The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Matt Ottinger on October 30, 2011, 11:54:26 AM
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Thought the assembled masses might be interested in this.
Betty White made an appearance at a casino just north of me last night and the venue, not surprisingly, was packed. I don't know that anybody knew exactly what to expect, but the setup was more or less what I thought it would be: Betty, seated, taking Q&A moderated by a host who would also show clips from throughout her career. Kinda hard to screw up, right? Oh, my.
The event was about as big a travesty as anything associated with Betty White could possibly be. The clips were overly long, poorly chosen and quite likely just pulled from various YouTube pages. Not only did Betty not have any specific material of her own prepared, she seemed totally unprepared for any of the clips or the lame questions that followed. Worst of all was the host, a casino employee who typically just introduces the acts, but this time had to take responsibility for the entire show, and was in way WAY over his head. I was even annoyed by the casino's video production.
Sometimes Betty's comments didn't even make any sense. At one point, the host -- who presumably knew what was on the clips -- encouraged her to tell a story she mentioned to him backstage about how she never got to see any Golden Girls bloopers because Bea Arthur wouldn't allow it. So the two of them make a big deal about how she's going to be seeing these bloopers for the very first time, right here on stage. They roll the clip, and it's Betty herself on some old blooper TV show introducing the bloopers she just told us she'd never seen! I can't blame a 90-year-old woman for forgetting details, but the host should have known better.
On topic, the only game show clip was a Password episode. In another bit of weirdness, they ran a long introductory opening segment that hardly featured Betty at all, mostly involving interviews with Arlene Francis and two professional cartoonists who were serving as contestants in the special episode. No game play. The casino host also brought up Just Men, but just when you thought there was going to be a clip, he moved on.
Betty left fairly abruptly after the host's little "time machine" finally got to Hot In Cleveland, and some people speculated she was just as annoyed as everyone else and ended the show early. If you want to read some more nasty comments, there are plenty of them on the Soaring Eagle Facebook page (http://"http://www.facebook.com/SoaringEagleCasino") (which, ironically, you have to "like" first before reading all the "dislike"). In the last few minutes, Soaring Eagle has tried to begin damage control over the fiasco.
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Too bad about the show. That is the casino near my house, so I am familiar with the guy who conducted the show. He usually emcees the slot tournaments in a very over-the-top delivery. He'll probably get a network game show before I do.
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I've had the displeasure of watching way too many "show biz adjacent" casino tummlers' ham-fisted hosting skills cheapen entertainment offerings at casinos from San Diego to Shreveport to Reno and other secondary markets. But when I see the same crap in Vegas and Atlantic City it really upsets me. The idea of saving a few bucks by not employing at least a semi-professional host cheapens the entire show. But as one casino event producer once told me, to them it doesn't much matter who does these gigs. Once they've attracted the crowd or sold the tickets "nobody's going to ask for their money back."
Betty deserved better.
Thanks for the report, Matt.
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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Since I didn't attend the previous Game Show Congress and didn't have the fantastic opportunity many of you did, I guess I just have to look at this experience as I paid for a ticket to be in the same room as Betty White. Betty deserved better.
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Matt, you should talk with the casino management on Monday and see if you can't audition to host these kind of shows in the future. Judging by your past & present work, I think you would have made it one of the best experiences for the patrons and for Betty in a Q&A atmosphere.
And glad to see that you stayed in control that night, since we all know Matt Ottinger can cause *every* slot machine in a casino to pay off the top jackpot prizes simultaneously with a flex of his right pinky!!! :)
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[quote name='Soaring Eagle FB page']We are reading all the comments Mallory and are truly sorry you are disappointed. We ran the show as requested. Betty does not do stand up comedy so we are sorry that is how you thought the show would go.[/quote]
Talk about not getting it. The audience - or I'm going to assume the majority of it - wanted stories, you provincial putz.
Sounds like Soaring Eagle took a flying dump.
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Soaring Eagle just posted the following on its FB page...
On behalf of Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort and the Entertainment department, we would like to extend our sincerest apologies for those that did not enjoy Betty White's show. We have to admit that it was certainly our pleasure and honor to have such an icon grace us with her presence. We appreciate all of your feedback and will take that into consideration for our future shows and events. We certainly pride ourselves in providing the Central Michigan area with top notch entertainment.
Sounds more like "Let's just issue an apology even if we don't mean it." The new parent in me would just say "and what are you sorry for?", then make them sit in a corner for an hour :) )
JD
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On behalf of Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort and the Entertainment department, we would like to extend our sincerest apologies for those that did not enjoy Betty White's show.
That would be "to" those "who" did not enjoy "our" show with Betty White. It's the great new trend in corporate speech. You apologize that the victim feels a certain way, without in any way acknowledging you did what caused it.
