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The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: whewfan on March 02, 2006, 05:52:33 AM

Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: whewfan on March 02, 2006, 05:52:33 AM
Here's something you'll never see on game shows today... games that tape anyway despite technical problems. Can you think of any game show that had some technical problem and taped anyway? (Besides TPIR)

Scrabble 93- The stopper stop signs did not work in the first few episodes of Scrabble, so there was no way for the audience to keep track of how many stoppers were picked. On another funny ep., the board did not open.

Jeopardy!- I seem to remember that the new podiums had lights that didn't light up, and that was eventually fixed.

Super Password- On one occasion, the scoreboards didn't work, and they kept score via cue cards.

Family Feud Dawson- The fast money board broke, and it was played on a cue card.

Pictionary- The scoreboard was clever, but sometimes the beads would get caught, and Brian Robbins joked that you can never rely on the scoreboard.

Match Game- The lights went completely out on at least two occasions (once on MG 77, and once on Richard's final MG PM)

Family Feud Combs- As discussed, the strike indicators broke, and strike paddles were used.

This wouldn't count as a technical PROBLEM, but on one occasion on Davidson HS, when they dismantled the set to go to Florida (which made no sense, since they obviously had a different set in Florida) they kept it dismantled, and the celebs stood on risers and had X and O cards (which they did use if the lights stopped working)
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: davemackey on March 02, 2006, 06:08:10 AM
[quote name=\'whewfan\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 05:52 AM\']This wouldn't count as a technical PROBLEM, but on one occasion on Davidson HS, when they dismantled the set to go to Florida (which made no sense, since they obviously had a different set in Florida) they kept it dismantled, and the celebs stood on risers and had X and O cards (which they did use if the lights stopped working)
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The strong natural lighting precluded the use of the regular lighting apparatus, and the oranges-water skis cards were a nice tropical touch.

At various points in the 70's, NABET technicians staged walkouts at all three networks and a number of episodes of their game shows were taped with management personnel manning the cameras. Not really technical problems, but those shows were just barely broadcastable, because the managers weren't as skilled as the regular crews.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: dzinkin on March 02, 2006, 06:24:54 AM
MG/HS Hour - During one show's HS portion, one celebrity's "X" started flashing.  Jon Bauman joked that "we don't allow flashers on our show" and went to a commercial.  When the show resumed, ALL of the symbols were off and the celebrities crossed their arms in front of themselves for an "X" or joined their hands over their heads for an "O."

Davidson HS - I recall at least one regular show (not final-week or pre-Florida trip) in which all of the celebrities used the X/O cards because none of the symbols would light up.  JD said that it was due to a technical problem.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: BrandonFG on March 02, 2006, 07:14:59 AM
Don't know how "techincal" it is, but Bob's kicked some of the TPiR games. I think he kicked Squeeze Play twice when it didn't wanna reveal. :-)
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: aaron sica on March 02, 2006, 07:32:26 AM
I can remember some lights on the Showcase podiums (podia?) on TPiR having problems occasionally.

And although not really a technical problem, I seem to remember an episode of Liar's Club on USA where the contestant maxed out the display and they had to tape a "1" on the left end. Too few solari's, I suppose. :)
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: dmota104 on March 02, 2006, 07:38:35 AM
[quote name=\'whewfan\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 05:52 AM\']Family Feud Dawson- The fast money board broke, and it was played on a cue card.
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I recall toward the end of a main game of the syndie version with Richard, the whole scoring system froze.  

In other words, when a contestant would match an answer in the survey, the answer would flip with the accompanying "clang" -- but its money value wouldn't be added to the bank.  Further, when a round ended, the "giving lights" (from the bank to a family's score) would work -- but the appropriate addition couldn't be made on the scoreboard.

I think all was fixed by Fast Money.


Also, on MTV's Remote Control, technical difficulties to a player's scoreboard readout would occur every now and then.  Ken Ober would make some remark something to the effect of "we're keeping score in Japanese".
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: zachhoran on March 02, 2006, 07:46:44 AM
[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 07:32 AM\']

And although not really a technical problem, I seem to remember an episode of Liar's Club on USA where the contestant maxed out the display and they had to tape a "1" on the left end. Too few solari's, I suppose. :)
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Pat had to write in a 1 and display it on the left of the players two and three day total readouts on a couple on occasions on Syndie WOF when a player cracked $100K before their third bonus round.

I suspect that was the incident that caused the rules to change to a $100 maximum bet per round, assuming the player had more than $100.

