Listings services (Edit: now with link) now have a revised daytime schedule starting 4/1.
8a: Match Game (replaces Dawson\'s FF)
8:30a: remains MG
9a: Press Your Luck (replaces Perry\'s CS)
9:30a: $ale of the Century (replaces PYL)
Remainder of weekday schedule is the same.
No PDFs yet, so no episode #\'s for $ale or any of the other morning shows (April is usually when the leases get rejiggered). No idea of the lease range involved, but then again I frankly don\'t *care*. It\'s $ale, on GSN. .
Woah. This is big. Real big.
I must stand and applaud.
I would love for this to be true, but there is something about this that has me skeptical. I hope I am dead wrong.
April 1?
I would love for this to be true, but there is something about this that has me skeptical. I hope I am dead wrong.
Even if it is an April Fools Day joke, at least GSN knows the show exists and would get the game show blogosphere talking.
April 1?
Going back as far as GSN\'s reacquisition of the G-T library in \'98, most of GSN\'s G-T/Pearson/Fremantle-related leasing decisions (usually as a result of lease expiration) occur in April, with the changes over the last few years always coinciding with the beginning of the month.
IIRC, one year GSN listed \"Say When\" as one of their late Sunday night offerings on April 1, but it didn\'t happen.
IIRC, one year GSN listed \"Say When\" as one of their late Sunday night offerings on April 1, but it didn\'t happen.
2000, I believe. Listed on their website; not sure what they told the listings providers of the era. This go-around, GSN has at least bothered to send the data out to at least one major third-party info provider.
I\'ll actually be more surprised if it *is* a joke/gag than if it\'s not. Modern-era GSN doesn\'t strike me as having quite the same generally fun corporate culture that it did in the past. Always possible it could be an error, but it seems a highly peculiar one to make. And there\'s definitely quite a bit of precedent in changes appearing on Zap2It first, going back several years.
Not that it matters, (as any era of $ale would be awesome) but which portions of the run did USA air back in the day? I\'m pretty sure there\'s some chunks they never reran.
If it\'s Rossi\'s era, I won\'t be thrilled.
If it\'s Rossi\'s era, I won\'t be thrilled.
I don\'t see that happening, as that show was called \"Temptation\".
Maybe they\'ll run the Perry nighttime eps that were not seen in the NYC area. I believe Matt O was on one of those eps. This came totally out of left field. Is Dawson\'s FF being moved elsewhere on the schedule? If not, I believe it will be the first time his version of FF is not airing on GSN.
Edit - nighttime SOTC did air in NYC on WWOR and later WABC - I didn\'t get the memo. I\'m not sure I even knew there was a nighttime SOTC at the time.
Not that it matters, (as any era of $ale would be awesome) but which portions of the run did USA air back in the day? I\'m pretty sure there\'s some chunks they never reran.
They aired most (if not all) of the \'85-\'86 syndicated version and a chunk of the Winner\'s Big Money Game era.
The earliest eps of the daytime run I can recall USA having aired (based on hazy memories as well as the eps circulating amongst fans and collectors) are from either very late 1987 or early 1988; the entirety of the syndicated run appears to have been run.
According to Zap2It\'s listings, April 2nd\'s schedule is the same as the old one. Mean.
I don\'t think GSN is pulling an [adult swim] and providing the listings provider with false information with the intention of airing something else on 4/1. If anything this would be a mistake but, like Seth said, this would be an odd one to make.
I don\'t think GSN is pulling an [adult swim] and providing the listings provider with false information with the intention of airing something else on 4/1. If anything this would be a mistake but, like Seth said, this would be an odd one to make.
My EPG (Comcast) has Sale listed for both 4/1 and 4/2.
Wonder if this means there\'s the slim chance they could pick up Scrabble down the road \'somewhere\'.
Awesome news if it turns out to be true, nonetheless (and no matter which episodes they picked up)
No joke, they just ran a promo for it at the end of PYL
Did they show any clips that might hint what era they\'re showing?
Here is some crude video camera recording the tv footage of the promo that was run.
<Deleted Video, better quality one uploaded on the next page>
Did they show any clips that might hint what era they\'re showing?
It\'s definitely Jim Perry - we\'ll have to wait and see if it\'s daytime or nighttime.
That Olds in the promo looks like the front wheel drive Cutlass Supreme (which came out in \'88)...might be the WBMG era (last season).
I don\'t think GSN is pulling an [adult swim] and providing the listings provider with false information with the intention of airing something else on 4/1. If anything this would be a mistake but, like Seth said, this would be an odd one to make.
I\'ll be quite annoyed if they air the \"Terrance and Philip\" special.
Interesting pickup, but nice to see...introduces a younger audience to a great show. Part of me wonders whether they feel Temptation is worth reviving, and want to use the original to test the waters...but Fremantle doesn\'t need to screw that show up a second time. I once predicted GSN would get this show, so it\'s good to see I was proven right.
/11 years later
Here\'s a copy straight from the HD Feed. The promo stretched the footage. Whether or not the actual show will be stretched in HD is yet to be seen, but damn does that quality look good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vOEilEzQ54
This is extraordinary. Thanks to those of you who posted the commercial; I was about ready to post a \"proof or not real\" comment. Wish we could give reps on this board.
I bet it\'s very much of a test-the-waters sort of venture. The Reg Grundy library might be available on the cheap for daytime filler programming. Interesting that they thought it important enough to make a promo for it...anytime any of the G/T shows were added or pulled from the schedule, rarely would you see a promo for it.
The holy grail would be \"Scrabble\" for me. Maybe that\'s not too far off.
That Olds in the promo looks like the front wheel drive Cutlass Supreme (which came out in \'88)...might be the WBMG era (last season).
Didn\'t all of the WBMG era sets have a turntable with chasing lights on which the car sat? The car in the promo did not.
Regardless, cue the nerdy dancing.
Edit: You can see the chasing lights during Jim\'s entrance at the start of the promo. It might be WBMG era.
Here\'s a copy straight from the HD Feed. The promo stretched the footage. Whether or not the actual show will be stretched in HD is yet to be seen, but damn does that quality look good.
<link omitted in reply>
I was shooting the HD channel when I posted my video, of which I have since deleted because your video is much more prettier to watch. :-)
I can\'t believe it\'s been 17 1/2 years since $ale has been rerun. I wonder what took so long: was Fremantle asking too high of a price all this time, or was GSN simply not interested until now?
I can\'t believe it\'s been 17 1/2 years since $ale has been rerun. I wonder what took so long: was Fremantle asking too high of a price all this time, or was GSN simply not interested until now?
Or a little of both...
Have we started taking bets on which version (or year) this is happening?
Over/Under at the Nighttime version.
I\'ve already staked out last NBC season (88-89).
We can easily rule out Rossi-era. Very easily.
We can easily rule out Rossi-era. Very easily.
Hopefully lost to a bonfire.
USA only showed the syndicated edition and the last few months of the daytime run. And I believe that was how Grundy staffer Mitt Dawson (who passed away recently) assumed the rest of the daytime edition no longer exists.
But if (emphasis on \"IF\") it\'s true that the rest of the 80\'s daytime run no longer exists, then I guess I can see why so many people hate NBC so much, and crack jokes about it.
Pulling one out of my rear: Daytime run, Late \'87 through the \'89 finale. That car\'s definitely from the very late 80s by the looks of it, and GSN\'s bothering to advertise $ale, so I can\'t imagine 50 episodes on this one.
One thing just occurred to me: The lights behind Jim Perry, when he made his entrance were there as early as late 1987. So they could be starting with that, instead of late 1988.
But if (emphasis on \"IF\") it\'s true that the rest of the 80\'s daytime run no longer exists, then I guess I can see why so many people hate NBC so much, and crack jokes about it.
Meh, that\'s a mild annoyance, and all three networks erased shows at one point or another. NBC gets joked because their upper management, plain and simple, SUCKS.
But if (emphasis on \"IF\") it\'s true that the rest of the 80\'s daytime run no longer exists, then I guess I can see why so many people hate NBC so much, and crack jokes about it.
Oh good lord.
Still now showing up in my TiVo listings yet, but I will keep an eye on it, and I assure you a Season Pass will follow quickly thereafter. :)
But if (emphasis on \"IF\") it\'s true that the rest of the 80\'s daytime run no longer exists, then I guess I can see why so many people hate NBC so much, and crack jokes about it.Meh, that\'s a mild annoyance, and all three networks erased shows at one point or another. NBC gets joked because their upper management, plain and simple, SUCKS.
But if (emphasis on \"IF\") it\'s true that the rest of the 80\'s daytime run no longer exists, then I guess I can see why so many people hate NBC so much, and crack jokes about it.Meh, that\'s a mild annoyance, and all three networks erased shows at one point or another. NBC gets joked because their upper management, plain and simple, SUCKS.
It was an exaggeration.
I\'ll be the first to theorize...could there be a GSN revival of it in the works as well?
I\'ll be the first to theorize...could there be a GSN revival of it in the works as well?
Part of me wonders whether they feel Temptation is worth reviving, and want to use the original to test the waters...
/Great minds think alike?
I\'ll be the first to theorize...could there be a GSN revival of it in the works as well?
I highly doubt it. The production costs on a show like $ale (excluding the prize budget) would be way out of their comfort zone. After the last disaster revival of this format, who is going to want to touch this property?
And a revival turns into a \"damned if you do, damned if you don\'t\" thing...update it too much and people remember that recent piece of crap. Keep it close to the original (like Pyramid) and people start saying \"Hey, didn\'t we watch this 30 years ago?\"
The last disaster revival just means no one was watching. ;-) It was simply a one-and-done flop, which probably could\'ve been corrected with competent producing. I\'m willing to bet that the only people who would say \"I hope it was better than Temptation!!!\" are we geeks, not the average viewer that GSN wants.
As for the production costs, I\'m not following. Other than getting prizes to display, the host, and all the other usual stuff, what production costs do you speak of? Can\'t be any worse than dropping contestants through the floor...
It\'s always been nice when GSN throws fans a bone, but never did I expect the whole friggin\' skeleton.
