This is the shortened version due to line limits of Ferret Digest... Another one of those "small steps" for ferretdom was taken recently. Our daughter Courtney was invited to participate in a new game show developed by Nickelodeon TV. The producer of the show contacted Kid City Magazine after seeing the article on Courtney and her ferrets which appeared last year. Kid City Magazine is a magazine from Children's Television Workshop which also does Sesame Street show and magazine. Mary and Eric Shefferman put Kid City in touch with us. Final arrangements were made and a "shoot date" was confirmed so off Courtney and I went to Orlando, Florida earlier this week with a few ferrets in tow. We had to change the original date because Courtney was scheduled to "emcee" the "Save Our Shelters" show last weekend in Baltimore and we had to work around that date for our travel plans. Upon our arrival at the Orlando airport we were met by one of the Nickelodeon staff who drove us to the hotel. She told us that a family who was waiting to get driven to the airport that evening was anxiously awaiting our arrival at the hotel so they could see the ferrets. She told us that the son, who had already gone through the filming experience, really wanted a ferret but since they lived in California where ferrets are illegal, he couldn't have one. This was his first chance to see some up close and personal. At this point I should tell you that this new show is called "Figure It Out" and like the old "I've got a Secret" and "What's My Line" TV shows, it had a similar format, only for kids. Eighty kids from all over North America were selected to tape shows where a panel of four entertainers from various Nickelodeon shows would ask "yes" and "no" questions of the contestants and try to guess what was special about them. There would be three rounds of questioning and clues would be given out. Courtney's specialty was that she "Rescues and Raises Ferrets". The panel was to guess three words (they were given the word "and"). Courtney ended up being the first show taped that day and after everybody and everything was ready on the set, the panelists were introduced and took their seats. Courtney was then introduced to the live audience of screaming kids. Summer Sanders, the former Olympic swimmer, was the host of the show and she got things started by briefly explaining the show's format to the audience. The panelists then began asking Courtney questions; trying to discover her specialty. After the first round, they hadn't discovered anything. Courtney's prize for the first round was a prop from a Nickelodeon show. Before the second round the audience threw rubber life preservers (rescues) at the panelists. This didn't seem to help at all. Even the musical clue of playing "Pop goes the Weasel" (ferret) escaped them. One panelists asked Courtney if it had something to do with her ability to sing "Pop goes the Weasel." At this point that panelist was slimed (a Nickelodeon standard). After successfully stumping the panel through round two, Courtney won a Sega Saturn. On to round three where a member of the "Charade Brigade" came on the set and began demonstrating trying to lift (raises) something. This succeeded only in a panelist asking Courtney if she "pumped iron". Needless to say, Courtney successfully stumped the entire panel through all three rounds and she won the "Grand Prize" which was a family trip to Key West, FL. After the game was over the next stage of the show was for the person to "demonstrate" their specialty. The cage full of ferrets was rolled onto center stage and the panelists gathered around it while Courtney answered questions about her ferrets. She pulled a couple of them out and handed them to panelists who were in awe of how soft they were. From what I saw on the monitors as the ferrets were being rolled out, the camera got some rather good close ups of the ferrets. Hopefully, when the final edits are done these close ups will stay. Overall I must say that it was an incredible experience. The folks at Nickelodeon were wonderful. We also got an overwhelming response to the ferrets. While I was backstage with the ferrets, almost every stage hand came around to play with them and ask questions. Almost every adult asked the same first question - "Don't they bite?" I explained that ferrets are taught, like most animals, that biting is not acceptable behavior. When they would hold the ferrets and pet them they realized just how nice they can be. The kids, of course, had no reservations at all and just wanted to cuddle with all of them. If I could have left them in Florida we would have had homes for each and every one of them. Several of the stage crew came back to the "Green Room" throughout the day to visit with the ferrets, even after we were done taping. Throughout the rest of the taping you could hear the talking into their headsets "I'm here playing with my ferrets" when asked where they were. I'm expecting to get quite a few calls from these folks asking for ferrets within the next few days. Courtney and I are still exhausted from our long day on the set and the quick trip down and back to Florida but it was well worth it. The ferret diplomacy we practiced was well worth the effort. It was fun being able to tell an audience all about ferrets and have them hanging on every word. And of course, the fact that one of the Nickelodeon stars who was a panelist that day was flirting heavily with Courtney all day didn't hurt either. We won't know until June when the air date will be - we'll be sure to tell everyone. The show is supposed to premier about July 7th. bill and diane killian zen and the art of ferrets http://www.zenferret.com/ mailto:[log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1914]