The 1988-89 version of LC had a similar rule, but despite the score possibly going over 1000, they only had three digits on the contestant readouts.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: GSFan on March 02, 2006, 08:20:53 AM
If I am not mistaken, Mike Gargiulo won an Emmy for directing an early 1976 episode of The $20,000 Pyramid in which the lights were out on the big board for the entire show.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Ian Wallis on March 02, 2006, 09:01:32 AM
More from Davidson "Squares":  one episode Joan Rivers square just wouldn't light up - the other 8 were fine.  They did the show anyway and no mention was made.  By the next show everything was back to normal.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: zachhoran on March 02, 2006, 09:08:13 AM
No one has yet mentioned the out-of-sync lights, etc. from Face the Music, but they pressed on despite those.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: sshuffield70 on March 02, 2006, 09:14:01 AM
This probably doesn't count....but I recall a Combs Feud where power had gone out just before a faceoff and the families returned (and taping resumed) on the next tape day.  The show did make air.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Clay Zambo on March 02, 2006, 10:28:05 AM
[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 07:32 AM\']I can remember some lights on the Showcase podiums (podia?)
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Neither.  They're lecturns.  A podium is something you stand ON.  A lecturn is something you stand AT or BEHIND.

EDIT:  Or not. dictionary.com (http://\"http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=podium\") lists "a lecturn" as a second definition for "podium."  So I stand self-corrected, but no longer on my grammatical soapbox.  Or podium.  Sorry.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Adam Nedeff on March 02, 2006, 11:14:16 AM
[quote name=\'dzinkin\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 06:24 AM\']MG/HS Hour - During one show's HS portion, one celebrity's "X" started flashing.  Jon Bauman joked that "we don't allow flashers on our show" and went to a commercial.  When the show resumed, ALL of the symbols were off and the celebrities crossed their arms in front of themselves for an "X" or joined their hands over their heads for an "O."
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Showing that MG/HS wasn't entirely familiar with Ocham's Razor. If only the celebrities all had something like large index cards and magic markers that could create an X and O that would easily be visible from the short distance where the contestants were seated...
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: GS Warehouse on March 02, 2006, 11:40:42 AM
I recall one Double Dare Obstacle Course in 1987 where on the on-stage clock wasn't working.  I don't know where the clock we saw on-screen was from another display or was added in post-production, but the team did complete the course in :53.  And there was more than one Physical Challenge where Marc called to stop the clock because a contestant's headgear was falling off.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Brandon Brooks on March 02, 2006, 11:58:02 AM
[quote name=\'whewfan\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 05:52 AM\']Here's something you'll never see on game shows today... games that tape anyway despite technical problems. Can you think of any game show that had some technical problem and taped anyway? (Besides TPIR)

Jeopardy!- I seem to remember that the new podiums had lights that didn't light up, and that was eventually fixed.
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I remember this happening twice--when they rolled in the sushi set and when they rolled in the current set.

Brandon Brooks
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: TraderRob on March 02, 2006, 12:05:33 PM
[quote name=\'dzinkin\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 06:24 AM\']Davidson HS - I recall at least one regular show (not final-week or pre-Florida trip) in which all of the celebrities used the X/O cards because none of the symbols would light up.  JD said that it was due to a technical problem.
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This happened quite a bit in the show's infancy and there never seemed to be any rhyme or reason to it.   One side of the board would work but the other side wouldn't.   And then as Dave mentioned, the famed episode in January 1987 where the entire board went dark around the end of game 1 and into game 2.

John barely had control of the celebrities on a normal day - nothing like having to have him yell at them to make sure to hold up their X or O.  

And then on other shows, the amount of money won shown on the contestant podium wouldn't come up...yet another proud moment for John when he asked the staff to put up $500 for the contestant because they couldn't do it before the commercial due to a technical problem and then it still wouldn't appear! :-)

Rob
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: JasonA1 on March 02, 2006, 12:36:21 PM
In a semi-related DD note to Mr. Wuthrich's post, at least twice the clock jumped from 30 to 19 during a physical challenge - in both cases, completion of that challenge was irrelevant to who ended up winning, but they handed them the $80 anyway. Simiarly to what he said, physical challenges went without an on-screen clock, but Marc would explain the music lasted as long as the challenge and "when the music's over, the physical challenge is over."

A "Family Feud" all-star special appeared to have the main game answers flipped manually - they came around less "cleanly" and with more force than on the average day.

There was that famous incident on "Blockbusters" when Bill Cullen asked viewers to use lipstick to draw in an unlighted red hexagon.

And TPIR is the absolute perfect example of this. Chaser lights in "Dice Game" not operating, the sound effect on the wheel going kerplooey, etc. If TPIR stopped down for every error, they'd have one hell of a day in the studio.