I think the prize budget can be scaled down enough to still make it feasible, and GSN has shown the ability to do just that. The major hurdles I would see are the format, and how to do this without carryover champs.
/Can be done, though
//Wish them the best of luck if they try
Why are so many people jumping on the GSN/$ale revival bandwagon? They just revived a classic show in the last year. Look where it is now--the land of eternal weekend reruns, less than 5 months after its last original ep. If I\'m GSN, would I revive a show with less name recognition than the Pyramid franchise and expect better results? I can\'t see it happening.
Keep it close to the original (like Pyramid) and people start saying \"Hey, didn\'t we watch this 30 years ago?\"
Certainly I did. Which is why I immediately set and enjoyed a Season Pass.
/actually it was closer to \"Thank Friggin\' Gawd, this is what I watched 30 years ago\"
Why are so many people jumping on the GSN/$ale revival bandwagon? They just revived a classic show in the last year. Look where it is now--the land of eternal weekend reruns, less than 5 months after its last original ep. If I\'m GSN, would I revive a show with less name recognition than the Pyramid franchise and expect better results? I can\'t see it happening.
ISTR a long revival discussion thread about when GSN trotted Trivia Trap out of the vault a few years ago.
...or was that The Diamond Head Game...
Why are so many people jumping on the GSN/$ale revival bandwagon? They just revived a classic show in the last year. Look where it is now--the land of eternal weekend reruns, less than 5 months after its last original ep. If I\'m GSN, would I revive a show with less name recognition than the Pyramid franchise and expect better results? I can\'t see it happening.
To me, it\'s just the fact that they\'re airing reruns of a show, as you said, with less name recognition than Pyramid. Of course, the revival speculation is very premature, but justified IMO in this case, given it\'s such an odd, somewhat obscure choice.
ISTR a long revival discussion thread
There is a revival thread every time someone mentions a show that hasn\'t been mentioned in the previous three months, because some yahoos think they are actually fomenting interesting discussion when they append \"Revival?\" onto their comment about The Game Game.
Why are so many people jumping on the GSN/$ale revival bandwagon? They just revived a classic show in the last year. Look where it is now--the land of eternal weekend reruns, less than 5 months after its last original ep. If I\'m GSN, would I revive a show with less name recognition than the Pyramid franchise and expect better results? I can\'t see it happening.
Pyramid, in my opinion, really suffered from bad gameplay (which was mostly contributed by the celebs). As long as GSN can take the time to find some good contestants, I think it would work. I also think GSN would be willing to try again. Some revivals work, some don\'t. GSN has had a couple of misses with their revivals and that didn\'t stop them from trying again.
Oh, this is lovely news. Very exciting. Thank you to The Network For Games.
I would love to see Scrabble on here soon, but I think cross-ownership with Fremantle and Hasbro may be the hold-up.
The other thing I\'ve got to say is that I actually prefer Scrabble to $ale. $ale is a good show, but the problem I have with $ale is that its format got worse and worse (The Winner\'s Big Money Game was good, but had zero to do with the show), while Scrabble\'s format got better and better. The change from straddling to self-contained in 1986 was a very welcome change in my book, as was the inclusion of the Bonus Sprint.
http://corp.gsn.com/press/releases/gsn-acquires-new-series-sale-century-and-new-episodes-press-your-luck-launch-april-1
It\'s made official in print by GSN now. According to the release, $ale will air 65 episodes from the final NBC 1988-1989 season. Also beginning April 1st, PYL will continue from where they left off in 1983 with 57 new episodes, Super Password gets 150 episodes from 1986-1987 and Password Plus goes from the first season to 66 episodes from 1981-1982 with Tom Kennedy as host. This is gonna be a great couple of months!!
EDIT: Forgot to add, GSN will also be airing Match Game from 1975-1977 as well.
I haven\'t had GSN (or cable for that matter) for several years now.
If there was a time I really wanted it back, boy, is it now...
Pyramid, in my opinion, really suffered from bad gameplay (which was mostly contributed by the celebs). As long as GSN can take the time to find some good contestants, I think it would work. I also think GSN would be willing to try again. Some revivals work, some don\'t. GSN has had a couple of misses with their revivals and that didn\'t stop them from trying again.
I think this is right on the money. I had no patience for those painful shows with bad gameplay, and stopped watching as a result. I know I\'m in a different class of \"fan\" than your average viewer, but when the scores of the game are in the low teens, something is wrong.
If this hypothetical $otC revival is in the plans, the Top Two Things That Could Go Wrong would be the format and the question writing. A whole different animal.
I had no patience for those painful shows with bad gameplay, and stopped watching as a result. I know I\'m in a different class of \"fan\" than your average viewer, but when the scores of the game are in the low teens, something is wrong.
Or, in GSN\'s case, something might have been right. It was to their advantage to feature contestants and celebrities that weren\'t fantastic at the game because the jackpot only increased when somebody managed to get a perfect score in a round in the front game.
I wouldn\'t say that everybody they featured was terrible, but most were only \"alright\".
I had no patience for those painful shows with bad gameplay, and stopped watching as a result. I know I\'m in a different class of \"fan\" than your average viewer, but when the scores of the game are in the low teens, something is wrong.
Or, in GSN\'s case, something might have been right. It was to their advantage to feature contestants and celebrities that weren\'t fantastic at the game because the jackpot only increased when somebody managed to get a perfect score in a round in the front game.
I wouldn\'t say that everybody they featured was terrible at the game, but most were only \"alright\".
You wrote exactly what I was in the process of writing, with the exception of one thing- linking front game success to end game rewards is all fine and dandy, but when you\'re knowingly sabotaging your contestant selection so the potential payout is lower, then maybe you need to not link the two.
Meh, that\'s a mild annoyance, and all three networks erased shows at one point or another. NBC gets joked because their upper management, plain and simple, SUCKS.
I guess since the earliest episodes of Sale haven`t been rerun since original broadcast, you could make a case for them not being around anymore. I still find it odd though. The thought was all networks ceased erasing around the beginning of 1980, or even a couple of years prior to that. Since Sale ran through the mid-late 80s, you`d think it should exist - especially since most (or all) of Scrabble exists.
Regardless, this is GREAT. I`m glad to see GSN hasn`t forgotten about the classics. It`s been a great last few months!
http://corp.gsn.com/press/releases/gsn-acquires-new-series-sale-century-and-new-episodes-press-your-luck-launch-april-1
It\'s made official in print by GSN now. According to the release, $ale will air 65 episodes from the final NBC 1988-1989 season. Also beginning April 1st, PYL will continue from where they left off in 1983 with 57 new episodes, Super Password gets 150 episodes from 1986-1987 and Password Plus from from the first season to 66 episodes from 1981-1982 with Tom Kennedy as host. This is gonna be a great couple of months!!
EDIT: Forgot to add, GSN will also be airing Match Game from 1975-1977 as well.
Great news! I`m glad that GSN will be airing fresh episodes of these series, but what`s with the odd amounts - 57, 66.
I guess in PYL`s case that will bring us up to Feb 21, 1984 and completes the cycle of the beginnings of the series. Hopefully eventually we`ll get to see the 1986 episodes on GSN.
Can`t wait!
Late to chime in, but... color me surprised. Greg and I will be having a DVR space dilemma, that\'s for sure. (And that is a good thing!) :-D
Or, in GSN\'s case, something might have been right. It was to their advantage to feature contestants and celebrities that weren\'t fantastic at the game because the jackpot only increased when somebody managed to get a perfect score in a round in the front game.
I wouldn\'t say that everybody they featured was terrible at the game, but most were only \"alright\".
You wrote exactly what I was in the process of writing, with the exception of one thing- linking front game success to end game rewards is all fine and dandy, but when you\'re knowingly sabotaging your contestant selection so the potential payout is lower, then maybe you need to not link the two.
This. The quality of play is what made me not incredibly heartbroken when the show didn\'t get picked up, but then as I said before I\'m in it for the gameplay first and the money second, so at least I\'m consistent. :)
If the attitude when celebrity casting was \"hmm, they\'re not that good, but that\'ll save us a few bucks\", then yeah, that\'s a massive problem.
If this hypothetical $otC revival is in the plans, the Top Two Things That Could Go Wrong would be the format and the question writing. A whole different animal.
I honestly wouldn\'t trust a revival of $otC to anyone but a network bringing the show back for prime-time - which we all know is never going to happen - because that\'s the only way you\'re going to have a prize budget that could possibly make any of the purchasing decisions worthwhile. The show doesn\'t work if the best prizes they can offer someone on an Instant Bargain are Orbitz travel vouchers and espresso machines.
Holy cow has GSN gotten something so so right. I\'m going to miss Dawson Feud if it isn\'t moved to the weekend or something, but man does this look good. New PYL, refreshing Super Password, Password Plus, and Match Game? Is this 2005?
What a way to open up spring.
Last year I said the only addition that would get my attention would be Baker \'TPIR\'. I stand corrected.
Holy cow has GSN gotten something so so right. I\'m going to miss Dawson Feud if it isn\'t moved to the weekend or something, but man does this look good. New PYL, refreshing Super Password, Password Plus, and Match Game? Is this 2005?
What a way to open up spring.
So no Classic Feud? At all? Wow, that would be for the first time in 15 years (or even all the way back to the beginning if you count the Dawson comeback episodes as \"classic\").
Given how well the modern versions do, I\'d think the classic version would at least have one space for life.
It's made official in print by GSN now. According to the release, $ale will air 65 episodes from the final NBC 1988-1989 season. Also beginning April 1st, PYL will continue from where they left off in 1983 with 57 new episodes, Super Password gets 150 episodes from 1986-1987 and Password Plus from the first season to 66 episodes from 1981-1982 with Tom Kennedy as host. This is gonna be a great couple of months!!
EDIT: Forgot to add, GSN will also be airing Match Game from 1975-1977 as well.
This is truly a great day for America.
$ale on GSN? Hell has indeed frozen over.
I\'ll take it, no matter which version it is. If more episodes are found and can be acquired, more power to them. But for now, color me excited.
