Contestant supervisor Bobby Edwards was suspicious of Larson's motives when he interviewed Larson on May 19, and was unwilling to allow him on the show, but executive producer Bill Carruthers overruled him, a move he said he later regretted. Larson was added as a contestant on the fourth episode of the taping session, intended to air Friday, June 8, 1984. While waiting in the green room, Larson met Ed Long, a Baptist minister from California booked for the third episode of the session. They struck up a conversation. Long recalled that Larson asked how many times he had seen the show. When Long replied he had seen it only once, Larson responded by looking at him as though he "were from another planet." Larson told Long, "I really hope we don't have to play each other," before leaving the green room, but they would in fact face off as Long won his match and a total of $11,516 in cash and prizes. The two men competed against Janie Litras, a dental assistant, in the next episode of the session. As customary, the game began with the first of two rounds in which contestants answered questions to earn spins for the "Big Board"; a correct buzz-in answer earned three spins, while a correct multiple-choice answer earned one spin. Larson's memorization of the patterns could not help him here, and he struggled early. On the second question, host Peter Tomarken asked, "You've probably got President Franklin D. Roosevelt in your pocket or purse right now, because his likeness is on the head side..." Larson buzzed in at this point and answered, "$50 bill" (which has a portrait of President Ulysses S. Grant), after which Tomarken finished the question "...of what American coin?" with the answer being "a dime", the other choice being "a nickel". He did not buzz in again, answering the last two questions multiple choice and finishing with three spins, behind Long's four and Litras's ten. With the fewest spins, Larson went first. On his first spin, he hit a Whammy; however, on his next two, he hit square #4 twice for $1,250 and finished the round with $2,500. Long and Litras finished the round without a Whammy and won $4,080 and $4,608, respectively, putting Larson in last place. Larson earned a total of seven spins in the second question round. Since he was in third place, he got to play first at the "Big Board" and went to his pattern play, aiming for squares #4 and #8.