Geez, how much would it cost to have a local morning DJ come interview the star? One can only hope annoyed disappointed people don't gamble as much as happy well-entertained people, but what Randy has seen and heard seems to say otherwise.
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Nono, you guys don't understand. That apology was being extended to the people who thought the show was both hunky and dory (and therefore were very likely buying wickedly expensive adult beverages), to apologize for letting in the people with some modicum of good sense who knew a dog when they saw it.
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Soaring Eagle just posted the following on its FB page...
On behalf of Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort and the Entertainment department, we would like to extend our sincerest apologies for those that did not enjoy Betty White's show. We have to admit that it was certainly our pleasure and honor to have such an icon grace us with her presence. We appreciate all of your feedback and will take that into consideration for our future shows and events. We certainly pride ourselves in providing the Central Michigan area with top notch entertainment.
*Sniff* *Sniff* Your hands, they smell like ass, have you been trying to cover it again.
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I'm not really, truly upset like a lot of people on the Facebook page. Unlike them I've had the opportunity, along with many of you, to see Betty in a much more intimate and well-produced venue. Still, I'm finding it surprisingly hard to let this go.
But as one casino event producer once told me, to them it doesn't much matter who does these gigs. Once they've attracted the crowd or sold the tickets "nobody's going to ask for their money back."
Perhaps more accurately, once they've paid, there's no way we're giving them their money back. Because I can assure you, people are asking!
Matt, you should talk with the casino management on Monday and see if you can't audition to host these kind of shows in the future.
I've thought about this fiasco a lot, and I think you are on to something. As little as I blow my own horn, it occurred to me that the thing that was perhaps the most frustrating was that in every significant way (the choice and editing of the clips, the hosting, even the video production inside the room), I could have done a better job. And of course would have done it for free! Unfortunately, the guy they had host was their own man. Randy was dead-on about the type. Normally he just introduces the performers. He's even irritating at that, but he's gone before any lasting damage is done.
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One can only hope annoyed disappointed people don't gamble as much as happy well-entertained people
I left $70 ahead after some blackjack and video poker. That softened the blow slightly. :P
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I don't know if the casino knew what kind of show she was gonna do. I've never attended one of the shows, but usually they have stand-up comedians or musical acts. Regis was there a couple of years ago and sang songs. Bowser did his '50s doo-wop show. George Lopez was there a week ago. Jim Gaffigan is coming in a few weeks. They had Mickey Rooney there on St. Patrick's Day and as I recall he was just milling about the casino. I think they thought Betty had a stand up act put together and when they found out she didn't they probably went into panic mode and had their go-to guy Tim host a hastily constructed clip show.
I had asked them on Facebook a few weeks prior what kind of show she was gonna do and as I recall they said "comedy" (somebody with more time on their hands can verify this by looking up old Facebook posts.) Maybe Betty should have some stand-up material written mixed in with remincences and Q&A. She is beloved by pretty much all who would buy a ticket, so anything she would have done would have been okay. Obviously people are ticked that it turned into "The Tim Show."
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I don't know if the casino knew what kind of show she was gonna do.
Um, isn't is kinda their business to? Isn't that something a professional promotion hashes out with the act before they even sign a contract?
Maybe Betty should have some stand-up material written mixed in with remincences and Q&A.
Maybe the casino should have done their due diligence.
Obviously people are ticked that it turned into "The Tim Show."
Can't imagine why.
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I guess what it all comes down to is that if they are forced to give out refunds, the slots will magically become unwinnable for the next six months.
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I guess what it all comes down to is that if they are forced to give out refunds, the slots will magically become unwinnable for the next six months.
They're not going to be forced to give refunds. The whole purpose of a casino is to separate fools from their money. This time around, we ended up being the fools. Still, I doubt very seriously Jimmy's scenario above. I don't think the casino was surprised by anything, I think they knew all along that it was going to be a Q&A with them providing the host, and I just think they blew it. And again, they probably don't really care all that much. We paid our money (the show sold out), and we're not getting it back. People will bitch and moan and say they're never going back, but the next time there's an act they want to see (especially a more traditional one), they'll be there.
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I guess what it all comes down to is that if they are forced to give out refunds, the slots will magically become unwinnable for the next six months.
I'd say people are foolish enough to play slots as it is. That said, your knowledge of the gaming business is apparently zilch, so I suggest you rethink another post with such an outrageous claim.
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I guess what it all comes down to is that if they are forced to give out refunds, the slots will magically become unwinnable for the next six months.
I'd say people are foolish enough to play slots as it is. That said, your knowledge of the gaming business is apparently zilch, so I suggest you rethink another post with such an outrageous claim.
Thanks, Mark.