The Inquisitive One
Hopefully eventually we'll get to see the 1986 episodes [of Press Your Luck] on GSN.Honestly, I'd think they'd lease the last episodes of 1985 before that.
[quote name=\\\"tvmi]If this hypothetical $otC revival is in the plans, the Top Two Things That Could Go Wrong would be the format and the question writing. A whole different animal.
If the attitude when celebrity casting was \"hmm, they\'re not that good, but that\'ll save us a few bucks\", then yeah, that\'s a massive problem.
2-for-1 on Turturros. They had a Groupon!
Speaking of Press, someone at Buzzerblog noted that prior to the \'83 lease, GSN went as far back as Episode #110. This new lease only accounts for 107 of the first 109.
They\'ll probably get all the way to #109... there\'s likely a problematic tape or a skipped episode number in there somewhere. I seem to remember a thread once about how the online episode guides account for an episode on 1/2/84, but according to all of the TV listings from the time the entire CBS daytime lineup was preempted.
Speaking of Press, someone at Buzzerblog noted that prior to the \'83 lease, GSN went as far back as Episode #110. This new lease only accounts for 107 of the first 109.They\'ll probably get all the way to #109... there\'s likely a problematic tape or a skipped episode number in there somewhere. I seem to remember a thread once about how the online episode guides account for an episode on 1/2/84, but according to all of the TV listings from the time the entire CBS daytime lineup was preempted.
Don\'t recall if there was an episode or two that was overly Christmas themed, but if so that could easily account for the skippage, as GSN has shown a past inclination to omit those in normal rotation.
For what it\'s worth, the press release uses different language to describe the PYL compared to the others. It\'s section specifically mentions the new-to-GSN episodes. Though there are obviously no guarantees, wouldn\'t be surprised to see PYL\'s lease extend beyond the aforementioned 107/109.
There were a few episodes with Christmas-themed Whammies, IIRC, but as Christmas was on the weekend that year, I don\'t know how overly holiday themed the episodes were.
Sounds like everybody wins: GSN picks up a show that lots of people like but I don\'t end up subscribing to the channel again because the episodes that GSN picked up are ones that I saw on USA of the least interesting format and have no interest in watching again.
This is truly a great day for America.
Yeah, I understand this sentiment, but I\'d make an exception just because these will be in such beautiful quality. So in this case you get quality crap, and who doesn\'t want that?
That and the fact that I\'ve only seen Sale episodes on YouTube considering I was probably 2 or 3 when USA stopped rerunning it.
/Yeah, I know, I know. Lawn, Hell, Off.
I stopped thinking this show would ever make it to GSN once the big overhaul of 2009 came. I figured the classics would from then on be nothing more than what they\'ve aired in the past. I\'m pleasantly surprised at this. Nice going, GSN.
Yeah, I understand this sentiment, but I\'d make an exception just because these will be in such beautiful quality. So in this case you get quality crap, and who doesn\'t want that?If you enjoy it then that\'s terrific for you. I\'m not going to resubscribe to see the least interesting episodes from a series when I\'ve seen them online and on two previous networks (believe me the episodes with the money game are by far the least interesting that the six-year-run has to offer). If that\'s all GSN can get then at least they took a stab and they should be applauded for having a punt and going off the reservation for once in their 20 years.
Speaking of Press, someone at Buzzerblog noted that prior to the \'83 lease, GSN went as far back as Episode #110. This new lease only accounts for 107 of the first 109.They\'ll probably get all the way to #109... there\'s likely a problematic tape or a skipped episode number in there somewhere. I seem to remember a thread once about how the online episode guides account for an episode on 1/2/84, but according to all of the TV listings from the time the entire CBS daytime lineup was preempted.
Yep.....January 2, 1984 was the parades/bowl games day since the 1st was on a Sunday.
The holy grail would be \"Scrabble\" for me.
The holier grail would be the original 1969-1973 run of $ale of the ¢entury. ;)
Ya know, nothing bad has ever come out of claiming one grail is holier than another. Nope. Not ever. :)
I am vaguely disappointed that they appear to be using the end of the NBC run and not, as I had hoped and somewhat expected, the syndicated version. For totally selfish reasons.
If this hypothetical $otC revival is in the plans, the Top Two Things That Could Go Wrong would be the format and the question writing. A whole different animal.
I honestly wouldn\'t trust a revival of $otC to anyone but a network bringing the show back for prime-time - which we all know is never going to happen - because that\'s the only way you\'re going to have a prize budget that could possibly make any of the purchasing decisions worthwhile. The show doesn\'t work if the best prizes they can offer someone on an Instant Bargain are Orbitz travel vouchers and espresso machines.
I agree and disagree. Yes, $ale is about glitz and glamour and getting top of the line stuff for dirt cheap. But I don\'t think that the prize budget needs to be sky high for it to work. I\'d be just fine seeing a $25K cash jackpot, a decent car, and some other things that are nice upgrades to my current standard of living. If a retired champ left with around $75K, I wouldn\'t be miffed- especially if they got everything else right.
I figure a decent rule of thumb would be to use TPIR as a benchmark: one-bid items for the instant bargains, pricing game and showcase stuff for shopping (presuming you have shopping), throw in a car and a cash wad and Bob\'s your uncle.
I think it says something about the format when the show has to drop in the various tournaments to give away cars because the regular games don\'t give away the top prizes naturally. Hm, what NBC show nearly 20 years later lived by that dictum as well?
Odd, I thought of an ABC show first.
The holier grail would be the original 1969-1973 run of $ale of the ¢entury. ;)...Despite the 1973-74 syndicated run being more likely to turn up because, well, syndicated shows just seem to have a better chance than contemporary network ones.
I am vaguely disappointed that they appear to be using the end of the NBC run and not, as I had hoped and somewhat expected, the syndicated version. For totally selfish reasons.
I agree here. It\'s great we have this coming to GSN. Fantastic even. But why the last 13 depressing weeks of the show?
Well, do we know for sure if it IS the last 65, or is it just a random 65 from the last year?
Although I\'m with the resident Sale guru here...probably not the best batch to pick from but hey, it counts for something and I guess it shows they\'re at least a little willing to take a gamble on a classic they never showed before..
(I\'d figure they\'d want to try to get the set that would include the lone $50,000 WBMG win, no? Or at least the second try at it?)
Although I\'m with the resident Sale guru here...
I am a devoted fan, yes. I am not a guru by any means. I never worked on the show or have been a part of it. I wish.
/back in the old netgaming days, DJD hosted a pretty damn good Sale as I recall
Still does. He\'s a true master at it now.
Side Thought: Am I the only one who liked the remixed theme Sale used late in the run? The old one is good, but I like the \"smooth\" vibe the later one had.
Personally, I like the first theme the best. Compared to the first theme, the last season theme just.... lost something. That\'s about the best way I can put it.
The remix sounded more like mall muzak. The only thing I liked was the new \"go to bonus\" cue, which was pretty sweet.
I always enjoyed the cue they played when sending the two losing contestants off....
I always enjoyed the cue they played when sending the two losing contestants off....
Same here. It made for a nice transition from the bombastic win cue. I do wish more cues from the show existed, including the full theme with piano breakdown.
Now if the second theme existed in the clear (I THINK it started when the WBMG debuted?), that\'d be sweet
Side Thought: Am I the only one who liked the remixed theme Sale used late in the run? The old one is good, but I like the \"smooth\" vibe the later one had.
Definitely agreed. Not that there was anything shrill about the original mix, but I think the \"smoothness\" of the later version was an improvement. Jim Perry\'s hair looked a little smoother around that time, too.
On another note, I\'m wondering how much does the fact that GSN is picking up a sliver of the final season lend credibility to the notion that the bulk of the network run is \"lost.\" It does seem unusual for them to start near the end and at a point that is not the show\'s prime.
Have they done that in the past when they acquired new-to-GSN classics? Started at a point that wasn\'t such-and-such show\'s prime?
Off the top of my head Love Connection. It was from the final or penultimate season. I\'m sure it happened a lot.
PDFs are out for the weeks of 4/1 and 4/8. First episodes to air/first eps of leases are as follows (existing shows all skip ahead to this point)
Match Game: #517 (MG 75).
PYL: #051 (11/30/83).
$ale: #1499 (11/15/88)
Super Password: #0490 (8/18/86)
P+ [weekends]: #730 (12/16/81)
PYL has one skip early on, show #056. (12/7/83)
So apparently GSN IS going to air the final 13 weeks....better than nothing, yeah, but I gotta figure the casual viewer seeing these eps for the first time might be disappointed to see an advertised $50,000 top prize and a car that no regular contestant will win in those 65 eps.
Doubt it\'ll make a difference in the long run, but just making a point.
U-Verse\'s listing for SotC lists the hosts as \"Jack Kelly, Jim Perry, Rossi Morreale.\" What, no love for Joe Garagiola (excuse me...Joe Garagiola, Sr)?
As someone who was never active on the trading scene, watched it on USA at an age too young to remember and has only seen stuff from what little is on YouTube, I\'m just happy to be seeing any of it on television again, \"bad\" era or not.
As someone who was never active on the trading scene, watched it on USA at an age too young to remember and has only seen stuff from what little is on YouTube, I\'m just happy to be seeing any of it on television again, \"bad\" era or not.
This. And I was watching this shiat when it was first-run.
As someone who was never active on the trading scene, watched it on USA at an age too young to remember and has only seen stuff from what little is on YouTube, I\'m just happy to be seeing any of it on television again, \"bad\" era or not.
This. And I was watching this shiat when it was first-run.
I\'m not disagreeing, and this era of Sale was part of my morning routine for most of my preschool days. And like I said, it\'s a positive that GSN is going after a classic from the 80s that\'s new to them.
I just see both sides to the discussion. Great that they picked it up, but would like to see other eps is all. (and considering I haven\'t seen the reruns outside of YouTube since...what, \'94?, it\'s even better.)
As someone who was never active on the trading scene, watched it on USA at an age too young to remember and has only seen stuff from what little is on YouTube, I\'m just happy to be seeing any of it on television again, \"bad\" era or not.
