The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: GiraffeBoy on June 16, 2014, 10:39:54 PM
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http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2014/06/jeopardy-host-alex-trebek-breaks-game-show-record/ (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2014/06/jeopardy-host-alex-trebek-breaks-game-show-record/)
Sean Connery might actually be jealous.
--Charlie
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"I avunculared your mother last night, Trebek!"
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Wait a minute...this math seems quite a bit off. While impressive, it seems like over 6,800 (is this overall, or just Jeopardy?) is quite low for a record.
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For some reason, I thought Barker hosted 7,000 episodes of TPiR, but a quick Google search tells me that said milestone ep. aired in November 2009, well into the Drew era. I also didn't realize that Wheel just hit 6,000 episodes a couple months ago. The episode difference actually surprises me quite a bit, considering that syndicated Wheel premiered a season prior.
Anyone know Barker's final episode total? With that 7,000th airing just over two years after Drew took over, I'd guess it was around 6,600?
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Don't forget though that Jeopardy carries on into late July whereas Wheel wraps by mid June at the latest. I could see why the numbers might be off for Wheel hitting 6,000 now instead of a year ago.
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Yeah, that was the one thing I considered. I couldn't remember the exact airdate schedules, but I figured that would've made a big difference over the years.
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Anyone know Barker's final episode total? With that 7,000th airing just over two years after Drew took over, I'd guess it was around 6,600?
Per the Golden-Road.net FAQ, Barker's last show was the 6,731st daytime episode, so that would put his total at 6,727 (deducting for the 4 shows in December 1974 where Dennis James subbed).
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Does your total for Barker include prime-time specials?
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Are we excluding Barker's 70's nighttime episodes?
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The things that are not the daytime show are not like not considered in the totals, as they are not the daytime show.
If J-Archive is right (and episodes aren't airing out of order), that means Guinness is off by 30. Is there something I missed?
/Love how the story says Fleming's J! was "only 16 years"
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I got confused when reading on the Jeopardy.com website that Alex has hosted 6,795 shows instead of the 6,829 episodes mentioned on Friday's episode.
I did some math, and it seems to be correct when considering:
1. They're including the first-run episodes that have yet to air.
2. They're NOT including the April 1, 1997 episode hosted by Pat Sajak.
3. That only 195 first-run episodes were produced in the first two seasons (230 first-run episodes, and fewer repeats every season afterwards).
If they were to include all of Pat Sajak's NBC daytime shows with the 6,000+ syndicated shows, he'd be the record holder!
Does anyone else agree that Johnny Gilbert deserves some recognition, too, since (AFAIK) he's never been absent from an episode of J! (including the April Fool's edition mentioned above)?
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If they were to include all of Pat Sajak's NBC daytime shows with the 6,000+ syndicated shows, he'd be the record holder!
Then I call shenanigans. (Although Stubby Kaye is probably about 714th on the list.) If Pat Sajak has hosted more episodes of Wheel of Fortune than Alex Trebek has hosted of Jeopardy!, then Pat Sajak is your record holder. That's just common sense, and anything else is fuzzy accounting.
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If they were to include all of Pat Sajak's NBC daytime shows with the 6,000+ syndicated shows, he'd be the record holder!
Then I call shenanigans. (Although Stubby Kaye is probably about 714th on the list.) If Pat Sajak has hosted more episodes of Wheel of Fortune than Alex Trebek has hosted of Jeopardy!, then Pat Sajak is your record holder. That's just common sense, and anything else is fuzzy accounting.
By my accounting, Pat hosted approximately 1,900 daytime shows.
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The record as I understand it is for consecutive episodes of one show. Wheel's daytime and network runs are two different shows.
/though 4/1/1997 breaks the "consecutive" sequence by 17 years.
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The record as I understand it is for consecutive episodes of one show. Wheel's daytime and network runs are two different shows.
Are they now.
That was Matt's point--if it is the same show at different times of day with different prizes or dress code, that's still the same program. If you call a sheep's tail a leg and say "how many legs on a sheep?" the answer is still four because just calling a tail a leg doesn't make it so.
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If they were to include all of Pat Sajak's NBC daytime shows with the 6,000+ syndicated shows, he'd be the record holder!
Too bad Sony revisionist history would disallow that...
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The record as I understand it is for consecutive episodes of one show. Wheel's daytime and network runs are two different shows.
Are they now.
That was Matt's point--if it is the same show at different times of day with different prizes or dress code, that's still the same program. If you call a sheep's tail a leg and say "how many legs on a sheep?" the answer is still four because just calling a tail a leg doesn't make it so.
In point of fact, multiple sources say that the Guinness listing is simply for "most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter". And being a light entertainment story that no one's going to bother to fact check, I can't find a single source that makes any effort at all to explain why some two thousand Sajak episodes don't count. They're not being explained away, they're being ignored. That's just silly.
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In point of fact, multiple sources say that the Guinness listing is simply for "most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter". And being a light entertainment story that no one's going to bother to fact check, I can't find a single source that makes any effort at all to explain why some two thousand Sajak episodes don't count. They're not being explained away, they're being ignored. That's just silly.
Given that the daytime show left the airwaves about 22 years ago is it possible that there's a great deal of people out there that only know Wheel of Fortune as an early evening program and not a morning buzzsaw that devoured less popular shows wholly without even a pause to chew?
