Here's how to come on down

Most game shows have their audition requirements posted on their Web sites.

Here are the basics:

"Deal or No Deal" and "1 vs. 100": These NBC shows welcome videotape submissions. The tape should be no more than five minutes long. You should show why you and something about your life would make you a great contestant. You can download the application that must accompany the video at the shows' Web site. (Visit www.nbc.com and click on the "Shows" link to find the Web sites.) You must also include a recent photo.

Label your package and send it to: 1 vs. 100, P.O. Box 1995, Culver City, CA 90232. For "Deal or No Deal," send to: Deal Or No Deal Casting, P.O. Box 1916 Culver City, CA 90232.

The shows also do casting auditions in various cities. For "1 vs. 100," you have to pass a 30-question multiple choice test. In the open casting, you have 60 seconds to make an impression.

You cannot be affiliated with or have friends and family affiliated with the network, production company, local stations that air the show or any other entity connected with the shows. This is true for all game shows.

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire": "Millionaire" will resume auditions this spring. You may attend a taping, which takes place at the ABC studios on 67th Street in Manhattan, or go to a contestant search. Information about the contestant searches will be posted on the show Web site, www.millionairetv.com, soon. You can request taping tickets at the show's Web site. Tapings resume in the summer.

If you audition at a taping, this is what happens: Before entering the studio, you fill out an application for the audition. After watching two shows, you are escorted to the ABC cafeteria to take a 30-question multiple-choice test. You get a No. 2 pencil and a Scantron form. Your test has a number on it. You can't write on it, and you have to give it back.

Once everyone has finished the test, the staff scans the forms. The numbers of those who passed are called out, and the winners do a brief interview with a producer. You will get a postcard telling you whether or not you have made the cut.

"Jeopardy!": The biggest change in the "Jeopardy!" audition process is that you can now take a preliminary test online. If you pass that test, then you go either to a location in Culver City, Calif., near the Sony Studios or to one of the remote contestant searches or Brain Bus events. The schedule for those is on the show's Web site, www.jeopardy.com.

Once you're in front of the show people, you take another 50-question test. The questions are mostly top-dollar Double Jeopardy! questions, which are usually the most difficult. The second test will eliminate anyone who had assistance on the online test. Those who pass the test play a mock game, using the real buzzers and a game board. The show will call you if they want you to tape.

"Wheel of Fortune": The show has an application form you can fill out online at www.wheeloffortune.com. You must be at least 18.

The show is looking for contestants for "Armed Forces Week," "Best Friends Week" and "Sweethearts Week," and portions of the application are devoted to those categories.