Right on ... Even if the \"winner\'s big money game\" was kind of an out-of-context end game, you still get your instant bargains, $25 money card, nail-biting speed round and the ultra-suave Jim Perry. Bring it on.
Right on ... Even if the \"winner\'s big money game\" was kind of an out-of-context end game, you still get your instant bargains, $25 money card, nail-biting speed round and the ultra-suave Jim Perry. Bring it on.
As someone who was never active on the trading scene, watched it on USA at an age too young to remember and has only seen stuff from what little is on YouTube, I\'m just happy to be seeing any of it on television again, \"bad\" era or not.
As someone who was never active on the trading scene, watched it on USA at an age too young to remember and has only seen stuff from what little is on YouTube, I\'m just happy to be seeing any of it on television again, \"bad\" era or not.
Right on ... Even if the \"winner\'s big money game\" was kind of an out-of-context end game, you still get your instant bargains, $25 money card, nail-biting speed round and the ultra-suave Jim Perry. Bring it on.
Yes aside from the bonus game, was anything else drastically changed about the show in this era?
The last Instant Bargain, where you gave up your lead to pick one of three boxes for a chance at a progressive jackpot, was not in place in the early era of $ale. I don\'t remember when that was instituted, though, or if it was part of the syndie version (as I never saw the syndicated episodes). I think the change from the Final 3 Questions to the Speed Round happened well before the Instant Cash bargain was implemented
.
It doesn\'t seem we\'re getting the final 65 episodes of Sale... since the PDF shows them starting with the 11/15/88 show, that would put us about three weeks short of the final episode by the time we get to 65. (Unless they\'re planning on skipping 14 shows along the way.)
As someone who was never active on the trading scene, watched it on USA at an age too young to remember and has only seen stuff from what little is on YouTube, I\'m just happy to be seeing any of it on television again, \"bad\" era or not.
This. And I was watching this shiat when it was first-run.
Agreed. I have vague memories of the reruns on USA as a kid, one of the things that got me hooked on game shows, will be good to see clear copies of the show on TV soon.
It doesn\'t seem we\'re getting the final 65 episodes of Sale... since the PDF shows them starting with the 11/15/88 show, that would put us about three weeks short of the final episode by the time we get to 65. (Unless they\'re planning on skipping 14 shows along the way.)
I\'m also going by a few mentions online that 1,578 episodes were produced. We\'re starting with #1499... adding 65 to that only gets 1,564.
PDFs are out for the weeks of 4/1 and 4/8. First episodes to air/first eps of leases are as follows (existing shows all skip ahead to this point)Match Game: #517 (MG 75).
PYL: #051 (11/30/83).
$ale: #1499 (11/15/88)
Super Password: #0490 (8/18/86)
P+ [weekends]: #730 (12/16/81)
PYL has one skip early on, show #056. (12/7/83)
It also appears they will be airing the Bullseye season of O\'Hurley\'s Feud weekdays in the 5pm hour.
Yes aside from the bonus game, was anything else drastically changed about the show in this era?That was the drastic change, yes. Gone were the big expensive prizes near the end of the path, replaced by the case full o\' bucks. The idea that you had to risk your winnings to play again and win more stuff? Gone, replaced by having to win the Winner\'s Big Car Game on day seven to play for $50,000. Main game money became chips as it didn\'t make a lick of difference if you won by $1 or $100; as long as you won the game you picked up some schlock worth a few thousand dollars and got to try for a few thousand dollars. The tension, nay, the very soul and idea of the show was gone.
Main game money became chips as it didn\'t make a lick of difference if you won by $1 or $100; as long as you won the game you picked up some schlock worth a few thousand dollars and got to try for a few thousand dollars.
To be fair, the Winner\'s Board did the same thing. (Which I never had a problem with.) And I question
The tension, nay, the very soul and idea of the show was gone.
...since the Instant Bargains were still in play and Jim was still there trying to sweet-talk people into \"buying\" prizes.
And I question
The tension, nay, the very soul and idea of the show was gone.
...since the Instant Bargains were still in play and Jim was still there trying to sweet-talk people into \"buying\" prizes.
But see, \"buying\" prizes was the crux of the show: you were offered smaller prizes right away to take home, but doing so directly affected you short-term (reducing/erasing your lead over the other two players) and long-term (needing that much more money to reach the next prize plateau). Champions - especially champions on a multiple-win streak - are probably far more likely to buy stuff knowing that A) all they need to do is win and they\'re golden regardless of what their score ends up being, and B) they\'re already amassing practically risk-free cash and prizes each time they win, so if they do get nicked at the post, they\'ve probably got a good $20K worth of cash and stuff to console them.
Curious, where do I see the PDF\'s?
I am in total agreement with you there. Leave it to some folks here to find something wrong with GSN getting $OTC.
As someone who was never active on the trading scene, watched it on USA at an age too young to remember and has only seen stuff from what little is on YouTube, I\'m just happy to be seeing any of it on television again, \"bad\" era or not.
I am in total agreement with you there. Leave it to some folks here to find something wrong with GSN getting $OTC.
The way I\'m seeing it, no one\'s finding anything wrong with GSN adding $ale, more or less it\'s how the era of the show they\'re running was well past its prime. Which it was, IMO. If you look at the PDF description of the show, it actually describes the original format, too.
Tyshaun
PDFs are out for the weeks of 4/1 and 4/8. First episodes to air/first eps of leases are as follows (existing shows all skip ahead to this point)Match Game: #517 (MG 75).
PYL: #051 (11/30/83).
$ale: #1499 (11/15/88)
Super Password: #0490 (8/18/86)
P+ [weekends]: #730 (12/16/81)
PYL has one skip early on, show #056. (12/7/83)
It also appears they will be airing the Bullseye season of O\'Hurley\'s Feud weekdays in the 5pm hour.
Ah, so that answers that.
On that topic, does anyone know what the highest FM bankroll achieved in this season was? How about the highest actually won?
As someone who was never active on the trading scene, watched it on USA at an age too young to remember and has only seen stuff from what little is on YouTube, I\'m just happy to be seeing any of it on television again, \"bad\" era or not.
If I could +1 this,
I mean, the WBMG era has shown players capable of hitting over $100+, regardless of whether they\'re playing for a plateau or just a couple of grand. As much as I would\'ve preferred GSN starting with the \'85 episodes or the start of the WBMG era in \'87, I\'m glad we\'ve got this to see this in any case. It\'s been a long time coming.
PDFs are out for the weeks of 4/1 and 4/8. First episodes to air/first eps of leases are as follows (existing shows all skip ahead to this point).$ale: #1499 (11/15/88)
That\'s the middle of \"True Romance\" week (Episode #1500 was aired in said special week).
Curious, where do I see the PDF\'s?
Here\'s the link where *I* found them:
http://gameshowfollies.blogspot.com
Not going to mention the blogger\'s name since he seems to get satisfaction when it\'s mentioned around here....
As someone who was never active on the trading scene, watched it on USA at an age too young to remember and has only seen stuff from what little is on YouTube, I\'m just happy to be seeing any of it on television again, \"bad\" era or not.If I could +1 this,
I mean, the WBMG era has shown players capable of hitting over $100+, regardless of whether they\'re playing for a plateau or just a couple of grand. As much as I would\'ve preferred GSN starting with the \'85 episodes or the start of the WBMG era in \'87, I\'m glad we\'ve got this to see this in any case. It\'s been a long time coming.
I saw a mention online that this era/season is all there is left of the NBC run...but then again this comes from Wiki.
Something else I thought about today...I wonder how many casual game show fans (read: not us), will come across this show and not remember it and enjoy it and wonder why they never saw it..The reason I say that is because for most of the run (with the exception of the premiere up until September \'83), what is my local affiliate now (WGAL in Lancaster) didn\'t clear Sale or anything else in the 10am-11am hour that NBC offered with the exception of above.
Something else I thought about today...I wonder how many casual game show fans (read: not us), will come across this show and not remember it and enjoy it and wonder why they never saw it..The reason I say that is because for most of the run (with the exception of the premiere up until September \'83), what is my local affiliate now (WGAL in Lancaster) didn\'t clear Sale or anything else in the 10am-11am hour that NBC offered for the entire duration of $ale\'s run, instead offering Hour Magazine and later, Sally Jessy Raphael. I was telling my stepmom about it, but naturally she didn\'t remember it since this area didn\'t have much of it at at all.
It\'s possible it will be new for many viewers. In my market (Flint/Saginaw/BC) it was somewhat erratic. I wonder about the topicality of the questions, will they date the program?
As someone who was never active on the trading scene, watched it on USA at an age too young to remember and has only seen stuff from what little is on YouTube, I\'m just happy to be seeing any of it on television again, \"bad\" era or not.
Same here!!
Something else I thought about today...I wonder how many casual game show fans (read: not us), will come across this show and not remember it and enjoy it and wonder why they never saw it..The reason I say that is because for most of the run (with the exception of the premiere up until September \'83), what is my local affiliate now (WGAL in Lancaster) didn\'t clear Sale or anything else in the 10am-11am hour that NBC offered for the entire duration of $ale\'s run, instead offering Hour Magazine and later, Sally Jessy Raphael. I was telling my stepmom about it, but naturally she didn\'t remember it since this area didn\'t have much of it at at all.It\'s possible it will be new for many viewers. In my market (Flint/Saginaw/BC) it was somewhat erratic. I wonder about the topicality of the questions, will they date the program?
I don\'t think that would be much of an issue. Match Game was one of GSN\'s highest-rated shows for years, a good 20-25 years after the material was relevant. I\'d honestly say the same for Dawson\'s Feud.
About 10 years ago, I was listening to one of a local morning radio show, and the DJ talked about how he fondly remembered Sale. The other day, a friend of mine on Twitter mentioned how he saw the promo, and also remembered it somewhat, so there\'s a pretty good chance it might ring a bell for folks my age and up, who either vaguely remember it from NBC, or the USA reruns. I\'m always surprised at how many people really are game show fans, just not on our level.
But see, \"buying\" prizes was the crux of the show
Match Game was one of GSN\'s highest-rated shows for years, a good 20-25 years after the material was relevant.