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In point of fact, multiple sources say that the Guinness listing is simply for "most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter". And being a light entertainment story that no one's going to bother to fact check, I can't find a single source that makes any effort at all to explain why some two thousand Sajak episodes don't count. They're not being explained away, they're being ignored. That's just silly.
It *is* silly. Unfortunately, with well over 20 years now since the daytime version has left the air, it becomes less and less relevant to anything concerning Wheel.
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it becomes less and less relevant
much like Guinness did when it transformed from an actual reference book into a glossy coffee table book.
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much like Guinness did when it transformed from an actual reference book into a glossy coffee table book.
You bring up a good point and actually something I've wondered for awhile.....I loved the paperback versions when I was a kid that had anything and everything in it that was hundreds of pages.....Is that not in print anymore?
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much like Guinness did when it transformed from an actual reference book into a glossy coffee table book.
I was going to mention this but now you have. There's a GWR book that is almanac size that features actual content instead of lots of full-page pictures. It comes out in the middle of the year. Recommended.
I still have the very first hardback they did from 1991; the difference between then and now is galaxy-sized.
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There's a GWR book that is almanac size that features actual content instead of lots of full-page pictures.
See, I thought they stopped doing the almanac version. That's good to know.
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The record as I understand it is for consecutive episodes of one show. Wheel's daytime and network runs are two different shows.
Are they now.
That was Matt's point--if it is the same show at different times of day with different prizes or dress code, that's still the same program. If you call a sheep's tail a leg and say "how many legs on a sheep?" the answer is still four because just calling a tail a leg doesn't make it so.
In point of fact, multiple sources say that the Guinness listing is simply for "most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter". And being a light entertainment story that no one's going to bother to fact check, I can't find a single source that makes any effort at all to explain why some two thousand Sajak episodes don't count. They're not being explained away, they're being ignored. That's just silly.
The only explanation I can think of is, as mentioned elsewhere, Wheel not wanting to recognize anything outside the nighttime run as being "canon". It's the primary source ignoring the daytime episodes.
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It's the primary source ignoring the daytime episodes.
[citation needed]
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The only explanation I can think of is, as mentioned elsewhere, Wheel not wanting to recognize anything outside the nighttime run as being "canon". It's the primary source ignoring the daytime episodes.
If I'm Pat Sajak, then I don't care, because I'm Pat Sajak and I haven't really cared since 1997. But seeing as how these Guinness things are nothing more than publicity stunts, it strikes me as odd that Sony would be SO willfully blind to the daytime shows that they'd hype their one guy instead of their other guy, when by any rational definition, their other guy is "the guy".
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I'm assuming they didn't count the daytime Wheel eps because Sajak didn't host the entire run of it, and the record was for a single presenter. (excluding special programs like April Fools Day or being out because of illness).
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Here's a question: are the 13 episodes of Super Jeopardy counted in Trebek's total or is that considered a separate series? It isn't if you go by Travis' earlier definition.
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My point is that all this nuance and nit-picking isn't part of the story. The story is that Alex Trebek has hosted more episodes of his game show than anybody else has of some other game show. And that's not correct.
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In point of fact, multiple sources say that the Guinness listing is simply for "most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter".
I'm assuming they didn't count the daytime Wheel eps because Sajak didn't host the entire run of it, and the record was for a single presenter. (excluding special programs like April Fools Day or being out because of illness).
I think this is something that should be explored. The daytime version is very confusing. It was hosted by four different people. Jeopardy's been pretty cut and dry with no extended period of time without Trebek at the helm.
I think "Most Game Show Episodes Hosted By The Same Presenter" is probably the shortest thing they could put in the book without it being "Most Game Show Episodes in Single Incarnation of Series Hosted By The Same Presenter Not Counting Specials." I have to imagine that there are other criteria they're using to determine this.
Either that or they're just too lazy to calculate the information across the two Wheel series. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the reason.
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Then this goes to something in Brainiac: trivia should be correct and interesting (and usually succinct.) If Guinness can't be arsed to do some math and research, it throws into sharp relief how much work they do on the rest of their book. It isn't like a record where there might be some slightly more poisonous snake living in the Amazon basin or even the Japanese centenarian who was listed as Oldest Man Evar until his case was disputed and the French gal surpassed his record anyway--this is a thing you can suss out with e-mails or phone calls.
The premise of a book of records is that they're verified and interesting, if you can make up trivia or records then the whole idea loses meaning.
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if you can make up trivia or records then the whole idea loses meaning.
Don't tell ESPN that though...
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But seeing as how these Guinness things are nothing more than publicity stunts, it strikes me as odd that Sony would be SO willfully blind to the daytime shows that they'd hype their one guy instead of their other guy, when by any rational definition, their other guy is "the guy".
Here's my WAG: Sony's going with Trebek so they can eventually have Sajak dethrone Trebek on his nighttime-episodes-only count, and Sony gets twice the publicity outta the deal.
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But seeing as how these Guinness things are nothing more than publicity stunts, it strikes me as odd that Sony would be SO willfully blind to the daytime shows that they'd hype their one guy instead of their other guy, when by any rational definition, their other guy is "the guy".
Here's my WAG: Sony's going with Trebek so they can eventually have Sajak dethrone Trebek on his nighttime-episodes-only count, and Sony gets twice the publicity outta the deal.
That makes the most sense to me as well.