The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: aaron sica on September 19, 2025, 12:56:04 PM
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....not something that was *truly* scary, but was scary to you as a child.
I can lead off with two examples:
1) I would watch the showcase reveals from another room and peering around the corner, because seeing the "DOUBLE SHOWCASE WINNER" graphic flashing scared me.
2) It's since been on blooper specials but when a contestant on TJW was playing "Face the Devil" and the lever snapped off and broke. The way Jack said "You broke my wheel" I didn't realize he was kidding and I thought he was legit angry.
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Jack had resting irritable face, so you may have had a point.
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Loud, unexpected, dissonant sound effects. I can think of three specifically:
1) the "EROOOO!" sound effect from TPIR's Pathfinder (yes, yes, it was Trivia Trap first...)
2) the "time's up" French horn glissando from Millionaire
3) the "time's up" horn sound effect from Bergeron Hollywood Squares (wah-WAH-wah-WAHHHHHH)
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While everyone else hid their eyes over the Dragon, I avoided TTD because the theme song gave me the creeps. Didn't know what a Moog synthesizer was at 6 or 7; I just knew I wanted no parts of the "squiggly" music. Now I love it.
I've said numerous times that I was terrified of the Lorimar-Telepictures logo as a child and would hide until whatever show ($1M Chance, Love Connection, etc.) were done. When I lived in Dallas, Chance came on before Rafferty's Card Sharks so I knew I was safe once the latter started.
Two from Remote Control: the way departing contestants exited the stage also terrified me, esp. when they'd rotate the chair 90-degrees upward and into the wall. Then when they strapped the contestant in for the bonus round I got a little unnerved...I got stitches when I was 5, and I think their contraption gave me flashbacks to being strapped to a board. :P
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The end-of-round sound on Jeopardy!
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The first time I heard the Minor Chord of Doom (Q15 loss) playing the Millionaire CD game, I nearly hit the ceiling.
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The first time I heard the Minor Chord of Doom (Q15 loss) playing the Millionaire CD game, I nearly hit the ceiling.
During the ATGS era, someone shared the sound byte and I nearly had the same reaction.
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Easy: The Hollywood Squares "Tacky Buzzer" when time ran out on the syndicated nighttime shows.
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The fireworks graphics on Wheel in the 90s when someone won the Jackpot scared the bejeezus out of me when I was little, because I thought those were actual explosions in the studio.
Also, the Viacom logo. Not the V of doom, but the *wigga wigga wigga wigga...VIACOMMMM* one.
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The first time I heard the Minor Chord of Doom (Q15 loss) playing the Millionaire CD game, I nearly hit the ceiling.
It still gives me the willies today.
I don’t seem to remember if the new music set from the second half of the syndicated series had any loss music that was ascending in tone; only that the three biggies from the shuffle set and all four Classic Millionaire questions did if you got them right. (There weren’t any tries at the million after Chip Esten played, were there?)
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Easy: The Hollywood Squares "Tacky Buzzer" when time ran out on the syndicated nighttime shows.
I was the same way, even though I had no problem with the same buzzer as the penalty buzzer on Baffle or the "time's up for the day" buzzer on The Gong Show.
There was also the X buzzer on Feud, but only when it wasn't expected - for example, there was one weekly syndicated episode when it went off just as they were going to a commercial.
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The first time I heard the Minor Chord of Doom (Q15 loss) playing the Millionaire CD game, I nearly hit the ceiling.
It still gives me the willies today.
I don’t seem to remember if the new music set from the second half of the syndicated series had any loss music that was ascending in tone; only that the three biggies from the shuffle set and all four Classic Millionaire questions did if you got them right. (There weren’t any tries at the million after Chip Esten played, were there?)
[/quotenot tha5 I recall
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Onto my picks:
-Price was Cliff Hangers for me for awhile. The falling of the mountain climber freaked me out.
-the time’s up bell on Wheel freaked me out because it was so loud compared to everything else.
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The opening to The New Treasure Hunt was quite frightening to four year old me.
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Adding to what Aaron said, for me, it was the DSW clangs and whoops that scared me as a 4-5 year old. I too kept a distance! In fact for a while I would watch the show up to the showcases.