And some of the material is still relevant:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMkL7so7CzE
\"buying\" prizes was the crux of the show
Champions - especially champions on a multiple-win streak - are probably far more likely to buy stuff knowing that A) all they need to do is win and they\'re golden regardless of what their score ends up being, and B) they\'re already amassing practically risk-free cash and prizes each time they win
Did winners or otherwise get the cash they earned? Did they always/never?
AFAIK, any cash you earned in the main game was yours\' whether you won or lost. If the champion had bank-rolled $300 and lost the next game, they\'d still get the $300 plus anything else they picked up along the way.
EDIT: sorry, something weird happened with the quoting...
As far as the \"end game,\" I wish we could see the Kelly/Garagiola episodes again. I remember the shopping decision to be a very exciting part of the show, unlike the Perry version.
As for the schedule in general, other interesting but small notes: well it looks like Dawson Feud is totally gone. It\'s not even on the weekends. And PW+ is still on weekends, and seems to start well into the rule changes, but the first week with the changed opening spiel (\"It\'s Password Plus!\").
I assume when Dawson \'Feud\' returns it with \'new\' shows. This was another chance to bring Ray Combs show back but it looks like it will have be at least another year.
You effectively explained why I liked not having endgame shopping.I\'ve said it here before, I\'ll say it here again and probably not the last time: as a contestant I would choose the money game format. As a viewer I find the winner\'s board a more exciting final segment than \"do you want to keep what you\'ve won or risk it to win more?\" No less than Chris Lemon said \"the excitement of [shopping] is not what happens (upstage), but what happens on the other side of the door.\" I\'ll happily debate the finer points of each of the three different final act formats, but I\'m not going to badmouth someone who says that he likes the money game best because we all have our eccentricities. What I will say is that to ask \"Other than cutting shopping, what was the drastic change to the format?\" is right next to \"Other than the incident how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?\" The drastic change was drastic on its own.
No less than Chris Lemon said \"the excitement of (shopping) is not what happens (upstage), but what happens on the other side of the door.\"
When did I say that? That was awfully damned profound of me. :)
What I will say is that to ask \"Other than cutting shopping
If you want to say \"cutting the shopping endgame,\" or if what you said was shorthand for that, that\'s one thing. But it needs to be made clear that no matter how many times people make the claim, shopping did not get completely cut out of the show, and what remained still had an impact on the game, and IMO not an appreciably different one than it had before.
For people who are saying \"Any Sale is better than nothing,\" would you level up on your cable plan due to this move and nothing more?
Of course not, because I\'m not going to level up my cable for a 13-week commitment to *anything*; the contest business is just far too fickle for me to put that sort of trust in them. Nor does anyone fault you for choosing not to. (To my knowledge. If someone does, well, they\'re a ninny.) But it\'s not an either-or proposition. For you, yes, it involves a financial expenditure to get on board, and that\'s a decision you made, and that\'s fine. For the mass majority of us, the requested investment comes in daily blocks of 22 minutes since we already have GSN, and that\'s a far smaller price to pay.
TL;DR: Those of us who are still excited about this news are excited because for us it\'s 100% gift horse, and I for one have little interest in checking out the quality of the dentistry.
I wonder if GSN will show the final episode?
For about ten years now I\'ve been paying my own cable bill which means I have to choose what channels I want to watch and what ones I don\'t. Last month when I downgraded it got to the point that I was using the Preferred Plan precisely one hour a week and I just can\'t spend $15 a month on that. I look at the acquisition and say \"Good on you, bloody well about time that you went off the reservation but it isn\'t going to get me to take you guys back.\" For people who are saying \"Any Sale is better than nothing,\" would you level up on your cable plan due to this move and nothing more?
Chris summed it up perfectly for me. I don\'t have cable and no pressing desire to do so now. Sale is in my top 10 favorites, but like The Pyramid, subscribing to cable for a show that could be gone in 3 months is incredibly short-sighted, esp. when I didn\'t really watch GSN that much when I had service. There\'s enough episodes on Youtube* to fill the void for me, and I\'m not going to cry over it.
Don\'t get me wrong, I think it\'s awesome of GSN to go back in time and introduce a relatively unknown show to its casual viewers (or even the younger ones here), out of the blue. It\'s the kind of thing you just don\'t hear about cable channels doing anymore, so I do love that. It\'s still not something I\'d plunk upwards of $50 to see.
*Besides, my totally selfish side would love to hear the theme song over the credits. ;-P
This brings up a pretty interesting question for those who currently don\'t subscribe to GSN by choice: How many more of these sorts of moves (i.e. acquiring additional shows, putting already-owned shows back on the schedule) would it take for you to reconsider?
If I had my druthers, I\'d probably do the Winner\'s Board, but risking your winnings each day. Perhaps allow a champion two matches if they score $100 or more. But overall, I liked the idea that a win was a win no matter what the amount, because it encouraged players to buy more during the front game. I\'m with Chris in that I don\'t think most people even thought ahead anyway - those that did bought less, and thus, likely made less exciting games out of it.
-Jason
Which is exactly how they did it in Australia (with one exception: hitting or passing the $100 plateau resulted in the car being placed on the board to be won that night. Otherwise, the car would be prize number 6. There was another way, but it\'s not the crux of this discussion). I\'d go one further and chuck the cash prizes (the $10,000 and $3,000 cards), reduce the prize field to six (making the \"WIN\" card the only way to get the car), and maybe continue progressing the cash jackpot at $1,000/day, starting at $50K.
As for Loogaroo\'s last question, GSN made a huge step in convincing their channel is still a good place to watch with $ale. When budgets permit them, they should try for more acquisitions...mainly shows that have been away from GSN for more than five years. If the fans don\'t bite, go back to what they know.
The Inquisitive One
Revised PDFs for the weeks of 4/1, 4/8, and 4/15 are now out. Couple of minor changes:
*$ale will now start with show #1496 (OAD: 11/10/88), three eps earlier than planned. Episodes #1503-1505 are being skipped, though I don\'t recall if this was reflected originally. .
*PYL will now start with show #052 (OAD: 12/1/83), meaning show #51 is now being skipped, as well as show #66. Show #56, which was originally going to be skipped, will now air as normal on 4/5.
*Episodes 735-740 of P+ are being skipped in the weekend run.
Eps. 735-740 of P+ have always been skipped over by GSN, as far back as I can remember.
Eps. 735-740 of P+ have always been skipped over by GSN, as far back as I can remember.
Celebrity refusing to clear their week, maybe?
Not going to mention the blogger\'s name since he seems to get satisfaction when it\'s mentioned around here....
Which is exactly how they did it in Australia (with one exception: hitting or passing the $100 plateau resulted in the car being placed on the board to be won that night. Otherwise, the car would be prize number 6. There was another way, but it\'s not the crux of this discussion).
I always thought that the Cash Card/ Slot Machine minigame was the only way to get it put on the board early...I never knew that a $100+ score had the same effect.
Personally, what $ale does right in the first 18 or so minutes of the show makes me kinda indifferent about what happens in the final 5. I\'m just grateful that GSN stepped out of their box and gave us something a little different.
BTW, If GSN wanted to do new eps that were contained, they could take the player\'s front game score and carry it over to a bonus round like the one from the 21 revival. Let the champ answer questions of increased difficulty and dollar amounts, allowing them to stop whenever they have enough to claim the next prize level.
It wouldn\'t be hard to come up with a format where the daily champion could play for a trip, car or cash jackpot, or you could have three players on all week and the eventual winner can go shopping. I don\'t need to fill in the details because if you\'re of a mind you\'ve already done that and if you aren\'t you don\'t care. It goes to show how badly the format was bungled in 2007 that a good format could have been created to satisfy lots of angles but they didn\'t bother because that would require effort.
Three players on all week... isn\'t that how one of the tournaments in the Perry series played out?
It wouldn\'t be hard to come up with a format where the daily champion could play for a trip, car or cash jackpot, or you could have three players on all week and the eventual winner can go shopping. I don\'t need to fill in the details because if you\'re of a mind you\'ve already done that and if you aren\'t you don\'t care. It goes to show how badly the format was bungled in 2007 that a good format could have been created to satisfy lots of angles but they didn\'t bother because that would require effort.Three players on all week... isn\'t that how one of the tournaments in the Perry series played out?
To a lesser extent, those special episodes of the \'07 revival had the same format except over a course of three days. That, I didn\'t mind as much.
I always thought that the Cash Card/ Slot Machine minigame was the only way to get it put on the board early...I never knew that a $100+ score had the same effect.
I recall reading that somewhere...as a matter of fact, the Wikipedia page for Aussie $ale shows that this rule was instituted in 1993.
It just stuck out to me because I found it quite nifty to require a little extra effort to get the car early in the championship run.
I wonder if GSN will show the final episode?
Yes, but then they\'ll have to interrupt the last ten minutes for a special report. :)
/Happy to see $otC again.
Can\'t wait to see the Tom Kennedy episodes of Password Plus actually.
Too bad they are only airing Sundays now
Can\'t wait to see the Tom Kennedy episodes of Password Plus actually.
The article says this coming Saturday and the Saturday after, it doesn\'t say anything about the Saturdays after that.
This coming from an entry on YOUR OWN BLOG.....Wow......You can\'t even cite that right?
Can\'t wait to see the Tom Kennedy episodes of Password Plus actually.
Too bad they are only airing Sundays now
The article says this coming Saturday and the Saturday after, it doesn\'t say anything about the Saturdays after that.
The schedules have not been updated/released for Saturday 4/13, 4/20, etc., but I\'m sure it will turn back to Password Plus and Whammy! soon enough
So now you\'re contradicting yourself..........Great \"journalist\", you are...
Burning off airplays of the show on Saturday mornings already. Lulz.
Can\'t wait to see the Tom Kennedy episodes of Password Plus actually.
I\'ll just add that he edited in the link. The original post just had first line.
Can\'t wait to see the Tom Kennedy episodes of Password Plus actually.
Too bad they are only airing Sundays now
I\'ll just add that he edited in the link. The original post just had first line.
