The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Matt Ottinger on October 29, 2006, 11:45:19 PM
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I've been making fun of NBC's promotion department for more years than I'd like to count, but the latest was inevitable, I guess. No longer content to let you watch a DoND game develop naturally with no idea where it's going, NBC ran an ad during football Sunday (and who knows when else) revealing a very specific late-game choice offered to one of the contestants. Forget ice cream ponies and visits from Canadian pop royalty. When a network begins running ads that say, "tune in because this specific thing is going to happen," that's the beginning of the end as far as I'm concerned.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'136080\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 12:45 AM\']
I've been making fun of NBC's promotion department for more years than I'd like to count, but the latest was inevitable, I guess. No longer content to let you watch a DoND game develop naturally with no idea where it's going, NBC ran an ad during football Sunday (and who knows when else) revealing a very specific late-game choice offered to one of the contestants. Forget ice cream ponies and visits from Canadian pop royalty. When a network begins running ads that say, "tune in because this specific thing is going to happen," that's the beginning of the end as far as I'm concerned.
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I saw said commercial...inexcusable. There was another promo over the weekend that basically spoiled an outcome similar to one from last season.
In case nobody knows what that means, I put it below in white...forgive me if this is against the rules.
(highlight to read) [color=\"white\"]someone will have a high-dollar amount case[/color]
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Didn't ABC do the exact same thing with Millionaire promos when they aired it regularly?
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[quote name=\'TonicBH\' post=\'136092\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 12:52 AM\']
Didn't ABC do the exact same thing with Millionaire promos when they aired it regularly?
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Not only would they go ahead and use the promos, they had a press conference for Olmstead's win, I believe the day of the ep airing.
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The thing that gets me is when you tune into the beginning of the show, they spoil part of the show right in the first 30-second "preview".
I miss the old days!
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'136104\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 10:07 AM\']
The thing that gets me is when you tune into the beginning of the show, they spoil part of the show right in the first 30-second "preview".
I miss the old days!
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Exactly, there's a big difference in doing a 'spoiler' TV promo for game-shows versus non-game shows. Shows like CSI, According to Jim or Desperate Housewives are okay since, yeah, you are giving a little bit of the plot away, but you dont have that 'play along' factor and you still have to watch a lot of the show to see how they got to that scene.
With game shows, even if you show and promote an unusual contestant reaction for 2 seconds, you spoil the play-along factor for the people playing at home. Sure you may pull in fair-weather viewers to watch the show that day, but at a great expense for those who watch it for the natural competition. Air a promotion which shows a clip of the defining moment of the game, and for a lot of people, you don't have to watch the show now.
Maybe NBC should lay-off 95% of the people in charge of creating the promotional ads in their budget -cutting. Then maybe those left wont have time to go looking for defining moments to spoil the game!!
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[quote name=\'TimK2003\' post=\'136106\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 06:35 AM\']
Sure you may pull in fair-weather viewers to watch the show that day, but at a great expense for those who watch it for the natural competition.
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You know, I'd buy this if you were talking about just about any show OTHER than DoND. "Natural competition?" Come ON.
Air a promotion which shows a clip of the defining moment of the game, and for a lot of people, you don't have to watch the show now.
I will once again point out that I'm sure that NBC has decided that the extra eyeballs that running an ad like that will bring in are worth the couple hundred game show geeks they're going to piss off.
I don't like it any more than anyone here does, but I understand why they do it.
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Let us not forget CBS and the Game Show Marathon teaser that shows Kathy and Brandi at the Family Feud faceoff podium before finding out that it was an elimination tournament and Feud was the LAST show..
They're all corrupt! Ratings theives I tell ya! ;)
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'136107\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 11:14 AM\']
You know, I'd buy this if you were talking about just about any show OTHER than DoND. "Natural competition?" Come ON.
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Sure you may pull in fair-weather viewers to watch the show that day, but at a great expense for those who watch it for the natural competition progression of the show.
Fixed.
BTW, anybody know when the first game show 'spoiler' promos started? The earliest I can remember was back in the early "New Treasure Hunt" days during the montages when Geoff Edwards would be yelling "TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS" as he pulled the checks out of the box.
Since that was back in the bicycling era, there were a lot of faces on that montages that many had not seen yet. So when you finally did see said person actually playing their game, you knew what was coming.