-Jason
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: gameboy2000 on March 02, 2006, 01:27:19 PM
There was one Family Double Dare ep where the clock did not work during a physical challenge, so they went by the music instead. The team completed the challenge just in time.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: TV Favorites on March 02, 2006, 01:53:16 PM
Also, in several TPiR episodes with Barker's Bargain Bar, the trilons would not turn, so they were flipped by hand manually.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: clemon79 on March 02, 2006, 01:59:22 PM
[quote name=\'JasonA1\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 09:36 AM\']There was that famous incident on "Blockbusters" when Bill Cullen asked viewers to use lipstick to draw in an unlighted red hexagon.
[/quote]
I hear Karlberg is _still_ trying to wipe that lipstick off of his TV. :)
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: TV Favorites on March 02, 2006, 02:02:35 PM
[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 02:59 PM\'][quote name=\'JasonA1\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 09:36 AM\']There was that famous incident on "Blockbusters" when Bill Cullen asked viewers to use lipstick to draw in an unlighted red hexagon.
[/quote]
I hear Karlberg is _still_ trying to wipe that lipstick off of his TV. :)
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I hear Daddy's wristwatch might do the trick. :)
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: GS Warehouse on March 02, 2006, 02:49:19 PM
[quote name=\'JasonA1\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 12:36 PM\']There was that famous incident on "Blockbusters" when Bill Cullen asked viewers to use lipstick to draw in an unlighted red hexagon.[/quote]Anybody remember when the board went kerblooey and all those weird shapes started appearing?  In the back of my mind, I recall watching this on the old CBN, and ISTR Bill ad-libbing something about whether contestants can make a word out of the visible letters, since there so many...um, not-letters.  Unfortunately, a ticket or contestant plug followed, so we'll never see it on GSN.

[quote name=\'JasonA1\' date=\'same post\']And TPIR is the absolute perfect example of this. ... If TPIR stopped down for every error, they'd have one hell of a day in the studio.
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[/quote]I'll say...the wrong number being revealed in Lucky Seven...Bob forgetting contestants have two chances to win Pick-a-Pair, not one...that contestant in Shell Game that peeked under a shell ("That's dumb!").  Technical difficulties on TPiR should merit their own thread! :-)
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Don Howard on March 02, 2006, 03:08:19 PM
[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 07:46 AM\'][quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 07:32 AM\']
And although not really a technical problem, I seem to remember an episode of Liar's Club on USA where the contestant maxed out the display and they had to tape a "1" on the left end. Too few solari's, I suppose. :)
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I suspect that was the incident that caused the rules to change to a $100 maximum bet per round, assuming the player had more than $100.
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I suspect it had more to do with honoring a tighter budget.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: tvwxman on March 02, 2006, 03:18:33 PM
The Jeopardy College Championship @ Yale, 2003.

During the final match, the end lectern light pen wouldn't work. After an hour of technical work , and Alex running out of decent questions to take from the audience, the kid wrote his response on a piece of cardboard.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Adam Nedeff on March 02, 2006, 03:37:40 PM
Quote
There was that famous incident on Anybody remember when the board went kerblooey and all those weird shapes started appearing?  In the back of my mind, I recall watching this on the old CBN, and ISTR Bill ad-libbing something about whether contestants can make a word out of the visible letters, since there so many...um, not-letters.  Unfortunately, a ticket or contestant plug followed, so we'll never see it on GSN.

It has aired on GSN. (It was John Hatton's first episode.) The weird shapes, I believe, served a function similar to a screensaver and popped up on the board while the letters were being changed between games. You seldom saw them on the show, though. Isn't this interesting?
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: ChuckNet on March 02, 2006, 03:50:22 PM
Quote
At various points in the 70's, NABET technicians staged walkouts at all three networks and a number of episodes of their game shows were taped with management personnel manning the cameras. Not really technical problems, but those shows were just barely broadcastable, because the managers weren't as skilled as the regular crews.

This was particularly apparent on an early 1972 ep of TPiR, which featured some horrible camera shots that occasionally looked blurry...Bob himself, upon seeing a tape of this ep via GSN some 25+ yrs later, called it an embarassment.

There was one ep of Face the Music where the score displays on the podium apparently disappeared between games 1 and 2...Ron even mentioned it on the air, saying "I'm going to be keeping track of your scores, because we had a little computer breakdown just now", which he did, recapping the scores every time a subject was guessed.

During one ep of the 80s Treasure Hunt, the big logo sign started to malfunction during the show, more letters going out as the ep went on until it was completely dimmed by the time Emile Autouri's segment rolled around.

During a Christmas-themed daytime FF in 1979 (as was mentioned in an earlier, unrelated thread), there was a computer problem, so Fast Money was played on cue cards that day, w/production assistants writing down the answers and points.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Brandon Brooks on March 02, 2006, 08:32:26 PM
[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 02:49 PM\']I'll say...the wrong number being revealed in Lucky Seven...Bob forgetting contestants have two chances to win Pick-a-Pair, not one...that contestant in Shell Game that peeked under a shell ("That's dumb!").  Technical difficulties on TPiR should merit their own thread! :-)
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Now, pre tell, how were any of those technical difficulties?