That\'s not the first time. I guess he wants to make sure he gets approved then throw in the link to his blog. Tsk tsk.
Anyone notice that this guys biggest supporter is Casey Abell? Weird.
I thought USA network ran all the NBC episodes. I am gonna miss Card Sharks. I am watching SOTC right now and they are running episodes in which the fame game is played like PYL.
I thought USA network ran all the NBC episodes. [...] I am watching SOTC right now and they are running episodes in which the fame game is played like PYL.
No to the NBC episodes. The older ones you saw (1985-86) were from the syndicated era; the 1988-89 season were the only NBC one shown on USA.
The PYL-style Fame Game was in place during the syndicated era as well.
Just finished watching today\'s episode, and it\'s like a breath of fresh air to see $ale back on TV, even if it\'s the WBMG era. I was really reminded what a class act Jim Perry was, compared to the newer hosts of the last decade who would sooner drink dishwater than veer away from a teleprompter.
Yeah, these \"special edition\" tournaments take a lot of zip out of the format. For those who know which episodes GSN purchased, will we be seeing more of these in this block?The thing of it is that if the top three players out of nine winners qualify to play for the car (and let\'s be honest, a Ford Probe is hardly the caliber of car that the show would offer) it makes the instant bargains all the less attractive. And to surrender your lead for a 1/3 shot at $2,000? Heck no. Personally I think there should be more shopping opportunities, that three isn\'t enough, and this sort of tournament nerfs the whole point of the exercise.
Maybe because we\'re all used to the crappy quality YT videos or trader tapes but the PQ was amazing (don\'t even remember it looking that good on USA Network)
let\'s be honest, a Ford Probe is hardly the caliber of car that the show would offer
Pretty much the caliber they were offering near the end of the run. Quite a step down from the early days when they offered Cadillacs and Mercedes.
And to surrender your lead for a 1/3 shot at $2,000?
Somebody at WTVY must be a game show fan because the announcement of GSN acquiring Sale and more PYL made their newscast http://www.wtvy.com/news/odd/headlines/Cable-Network-GSN-Adds-Classic-Repeats-of-80s-Gameshow-Sale-of-the-Century-199295561.html and they sent out a reminder tweet again this morning to watch.
There used to be a Service Merchandise near where I used to live in St. Louis. It had a big white outline of a diamond with the words Service Merchandise. I don\'t know why but when ever I saw it I would hear the SOTC theme in my head. I guess the top of the diamond looked like the top of the door to the bonus game.
The way I see it (and to be fair, Adam saw it the same way), WBMG had three fatal flaws:
1) It didn\'t matter that you could conceivably get one wrong and still be in the running. You\'ve soaked so much time off the clock with that one wrong answer that it\'s practically impossible to recover.
2) No small payouts for each right answer. Contestant had one second left with only one solve (after inexplicably being allowed to pass on the previous one). Wasted formality going on after that.
3) The clock didn\'t seem very accurate. At the very start, it jumped off of 20 rather quick (maybe a third of a second after the first word popped up), and the above mentioned one second ran out literally the moment Perry said \"next puzzle... now\".
I will say, though, credit to them for finding these episodes in such good quality, and for leaving the full credit roll mostly untouched (it got about 3/4 of the way through before it got relegated to bottom-left).
2) No small payouts for each right answer. Contestant had one second left with only one solve (after inexplicably being allowed to pass on the previous one). Wasted formality going on after that.And do what, exactly? $100 per right answer? Yawn.
1) It didn\'t matter that you could conceivably get one wrong and still be in the running. You\'ve soaked so much time off the clock with that one wrong answer that it\'s practically impossible to recover.
The WBMG was designed almost the same way as they wrote the questions in the main game: You\'re rewarded for quick answers. In this case, if you can knock out the puzzle by the third word, stay ahead of the clock, you might be able to afford to miss or pass and still hit the money.
The WBMG was designed almost the same way as they wrote the questions in the main game: You\'re rewarded for quick answers. In this case, if you can knock out the puzzle by the third word, stay ahead of the clock, you might be able to afford to miss or pass and still hit the money.
I agree with this- and even if you do miss, usually one or two of the puzzles are set up in such a way that you can take a reasonable guess at it after two words if you need to..
One thing I always wondered was why they didn\'t use a clock that counted down in tenths of a second like Scrabble for the WBMG- it seemed like it would make more sense for it.
My sense is If they had started with the WBMG from the very first episode,it would have felt more organic- after all those years of shopping and then the Winner\'s Board it just seemed not to fill in very well.
And I chucked a bit at todays episode- did you see that cell phone?
I could sit up here and complain that the $ale episodes acquired were from the WBMG era, but my god the quality is stellar.
Indeed, I can\'t wait to see some (once I get one of my hookups with GSN to get me some eps...). But as NBC goes, the WBMG era might be all there is to that run...yes, according to Wiki, for what that\'s worth.
On the same entry, they mention that this season and the one syndicated season were all that were seen on USA. I could have sworn I saw the Winner\'s Board there too, unless I am forgetting that it was adopted near the end of the syndie?
On the same entry, they mention that this season and the one syndicated season were all that were seen on USA. I could have sworn I saw the Winner\'s Board there too, unless I am forgetting that it was adopted near the end of the syndie?
The syndicated version did switch over during its brief run (I have the last episode before they changed over...if I ever find it, you can find it on the usual video sharing site)
FWIW, I\'m wondering if it\'s not a matter of the parties involved (Fremantle, NBC) just not knowing where the heck the earlier tapes are stored (and not really all that interested in going looking for them) as opposed to their definitely knowing that they were erased/written over/dumped in a landfill or river.
Regarding the Super Password run they have...will this include the all-star week with Betty White and Estelle Getty?
/If there was ever a time for SP to adopt the \"celebs play in character\" weeks PW+ did...
//And now I am wondering if Bea and Rue ever played on any other version of Password...
Yes (it aired on January 12-16, 1987). In fact, if you go by production order, it was taped after the all-star week with Harry Anderson, Jack Coleman, John Ratzenberger, & Emma Samms (February 02-06, 1987).
Right now, I am putting together a newer version of the episode guide, and seeing that GSN is going to spring 1987, now\'s a good time to update it. Whatever I have filled out so far, I have arranged them by production order. During the Spring of 1987, just before the Iran-Contra hearings, were there any breaking news reports that may have caused weeks of shows to stagger?
/If there was ever a time for SP to adopt the \"celebs play in character\" weeks PW+ did...
How many weeks like this did they do that didn\'t include Jon Bauman?
/If there was ever a time for SP to adopt the \"celebs play in character\" weeks PW+ did...
How many weeks like this did they do that didn\'t include Jon Bauman?
I feel like I\'m walking into a \"whoosh\" situation, but......
Actually, Bowzer was just part of one of said all-star weeks (and paired with \"Patty Lane\" no less!) I think there were just 2 others...Vicki Lawrence and Carol Burnett (as what would become Mama\'s Family characters) vs. McLean Stevenson and Joanna Gleason (as Hello Larry characters) during Allen\'s tenure. There was another week with Denver Pyle (as Uncle Jesse), Robert Pine (as Bert Gatraer), Betty White (as Sue Ann Nivens), and Brian Kerwin (as Birdie), this time a Kennedy week, as was the aforementioned Bauman/Duke week, which also included Robert Donner as Exidor from Mork and Mindy, and Anne Francine (as Flora Simpson Reilly from the Harper Valley PTA series).
/And yes, Patty Duke alternated between Patty and Cathy on her week.
I feel like I\'m walking into a \"whoosh\" situation, but......
And I chucked a bit at todays episode- did you see that cell phone?
\"Light, small AND pocket sized!\" LOL
I could sit up here and complain that the $ale episodes acquired were from the WBMG era, but my god the quality is stellar.
Indeed, I can\'t wait to see some (once I get one of my hookups with GSN to get me some eps...). But as NBC goes, the WBMG era might be all there is to that run...yes, according to Wiki, for what that\'s worth.
On the same entry, they mention that this season and the one syndicated season were all that were seen on USA. I could have sworn I saw the Winner\'s Board there too, unless I am forgetting that it was adopted near the end of the syndie?
I\'ll go a step further: I recalled seeing the 5-in-25 WBMG format on USA back in \'91 or \'92.
As for the Syndie version: I can second the Winner\'s Board.
I\'ll go a step further: I recalled seeing the 5-in-25 WBMG format on USA back in \'91 or \'92.
As for the Syndie version: I can second the Winner\'s Board.
The 5-in-25 is a new one to me, but I will third seeing syndie Winner\'s Board episodes, and an episode where a guy won the Camaro I referred to earlier in another thread.
And I chucked a bit at todays episode- did you see that cell phone?\"Light, small AND pocket sized!\" LOL
and it cost $2,495...you can get a basic one now for about 1% of that price...
And I chucked a bit at todays episode- did you see that cell phone?\"Light, small AND pocket sized!\" LOL
and it cost $2,495...you can get a basic one now for about 1% of that price...
Yes, but only with a 2-year contract. ;-)
/And the phone\'s usually obsolete about six months in
And the phone\'s usually obsolete about six months in
Yes, but only with a 2-year contract. ;-)
Anyone notice how Jim Perry is very formal in the WBMG? He\'s always saying \"That was your one mistake, you cannot make another...\" Why cannot? Why not can\'t? To quote the late, great Mitch Hedberg, \"We need to embrace the contraction..\"
Why cannot? Why not can\'t?
Because that\'s how Jim Perry talked, without using lazy English?
Because oftentimes the contraction is forgone to express the urgency of a situation, which is something a quality host might want to do to build drama?
To quote the late, great Mitch Hedberg, \"We need to embrace the contraction..\"
Are we really looking to Mitch Hedberg as an authority on diction?
Anyone notice how Jim Perry is very formal in the WBMG? He\'s always saying \"That was your one mistake, you cannot make another...\" Why cannot? Why not can\'t? To quote the late, great Mitch Hedberg, \"We need to embrace the contraction..\"
If I\'m playing for $5,000 (or more), I\'m not really worried about formalities, but off the top of my head, Jim\'s probably explaining just how important this Mulligan is, again, considering $5,000 is on the line, and esp. since the top 3 contestants come back Friday, no?
