Hillcrest Elementary School teacher Reed Olson remembers when he stayed home sick in the second grade and watched "The Price Is Right."
Of course, he thought he could do better than the people on television."I always thought the people on the show were stupid," he said.
But after being selected as a contestant on the show last week, Olson has a new feel for game-show pressure.
"I got up there and kept losing," he said.
Eventually, however, Olson ended up winning his way to the game show's Showcase Showdown, a final round in which two contestants try to bid correctly on a number of prizes to become the day's champion. Olson then cleaned up and came home the winner of two lamps, a trip for two to Bangkok, Thailand, a jukebox and assorted exercise equipment.
Olson, a 30-year-old third-grade teacher, was called to "Come on down!" as a contestant on "The Price Is Right" after he and his wife, Shelby, decided to wait in line for the show during their vacation to Los Angeles.
"We got there a little after 5 a.m. and waited," Olson said. "At 12:30, the line started to move."
Shelby Olson, a 23-year-old seventh-grade teacher at Mount Logan Middle School, said show employees led groups of 15 people at a time to participate in 10-second interviews with the show's producer.
"They told us, `You have three seconds to shine,' " she said. "They don't just pull names out of a hat; they select their contestants on what they say."
When the time came, the difference between what the two said was minimal but apparently enough to make a difference.
"I said, `I'm Reed Olson, a schoolteacher from Utah, and I really need the money,' " Reed Olson said.
"All I said was, `I'm Shelby Olson, and I'm a schoolteacher from Utah,' " his wife said.
After a few instructions on cheering and excitement, the show got under way, and Reed Olson was the first one called.
"I saw him get up, and I thought he was going to the bathroom," Shelby Olson said.
Even though Olson was the first contestant called, he didn't have it easy. He was outbid in the first three rounds but eventually joined host Bob Barker on stage after bidding $651 for two lamps - $1 over another contestant's $650 bid.
"I had to do it," Olson said. "It happened to me a couple times."
From there, Olson won a trip to Bangkok and entered the final round after successfully out-spinning two other contestants on an oversized wheel.
"I couldn't believe it," Shelby Olson said about her husband's jumping up and down on the stage after winning. "It was so much fun."
But the Olsons said there is one catch. The prizes won totaled about $16,000. After consulting with their tax attorney, Reed Olson found they would have to pay about $5,000 in California state taxes and federal taxes.
"They've given us 10 days to decide what we want to do," he said.
The couple said they have ruled out the majority of the items and are now down to the finalists: the jukebox and trip for two to Bangkok.
The show will air Oct. 23 on CBS.