Unspoken rules on game shows

[aaron sica]

Seems like, by around season 32 of TPIR, in Card Game, if you drew an ace, the unwritten rule became "give me your total bid on the car" rather than being given the option of playing it immediately or holding it for later. Bob still said they were wild and that you could make them any amount you wish, but by that point I rarely heard him discuss holding the ace. Time constraints surely had something to do with that.

Even when I was a child watching the show, I never understood the option of holding the ace. If you have the option to make the bid anything you want, why WOULDN'T you want to just use it to make your bid exactly what you want instead of continuing to pick?

[TLEberle]

As long as you keep drawing you can make changes to your game plan but once you make a bid and stop drawing it’s over. I think there’s some psychology to not wanting to give your final answer yet.

[Brakus]

Winners' Board on Sale of the Century - the CAR and the $10K had to be matched by revealing a WIN card first. (Therefore, revealing either CAR or $10K before revealing a WIN card took that prize out of play.) Notice bofh CAR and $10K were printed askew instead of regular centered horizontally. It was never mentioned, although the contestants were made aware of that beforehand. I distinctly remember a contestant went to the Winners' Board with only a piano and the car remaining on the board. Four numbers - two were the piano, one was the WIN card, and the other was CAR. Contestant makes his first pick -- CAR -- and the contestant immediately winces. He then picks the WIN card, and he knows he's going to win the piano, even though Jim Perry still tries to keep it suspenseful.

[TLEberle]

3or other platitudinous questions.

Platitudinous? Aristophanes!

I've written questions for an online game and hosted with Loog. It is those questions that makes the show interesting since the card play is typically pro forma, though you get enough of the lucky or unlucky stuff that you can never quite tell.

I've asked "do you remember the name of your first grade teacher?" "Would you pay $1,000 to have the chance to win $10,000 on a coin flip?" and maybe my favorite after seeing a picture of Bronson Pinchot and Mark-Linn Baker, asking our respondents to name the situation comedy that starred them both.

Much like excellent questions on Millionaire or Jeopardy spark discussion and thought, so too do good questions on Card Sharks, and the fun of the show is seeing of our guesses match up with the polling group. "We asked 100 inmates, did you do it?" isn't something where you just say "fifty" and leave it at that. Saying that they are platitudinous is disrespectful to the work product.

[Ian Wallis]

As long as you keep drawing you can make changes to your game plan but once you make a bid and stop drawing it’s over. I think there’s some psychology to not wanting to give your final answer yet.

Exactly.  If I drew an Ace on the first card I probably would still need a bit more time to think about what my final bid would be, so I may want to hold it for a pick or two.

[NickintheATL]

I think the idea of holding the ace and continuing to draw is this... you keep drawing and then if you have a fear of drawing too large a card and going over, then you use the ace for a finite amount and get your bid right where you want it.

But then again, why wouldn't you just do it to start out with if you know what you want to bid?

/Stay tuned for Catch 22 The Game Show, next over most of these CBS stations...

[JasonA1]

It took me entirely too long to realize that holding the ace was a carryover from the pre-New Card Game format, in which the ace was capped at $1,000. In that version, it made sense to use it in the way Nick describes. When the maximum value of an ace became uncapped, they should have tossed out the ability to hold onto it.

-Jason

[BrandonFG]

Not sure if this fits but on High Rollers, did Alex or Wink ever mention that leaving the 1 unattended is an automatic L? For instance, if it comes down to the 7 and the 1 you obviously want an 8, but did that scenario ever happen?

[Mike Tennant]

Not sure if this fits but on High Rollers, did Alex or Wink ever mention that leaving the 1 unattended is an automatic L? For instance, if it comes down to the 7 and the 1 you obviously want an 8, but did that scenario ever happen?

I distinctly recall Wink's referring to "that pesky one" but not whether he explained why it was "pesky."

[JasonA1]

Not sure if this fits but on High Rollers, did Alex or Wink ever mention that leaving the 1 unattended is an automatic L? For instance, if it comes down to the 7 and the 1 you obviously want an 8, but did that scenario ever happen?

