Anybody who is not a game show fan has probably never seen or heard of
Randy Amasia. Yet, those involved in the game show world itself
consider him one of the genre's biggest fans and insiders. Born Alan
Randy Amasia in 1957, he was a game show addict from day one. In 1978,
while attending Cal State Northridge (where he eventually got his
degree in computer sciences), he landed a job as an intern on a
brand-new NBC game show, "Card Sharks".
A year into his internship, he tried out to be a contestant on a
brand-new CBS game show, Whew! (1979). His tryout turned out successfully as
he became a contestant in August 1979. As a two-day champion, he
triumphed in its bonus round, "The Gauntlet of Villains", and retired
with $26,190. For the next five years, he tried out for and became
contestants on several other game show pilots, almost all of which
never became regular series, the lone exception being a new syndicated
program called "Jeopardy!"
In the first season of the syndicated "Jeopardy!", he became a one-day
champion, winning $6,800 in cash and another $1,200+ in consolation
prizes. The name "Randy Amasia" would not become public again until ten
years after his win on "Jeopardy!" In 1994, Game Show Network premiered
on several satellite and cable outlets, and, with the explosion of the
Internet, the Usenet group "alt.tv.game-shows" (or ATGS) was created by
"Family Feud" consultant and friend Aaron Solomon. Randy immediately became a
frequent contributor to the newsgroup, where he eventually earned the
nickname "The Overlord of ATGS" and referred to all of his best friends
as "his minions". Soon after, he created the only website dedicated to
the game show "Whew!" Listed in Yahoo's Game Shows directory, "The
Whew! Fan Page" is complete with rules, photos, and sounds, and
attracted hundreds of new visitors each month. He also co-produced the
two longest-running Netgames in ATGS history, "'Net Match Game" (1994-
) and "'Net Price Is Right" (1995-), and sometimes had a hosting gig on
the former. In February 2000, he co-produced and co-wrote a bi-weekly
satire with David Zinkin, "Who Wants to Be a Moronionaire?", which
showcased the more annoying and lack-minded members of ATGS and also
featured ATGS contributors (including the author of this biography) and
special celebrity guests (game show personalities, athletes, even Judge
Judy) participating in the slugfest.
In late 2000, it had been discovered that Randy, three other ATGS
contributors, and a frequent "Moronionaire" victim took part in a
conspiracy against a rival Netgames host/producer. While the revelation
somewhat hurt Randy's character, he persisted on the newsgroup, giving
his unique brand of humor every day until his untimely death on
December 12, 2001, at age 44. Through triumph and tribulation, his
trademark wit and sarcasm was and always will be a part of ATGS'
history. His "Whew!" website will also live on, thanks to Michael
Klauss incorporating the pages into his own game show website.
