Eddie Velazquez, 17, walked into an unused classroom at Derby High School Tuesday morning thinking he was going to featured in some type of dry documentary about life in high school.
Then a dude walked in and opened a suitcase stuffed with $5,000 cash.
Surprise, you’re on MTV!
Eddie and a bunch of other Derby High School students were filmed Tuesday as part of “The Substitute,” a new, “Cash Cab”-like game show that will air on MTV.
Eddie’s thought when he saw the cash?
“I’ve got to win this,” he said.
“The Substitute” is filming four episodes at Derby High School this week. Production is scheduled to take place until Thursday.
Entertainment Weekly described “The Substitute” as “sort of like a school-based version of Cash Cab, where a substitute teacher (Jon Gabrus) surprises unsuspecting students by transforming their classroom into a game show.”
The show will probably air some time in 2012.
All told, some 80 students are participating in the filming, said Derby High School Principal Fran Thompson.
The students will have to answer pop trivia questions, Thompson said.
Students will compete for prizes such as computers and free lunches. Only one student will walk away with $5,000 cash.
The money must be used for a college scholarship, Thompson said.
Derby High School was chosen because Lauren Waters, a casting director, had made contacts at Derby High School while filming “The Greatest Movie Ever Made,” an independent film, at the school.
Filming for “The Substitute” was set up about six weeks ago — and involved high school administrators, along with Derby parents, tricking the students into thinking the production crew were documentarians.
Students tried to pry more info out of Thompson leading up to Tuesday’s filming, but he wouldn’t budge.
“There was a lot of ‘I don’t know, I’m just the principal,’” Thompson said.
The top-secret secret didn’t leak — as Eddie said he and his fellow classmates were shocked to learn they were on a game show.
Nervous members of the production crew wouldn’t talk about the show Tuesday, indicating they were legally-bound from doing so.
The show is the brainchild of Embassy Row, a New York City company responsible for the latest version of “The Newlywed Game” on GSN and “Boy Meets Grill” on the Food Network. A message seeking comment was left with the company.
“It’s a great opportunity for our kids. Not only to win prizes — but it’s just a cool experience,” Thompson said. “It will be a source of pride for the kids.”
