Great Falls man to be on 'Wheel of Fortune'

If that sentence sounds familiar, you probably have watched "Wheel of Fortune," the country's most popular syndicated program, according to Jan. 10 Nielsen Co. ratings.

Brent Woldtvedt, pharmacy manager at the Walgreens drug store on 10th Avenue South, has watched "Wheel of Fortune" for years, because his mother was a big fan of the show.

He will appear on the show Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m. on KRTV, Channel 3 in Great Falls. Woldtvedt is believed to be the first Great Falls resident in years to appear on the show.

Woldtvedt taped the program two months ago in Culver City, Calif., when the show's theme was "Sand and Sea."

"It's kind of torture having to wait that long" for the half-hour show to appear, he said.

The crossword puzzle buff barely made it to the initial tryouts in Western Montana.

He was taking continuing education classes in Missoula last June and hopped on over to the Missoula County fairgrounds at the last minute to take part in the first round of tryouts.

Then he was called back to a second round of tryouts in October in Missoula, when the program tried to weed out boring people and those who had a hard time solving puzzles.

Woldtvedt made the cut, and with his wife, Tina, and two young twins flew to California. Four other children stayed home with grandparents.

"It was great," Woldtvedt recalled. The show was taped Dec. 10.

"They taped six shows at a time," he reported. That means all the shows for a whole week, plus one, could be shot in a single day.

Woldtvedt didn't reveal exactly how well he did, but he offered some pretty good hints.

"I actually performed better than I thought I would," he said. Darn that "bankrupt" spot on the Wheel!