Yeah, the spoilers were seen under different circumstances (bicycling vs. first run promos), but those '70 spoilers did their job as well.
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[quote name=\'TimK2003\' post=\'136132\' date=\'Oct 30 2006, 10:57 AM\']
Sure you may pull in fair-weather viewers to watch the show that day, but at a great expense for those who watch it for the natural competition progression of the show.
Fixed.
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Slightly better, fair enough. I'll admit, though, that a "spoiler" promo makes me more likely to watch DoND than it would if I didn't know what would happen, but then again I've quickly tired of the show and would only care to watch if something significant were to happen. I don't HATE it, but I do think it's severely flawed, and it's fallen way off of my radar because of that.
I think the nutshell is that if DoND is "appointment television" (a phrase I loathe, but there it is), then yeah, you're not gonna like those promos. For everyone else in the world, though, it increases interest. And there are a lot more "everyone elses".
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I carefully hide my face when such promos come up.
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[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'136432\' date=\'Nov 1 2006, 07:06 AM\']
I carefully hide my face when such promos come up.
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Do you know Jared Oswald, by any chance?
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'136440\' date=\'Nov 1 2006, 11:05 AM\']
[quote name=\'bandit_bobby\' post=\'136432\' date=\'Nov 1 2006, 07:06 AM\']
I carefully hide my face when such promos come up.
[/quote]
Do you know Jared Oswald, by any chance?
[/quote]
Or Darryl Heine, as well?
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Yeah, it was a spoiler.
But.
The spoiler didn't necessarily give away the outcome of the game until the moment the contestant (OPINION: foolishly) took the deal.
This isn't a spoiler in the same vein as OMG JOHN CARPENTER WINS A BAZILLION DOLLERS!!!!!1 at all.
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[quote name=\'mitchgroff\' post=\'136457\' date=\'Nov 1 2006, 12:45 PM\']
The spoiler didn't necessarily give away the outcome of the game until the moment the contestant (OPINION: foolishly) took the deal.
This isn't a spoiler in the same vein as OMG JOHN CARPENTER WINS A BAZILLION DOLLERS!!!!!1 at all.[/quote]
No, of course not. But if you wanted to watch the game, and wonder at each stage whether ot not she would take the offer (or whether or not she'd open the million dollar case, or any number of other variables) then that part of your experience is ruined, because you know where they're heading, even if you don't know exactly what the end result was. Even NBC isn't stupid enough to reveal that.
A comparable "spoiler" would be if CBS showed you a clip and said "Tomorrow on The Price Is Right, which one of these two people will win the showcase?" They didn't tell you the absolute last result, but they told you enough that as you're watching, you know all sorts of things that will and will not happen along the way. Depending on your fondness for the show, you might enjoy watching anyway. Still, many people -- maybe even MOST people -- would rather not know stuff like that.
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[quote name=\'aaron sica\' post=\'136450\' date=\'Nov 1 2006, 09:08 AM\']
Or Darryl Heine, as well?
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Oh, you're right. I got my idjits mixed up.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'136474\' date=\'Nov 1 2006, 02:12 PM\']
[quote name=\'aaron sica\' post=\'136450\' date=\'Nov 1 2006, 09:08 AM\']
Or Darryl Heine, as well?
[/quote]
Oh, you're right. I got my idjits mixed up.
[/quote]
Definitely understandable. After years and years of them, they all start running together. :)
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I too am fundamentally opposed to game show spoilers in TV promos, but for DoND, I wasn't too upset at first, most likely because I fit the audience they're looking for with these promos -- I sort of like Deal Or No Deal, but I rarely watch it anymore because I am just sick of the total lack of climactic moments anymore. Too often we end up with players striving for $300,000 or $400,000. Once it gets to that, I just find no reason to watch. And because statistically speaking, this occurence is very likely to happen, it seems pointless to watch any of the show at all.
However, when I see an NBC promo saying "this woman could be the first million dollar winner," I think, "Okay. Maybe I'll tune in just to see what happens." What I am annoyed about, to no end, is that these promos exaggerate more than anything I've ever seen. The promo that I just mentioned was for an episode where the contestant was offered ~$250,000, and took the deal. What?!? That's happened many, many times in the past. And they made me sit through an hour of the show for it? Unconscionable!
