Luck be a lady: Resident banks big bucks on 'Wheel of Fortune'
By Carissa Marsh Special to the Acorn

GOOD FORTUNE- Michelle Franklin of Simi Valley speaks with host Pat Sajak during her appearance on the world-famous game show "Wheel of Fortune." She won more than $16,000 in cash and prizes.

"I'm behind you."

That's a phrase Simi Valley resident Michelle Franklin will probably never forget.

Had she been able to come up with those three little words- using the five consonants and a vowel she was provided- Franklin would have won $40,000 during an episode of the world-famous game show "Wheel of Fortune" that aired last Friday.

"I could have done better," said Franklin, who was given the letters RSTLNE to begin the bonus round of the April 4 episode. "You're so nervous at that point, and you only have 10 seconds."

But don't feel too bad for her- Franklin walked away with $16,200 in cash and prizes, including a trip to Cancun, Mexico, valued at $6,400.

Franklin set the tone for the night by winning the first $1,000 toss-up, buzzing in with "Red Square in Moscow." Happy she "got that one out of the way," the Maryland native went on to win a pair of puzzles, racking up a total of $11,100 in about 15 minutes.

Another contestant solved the third puzzle, creating a tie between Franklin and himself, but Franklin won the third toss-up, putting her $3,000 ahead.

She secured her spot in the bonus round, guessing a "w" for the last puzzle, "wrought-iron curtain rod," for which she banked $2,100.

Even with the lights, cameras and huge audience- and the knowledge that 47 million viewers would later be tuning in- Franklin said the game is all about getting that 4,000-pound wheel to turn.

"It's very hard to spin the wheel," she said. "I tried to remain calm and just focus on the puzzles and hope the wheel was good to me."

The amiable host of television's No. 1-ranked syndicated series also helped put her at ease.

"That was really funny, to see Pat Sajak walking toward you," Franklin said.

A medical education consultant, Franklin has lived in Simi with her husband, Robert, for three years. She's harbored a lifelong dream of being a contestant on prime time's longest-running syndicated show.

"I was really determined to go on 'Wheel of Fortune,'" Franklin said. "I used to watch it when they had the showcase of prizes, when you go shopping."

When it came to applying for the show, Franklin took a creative approach.

"I actually sent them a postcard as opposed to going online," she said.

Franklin mailed that postcard in September 2007. About two months later a contestant recruiter called and invited Franklin to audition at the Radisson Hotel in Culver City.

"There were about 30 people there," Franklin recalled. "They do a mock game using a laptop, LCD projector and a mini-wheel. They call your name, and you stand up and say in your loudest voice a letter. And then you try to solve the puzzle."

After a long day of playing "Wheel" and taking a written test consisting of partially solved puzzles, Franklin went home uncertain whether she would get the call she was hoping for, but a couple of weeks later she was asked to come to Sony Studios in Culver City on Dec. 14 to be an alternate.

"I was totally excited because I wasn't sure they were going to pick me," she said.

Despite an ice storm back east on the day of her stint as an alternate, all the contestants made it to the taping. Franklin sat through six episodes that day because the show is shot only on Thursdays and Fridays, with more than a week's worth of tapings each day.

She knew being an alternate meant she was guaranteed a spot as a contestant- she just wasn't sure when that would be, Franklin said.

"You're just waiting and anticipating when you're going to be called because it could take months."

Her chance to play finally came Feb. 21.

Franklin described her experience on the show as "very surreal" and said the game is so fastpaced that after the show she couldn't even remember one of the toss-up puzzles she solved ("confirmed bachelor").

She also admitted that when she guessed "renting a snorkel mask and fins" after just one spin, it wasn't because she remembered it was a prize puzzle.

"I didn't want to risk getting 'Bankrupt' or 'Lose a turn,'" she said. "I wanted to get money in the bank."

Either way, her strategy and practice worked, and now, instead of guessing letters, Franklin's planning when she might go rent some scuba gear. She said she and her husband hope to go to Cancun by the end of the year.

And while the hard cash will not come until Aug. 4, Franklin already knows how she will spend her winnings.

"I'm buying stuff for my house: landscaping, new office furniture, new furniture for the house," she said. She also wants to pay back her mom.

So while some contestants might kick themselves for losing the lucrative bonus round, Franklin sees the cup half full.

"I was lucky enough to get on," she said.