Brandon Brooks
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: ITSBRY on March 02, 2006, 09:54:19 PM
This was a VERY cosmetic thing that didn't affect game play at all, but the chasing lights on the arches of the Davidson Pyramid set were always out of synch or the whole pattern would just flash on and off.

They didn't really get it corrected so that it consistantly worked until the midway through the second season. It's really amazing how distracting it was actually. I always thought it made the show look a little cheesy and was surprised they didn't fix it quickly. I guess when you're used to the 80s version, which I think was the slickest looking and running game show I've ever seen, maybe the standard is just high.

Man, when they worked right that set was a thing a beauty tho! ;)

Bryan
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: beatlefreak84 on March 02, 2006, 10:18:41 PM
I'm surprised no one has as yet mentioned the infamous "dark slides" on PYL...that happened on many occasions, yet, unless somebody hit the "dark slide," they just played on like it wasn't there...:)

Anthony
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: clemon79 on March 02, 2006, 10:31:03 PM
[quote name=\'ITSBRY\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 06:54 PM\']I guess when you're used to the 80s version, which I think was the slickest looking and running game show I've ever seen, maybe the standard is just high.
[/quote]
I was about to "wow", and then I realized you were talking about Davidson PYRAMID and not Davidson Squares. :)
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: WhammyPower on March 03, 2006, 01:18:57 PM
[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 09:18 PM\']I'm surprised no one has as yet mentioned the infamous "dark slides" on PYL...that happened on many occasions, yet, unless somebody hit the "dark slide," they just played on like it wasn't there...:)
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People seem to have forgotten Rafferty Blockbusters as well.  But, by all means, please continue.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: WhammyPower on March 03, 2006, 02:04:51 PM
[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Mar 2 2006, 01:49 PM\']Anybody remember when the board went kerblooey and all those weird shapes started appearing?  In the back of my mind, I recall watching this on the old CBN, and ISTR Bill ad-libbing something about whether contestants can make a word out of the visible letters, since there so many...um, not-letters.  Unfortunately, a ticket or contestant plug followed, so we'll never see it on GSN.
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I believe this particular ep. might have aired on GSN.... I have a clip of the end result after this happened during a Gold Run.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Clay Zambo on March 03, 2006, 02:32:00 PM
How 'bout last night's D/ND?  Not a serious technical difficulty, mind you, but certainly an amusing one.  In this era of stopdowns, I'm surprised they left it in.  But, spoiler-wary, I'll say no more.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Matt Ottinger on March 03, 2006, 02:36:53 PM
[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Mar 3 2006, 03:32 PM\']How 'bout last night's D/ND?  Not a serious technical difficulty, mind you, but certainly an amusing one.  In this era of stopdowns, I'm surprised they left it in.  But, spoiler-wary, I'll say no more.[/quote]
Because Howie made show out of it.  Just another example of how, it seems, these people are learning from past mistakes and appear to know what they're doing.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: clemon79 on March 03, 2006, 02:43:48 PM
[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Mar 3 2006, 11:32 AM\']How 'bout last night's D/ND?  Not a serious technical difficulty, mind you, but certainly an amusing one.  In this era of stopdowns, I'm surprised they left it in.  But, spoiler-wary, I'll say no more.
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(I'm carefully choosing my words here, and since it had no bearing on gameplay, I don't think it's a big deal anyhow, but....)

I'm thinking two things: 1) with this show, any opportunity for Howie to be Howie is a good one, and that was a golden opportunity, and 2) I'm gonna guess they were gonna pitch to a break around that time anyhow.

And when that happened, I immediately looked, and noticed that Howie doesn't wear an IFB. (Of course he doesn't, how would they conceal it with that bald-assed head? Matt, how do you conceal yours? ;))

Anyhow, if I have avoided bannination, I was amused to realize that it isn't just a prop, that's a set piece that actually gets used.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Matt Ottinger on March 03, 2006, 03:26:52 PM
[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Mar 3 2006, 03:43 PM\']And when that happened, I immediately looked, and noticed that Howie doesn't wear an IFB. (Of course he doesn't, how would they conceal it with that bald-assed head? Matt, how do you conceal yours? ;))[/quote]
Not knowing how much you're joking...

I wore one as a news anchor, I don't wear one on QuizBusters.  We just use a good old-fashioned floor director and hand signals.  On both shows, though, unlike Howie, I'm always facing forward so it's harder to see the wires.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: pyrfan on March 04, 2006, 01:02:36 AM
The Chyron broke down once on "Super Password," and Bert Convy had to write down the password and hand it to each celebrity. There was no way to show it to the audience, though.

Also, there were a few times during the second Tournament of Losers where the puzzle slots wouldn't open, so Bert had to write the puzzle words and answers on a piece of posterboard.


