My theory on the backstories dates back to whenever NBC got the Olympics.

I make a lot of analogies between sports and game shows. I understand they're nowhere near the same level when it comes to economics. But I think a lot can be gained by treating them the same way, particularly with doing them live to tape, etc. You'd never do a pickup of a free throw because the camera was out of position. Frankly, the camera would almost NEVER be out of position in basketball, whereas on modern game shows it can be, but I digress.

To that end, I think story packages CAN have a place. To go to sports, I think they make sense at the Olympics, because the whole thing is about a long journey to one moment in time, a life spent training, etc. And I think they're OK on game shows where the action isn't too dense. Deal or No Deal is a perfect example. Sure, some countries play it a little more straight. But there's an obvious appeal in tying the big six-figure swings on a U.S. version to a compelling personal story. You're not distracting from a barrage of questions, or competition between multiple players.

But on shows that are format driven, I really start to question how much is enough when it comes to contestant chat. You shouldn't stop a football game mid-drive to show a 3-minute package about one player. People are watching for the competition. Similarly, when you've got a dense game show, I think the audience is coming for that, first and foremost. If not, why not do a talk show instead? You can still develop that sort of personal attachment on a game-heavy show organically; returning champions would be one way to do it.

If there's loads of research that says regular people won't watch regular people play a regular game no matter what, then the story-forward strategy makes sense. I just have a feeling that certain shows are making that choice for the viewers, rather than the other away around.

-Jason

It is missing the Melody Roulette round which was almost as signature to the brand as the Bid-a-Note round.

What surprised me the most was, when they play Spin Me Round, they don't call that "Melody Roulette" instead. It's not as if half of the audience would respond, "That's not 'real' Melody Roulette," and stop watching.

BTW, in the earliest 1970s nighttime episodes, when the first round was Pick-A-Tune instead of Money Tree, they didn't play Melody Roulette; instead, it was Cassette Roulette - the quick version: there were eight "cassettes" (actually 8-track tapes), each with a category; a contestant chose one, and a corresponding tune was played by the band; four of the categories had prizes associated with them; I think it was best of 7 tunes.

Quote from: BrandonFG on July 22, 2024, 08:28:35 PM

This is by far my biggest pet peeve with modern game shows. I know the producers want good Youtube content, but I also don't think people are rushing to share a clip of someone doing a cheer routine on You Bet Your Life.

To be perfectly fair, I was amused when a group in the audience on Price is Right would stand up and perform coming out of break, or something like that. There's countless examples like that on several classic shows. But on the flip side, many of those examples (most?) were genuinely impromptu. These things can be additive when done well. But they can also feel forced, and I think the audience is hip to it when it's overproduced.

I agree with you that they were more impromptu.  How many of them were selected as a contestant?  With that said, it seemed those folks were just happy getting their 30 seconds of fame.  Now, not being able to dance is one of many blocks to being a contestant.

Quote from: TLEberle on July 23, 2024, 05:54:18 PM

Quote from: clemon79 on July 23, 2024, 05:24:47 PM

I think content would be ridiculously expensive to produce (photo clearances cost money (unless you are going wholly public-domain, and now you have to spend money doing stupid amounts of research to make sure your images ARE IN FACT public domain)), and you would need a lot of it.

I remember the game Picture Pursuit where correct answers to a Trivial Pursuit question would open one of twelve doors to reveal a portion of a picture or portrait, and the end goal was guessing the pictures. I have to imagine that pictures of real people have to be cleared. Same with the game Snapshot, except all of those were all black and white and I don't recall any specifics.

I also have Picture Pursuit and still bring it to my trivia meetup group. I use more recent editions of TP with the pics, since the original questions are almost 30 years old.

It is a typo.  I’m off my game.  Apologies.