alisi really believed in me. I got on the show and I won $19,000, which was a lot of money in 1966. I wasn’t quiet on the show. I leapt over the podium and took the mink coat off the model. I’m what they call a ‘memorable contestant.’

“I would then do run-throughs and pilots for game shows. And then Arthur Alisi said to me, ‘You are so good with people, you should come start working with us at the studio and learn this.’ I was there about four months and was given my own show, which was ‘Gambit.’ ”

Age: 58

Resides in: Studio City

Union or guild: “No. Not for me.”

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-- Susan King