The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Don Howard on July 03, 2004, 04:01:19 PM
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The following are some things I was wondering about the SECRET CATEGORY on everybody's game of strategy, knowledge and fun.
Since the SC doubled the pot if answered correctly and the pot started at $0, if someone had picked the SC first and was correct, would the pot have doubled to $0?
What's the highest a pot doubled to because of the SC?
If the SC was answered correctly in a game, would it reappear in another box after the shuffle making it possible for the doubled pot to double yet again?
I imagine the SC had been discontinued between the runs of Thom McKee and Kit Salisbury--otherwise, Kit would have done better than $199,750 in 36 games. True?
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I believe the highest pot on TTD was about $37-38K because of the Secret Category.
Of course a few ties may have caused that on the way too.. no idea!
Except for the last two appearances, I haven't seen all of Thom McKee's run.
And yes I believe it appeared again in the game after being answered.
The Secret Category was replaced with the Grand Question after McKee's run, but made an appearance in 82-83.
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[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Jul 3 2004, 03:01 PM\']
If the SC was answered correctly in a game, would it reappear in another box after the shuffle making it possible for the doubled pot to double yet again?
[/quote]
The Secret Categ'Ry was in the shuffle throughout a game in which it appeared. I suspect Barry and Enright figured out at some point a pot could be worth as much as $76,800 if the SC appeared in advantageous position(more than that if it appears during a tie game), ergo it was discontinued after the 1982-83 season.
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I believe the highest pot on TTD was about $37-38K because of the Secret Category.
To be exact, it was $36,800 and won by none other than the aforementioned Thom McKee during the 2nd week (I believe) of his reign.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
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If the pot was $0, then answering a question on the Secret Category FIRST will only add an X or an O on the board, hence $0 x 2 = $0. Why even try to go there first anyway. Start with a categoty that adds money to the pot, then, if the Secret Category was in a position to win or block, use it.
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[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' date=\'Jul 4 2004, 01:57 AM\'] If the pot was $0, then answering a question on the Secret Category FIRST will only add an X or an O on the board, hence $0 x 2 = $0.
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That's the logic, yes, but do you know FOR A FACT that that is how TTD handled it? That was the OP's question. You have, once again, added nothing useful to the discussion at hand.
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Well, understand that Secret Category and the eventual cavalcade of red started out in slot eight before going to 2, 6 and 8. It wouldn't make any sense to start with number eight anyway.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 4 2004, 04:02 AM\'] [quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' date=\'Jul 4 2004, 01:57 AM\'] If the pot was $0, then answering a question on the Secret Category FIRST will only add an X or an O on the board, hence $0 x 2 = $0.
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That's the logic, yes, but do you know FOR A FACT that that is how TTD handled it? That was the OP's question. You have, once again, added nothing useful to the discussion at hand. [/quote]
Chris, I'd settle for the fact that he's able to do basic math. Besides, only an idiot would take "Secret Category" first.
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[quote name=\'sshuffield70\' date=\'Jul 4 2004, 10:44 AM\']Well, understand that Secret Category and the eventual cavalcade of red started out in slot eight before going to 2, 6 and 8. It wouldn't make any sense to start with number eight anyway.[/quote]
Also, it seemed to me that Secret Category was never shuffled to the center box--although in most cases the center box was covered by the first round of questioning, anyway. Center and one of the corners were the usual first round picks in a game.
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Ah, but what if the first question of the game was missed, followed by a shuffle of SC to a corner?
(And why do I feel like I'm holding a gas can and a match?)
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[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' date=\'Jul 4 2004, 07:28 PM\'] Ah, but what if the first question of the game was missed, followed by a shuffle of SC to a corner? [/quote]
Then the O player would probably pick the center box (red boxes never fall in the center).
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The "Secret Category" questions were always single-part, which is why that square would always be in an outside box. The show's producers knew, even from the very beginning of TTD on NBC in 1956, that if a player captured the center box on the board, he would eliminate four of the eight ways his opponent could beat him.
Hence, the center-box questions were always made more difficult than the outside-box questions (two-part questions, in fact, from 1978 on) and also worth more money than the outside-box questions. Here's the breakdown:
NBC daytime version (1956-59): Outside-box questions worth $100, center-box questions $200.
NBC prime-time version (1957-58): Outside-box questions worth $300; center-box questions $500.
CBS daytime version (1978): Same as the NBC daytime version.
First syndicated version (1978-86): Outside-box questions worth $200 (except for "Secret Category" and, I seem to recall, a special occasional "Add A Grand" category that was worth $1000); center-box questions $300.
Second syndicated version (1990): Outside-box questions worth $500; center-box questions worth $1000, unless players had previously tied one or more games. In that case, those amounts were multipled by the game number the players were playing. ($1000/$2000 if they were playing their second game after tying their first game; $1500/$3000 if they were playing their third game after tying their first two games, etc.)
Michael Brandenburg
(But one of the things I didn't like about TTD's mercifully short-lived 1990 version was that if the players tied, the prize pot was wiped out after each tie and started over from zero for the [next] tie-breaking game. I would have much rather had the "carryover pots" from the previous versions of the show after ties.)
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[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Jul 4 2004, 06:36 PM\'] [quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' date=\'Jul 4 2004, 07:28 PM\'] Ah, but what if the first question of the game was missed, followed by a shuffle of SC to a corner? [/quote]
Then the O player would probably pick the center box (red boxes never fall in the center). [/quote]
Ah, no one told us that Jim Caldwell signed up for the board.