POLL: Most heartbreaking losses?

[Kevin Prather]

The question itself was

Which of the following songs spent the most weeks at #1 on the Billboard hot 100 chart?

A: Macarena
B: One Sweet Day
C: Candle in the Wind
D: I Will Always Love You

I don't know about that being too easy for $500,000, at least by the show's standards in January 2000.

[Brandon Brooks]

[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 01:39 PM\'] The question itself was

Which of the following songs spent the most weeks at #1 on the Billboard hot 100 chart?

A: Macarena
B: One Sweet Day
C: Candle in the Wind
D: I Will Always Love You

I don't know about that being too easy for $500,000, at least by the show's standards in January 2000. [/quote]
 Oh!  I always thought it was One Sweet Day.  That's not as easy as I thought.

Brandon Brooks

[Ian Wallis]

Oh! I always thought it was One Sweet Day. That's not as easy as I thought.

It was "One Sweet Day", but what made it heartbreaking is that the guy guessed without even knowing who sang each of the songs.  After thinking about it for a couple of minutes, he guessed "I Will Always Love You", thinking it was sung by Celine Dion.

[adamjk]

I think it was quite heartbreaking on a Wheel rerun I saw a short time ago from last season, where after the speed up round, there was a tie, and then they did a toss up to decide the winner. It was heartbreaking for the contestant who lost that toss up. Though the contestant still walked off with $11,700, not a bad half hour's work.

[ChuckNet]

It was also not too long from now that the Winner's Board was put into play. There were too many cash jackpot winners between the time David hit the $109,000 and the time the cash jackpot stayed at the static $50,000.

And therein lied the problem, IMO, w/offering the CJ as a separate entity...no contestant in his/her right mind is gonna pass up well over $50K for the chance at adding the lot of prizes generally worth slightly less in total...the syndie version rectified this by replacing said option w/one to buy the lot, sans CJ, which almost always ensured a champ coming back for that final show.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[ChuckNet]

In a 1986 episode of "Super Password," contestant Carl Mueller was trying for $50,000 in the end game with celebrity Janis Paige. After a couple of clues, Janis passed the word "frog," but Carl said it right after she said "pass." They got through the rest of the list, and just when they got back to "frog," the buzzer rang and Carl shouted out the answer a fraction of a second after. During the commercial, they checked the tape because it was so close, but the judges said his answer was after the buzzer, so he ended up with $900, not 50 grand.

And to add insult to injury, Janis didn't realize the clock had started at the beginning of the round and wasted about 2 secs before Bert prompted her...if not for that pause, Carl might have won the $50K anyway.

However, Carl later turned up on WoF about 8 years later and did all right for himself, so don't feel TOO bad for him. :-)

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[ChuckNet]

One more for the list: in early 1984, a MG/HS champ was faced w/the Head-to-Head phrase "______ Pizza"...partner Jon Bauman has his answer written down quickly, but doesn't put it in the card slot...then, inexplicably, he discards that answer, writes a new one, and puts that one in the slot.

Gene then asks for the contestant's response, which is "Pepperoni Pizza" and generates cheers/applause from the audience.

Cut to a distraught-looking Jon: "I HAD it...and I lost it!" (Reveals answer, "Large Pizza")...the entire audience boos, and adding insult to injury, all of the other 8 celebs claim they would've said "pepperoni", had they gotten it.

In a rather unwise move, Gene jokingly suggests the contestant punch Jon if he wants, which explains why we see him (equally jokingly) lying prostrate on the studio floor upon returning from the final break.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[ChuckNet]

Pretty much any 198 or 199 score in Fast Money on FF.

I can go that one better: on a 1989 daytime ep, the winning fam had 199 points after the next-to-last question in Fast Money, and their final question was "Name the month in which you use your air conditioning the most". The 2nd player's response was June...guess how many points it got? :-(

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'rmfromfla\' date=\'Jul 5 2004, 09:01 PM\'] 1.   Season 2 (or 3?)  -  Contestant has correct response in FJ, but fails to
 phrase in the form of a question  -  she breaks down on her podium and the
 audience is silent as Johnny Gilbert begins the ads....
 [/quote]
 This sounds like something that was described in "Come On Down." Jefferson Graham noted that a woman wagered a $60,000 pot (didn't think it was likely in the mid-80s), but didn't win because she didn't phrase in a question. Can anyone confirm?