Brendan
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: mparrish11 on March 04, 2006, 01:27:36 AM
I recall the survey displays not working on more than a few occasions on Eubanks/Rafferty Card Sharks....  The survey results would be added in post-production by way of the mighty Chyron.

WOOHOO!  100 POSTS!!!
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Craig Karlberg on March 04, 2006, 03:30:20 AM
In reference to the maxed-out Solari board from earlier, here's a similar case only it involved an eggcrate display:

On an episode of the Canadian game show Mad Dash I saw from  around 1980 or so, one of the couple's displays went from $600 to $200.  That occured when they landed on a Double Your $ space on the gigantic gameboard.  To rectify that, a placard with the number 1 was used to denote the thousands digit making that score correct as $1,200.  That's what happens when you yo-yo back & forth from the Double Your $ space several tines I guess.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: zachhoran on March 04, 2006, 07:33:38 AM
[quote name=\'mparrish11\' date=\'Mar 4 2006, 01:27 AM\']I recall the survey displays not working on more than a few occasions on Eubanks/Rafferty Card Sharks....  The survey results would be added in post-production by way of the mighty Chyron.

WOOHOO!  100 POSTS!!!
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They would use the Chyron to display contestant's guesses for Educated guess questions. This began a few months after they debuted, when the answers could be numbers >= 100. When they first debuted EG questions, contestants were given pencil and paper to write down their answers.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: TimK2003 on March 04, 2006, 08:05:49 AM
I'm surprised no one had mentioned the "Face the Devil" malfunction on TJW that has appeared on some blooper shows -- the one where the contestant broke the giant lever.  

I seem to recall that the contestant had to finish the round without using the big lever, no??
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Jimmy Owen on March 04, 2006, 08:44:36 AM
There was an incident on the post-all-star "Password" in 75 where Allen asked the contestant panel to test their arrows.  Sure enough, one of the contestant's arrows wouldn't go up.  Allen then assured everyone that the sound would suffice; suddenly there was a loud thud  off-stage and the arrows worked after that.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Brandon Brooks on March 04, 2006, 12:46:03 PM
[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' date=\'Mar 4 2006, 03:30 AM\']In reference to the maxed-out Solari board from earlier, here's a similar case only it involved an eggcrate display:

On an episode of the Canadian game show Mad Dash I saw from  around 1980 or so, one of the couple's displays went from $600 to $200.  That occured when they landed on a Double Your $ space on the gigantic gameboard.  To rectify that, a placard with the number 1 was used to denote the thousands digit making that score correct as $1,200.  That's what happens when you yo-yo back & forth from the Double Your $ space several tines I guess.
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Not focusing on just you... but why again is this a technical problem?!?!?

People, from what I understand, technical problems are things not working correctly, like having weird shapes on the Blockbusters board.  Just because a eggcrate display could not show $1200 doesn't mean it didn't work correctly.  In addition, all of those "TPiR difficulties" GS Warhouse mentioned earlier are called flubs.  This previous Mad Dash example is not even a difficulty or a flub.

Jeez.

Brandon Brooks
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: clemon79 on March 04, 2006, 02:24:07 PM
[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Mar 4 2006, 05:44 AM\']suddenly there was a loud thud  off-stage and the arrows worked after that.
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Was that sound the producer s**tting a brick? :)
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Clay Zambo on March 04, 2006, 03:21:49 PM
[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Mar 3 2006, 02:43 PM\']I'm thinking two things: 1) with this show, any opportunity for Howie to be Howie is a good one, and that was a golden opportunity,
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True dat.

Quote
and 2) I'm gonna guess they were gonna pitch to a break around that time anyhow.

Wouldn't be surprised.  Mr. West?

Quote
And when that happened, I immediately looked, and noticed that Howie doesn't wear an IFB.

Non-technical Que?

Well, clearly I screwed up that quoting.  Ah, well.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Matt Ottinger on March 04, 2006, 04:13:59 PM
[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Mar 4 2006, 04:21 PM\']Well, clearly I screwed up that quoting.  Ah, well.[/quote]
Not so badly that I couldn't take care of it.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: clemon79 on March 04, 2006, 04:28:12 PM
[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Mar 4 2006, 12:21 PM\'][quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Mar 3 2006, 02:43 PM\']And when that happened, I immediately looked, and noticed that Howie doesn't wear an IFB.[/quote]
Non-technical Que?
[/quote]
IFB: Interruptible Feed-Back. The earpiece a television news anchor wears so they can hear what's going on while their mic is open. "Interruptible" because the producer usually has a button and a microphone in the control room that they can press to speak directly to them.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: tvwxman on March 04, 2006, 05:06:34 PM
[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Mar 4 2006, 04:28 PM\']IFB: Interruptible Feed-Back. The earpiece a television news anchor wears so they can hear what's going on while their mic is open. "Interruptible" because the producer usually has a button and a microphone in the control room that they can press to speak directly to them.
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And yet UNinterrupable in that the one wearing the earpiece always has to listen to what the person on the other end is saying.