We also know that, if they advertise someone getting a $200,000 offer, they're going to take it (or, they'll go on and lose everything)! If they didn't, they went on, and the offer went up to, say, $600,000, that's the offer they'd be advertising in the promo!
The same thing goes for 1 vs 100. I know that, at least for the first five episodes, NO ONE is going to get more than $200,000, because that's the highest amount they showed in their pre-premiere promos. It is so irritating!
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[quote name=\'Patrick S\' post=\'137064\' date=\'Nov 5 2006, 11:20 PM\']
I too am fundamentally opposed to game show spoilers in TV promos, but for DoND, I wasn't too upset at first, most likely because I fit the audience they're looking for with these promos [/quote]
Well, you seem to be the audience they continue to court, then. Sorry to dredge this up, but once again the NBC promos are pointing to a specific event that happens so late in a game that it would be absolutely impossible for anybody who's seen the spot to to be the slightest bit surprised -- nor the slightest bit interested -- at what comes before. I understand that it's an effective tool to get people to check it out, which ultimately is what matters after all. Just seems a strange way to go about it.
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once again the NBC promos are pointing to a specific event that happens so late in a game that it would be absolutely impossible for anybody who's seen the spot to to be the slightest bit surprised -- nor the slightest bit interested -- at what comes before.
Luckily I haven't seen it...but I'm sure when I watch the beginning of the show they'll run the promo again.
Imagine if they did that in the old days..."tonight someone WILL WIN $100,000 on The $100,000 Pyramid, and now here's your host, Dick Clark"
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Easy solution : Don't watch NBC.
Seriously, is there a damn thing on the network that's worth watching these days? I don't. Ergo, No spoliage.
(then again, since I don't watch NBC, I don't watch Deal or 1vs100. I'm not really missing much there, either)
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[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'137716\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 06:00 AM\']
Seriously, is there a damn thing on the network that's worth watching these days? I don't. Ergo, No spoliage.
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Heroes and Studio 60 are actually really good.
Other'n that, yeah, right there with you. :)
/and let's see, on ABC the Tivo grabs....Lost. And not even that again until February.
//NBC 2, ConnectiMatt 0 ;)
///who in the purple hell puts a series on hiatus in the MIDDLE of the fall Sweeps?
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'137718\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 09:31 AM\']
[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'137716\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 06:00 AM\']
Seriously, is there a damn thing on the network that's worth watching these days? I don't. Ergo, No spoliage.
[/quote]
Heroes and Studio 60 are actually really good.
Other'n that, yeah, right there with you. :)
/and let's see, on ABC the Tivo grabs....Lost. And not even that again until February.
//NBC 2, ConnectiMatt 0 ;)
///who in the purple hell puts a series on hiatus in the MIDDLE of the fall Sweeps?
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I'm with you on Studio 60, but even lately I haven't been looking forward to Monday's.
The theory with Lost was , ABC got heavily criticized last year for too many Lost repeats and 'catchup' shows...so they wanted to run the 26 eps consecutively....However, if you start a show like that in October, you're done before the May sweeps book...so they thought, 'hey! let's tease the show with a 6 week mini-arc'!...
I dunno why the suits looks at the Feb and May books more importantly than November....methinks its because there's still time in November to fix the season, if the Nov book doesnt' pan out well.
And (shameless self-promotion here), check out "Daybreak" with Taye Diggs. It's actually pretty good. I think it's got more potential than Nine and Brothers/Sisters. Maybe that will make it NBC 2, Ct-Matt 1?
/What about Brian still blows.
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To give you an idea of how bad NBC has got in terms of spoiler leakage, I was watching "Las Vegas" after 1 v 100 on Friday.
About midway during the show they had a show recap sponsored by JCPenney.
The v/o said "Here's what happened so far on "Las Vegas", and played a handful of clips -- 2 of which were scenes that didn't happen in the show yet!
At the rate NBC is chopping their budget, we might be seeing a revival of "The Cheap Show" sometime in the near future. :-P
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'137718\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 09:31 AM\']
[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'137716\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 06:00 AM\']
Seriously, is there a damn thing on the network that's worth watching these days? I don't. Ergo, No spoliage.
[/quote]
Heroes and Studio 60 are actually really good.[/quote]
30 Rock is funny in a surreal sort of way, and ought to be a good fit with Scrubs for us fans of that sort of thing (which, apparently, aren't very many).
