Oxford grads end up on new game show

By Don Rush

What do you do once you graduate from Oxford High School?

Well, for three Oxford graduates, you harken back to the advice of 1800’s newspaper editor Horrace Greely and “Go west, young man.” For brothers RJ and Ramil Blade and Richard Hernandez, they landed up as west as you can go before hitting the Pacific Ocean – California. And, once you’re there you find your way to get on a television game show.

The trio recently appeared on Game Show Network for the inaugural season of Hey, Yahoo!, hosted by actor Tom Cavanagh. The show pits two teams of three players competing against each other to guess what millions of people are searching for on Yahoo Search. The three ended up winning their match, winning a total of $1,700 (minus taxes and divided by three).

“Something that we learned on set prior to filming, which lends itself to the strict protocols on set, is that all game shows in the U.S. are regulated by the federal government. So needless to say, there’s hella taxes on game show winnings,” RJ, 31, reported.

RJ and Hernandez both graduated from OHS in 2010. Ramil graduated two years later in 2012.

“Ricky and I both made our ways out West at different periods of time, and he’s nesting in Long Beach, California. Ramil, after completing a successful internship at NASA, is now also in Southern California, in North Hollywood,” RJ said, adding he lives in Orange County, CA. “Thanks to the encouragement, inspiration and education of my teachers and gurus in Oxford (shout out to Mrs. Debra Brown), I pursued a career in acting, which I have been doing for over 10 years now.”

According to RJ, a casting director reached out to him asking if he would be interested in auditioning to be on the show and if he had two people in mind to be on my team.

“By now, my brother is used to me pulling him into different unique experiences and I’m glad that he was game for the game,” RJ said. “I also knew that not only would Ricky make great television, but he would be locked in on that NBA Finals Game 7 mode, which is what we needed on our team.”
After they let the casting director know their team was confirmed, an online audition was scheduled. “There we played a few practice rounds of the game and got a little coaching on how to bring that ‘game show energy’ on screen when on set. Not with these exact words, but they tell you to turn up the ‘cheese factor’ when it comes to energy, excitement, expressions and reactions. Of course it feels unnatural, but it tends to look better on camera,” RJ said.
The show was taped in Delfino Studios in Sylmar, California, which has also been a home to productions such as Rupaul’s Drag Race, Dancing With The Stars, Titanic, and Legally Blonde.
While the episode was taped in late March of this year, the episode the Oxfordites are featured in didn’t appear until July 6. The episode they are in is called “Plant Family” – Season 1, Episode 28. It is available to stream everywhere you can watch Game ShowNetwork.

For those sitting on the couch shouting seemingly obvious answers at the TV, keep in mind that the contestants competing on the hot seat with 60 seconds on the clock, are also doing so at around 7 in the morning.

“The common phrase on set, ‘hurry up and wait,’ rings true, as about seven and half of the eight hour day is signing release forms, receiving coaching and notes from episode producers, and sitting in contestant holding areas — without smartphone access,” RJ said. “Each episode producer walks the teams through the workings of the game and a few practice rounds. The wardrobe department sifts through the multiple outfit options you bring, has you try on a few, sends photos of each to the producers, then lets you know which are approved. After that, the hair and makeup departments call you in to get you ‘camera ready.’ Multiple episodes are filmed in a day, and each one takes roughly 20-25 minutes to complete. The host, Tom Cavanagh, was kind and offered words of encouragement to us during commercial breaks. It really is a fun and exciting experience. Even moreso, of course, if you win.”