Acme man wins $8,000 on game show
CONNELLSVILLE – Brendan Murphy came out of the hot seat $8,000 richer last week as a contestant on the television game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” The 30 year-old Acme man said he would use his winnings toward several home improvement projects.
The show aired locally Wednesday on WPXI Channel 11 in Pittsburgh.
According to Trisha Miller, “Millionaire” publicist, Murphy initially used his 50-50 lifeline before turning to “Ask the Audience” to find that cheese was the answer to the $4,000 question, “Named after a village in England, Stilton is a strong-flavored type of what?”
When Murphy reached the next level for the chance to answer the $16,000 question, “In the U.S. how many pecks are in a bushel?” he used his “Phone-A-Friend” lifeline to call his father, but he wasn’t able to give him a definite answer from the choices he was provided consisting of four, 15, 50 or 64.
“He knew it was a lower number but wasn’t sure,” said Murphy.
Instead of guessing, Murphy decided to walk away with the $8,000 he already had won.
While the correct answer was four, had Murphy guessed incorrect he would have fallen back to $1,000 in winnings, according to Miller.
Murphy said he was somewhat disappointed, but didn’t want to take any chances. “It was close and I almost gave the wrong answer,” he added.
In the long run, Murphy, a 1995 graduate of Uniontown Area High School, said he had a lot of fun.
“Everyone got to see me on TV,” said Murphy of his family and friends.
Murphy added that he still came out ahead since it cost him $800 to travel to New York City, where the show was taped after he was selected from a contestant pool.
Prior to that, Murphy competed in an open audition at Station Square in Pittsburgh and from there answered several trivia questions and had an interview with the show’s producers.
With one game show now under his belt, Murphy said he would like to audition for other shows that come to this area in the future.
In fact, the Murphy might find his wife, Jody, headed to Pittsburgh in June, when the 32-foot Wheelmobile from “Wheel of Fortune” TV game show rolls into Station Square June 9 and 10 to conduct contestant searches.
“That’s my wife’s game,” said Murphy.