When you have dumbass producers who can't give time cues, it's not a handy tool.

Rant over.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: ChuckNet on March 04, 2006, 10:35:31 PM
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Also, there were a few times during the second Tournament of Losers where the puzzle slots wouldn't open, so Bert had to write the puzzle words and answers on a piece of posterboard.

It also happened again during a 1987 wk w/Jamie Farr and Stuart Pankin, only that time, the prob was that the wrong puzzle had been loaded in the board.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Clay Zambo on March 05, 2006, 03:42:36 PM
[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Mar 4 2006, 04:13 PM\'][quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Mar 4 2006, 04:21 PM\']Well, clearly I screwed up that quoting.  Ah, well.[/quote]
Not so badly that I couldn't take care of it.
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Gee, thanks!  And thanks to Chris and MattS for the technical explanation.  (Matt, what the heck happened to your machine during this morning's 6:30 8-day?)
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: sshuffield70 on March 05, 2006, 09:58:42 PM
[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Mar 5 2006, 02:42 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Mar 4 2006, 04:13 PM\'][quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Mar 4 2006, 04:21 PM\']Well, clearly I screwed up that quoting.  Ah, well.[/quote]
Not so badly that I couldn't take care of it.
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Gee, thanks!  And thanks to Chris and MattS for the technical explanation.  (Matt, what the heck happened to your machine during this morning's 6:30 8-day?)
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Who the hell is dumb enough to do an 8 day forecast?  Yeah, even if your channel is 8 (see, I ain't dumb), what's the likelihood it'll change.........a lot?
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: clemon79 on March 05, 2006, 10:33:49 PM
[quote name=\'sshuffield70\' date=\'Mar 5 2006, 06:58 PM\']Who the hell is dumb enough to do an 8 day forecast?  Yeah, even if your channel is 8 (see, I ain't dumb), what's the likelihood it'll change.........a lot?
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You have clearly never lived on the central coast of California. or any of many other places in the world where you absolutely can predict the weather (See that? Predict. That means it's a guess based on information present at that moment. If it changes four days later, you don't have to stick to it.) eight days out.

But no, you "ain't" dumb at all.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: dale_grass on March 06, 2006, 06:28:54 PM
ISTR a one-hour Dawson Feud where Mark Goodson was a player.  On the last question of the game when the points were supposed to be added to the right bank, the last two digits of the score were put in the first two spaces of the bank and the last space left empty.  Richard then screamed off stage, "DID THEY WIN? DO THEY HAVE ENOUGH?" (or something to that effect).  It wouldn't be so bad except it was right in front of the boss.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: zachhoran on March 06, 2006, 07:12:45 PM
Today's GSN airing of P+ showed an Alphabetics where the on-screen clock did not tick down at all, but time was kept track of offstage nonetheless.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: TimK2003 on March 06, 2006, 07:20:28 PM
[quote name=\'sshuffield70\' date=\'Mar 5 2006, 09:58 PM\']Who the hell is dumb enough to do an 8 day forecast?  Yeah, even if your channel is 8 (see, I ain't dumb), what's the likelihood it'll change.........a lot?
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Here in Cleveland, most of the channels do:

WKYC -- Channel 3 is the ONLY station that will not do more than a five day, although they occasionally hint about any trends beyond the 5 day, but they don't display it.

Over at our Channel 8 -- WJW,  all of the meteorologists do an 8-day...Except for their 75-year-old King of all Meteorolgists (40+ years doing Cleveland Weather), he sticks with 5 days.

The Raycom combo WOIO-19 & WUAB-43 do 7-days "where the weekend is *always* in view"

Newschannel 5-WEWS does a 5+5 day forecast going the furthest at 10 days.


And yet, we are in prime "lake effect" country where the winter weather can and will change on an hourly basis -- and you cannot predict that 5 days ahead.  Go figure.

(ON TOPIC:  Don Webster, retired WEWS Meteorologist, has hosted Cleveand's "Academic Challenge" the longest.)
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: b_masters9 on March 07, 2006, 06:20:17 AM
[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Mar 6 2006, 07:12 PM\']Today's GSN airing of P+ showed an Alphabetics where the on-screen clock did not tick down at all, but time was kept track of offstage nonetheless.
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Is that the one where a contestant named Jon won $5,000 by guessing "Lawn"? I saw a clip of that from password-plus.com, and I heard Allen say "You got it!!!" when Jon won the big prize. (Exclamation points mine for emphasis.)

Ben
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: zachhoran on March 07, 2006, 08:45:50 AM
[quote name=\'b_masters9\' date=\'Mar 7 2006, 06:20 AM\']
Is that the one where a contestant named Jon won $5,000 by guessing "Lawn"? I saw a clip of that from password-plus.com, and I heard Allen say "You got it!!!" when Jon won the big prize. (Exclamation points mine for emphasis.)