The contestant misunderstands and thinks Jim said \"You can make another...\", and then screws up again and doesn\'t come back Friday. Potential fustercluck, all because the host embraced the contraction.
/I realize political correctness and frivolous lawsuits weren\'t invented until the mid-90s, but still...
Anyone notice how Jim Perry is very formal in the WBMG? He\'s always saying \"That was your one mistake, you cannot make another...\" Why cannot? Why not can\'t? To quote the late, great Mitch Hedberg, \"We need to embrace the contraction..\"
I always find him to be strident with his diction, so it might be a good idea to not use the contraction. At least you know you can\'t gunk it up from here on out, even without time on the clock (and especially since the last thing on my mind is formalities in grammar, I need to look at what I should do to win the $5,000.
/and I for one, appreciate the Hedberg reference.
If I\'m playing for $5,000 (or more), I\'m not really worried about formalities, but off the top of my head, Jim\'s probably explaining just how important this Mulligan is, again, considering $5,000 is on the line, and esp. since the top 3 contestants come back Friday, no?
The contestant misunderstands and thinks Jim said \"You can make another...\", and then screws up again and doesn\'t come back Friday. Potential fustercluck, all because the host embraced the contraction.
/I realize political correctness and frivolous lawsuits weren\'t invented until the mid-90s, but still...
I thought they determined the finalists by whichever 3 got the highest maingame scores, not total winnings.
Anyone notice how Jim Perry is very formal in the WBMG? He\'s always saying \"That was your one mistake, you cannot make another...\" Why cannot? Why not can\'t? To quote the late, great Mitch Hedberg, \"We need to embrace the contraction..\"
He did this on Card Sharks too: \"You did not win the question, you cannot change it...\"
So? Do you want a host who slurs words and/or forgets stuff explaining your one shot at a $5,000 payoff?
Thus the reason why Kookie never made it past the pilot stage.....
If I\'m playing for $5,000 (or more), I\'m not really worried about formalities, but off the top of my head, Jim\'s probably explaining just how important this Mulligan is, again, considering $5,000 is on the line, and esp. since the top 3 contestants come back Friday, no?
The contestant misunderstands and thinks Jim said \"You can make another...\", and then screws up again and doesn\'t come back Friday. Potential fustercluck, all because the host embraced the contraction.
/I realize political correctness and frivolous lawsuits weren\'t invented until the mid-90s, but still...
I thought they determined the finalists by whichever 3 got the highest maingame scores, not total winnings.
By what I saw yesterday, they DID decide by maingame winnings, since Jim mentions that the winning player\'s score puts him in the top 3 as of that point
I thought they determined the finalists by whichever 3 got the highest maingame scores, not total winnings.
Ah gotcha. I stand corrected. :-)
/Other point stands about losing $5K
On the same entry, they mention that this season and the one syndicated season were all that were seen on USA. I could have sworn I saw the Winner\'s Board there too, unless I am forgetting that it was adopted near the end of the syndie?The syndicated version did switch over during its brief run (I have the last episode before they changed over...if I ever find it, you can find it on the usual video sharing site)
And didn\'t they transition formats by awarding the champion whatever prize they were building towards?
On the same entry, they mention that this season and the one syndicated season were all that were seen on USA. I could have sworn I saw the Winner\'s Board there too, unless I am forgetting that it was adopted near the end of the syndie?The syndicated version did switch over during its brief run (I have the last episode before they changed over...if I ever find it, you can find it on the usual video sharing site)
And didn\'t they transition formats by awarding the champion whatever prize they were building towards?
I asked this same question awhile ago and don\'t remember if I ever got an answer...or at least something along those lines.
And the syndicated series lasted a year and a half, not a year. January \'85-September \'86.
The syndicated version did switch over during its brief run (I have the last episode before they changed over...if I ever find it, you can find it on the usual video sharing site)
And didn\'t they transition formats by awarding the champion whatever prize they were building towards?
The champion had three choices, if I recall:
Take the prize and quit
Take the prize and play on
Refuse the prize and play on
It was a mid-tier shopping spree package. The contestant chose choice number 2. It would have made more sense to just give him the prize outright and move on to the Winner\'s Board, instead of adding two more choices which could be considered foolish in some minds.
I echo the sentiments of the video quality looking well beyond stellar for a late 80s game show. My goodness was it beautiful.
As for the WBMG and the stringent rules that came with it, I always thought that was a weird period not just for $ale, but for NBC game shows in general during that time. A lot of the shows running at that time had small budgets. Classic Concentration had top prize cars that barely hit the $10,000 range, and Scrabble just cut it\'s top prize with an equally-as-tight bonus round (2 words, 10 seconds). Daytime Wheel was fine as is. The only show that managed to go unchanged - strangely - was Super Password.
This doesn\'t justify the needless theme weeks with the flat Instant Ca$h jackpot and easy car giveaway tactics.
The Inquisitive One
When did Sale of the Century change the fame game money cards from red background with white numbers to yellow background with red numbers?
Just watched Marc DeCarlo\'s episode, and they had made the switch by that point, so early-1985 to narrow it down...
When did Sale of the Century change the fame game money cards from red background with white numbers to yellow background with red numbers?
Sometime in \'84, after they had gone from the 80s beige set to the gold set used for the rest of the run.
Boy, not only does this mini-tournament break the format of the game, but the format of the tournament itself is kinda broken, too. 9 days of one-and-one games, and the top three winning main game scores advance to the one-game final. We\'re 7 days in, and the leaderboard is at 90, 85, and a 3-way tie at 80 to be broken in an unspecified manner. I imagine at this time, the producers were really hoping for some high scores out of the last two qualifiers. Plus, there\'s the chance that we get a >$80 winner in the last two games, which gives us a \"you won, but not really\" scenario.
Problem is, I\'m trying to think of a better way to make it work, as the format is constructed, and having a hard time doing so. Maybe use a WBMG win as the primary method of qualification, with game scores as the tiebreak? But nobody\'s actually won the WBMG in this tournament, so... Then maybe you could use \"correct WBMG answers\" as your primary measuring stick, but again, everybody\'s going to have a score of two, three, or (maybe) four, so there\'s another traffic jam.
Really, if they were going to do a 10-day, self-contained tourney like this, it would have been better to have 6 qualifying games with the winners plus three wild cards advancing, three semifinal games, and then your final for the car. As it stands, there\'s a lot gone wrong here.
tl;dr These mini-tournaments eat it.
Who is Pucci? Does he have a link?
/I know, I know
//Brick wall
///Still...had to give it a shot
Boy, not only does this mini-tournament break the format of the game, but the format of the tournament itself is kinda broken, too. 9 days of one-and-one games, and the top three winning main game scores advance to the one-game final. We\'re 7 days in, and the leaderboard is at 90, 85, and a 3-way tie at 80 to be broken in an unspecified manner. I imagine at this time, the producers were really hoping for some high scores out of the last two qualifiers. Plus, there\'s the chance that we get a >$80 winner in the last two games, which gives us a \"you won, but not really\" scenario.
Problem is, I\'m trying to think of a better way to make it work, as the format is constructed, and having a hard time doing so. Maybe use a WBMG win as the primary method of qualification, with game scores as the tiebreak? But nobody\'s actually won the WBMG in this tournament, so... Then maybe you could use \"correct WBMG answers\" as your primary measuring stick, but again, everybody\'s going to have a score of two, three, or (maybe) four, so there\'s another traffic jam.
Really, if they were going to do a 10-day, self-contained tourney like this, it would have been better to have 6 qualifying games with the winners plus three wild cards advancing, three semifinal games, and then your final for the car. As it stands, there\'s a lot gone wrong here.
tl;dr These mini-tournaments eat it.
I give the show\'s writers credit for using love & romance-tinged questions in the show. However, I found it noticeably odd that if they were going to go gung-ho on all love-themed questions (which IMHO was a bit overkill), why didn\'t they carry it through to the Fame Game questions, which sounded more like the regular general-knowledge questions they used?
Boy, not only does this mini-tournament break the format of the game, but the format of the tournament itself is kinda broken, too. 9 days of one-and-one games, and the top three winning main game scores advance to the one-game final. We\'re 7 days in, and the leaderboard is at 90, 85, and a 3-way tie at 80 to be broken in an unspecified manner. I imagine at this time, the producers were really hoping for some high scores out of the last two qualifiers. Plus, there\'s the chance that we get a >$80 winner in the last two games, which gives us a \"you won, but not really\" scenario.
Problem is, I\'m trying to think of a better way to make it work, as the format is constructed, and having a hard time doing so. Maybe use a WBMG win as the primary method of qualification, with game scores as the tiebreak? But nobody\'s actually won the WBMG in this tournament, so... Then maybe you could use \"correct WBMG answers\" as your primary measuring stick, but again, everybody\'s going to have a score of two, three, or (maybe) four, so there\'s another traffic jam.
Really, if they were going to do a 10-day, self-contained tourney like this, it would have been better to have 6 qualifying games with the winners plus three wild cards advancing, three semifinal games, and then your final for the car. As it stands, there\'s a lot gone wrong here.
tl;dr These mini-tournaments eat it.
I give the show\'s writers credit for using love & romance-tinged questions in the show. However, I found it noticeably odd that if they were going to go gung-ho on all love-themed questions (which IMHO was a bit overkill), why didn\'t they carry it through to the Fame Game questions, which sounded more like the regular general-knowledge questions they used?
My guess is that, considering the writers had to dig a little deeper for Fame Game questions (i.e. birthdate, birthplace, and various tidbits), keeping those generic was an easier way to go. Brainstorming for a bunch of romance-centric subjects was another story...although they probably could\'ve done a lot on Chuck Woolery, with him hosting Love Connection and being on the NBC/Grundy lot.
Personally I found it heavy handed and distracting:
\"If your girlfriend\'s hobby is philately what does she collect?\"
is not a love-and-romance question, it is a general knowledge question with flowery writing surrounding it.
