Photographer leaves "Greed" with nothing

Yearbook freelancer loses on an odorous question, is philosophical about the loss

By GINA VALENCIA
Staff Writer

Giving up $200,000 for a chance at $2.2 million was a gamble Dan Avila was willing to take.

Avila, a 49-year-old freelance photographer with whom USC's El Rodeo yearbook contracts, was a contestant on the new Fox game show Greed earlier this month, but he did not win any money.

"I could have walked away with $200,000, but when would I ever get offered $2.2 million for answering one question," Avila said.

Fox's newest game show was a direct response to another similar game show on ABC - Who Wants to be a Millionaire, which Regis Philbin hosts. The unexpected success of the Millionaire show prompted producers at Fox to quickly put together Greed, hosted by Chuck Woolery.

Because the show was put together quickly, producers did not have time to advertise for contestants. A group of game-show contestant coordinators who keep names of past contestants for various game shows called people to appear on Greed. Avila, who has been a contestant on other shows, was one of dozens contacted.

Avila, a USC alumnus from the class of 1972, has appeared on four different game shows since 1974, including Jeopardy in 1991, when he was a one-time champion.

Avila has won about $10,000 in cash and prizes from the shows, he said. He said his interest in game shows stems from childhood, when he was intrigued with them.

"I have always been good at trivial information and thought I wanted to be on game shows since I was a kid," Avila said.

After arriving at the studio, Avila and others hoping to be contestants had to take a test involving questions that were similar to those that would be on the show. Avila was among a group of people that made it to the final selection phase.

"We had to do a mock game in front of the producers, because in every game show, producers have different criteria for the contestants," Avila said.

As captain of the five-person team, Avila had to decide between stopping at a set amount of money or continuing play for a chance at more. The host would ask a question, give six to seven choices and each team member would choose one answer without discussing it with the other teammates.

Avila could also choose to change an answer. If any answer were wrong, the whole team lost everything.

Avila and his team would divide the amount of money for which they were playing, but once the team reached a collective million dollars, each team member could then make the choice to stop or gamble it all for one question worth $2.2 million.

"We were kept separate after the taping of the show so I didn't know what they were going to do, but I was pretty positive they were going to quit," Avila said. "I thought about the possibility of winning so much money."

As he predicted, his teammates decided to stop and each keep what they had won.

"This was an all-or-nothing gamble," Avila said. "Add the pressure of only having 30 seconds to decide an answer and everyone watching, and it was very nerve-racking."

The only thing he knew about the $2.2 million question was that it was about odor.

"According to a Yale University study, what four odors are most recognizable by Americans?" Woolery asked.

The choices included chocolate, moth balls, tuna, coffee, Vicks VapoRub, peanut butter, cinnamon and baby powder.

"I could not have anybody help me, but I quickly used some common sense and also just guessed (coffee, peanut butter, Vicks VapoRub and tuna)," Avila said.

Avila lost everything when the right answer was coffee, peanut butter, Vicks VapoRub - and chocolate.

"I had no regrets," Avila said. "I came with nothing, I left with nothing. Everybody I have met said they would have chosen tuna over chocolate too."

If faced with such a decision ever again, Avila said he would do the same thing.

"No one in this country is going to offer me $2.2 million to answer one question," he said. "I would take that bet anytime, anywhere."

Copyright 1999 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 138, No. 58 (Monday, November 22, 1999), beginning on page 1 and ending on page 3.