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Nope. Yesterday's Alphabetics had Dick Martin and his partner nailing the first nine words, working on the tenth, "Saloon", when time ran out. The contestant guessed it just after the buzzer sounded, too.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: pownster on March 08, 2006, 05:55:19 AM
In Australia - where productions costs must be kept down to make the game shows viable - often technical glitches are left in the shows when they're finally aired, to save having to perform too many multiple takes.

I can think of numerous occasions where pricing games on "The Price Is Right" have broken/failed - these moments have often lead to some of the best moments - especially when hosts have been forced to ad-lib.

Very common are minor techincal errors - wrong lighting sequences being used, wrong sound effects/backing music being used in segments and of course, verbal gaffs from the hosts/contestants.

Believe you me - US game shows these days are slick almost to the degree of being totally unnatural IMHO.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Ian Wallis on March 08, 2006, 09:19:31 AM
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Believe you me - US game shows these days are slick almost to the degree of being totally unnatural IMHO.


I miss the days when they weren't as heavily edited.  Back then, you just never knew what would happen tech-wise.  Now, it's pretty much a forgone conclusion.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: jdhernandez on March 09, 2006, 05:30:51 AM
Nine pages, and nobody has mentioned the "Press Your Luck" episode where the slides blew!

Well, not all of them, but some of them blew enough where a show had to be completed during a different taping session. As per David Hammett's tale, he was in the audience for the first part of that show, but couldn't see the conclusion to that show because of the incident. As the show aired, there are some VERY noticeable edits towards the end. =)
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Ian Wallis on March 09, 2006, 09:00:05 AM
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As per David Hammett's tale, he was in the audience for the first part of that show, but couldn't see the conclusion to that show because of the incident. As the show aired, there are some VERY noticeable edits towards the end. =)


Wasn't that the second episode with the new color scheme?  The one where there were 11 whammies, the guy was playing against the house and he kept spinning?  I wonder if the problem with the slides prevented the show from being the only one with 12 whammies...

That's another question that could be posed about this topic...have any of these technical difficulties possibly affected the outcome of the game?
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Don Howard on March 09, 2006, 12:20:42 PM
[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Mar 6 2006, 07:20 PM\']Over at our Channel 8 -- WJW,  all of the meteorologists do an 8-day...Except for their 75-year-old King of all Meteorolgists (40+ years doing Cleveland Weather), he sticks with 5 days.
(ON TOPIC:  Don Webster, retired WEWS Meteorologist, has hosted Cleveand's "Academic Challenge" the longest.)
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And Dick Goddard, the aforementioned 75-year old meteorologist and lover of woolybears, emceed Bowling For Dollars during the late 1970s. Former weekend weatherman Bob "Houlihan" Wells, now seen in commercials which play on GSN: The Network For Games as the guy who says, "Get your own Rascal!!!", was his substitute during times of vacation or illness.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Casey on March 09, 2006, 05:38:03 PM
[quote name=\'jdhernandez\' date=\'Mar 9 2006, 05:30 AM\']Nine pages, and nobody has mentioned the "Press Your Luck" episode where the slides blew!

Well, not all of them, but some of them blew enough where a show had to be completed during a different taping session. As per David Hammett's tale, he was in the audience for the first part of that show, but couldn't see the conclusion to that show because of the incident. As the show aired, there are some VERY noticeable edits towards the end. =)
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Wouldn't this qualify as not being related to the subject though?  They had to stop tape to fix this...
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Brandon Brooks on March 09, 2006, 07:59:31 PM
[quote name=\'isucgv\' date=\'Mar 9 2006, 05:38 PM\'][quote name=\'jdhernandez\' date=\'Mar 9 2006, 05:30 AM\']Nine pages, and nobody has mentioned the "Press Your Luck" episode where the slides blew!

Well, not all of them, but some of them blew enough where a show had to be completed during a different taping session. As per David Hammett's tale, he was in the audience for the first part of that show, but couldn't see the conclusion to that show because of the incident. As the show aired, there are some VERY noticeable edits towards the end. =)
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Wouldn't this qualify as not being related to the subject though?  They had to stop tape to fix this...
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It's not related at all.

