The Game Show Forum > The Big Board
Win the game and still win nothing?
JakeT:
--- Quote from: JasonA1 on October 09, 2019, 11:23:11 PM ---But in this specific case, after you see the first price in Ten Chances has been accidentally revealed, throwing up a curtain (or dropping the Race Game flat) while you double check the other 2 prizes would be far lest costly. I think Bob was making a statement to the staff.
As I had it explained to me some time ago, even when the sliding of the numbers became manual, Ten Chances still had electricity running through it. When the contestant wrote the correct number, they would engage the button, so when Bob pressed it, it would actually work. Apparently, a short had run through the game and dropped all the prices. Since it happened between when the game was set up and when the game was played, nobody caught it.
--- End quote ---
So, suffice it to say, this was likely nothing more than a technical error beyond anyone's control and, in his capacity as Grand Poobah Executive Producer, Barker decided to needlessly poke someone in the eye while costing CBS and the production company $20,000...
Thanks for injecting the logic and reality I was seeking...much appreciated...
JakeT
Loogaroo:
...While at the same time creating an interesting moment on the show that would most certainly ultimately give it some good PR by demonstrating that they understand that the contestant wasn't at fault and thus gets the benefit of any mistake the production makes.
I can think of at least two other prop-related mishaps on TPIR that maybe could have been fixed by a stopdown and reset (the Punch-a-Bunch game where the slip was missing, the Race Game playing where the reader incorrectly flashed 0 instead of 2) but instead they opted to just give the prizes away. Even decades after the fact, they're still memorable moments, and they're remembered fondly because they showed the host giving the prize to a happy contestant and making a fun moment out of it. That's all the evidence I need to know that that's the way to go. Especially since TPIR is a show that literally involves hundreds of props and something is bound to malfunction once in a while.
BrandonFG:
--- Quote from: Loogaroo on October 10, 2019, 01:35:20 PM ---...While at the same time creating an interesting moment on the show that would most certainly ultimately give it some good PR by demonstrating that they understand that the contestant wasn't at fault and thus gets the benefit of any mistake the production makes.
--- End quote ---
Looking at the Welcome to New York promo in the beginning, I'm pinpointing this around 2001 or so, well into Barker's manufactured "historic moments" era, where he declares anything to be a big deal or gives away the prize just for the hell of it. In addition to the PR, he knows it makes for a good clip on the next prime time retrospective*. I don't know how much it cost the show, I simply see Barker being Barker here.
*Although I don't think they ever used this one.
Mr. Armadillo:
Besides, it only costs them something if the contestant would have lost the game. Obviously we have no way of knowing, but if the contestant otherwise would have won, then the show lost nothing by giving away the prize up front (and even likely gained a couple minutes of air time to fill the rest of the way).
Denials:
--- Quote from: JakeT on October 09, 2019, 11:42:18 PM ---
--- Quote from: JasonA1 on October 09, 2019, 11:23:11 PM ---But in this specific case, after you see the first price in Ten Chances has been accidentally revealed, throwing up a curtain (or dropping the Race Game flat) while you double check the other 2 prizes would be far lest costly. I think Bob was making a statement to the staff.
As I had it explained to me some time ago, even when the sliding of the numbers became manual, Ten Chances still had electricity running through it. When the contestant wrote the correct number, they would engage the button, so when Bob pressed it, it would actually work. Apparently, a short had run through the game and dropped all the prices. Since it happened between when the game was set up and when the game was played, nobody caught it.
--- End quote ---
So, suffice it to say, this was likely nothing more than a technical error beyond anyone's control and, in his capacity as Grand Poobah Executive Producer, Barker decided to needlessly poke someone in the eye while costing CBS and the production company $20,000...
Thanks for injecting the logic and reality I was seeking...much appreciated...
JakeT
--- End quote ---
Jake, I'm pretty sure CBS wasn't out anything. The production company, on the other hand, was.
I'm also pretty sure you're simplifying things by calling it a "2-minute" stopdown. I'm not an expert on this, but I suspect that anything involving changing a game once a contestant is engaged in the game probably requires a standards and practices review to ensure that nothing improper is happening. Networks and production companies take that kind of thing VERY seriously. Given the cost of studio time, extra labor, etc., I can imagine that one quickly gets to where "just moving on" is the right move if more than a simple stopdown is required.
Plus, there is some likelihood that the contestant would have won the game if it had been played normally. So the cost to the production company ISN'T $20,000, it's a probabilistic amount based on the probability that the contestant would have won anyway. [EDIT: Sorry, Army - I didn't see your post when I wrote this. Full credit to you for this.]
Also, keep in mind that the show was pretty much done live to tape at the time, unlike now with more edits and stopdowns. So a stopdown would have been more out of the ordinary for an issue as opposed to just continuing on.
I think you're over-exaggerating the issue significantly with your word choice and tone.
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