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The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: GSRebich on August 17, 2017, 09:21:32 PM

Title: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: GSRebich on August 17, 2017, 09:21:32 PM
Now I've read that from Show #215N until the end of 1970s syndicated nighttime run of "The Price Is Right" that Clock Game was played for 3 prizes. When they increased it to 3 prizes, did they increased the time limit too?
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: MSTieScott on August 17, 2017, 09:59:08 PM
Now I've read that from Show #215N until the end of 1970s syndicated nighttime run of "The Price Is Right" that Clock Game was played for 3 prizes. When they increased it to 3 prizes, did they increased the time limit too?

Nope -- it was always 30 seconds on the clock.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: Kevin Prather on August 18, 2017, 12:05:16 AM
That's something that looks like a worse deal than it is. Since you get partial credit anyway, it's just a chance to win more, but the average viewer is going to look at that and say "That's too hard!"
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: clemon79 on August 18, 2017, 01:26:03 AM
That's something that looks like a worse deal than it is. Since you get partial credit anyway, it's just a chance to win more, but the average viewer is going to look at that and say "That's too hard!"

Yes, but they were also casting more sensible contestants, so I'm guessing they did it when they discovered people were frequently winning with 10+ seconds left, as opposed to the drooling idiots in the BOB STILL ROOLZ T-shirts they get these days.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: Kevin Prather on August 18, 2017, 01:52:26 AM
That's something that looks like a worse deal than it is. Since you get partial credit anyway, it's just a chance to win more, but the average viewer is going to look at that and say "That's too hard!"

Yes, but they were also casting more sensible contestants, so I'm guessing they did it when they discovered people were frequently winning with 10+ seconds left, as opposed to the drooling idiots in the BOB STILL ROOLZ T-shirts they get these days.

Ah yes. The good old days.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: BrandonFG on August 18, 2017, 03:22:26 AM
That's something that looks like a worse deal than it is. Since you get partial credit anyway, it's just a chance to win more, but the average viewer is going to look at that and say "That's too hard!"

Yes, but they were also casting more sensible contestants, so I'm guessing they did it when they discovered people were frequently winning with 10+ seconds left, as opposed to the drooling idiots in the BOB STILL ROOLZ T-shirts they get these days.
I'm sure it was a lot more housewives as well, as opposed to the 20-something drooling idiots you speak of. A contestant pool who either watched the show frequently or did the shopping for the family.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: BillCullen1 on August 18, 2017, 10:34:52 AM
I remember that early on with the nighttime show, if the contestant got both prizes in the Clock Game and had at least five seconds left, they also won $1,000.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: Steve Gavazzi on August 18, 2017, 01:13:17 PM
I remember that early on with the nighttime show, if the contestant got both prizes in the Clock Game and had at least five seconds left, they also won $1,000.

Two seconds, actually.  They only did it six times.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: Bob Zager on August 18, 2017, 01:36:40 PM
That's something that looks like a worse deal than it is. Since you get partial credit anyway, it's just a chance to win more, but the average viewer is going to look at that and say "That's too hard!"

I can see the contestant putting extra pressure on him/herself, and making it hard, but if they were to stay calm, and move along more at ease, it wouldn't be as hard.   I even recall Barker mentioning at times that clock game is a lot easier than it looks, because it is more a game of skill, than luck!
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: TLEberle on August 18, 2017, 02:31:41 PM
I remember that early on with the nighttime show, if the contestant got both prizes in the Clock Game and had at least five seconds left, they also won $1,000.

Two seconds, actually.  They only did it six times.
Proportionally that seems like a big reward in addition to the prizes for accomplishing something that happens quite a lot. (Unless people spoke slower in those days.)
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: Ian Wallis on August 18, 2017, 03:04:19 PM
If I ever get to be a contestant, I'd love to play the Clock Game.  I honestly think that if you concentrate, it's one of the easiest games and can be won every time.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: BrandonFG on August 18, 2017, 03:09:44 PM
That's something that looks like a worse deal than it is. Since you get partial credit anyway, it's just a chance to win more, but the average viewer is going to look at that and say "That's too hard!"