Brandon Brooks
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Steve Gavazzi on March 10, 2006, 12:26:10 PM
[quote name=\'mcfly95\' date=\'Mar 9 2006, 11:43 PM\']-In the winner's circle during a $100K pryamid tourney, the trillion (probably the $250 one) didn't turn for a few seconds,
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There are no trillions on Pyramid.  It never went above hundred thousands. :-P

[quote name=\'mcfly95\' date=\'Mar 9 2006, 11:43 PM\']- On PYL, they never did the spin displays right, always a flub or two in each ep.
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Forgive me if I'm missing something obvious, but what the hell are you babbling about?
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Brandon Brooks on March 10, 2006, 12:31:53 PM
[quote name=\'mcfly95\' date=\'Mar 9 2006, 11:43 PM\']A few I can think of:
-In the winner's circle during a $100K pryamid tourney, the trillion (probably the $250 one) didn't turn for a few seconds, and Teresa Ganzel was just flustered, and they didn't stop the clock or add on, not fair to me.
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Did it affect gameplay?  If not, then it doesn't make a difference.
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- On the pryamid today (I think) while Nathan Cook was giving clues in the 1st round, with 10 seconds to go, they do an abrupt quick shot of his head, without any chyron displayed, kind of scary.
That's not a technical problem.
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- On PYL, they never did the spin displays right, always a flub or two in each ep.
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Huh?  They seemed to work fine to me.

Brandon Brooks
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Matt Ottinger on March 10, 2006, 12:57:22 PM
[quote name=\'Brandon Brooks\' date=\'Mar 10 2006, 01:31 PM\']
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- On PYL, they never did the spin displays right, always a flub or two in each ep.
Huh?  They seemed to work fine to me.[/quote]
You're obviously not a Tomarkenite.  I think what he's referring to was that, in the tens of thousands of total transitions that went by in a half-hour, you could almost always be able to point out at least one time when a screen didn't display correctly.

I mean, we're talking about "In the second round, on the champion's seventh spin, about three seconds in, on the top row, the third box from the left, the screen went blank when it should have shown a $1200 space between its usual cycle of a Whammy and a Flotaki rug."  But yeah, he's probably right.

It would not surprise me if there's a website documenting these.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Clay Zambo on March 10, 2006, 02:00:12 PM
[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Mar 10 2006, 12:57 PM\'][quote name=\'Brandon Brooks\' date=\'Mar 10 2006, 01:31 PM\']
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- On PYL, they never did the spin displays right, always a flub or two in each ep.
Huh?  They seemed to work fine to me.[/quote]
You're obviously not a Tomarkenite.  I think what he's referring to was that, in the tens of thousands of total transitions that went by in a half-hour, you could almost always be able to point out at least one time when a screen didn't display correctly.
...
It would not surprise me if there's a website documenting these.
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I thought he was talking about the spins-earned/spins-passed displays.  But there's probably a website documenting errors on those, too.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: Unrealtor on March 10, 2006, 04:12:43 PM
[quote name=\'mcfly95\' date=\'Mar 9 2006, 10:43 PM\']- On the pryamid today (I think) while Nathan Cook was giving clues in the 1st round, with 10 seconds to go, they do an abrupt quick shot of his head, without any chyron displayed, kind of scary.
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(Slightly off topic for the thread, I know...) The audio sounded continuous, which screamed obvious edit to me. Wasn't the other contestant brought back later? I swear I remember her doing better than she did on that episode.
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: tyshaun1 on March 11, 2006, 09:25:39 AM
[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Mar 10 2006, 12:57 PM\']
You're obviously not a Tomarkenite.

It would not surprise me if there's a website documenting these.
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Ya know, it drives me crazy when I see these kinds of posts, making it sound like anyone who is a PYL fan is some sort of cultist or fanboi. Now I agree that there are people who do take the show waaaay too seriously (more than the show ever did), but that could be said for pretty every game show out there. But bringing out "Tomarkenite" again? I thought we were past that, guys.

Tyshaun
Title: Shows that taped despite technical problems...
Post by: dzinkin on March 11, 2006, 09:55:51 AM
[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Mar 11 2006, 09:25 AM\']Ya know, it drives me crazy when I see these kinds of posts, making it sound like anyone who is a PYL fan is some sort of cultist or fanboi. Now I agree that there are people who do take the show waaaay too seriously (more than the show ever did), but that could be said for pretty every game show out there. But bringing out "Tomarkenite" again? I thought we were past that, guys.
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I think you're overreacting, since I can't imagine that Matt meant any harm by it.

It is indisputably true that back on ATGS, the number of obsessive fans of PYL far outnumbered those of any other show, and as the person who coined the term "Tomarkenite," it was never my intent to brand every PYL fan as such -- just people like the guy who thought that 100 letters to Tiger would force the company to make a PYL handheld game, or the guy who screamed about PYL sound effects not working on a web site and who wanted to pay eleventy bazillion dollars for a pirated Whammy T-shirt on eBay.  Unfortunately people who couldn't see the difference -- or didn't want to admit that there was one -- started claiming that every PYL fan was being branded a Tomarkenite, which in turn led to certain other people actually branding every PYL fan a Tomarkenite in response.

That said, while the term eventually was abused on ATGS, this doesn't even come close to abuse.  And since I see the thread going nowhere fast, I think this is as good a place as any to end it.