Channel Surfing
by Laura Nachman
Bucks County Courier Times
July 19, 2001

To millions of Americans, Regis Philbin is the star of ABC’s hit show “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.”  However, to the thousands of excited yet anxious contestants who have been on the show, the real star of “Millionaire” is its genial production manager, Susan Vescera of West Chester University and University of Pennsylvania.

As part concierge and part counselor, Vescera’s responsibilities include making travel and hotel arrangements for the contestants, giving them their schedule and instructions for their stay, and providing a shoulder to cry on for contestants who have a disappointing showing. “I am the first person from the show they meet and the last person they talk to during their trip to New York City.  It is my job to make their experience positive,” she said. The 33-year-old native of Princeton, New Jersey is on-call 24 hours a day, taking care of everything from problems with hotel rooms to dealing with when a contestant’s flight was delayed because the airplane hit a deer.  Another major part of her job is making sure contestants follow the program’s guidelines for their on-air wardrobe, which includes no logos, no small patterns, and no turtlenecks.  “I’ve never missed an episode of the show, because I always want to see how the contestants look,” she said.

Vescera coordinates everything from her office, which also happens to be her home since the show began two years ago – a suite in the Upper West Side New York City hotel where the contestants stay.   Living in a fancy hotel has its advantages such as maid and room service, but it’s “been terrible for my waistline,” she joked.  Her lifelines are her father who lives in Princeton and takes care of her pet dogs, and her boyfriend, a musician living in New Jersey. 

Vescera graduated with a communications degree from West Chester University in 1989, spending a semester working as an intern for WPVI-6’s “Action News” on the weekends for Rob Jennings and Gary Papa.  After earning her graduate degree in Higher Education Management from Penn (which qualifies her to work as a Dean or President at a college), she returned to communications.  She was accepted into the competitive NBC intern program, and worked in the research department for “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”  Since then, it’s been several major entertainment events including “The Academy Awards,” “The Miss America Pageant,” “Kennedy Center Honors,” “The HORDE Festival,” “The Daytime Emmys,” and “The Tony Awards.”

But when asked what has been her best job experience, “Millionaire” was her final answer.  “I am exposed to so many different people.  I learn something from everybody.  We are doing something that can change somebody’s life. That is an amazing feeling, ” she said. Appropriately, this den mother to the contestants especially enjoyed meeting two of television’s favorite mothers – Florence Henderson of “The Brady Bunch” and Marion Ross of “Happy Days” during one of the celebrity editions.

From her days at West Chester and Penn, she still has plenty of friends in the area, and would even consider making the Delaware Valley her permanent home when “Millionaire” ends or when she gets tired of room service – whichever comes first.

It was “Sex in the City of Philadelphia” in the July 15 episode of the popular HBO show.   The storyline focused on Miranda, whose character is from Philadelphia.  Viewers could tell that Miranda went shopping at Strawbridge’s, since the saleslady was wearing a Strawbridge’s nametag.   Then outside the church at the funeral, the character of Samantha made an unflattering remark about Philadelphia men.  Penn Valley’s Elisa Zuritsky and Julie Rottenberg wrote the episode. 

Philadelphia viewers are no longer balking at the Phillies, as the July 16^th loss to the New York Yankees (due to a 13^th inning balk) set a ratings record for Comcast SportsNet.  With an 8.8 rating (each rating point equals 27,034 households), it was the highest rated regular-season game of any of the professional sports carried by the network since its launch in 1997.

Speaking of CSN, with former Sixers head coach Jimmy Lynam joining the Portland Trailblazers coaching staff, there will be a commentator’s opening on “Sixers Post Game Live” this season.  A Comcast SportsNet spokesperson said the network will begin looking at candidates later this summer.