The parallels with Quiz Show may be the best angle to take. The film was released nearly 36 years after the episodes aired.  Redford remembered it well and likely saw the PBS documentary that sparked the idea.  I assume folks associated with this film saw the GSN piece at some point.

You do know filmmakers have the right to take creative liberties, right?  Especially since the only possible way they can come close to making money is to attract people beyond the readers of this website.

Do remember that every single one of you who offers any complaints or gripes about trivial matters, or even the truth, is yelling at clouds and it’s not like if you even boycotted viewing it anyone would miss you.  Indeed, I strongly suspect most of you will still watch one way or the other, whether in a theatre or when it’s sold to a streaming service

Honestly, folks, try to realize that those that actually have made a career in creative pursuits have to reach more than just the Uber core.

Quote from: SamJ93 on Today at 07:05:20 AM

Ed and Jamie, Larson's opponents, are still alive AFAIK; it would be a neat little nod if they gave them non-speaking cameos at some point.

Why can't they have a line?

Quote from: tyshaun1 on Today at 10:38:09 AM

Larson DID have a benefactor who financed him getting out to LA so he could audition and later flew out with him to watch him do his thing. If you rewatch the episodes, you will observe him looking back to his left several times, presumably looking for advice on when to stop. Apparently the cash that was won was split between them for his efforts.

This is the story that Randy West tells.  My question is what is the source of that information?  Because that's a pretty big piece of the story that I don't remember being mentioned in Big Bucks or anywhere else.

That came from Byl Carruthers on one of Randy's old posts.

Ed and Jamie, Larson's opponents, are still alive AFAIK; it would be a neat little nod if they gave them non-speaking cameos at some point.

Why can't they have a line?

Larson DID have a benefactor who financed him getting out to LA so he could audition and later flew out with him to watch him do his thing. If you rewatch the episodes, you will observe him looking back to his left several times, presumably looking for advice on when to stop. Apparently the cash that was won was split between them for his efforts.

This is the story that Randy West tells.  My question is what is the source of that information?  Because that's a pretty big piece of the story that I don't remember being mentioned in Big Bucks or anywhere else.

As I said on someone's Facebook post, looking at the cast list, the name that jumped out at me as a possible Tomarken was James Wolk (probably most famous as Bob Benson on "Mad Men"). Johnny Knoxville seems more like he would play Michael Larson's (fictional) best friend who helps him figure out the board pattern and is then sitting in the audience during the show -- something like that.

Larson DID have a benefactor who financed him getting out to LA so he could audition and later flew out with him to watch him do his thing. If you rewatch the episodes, you will observe him looking back to his left several times, presumably looking for advice on when to stop. Apparently the cash that was won was split between them for his efforts.

This PYL movie has a story here. Considering that this movie will be a drama will be interesting. It has the marks for it. I saw Buzzerblog make a post saying that they don't see how a guy sitting in front of a button getting to $100k isn't interesting. I would love to see how it got there in visualized form. How Larson got real crazy with the idea of going on the show, learning the patterns, how Bobby Edwards didn't trust him, how Bill Caruthers and CBS execs were nervous at how much money he won...plus the idea of him being a "cheater," the stamina that he had during the game when he began to wear down, and the aftermath of how he blew all of his winnings. Crazy as kept, and I'll be crazy here...this could be an Oscar-nominated film.