Also, a vague memory of TTTT with Garry Moore... I remember he was put in a situation that really made him jump and yell from being scared... Mom laughed, but I didn't understand what was so funny. I would say this was circa 1976-77, not long before he retired.
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1) I would watch the showcase reveals from another room and peering around the corner, because seeing the "DOUBLE SHOWCASE WINNER" graphic flashing scared me.
I guess I was more scared by the clangs/whoops than by the graphic.
The "Classic Concentration" car round buzzer/losing horn freaked me out as a kid as well.
/nowadays, not really
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The first time I heard the Minor Chord of Doom (Q15 loss) playing the Millionaire CD game, I nearly hit the ceiling.
It still gives me the willies today.
I don’t seem to remember if the new music set from the second half of the syndicated series had any loss music that was ascending in tone; only that the three biggies from the shuffle set and all four Classic Millionaire questions did if you got them right. (There weren’t any tries at the million after Chip Esten played, were there?)
Josina Reeves was the only person to go for it during that era. It used the same lose cue as any other question.
I'm still disappointed that the UK version refuses to use the MCOD even though they created it. They've now had two chances, and both times they went with something else.
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The first time I heard the Minor Chord of Doom (Q15 loss) playing the Millionaire CD game, I nearly hit the ceiling.
It still gives me the willies today.
I don’t seem to remember if the new music set from the second half of the syndicated series had any loss music that was ascending in tone; only that the three biggies from the shuffle set and all four Classic Millionaire questions did if you got them right. (There weren’t any tries at the million after Chip Esten played, were there?)
Josina Reeves was the only person to go for it during that era. It used the same lose cue as any other question.
That’s what I thought. I didn’t remember off the top of my head.
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The first time I heard the Minor Chord of Doom (Q15 loss) playing the Millionaire CD game, I nearly hit the ceiling.
It still gives me the willies today.
I don’t seem to remember if the new music set from the second half of the syndicated series had any loss music that was ascending in tone; only that the three biggies from the shuffle set and all four Classic Millionaire questions did if you got them right. (There weren’t any tries at the million after Chip Esten played, were there?)
Josina Reeves was the only person to go for it during that era. It used the same lose cue as any other question.
I'm still disappointed that the UK version refuses to use the MCOD even though they created it. They've now had two chances, and both times they went with something else.
to be extremely fair, it isn’t quite as gut punchy of a loss as losing $475,000. Sure, that’s $75k she didn’t take home but I got the feeling she was almost backed into a corner and had to take a punt.
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The illegal clue buzzer at the Winner's Circle on 80's Pyramid still makes me cover my ears, especially since it was difficult to know when it was coming when I was young. I'm thrilled that every version since has tamed the sound.
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to be extremely fair, it isn’t quite as gut punchy of a loss as losing $475,000. Sure, that’s $75k she didn’t take home but I got the feeling she was almost backed into a corner and had to take a punt.
Oh 100%. With the right life conditions, it's nearly impossible NOT to take that chance.
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(https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/press-your-luck/images/f/f7/Whammy.gif)
Couple that with the sound effect...yeah that was nightmare fuel for a while.
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I was with Big Bird in the Hollywood Squares 'times up' buzzer scaring the bajeebus out of me.
'The Joker's Wild' parp was disconcerting.
I never thought the 'Daily Double' sound was 'pleasant'
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Not me, but my younger cousin hated the bonus round on TTD...Specifically when the camera would zoom in on the selected box and the dragon would "swoop" in with the roar.
Semi-related: The Screen Gems "snake" logo along with the associated creepy electronic music scared the crap out of me when I was in my single-digits.
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Not me per se but I can’t tell you how many times I heard from viewers that their special needs kids would freak out when the Viacom logo would appear. Both the early 70s EKG and the later 70s swoosh.
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Am I one of the few who wasn’t freaked by the Viacom logos of the 70s and 80s? I used to like the music crescendo on the so called V of Doom. Still do.
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Am I one of the few who wasn’t freaked by the Viacom logos of the 70s and 80s? I used to like the music crescendo on the so called V of Doom. Still do.
Same. I always found myself mesmerized by the zooming "V" and ominous music for some odd reason.