But yeah, I find it odd that I TiVo the entire NBC Monday night lineup -- and nothing else on the network.
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[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'137719\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 09:45 AM\']
The theory with Lost was , ABC got heavily criticized last year for too many Lost repeats and 'catchup' shows...so they wanted to run the 26 eps consecutively....However, if you start a show like that in October, you're done before the May sweeps book...so they thought, 'hey! let's tease the show with a 6 week mini-arc'!...
I dunno why the suits looks at the Feb and May books more importantly than November....methinks its because there's still time in November to fix the season, if the Nov book doesnt' pan out well.
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What I found really odd about the "Lost" thing is that they halted it with two or three weeks left of November sweeps. Why wouldn't they just start it later?
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[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'137716\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 09:00 AM\']
Easy solution : Don't watch NBC.
Seriously, is there a damn thing on the network that's worth watching these days? I don't. Ergo, No spoliage.
(then again, since I don't watch NBC, I don't watch Deal or 1vs100. I'm not really missing much there, either)
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Sunday Night Football. That's it. I've given up on Deal, and 1 vs 100 I don't care for.
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[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'137729\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 09:25 AM\']
What I found really odd about the "Lost" thing is that they halted it with two or three weeks left of November sweeps. Why wouldn't they just start it later?
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That part, I understand. It's all a big game of chicken between the networks. If they start it later, and the other networks run their premieres earlier, then people start watching competing shows, and then when the latecomer starts up, viewing habits are in place and they don't switch. So everyone basically has to start at the same time to be competitive.
What I don't understand is why they made this Lost arc six weeks instead of eight. Unless they're looking ahead to the February sweeps, because this way they can hit both that one AND the May one with the rest of the season.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'137733\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 01:01 PM\']
What I don't understand is why they made this Lost arc six weeks instead of eight. Unless they're looking ahead to the February sweeps, because this way they can hit both that one AND the May one with the rest of the season.
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[Katnip] That sounds logical. [Katnip]
ObRelatedGenre: "Survivor" and "TAR' do it all the time.
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No offense here but can y'all avoid using words like "ergo". I had bad flashbacks just now! :)
NBC = 700 cutbacks = "Oh look honey, dolphins!"
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'137718\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 10:31 AM\']
[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'137716\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 06:00 AM\']
Seriously, is there a damn thing on the network that's worth watching these days? I don't. Ergo, No spoliage.
[/quote]
Heroes and Studio 60 are actually really good.
Other'n that, yeah, right there with you. :)
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I'm a Friday Night Lights viewer myself. (And of course Jeopardy! and Wheel are on my local NBC station, but they don't really count).
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[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'137716\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 09:00 AM\']
Easy solution : Don't watch NBC.
Seriously, is there a damn thing on the network that's worth watching these days? I don't. Ergo, No spoliage.
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Allow me to put in a vote for The Office. ;-) I'd throw in a second and third vote for My Name is Earl and Studio 60, but the former is falling off quickly, and the latter goes a little too far above my head.
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Minor spoiler (kinda but giving the space anyway).....
And after all of the promotion....THAT was all that happened???? This is becoming a bad Sat Night Live parody.
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[quote name=\'toddyo\' post=\'137777\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 06:58 PM\']
And after all of the promotion....THAT was all that happened???? This is becoming a bad Sat Night Live parody.
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Lame indeed.
Possible spoiler:
//Especially the 'joke', but nice to see one of the 'other' babes again.
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30 Rock is funny in a surreal sort of way, and ought to be a good fit with Scrubs for us fans of that sort of thing (which, apparently, aren't very many).
Which is sad BTW, these are both pretty good shows. I myself can't wait until November 30th.
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[quote name=\'tvwxman\' post=\'137719\' date=\'Nov 13 2006, 08:45 AM\']
And (shameless self-promotion here), check out "Daybreak" with Taye Diggs. It's actually pretty good. I think it's got more potential than Nine and Brothers/Sisters. Maybe that will make it NBC 2, Ct-Matt 1?
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I watched "Daybreak" tonight and I thought it was great! :)
-Joe R.
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This reminds me of Millionaire from a few years back, when the progressive jackpot was in place. ABC ran promos that not one, but TWO people would go all the way. Of course, by the time the shows aired, people were tired of Millionaire and its jackpot anyways, so they had to spoil something to get good ratings.