I can see the contestant putting extra pressure on him/herself, and making it hard, but if they were to stay calm, and move along more at ease, it wouldn't be as hard.   I even recall Barker mentioning at times that clock game is a lot easier than it looks, because it is more a game of skill, than luck!
It's really more listening and comprehension more than anything. If you pay attention to Bob or Drew's "higher"/"lower", you're in good shape.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: MSTieScott on August 18, 2017, 03:26:54 PM
I remember that early on with the nighttime show, if the contestant got both prizes in the Clock Game and had at least five seconds left, they also won $1,000.

Two seconds, actually.  They only did it six times.
Proportionally that seems like a big reward in addition to the prizes for accomplishing something that happens quite a lot. (Unless people spoke slower in those days.)

Clock Game was still brand new back then, so the contestants hadn't gotten used to how to play the game yet. In fact, of those six playings, no contestant won the $1,000 bonus.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: TLEberle on August 18, 2017, 03:29:16 PM
So this was 1973? That makes sense.

Follow-up then; how many won both prizes? $100 per second makes sense, or $1,000 for 10 seconds remaining--having two seconds left seems arbitrary to me.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: MSTieScott on August 19, 2017, 01:08:14 PM
1972, actually (with the exception of the sixth playing, taped in January 1973).

Of those six playings, three of the contestants won only the first prize. One contestant won both prizes with one second left on the clock. And two contestants won both prizes as the clock hit zero.

And the seventh time they played Clock Game on the Dennis James version (the first time they played it without the $1,000 bonus), the contestant won both prizes with nine seconds remaining.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: ActualRetailMike on August 31, 2017, 07:31:09 PM
I remember exactly once on the nighttime TPiR, Dennis James asked them to stop the clock in the middle of the round.  This was to explain that when he said "higher", they should pick a higher number, and vice-versa.  The contestant was apparently doing the opposite too much.

Not sure if that one had 2 or 3 prizes, though.  I only remember there being two prizes.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: Kevin Prather on August 31, 2017, 09:44:10 PM
That's a thought I had the other day. Does Drew ever stop the clock if things are going haywire? I know Bob did it fairly liberally.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: Esoteric Eric on September 01, 2017, 08:34:51 AM
Does Drew ever stop the clock if things are going haywire? I know Bob did it fairly liberally.
He might, but I'm recalling a game that was rerun recently that went something like this on the first prize: ...$700 - Higher - $800 - Higher - $900 - LOWER - $1,000 - LOWER - $950...and Drew just kept going. The contestant wasted time zeroing in to the low $900s when the price was in the mid $800s, eventually not winning at all.  Not that Drew did anything wrong, but I did find myself wondering if Bob would've handled it differently.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: Steve Gavazzi on September 02, 2017, 01:32:08 PM
Does Drew ever stop the clock if things are going haywire? I know Bob did it fairly liberally.
He might, but I'm recalling a game that was rerun recently that went something like this on the first prize: ...$700 - Higher - $800 - Higher - $900 - LOWER - $1,000 - LOWER - $950...and Drew just kept going. The contestant wasted time zeroing in to the low $900s when the price was in the mid $800s, eventually not winning at all.  Not that Drew did anything wrong, but I did find myself wondering if Bob would've handled it differently.

He probably would have, but Drew's the one who did it right -- it's the contestant's responsibility to keep track of what they're doing in Clock Game, not the host's.
Title: Re: Nighttime Price Is Right Question
Post by: jjman920 on September 03, 2017, 03:56:29 PM
That's a thought I had the other day. Does Drew ever stop the clock if things are going haywire? I know Bob did it fairly liberally.

Drew actually flubbed up at some point this past season and had the clock operators turn the clock back because of it. Don't think he actually stopped the clock though; just noted it after they finished the first prize and they put six seconds back for the contestant.