Also, during the break between Double and Final Jeopardy, don't the coordinators tell contestants to put the question at the top of their screens?

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 02:55 PM\']

Pretty much any 198 or 199 score in Fast Money on FF.

I can go that one better: on a 1989 daytime ep, the winning fam had 199 points after the next-to-last question in Fast Money, and their final question was "Name the month in which you use your air conditioning the most". The 2nd player's response was June...guess how many points it got? :-(

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby") [/quote]
 My guess is "zero", but that doesn't make any sense. Was the question: "The month which you use your air conditioning the least?

[CarShark]

[quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 11:03 AM\']That really proves why Louie was so bad as a game show host. For one thing, he would often ruin the suspense of a moment like that, something Dawson, Combs, and even Karn didn't do.  The other thing is, if someone needed like say 40 points on the last answer to win, and answer given was #1, you should say it is #1, but not in such a way that it makes the person think they have won when they haven't, as was the case here.[/quote]

I don't think that makes him a bad host. That "touch the screen" thing was just something he liked to do for good luck. It didn't always work, but it was fun to watch when it did. I think it was a nice touch.

I don't get your "ruin the suspense" complaint either. If Anderson let up on the suspense at all, it was because it was a foregone conclusion that the money was won. He would joke around a bit, yes (this was his favorite spot for the "touch the screen" trick), but really there would be no suspense to milk, anyways.

[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 12:06 PM\'] Most heartbreaking loss IMHO, is Cathy Singer's $31,408 loss.

If you were her, and had that much money, and took that 1 passed spin that cost her the loot, how long would you have taken to stop the board to avoid her fate?

Are you serious, dude?
The board was random....there's really no "way" to avoid her fate.[/quote]

Dude, I thought we all knew that the board was many things, but not random. Still, any big loss on a game of chance should qualify, and I'll add Amie's last-spin $25,109 loss on Whammy! to that list. She didn't say a word to Todd after that, and I don't blame her.

[adamjk]

[quote name=\'STYDfan\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 03:41 PM\'] [quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 11:03 AM\']That really proves why Louie was so bad as a game show host. For one thing, he would often ruin the suspense of a moment like that, something Dawson, Combs, and even Karn didn't do.  The other thing is, if someone needed like say 40 points on the last answer to win, and answer given was #1, you should say it is #1, but not in such a way that it makes the person think they have won when they haven't, as was the case here.[/quote]

 
I don't get your "ruin the suspense" complaint either. If Anderson let up on the suspense at all, it was because it was a foregone conclusion that the money was won. He would joke around a bit, yes (this was his favorite spot for the "touch the screen" trick), but really there would be no suspense to milk, anyways.

I disagree, I think there is some suspense there when it comes down to that last answer regardless of how many points are needed. Sure some answers given could seem logical, and you may think that it would win, but it doesn't always work out. So to me, no matter how close you may be to 200, (within reason of course), before that final answer, there's always gonna be some suspense there as to whether or not they will make it.

[Steve Gavazzi]

[quote name=\'STYDfan\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 04:41 PM\']

[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 12:06 PM\'] Most heartbreaking loss IMHO, is Cathy Singer's $31,408 loss.

If you were her, and had that much money, and took that 1 passed spin that cost her the loot, how long would you have taken to stop the board to avoid her fate?

Are you serious, dude?
The board was random....there's really no "way" to avoid her fate.[/quote]

Dude, I thought we all knew that the board was many things, but not random. [/quote]
You make it sound like she should have memorized the damn light pattern -- a totally ridiculous notion.

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'Steve Gavazzi\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 05:07 PM\'] [quote name=\'STYDfan\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 04:41 PM\']
Dude, I thought we all knew that the board was many things, but not random. [/quote]
You make it sound like she should have memorized the damn light pattern -- a totally ridiculous notion. [/quote]
I believe that STYDfan was saying that in theory, the contestant could have avoided hitting the Whammy by first learning the pattern and then memorizing it.

Of course, in theory, Alex Trebek, Pat Sajak and Bob Barker could die tonight, and be replaced tomorrow by Chris Lemon, Mike Klauss and yours truly respectively.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'dzinkin\' date=\'Jul 6 2004, 04:12 PM\'] Of course, in theory, Alex Trebek, Pat Sajak and Bob Barker could die tonight, and be replaced tomorrow by Chris Lemon, Mike Klauss and yours truly respectively. [/quote]
 And summarily see ratings for said shows plummet.