One instance that comes to mind is below, from 1980, and all Alex adds beforehand is "don't roll a 5", figuring loyal viewers by that point know what he means. (And this further clarifies a common fan wish -- you can't use an insurance marker on a good roll, regardless if it costs you the game/Big Numbers.)

https://youtu.be/603Aog-ELtA?si=2_fBd8EKl-7oq9DY&t=1012

-Jason

[Kevin Prather]

Seems like, by around season 32 of TPIR, in Card Game, if you drew an ace, the unwritten rule became "give me your total bid on the car" rather than being given the option of playing it immediately or holding it for later. Bob still said they were wild and that you could make them any amount you wish, but by that point I rarely heard him discuss holding the ace. Time constraints surely had something to do with that.

I think the "use it later" rule was a holdover from the original rule when the Ace could only be worth up to $1000. Once it became truly wild, that rule became useless unless you're gonna allow the Ace to be negative, which I'm pretty sure is not allowed.

EDIT: I didn't realize there was a whole 'nother page of posts where this was already mentioned. Hat tip to Jason.

[Brian44]

It took me entirely too long to realize that holding the ace was a carryover from the pre-New Card Game format, in which the ace was capped at $1,000. In that version, it made sense to use it in the way Nick describes. When the maximum value of an ace became uncapped, they should have tossed out the ability to hold onto it.

-Jason

I do wonder if a LFaT who played today and got an ace would ask Drew if they still had the option to save it for later. Is Drew even aware that it was ever an option?

Also, I just re-watched the 50th anniversary playing of Card Game and Drew specifically told the contestant that he had to pick at least one card from the standard deck. I don't watch TPIR often enough anymore to know whether he says that with every playing nowadays. Does he? And has that always been the rule, at least since it became New Card Game (not that a contestant with even the slightest concept of car pricing wouldn't)?

[Steve Gavazzi]

Also, I just re-watched the 50th anniversary playing of Card Game and Drew specifically told the contestant that he had to pick at least one card from the standard deck. I don't watch TPIR often enough anymore to know whether he says that with every playing nowadays. Does he? And has that always been the rule, at least since it became New Card Game (not that a contestant with even the slightest concept of car pricing wouldn't)?

I think we asked Roger about this once, and the answer was no -- you don't have to draw any cards, although not doing so is generally pretty stupid.

Honestly, I question whether or not it's even really a rule now that you do have to draw one, rather than something Drew just assumed because it seemed like common sense that no one bothered to tell him was wrong (or even knew was wrong).

[gameboy2000]

Another unspoken rule on Price is Right, no spinning the Big Wheel backwards.

[wdm1219inpenna]

Indeed it is an unspoken rule about not spinning the big wheel backwards, although a few times when contestants tried doing just that, Barker immediately stopped the proceedings and reprimanded the contestant for doing so.

As for Classic Concentration, it would drive me absolutely bonkers when the contestants would jibber jabber or worse, when Alex would jibber jabber for a while during the game.  I even recall once a contestant snapped at Alex semi-playfully when he was asking "Can so and so remember where that match was?  We just say it a moment ago" and she said something like "I could if you'd allow me to just pick already..." or something to that effect.

I suppose there were three logical points though with that going on...

First, indeed the show would be rather dry if they used the same method used during the 50s - 70s, just picking 2 numbers, the host saying "Not a match, the board goes back"...so to avoid monotony I suppose that's why the chattering was more prevalent on C.C.

Second, I suppose the show wanted to try to not have two huge potential payoffs during the rebus rounds since back in the late 80s, sometimes single game totals were even higher than the lower priced automobiles up for grabs during the Winner's Circle bonus game.

Third, if players were truly outstanding at concentration skills, no amount of jibber jabber would distract them from remembering where matches were on the board.

I for one whenever I play along always try to associate the number selected with the prize shown... (e.g. Luggage under # 14, I think "Luggage needed for a 14 day vacation", or "Refrigerator under #23, I associate 23 degrees being cold, freezing even, like a Refrigerator...of course that logic could work with all 25 numbers on the board!