Who is Pucci?
Sale of the Century isn\'t doing to well according to Pucci\'s site. Mon: 131K, Tue: 120K, Wed: 89K.
The numbers for Super Password actually provide a bit of a tell with regards to the ratings. SP, most of the time, does numbers in the mid 200s. They do this figure on a generally consistent basis, and better than most anything else they\'ve tried in the slot, actually.
Given that Super Password suddenly performed 50-75K under it\'s usual numbers on Tuesday and Wednesday, I don\'t necessarily think a lot should be read into early numbers. At least on those two days some sort of external forced seemed to drag GSN\'s ratings lower than normal. It happens from time to time. If $ale is doing a consistent 100K figure six weeks from now? Then yes, there\'s a problem. But three days is hardly a valid data pool to gauge viewership, especially when reliably consistent series also showed unexpected losses in that time.
I thought I remember Jamie Locklin saying something along the lines that traditional Q&A shows, like the B&E shows for example, do the worst in terms of ratings.
Though, granted, $ale is not exactly the same pace as B&E shows.
Who is Pucci?
Itchy and Scratchy\'s \"friend\", about whom we must never speak?
Well played.
Scott, what kind of numbers are you expecting? The show airs at 6:30 in the morning here in Seattle. Unless you\'re one of the networks running news or the old independent stations that would run cartoons from six to nine, you\'re lucky to beat a hash mark each morning. And this is GSN, as opposed to those things I mentioned.
Scott, what kind of numbers are you expecting? The show airs at 6:30 in the morning here in Seattle. Unless you\'re one of the networks running news or the old independent stations that would run cartoons from six to nine, you\'re lucky to beat a hash mark each morning. And this is GSN, as opposed to those things I mentioned.
Press Your Luck did better at 9:30am then $ale is currently doing, butasSeth said, it\'s only three days in ratings.
Press Your Luck aired on GSN in the past, and is a fairly popular 80s pop culture memory. Sale of the Century is rebuilding a fanbase after not airing anywhere in close to 20 years. Slightly different scenario.
If these low 100K ratings remain similar a month or two from now, then there is a problem.
Thanks John Madden.
If these low 100K ratings remain similar a month or two from now, then there is a problem.
Thanks John Madden.
We also would have accepted Tim McCarver.
Doug, I never accept Tim McCarver, though I bet our Scott here does.
You\'ll miss him when he\'s gone. But then again, you\'ll also miss the Bubonic Plague.
There\'s also the cost of licensing to factor in. I\'m guessing SOTC episodes ended up being far cheaper to get the rights to than PYL.
Of course, the fact that it\'s the show with the Whammies that everyone who grew up in the \'80s remembers doesn\'t factor into it one bit.
PYL and $ale were time slot competitors back in the day. I\'m sure the kids who watched PYL don\'t remember $ale as much.
Of course, the fact that it\'s the show with the Whammies that everyone who grew up in the \'80s remembers doesn\'t factor into it one bit.PYL and $ale were time slot competitors back in the day. I\'m sure the kids who watched PYL don\'t remember $ale as much.
As I might have said before, the interesting factor around these parts is that $ale (and actually, Super Password, too, come to think of it) were NOT seen in this area. WGAL carried a bit of $ale when it premiered, but after that, the entire hour 10-11am hour (when it was sitcom reruns and game shows) was filled with syndicated fare. \"Noonday on 8\" filled the noon slot from 1980-on, so \"Super Password\" never saw the light of day here either. Anyone around here who didn\'t know any better is seeing these shows for the first time.
But aren\'t PYL\'s rights and Sale\'s rights owned by Fremantle now? That\'s how I understood it, so why would they charge more for GSN to lease the certain amount of episodes from PYL than Sale?
(Noticed also that Fremantle inserted its closing logo bumper onto the Sale episodes...I might be deducing a little too much but might it mean that there\'s more of this version out there than some have said, and that they have it in their archives?)
What I wanna know is how exactly did the rumors start that NBC\'s practice of erasing daytime game shows was still going strong in the 80\'s, in contrast to CBS and ABC? Does anyone who originated during the ATGS days recall how exactly such rumors began?
Now that I think about it, there was a guy by the name of \"Paul the Flea\" (does anyone remember him?). He had an a-z game show survival list, and he listed $ale of the Century and Scrabble, as supposedly having all of their pre-1985 daytime episodes destroyed, even though for the latter, USA showed some of them.
He also listed Time Machine, as also being destroyed by NBC, as well as daytime Wheel of Fortune, from up until around 1984 or 1985, no longer existing.
It just doesn\'t seem that logical that Scrabble from \'85 onward would exist but NBC sale only exists from \'88 and \'89. Though existing ad actually knowing where they are are different entirely.
A random thought while watching today\'s edition of the seemingly six-month-long \"True Romance\" mini-tournament: After watching all those mediocre to crap quality episodes on Youtube, it\'s fun to actually hear the bass in the lovely theme music as it graces my home theater.
A random thought while watching today\'s edition of the seemingly six-month-long \"True Romance\" mini-tournament: After watching all those mediocre to crap quality episodes on Youtube, it\'s fun to actually hear the bass in the lovely theme music as it graces my home theater.
After watching today\'s episode (which was already on YouTube before GSN even picked up $ale), is it just me, or do the balloon drops look more grandiose in HD? I know it\'s trivial, but it just jumped out at me.
After watching today\'s episode (which was already on YouTube before GSN even picked up $ale), is it just me, or do the balloon drops look more grandiose in HD? I know it\'s trivial, but it just jumped out at me.
Since the show didn\'t suddenly become HD after sitting on a shelf for twenty years, I feel confident in saying that, yeah, it\'s just you.
A random thought while watching today\'s edition of the seemingly six-month-long \"True Romance\" mini-tournament: After watching all those mediocre to crap quality episodes on Youtube, it\'s fun to actually hear the bass in the lovely theme music as it graces my home theater.
After watching today\'s episode (which was already on YouTube before GSN even picked up $ale), is it just me, or do the balloon drops look more grandiose in HD? I know it\'s trivial, but it just jumped out at me.
Depends. Was the contestant allergic to the balloons?
Seriously, I dunno about grandiose, but I imagine it obviously looks a lot sharper, but I\'d have to watch this celebration. The quality I\'ve seen from other episodes on Youtube was amazing.
Depends. Was the contestant allergic to the balloons?
Really? LOL
I guess I worded it wrong. I watch the HD feed of GSN, and the clarity of this particular scene made it look like it took a lot more effort (which I\'m sure it did) than what shows do these days for a big win.
I watch the HD feed of GSN, and the clarity of this particular scene
Right. And I don\'t care if you\'re watching the Super Hi-Def 3D feed, it doesn\'t change that the original program was taped at 480i.
I watch the HD feed of GSN, and the clarity of this particular scene
Right. And I don\'t care if you\'re watching the Super Hi-Def 3D feed, it doesn\'t change that the original program was taped at 480i.
I think here it is about the television you\'re looking at and whether or not it up-converts the picture you are looking it. I think the show looks great on both feeds and that\'s probably because of my TV and the fact that this is 2013.
I think so because I don\'t think the joke Branson made was gotten.
Who? ;-)
I can understand if that one flew under the radar though...
Kinda off-topic, but was the entire NBC Daytime lineup preempted by coverage on the Pan AM 103 hijacking on December 21, 1988?
Kinda off-topic, but was the entire NBC Daytime lineup preempted by coverage on the Pan AM 103 hijacking on December 21, 1988?
Doesn\'t appear that it was, according to the Vanderbilt TV News archive.
I thought it might have been, because I know the lineup was preempted on 1/2/89 (due to football), and on 1/20/89 (due to coverage on the swearing-in of Bush 41). And it might have explained why Super Password did three 6-episode weeks, during the winter of 1989.
The 1/2/89 preemption wasn\'t for breaking news--since 1/1 was a Sunday, the Rose Parade and the big college bowl games (remember when they were all played on one day?) were moved to Monday.
I think a whoosh is in order.
I got the joke, that is why I \"LOL\'d\"
I may not be the brightest bulb in the drawer, but at least I still light up. :-)
Do we know how many episodes were skipped between the end of the \"True Romance\" torture tournament and the next episode aired by GSN? Mr. Perry referred to a female returning champion who would be back on the next show at the end of the last True Romance episode, while today\'s champion was cetainly not female.
GSN skipped the three-episode Thanksgiving week.
*$ale will now start with show #1496 (OAD: 11/10/88), three eps earlier than planned. Episodes #1503-1505 are being skipped, though I don\'t recall if this was reflected originally. .
Now that I think about it, makes sense--1503-1505 would\'ve been Thanksgiving Week (Macy\'s Parade Turkey Day, cartoons Black Friday). So we pick up with 1506 from 11/28/88.
ETA: Looks like a few of us had the same train of thought.
Saw somebody on Facebook chiming in with the \"let\'s make GSN start Sale from the beginning all in favor say i\" crap...didn\'t take long for that to start...
65 episodes or not, a piece of my childhood is back on television! I am grateful! Hell, I ended up waking up with a stomachache (I sleep in) the other day and turned on the TV for PYL, Sale, and $100K Pyramid and it almost felt like I was back in kindergarten! Why am I still going with the exclamation points! I don\'t know! I\'ll stop now.
/didn\'t have the best day
//I swear that Walmart needs to have an IQ test prior to hiring people
I\'m surprised it took this long. I don\'t have cable, but when I read the schedule update, I immediately thought that it felt like the 80s again. And if new daytime shows won\'t make a comeback, this will do just fine. :-P
Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but according to the GSN pdf\'s the following episodes will be skipped.
#1516, 1521-1530 & 1534.
I would take it 1521-1530 would have to do with Christmas & New Years. Not sure about the other two.
Maybe they are holding them off towards the end of the year?
No. I think they are skipping the Xmas episodes completely.
The press release said \"65 episodes\". Plus, I think there was a music-clearance issue. Wasn\'t the song \"Sleigh Ride\" (composed after 1923) played during these episodes? I know they showed Ray Combs FF episodes featuring the song, but I guess this time, GSN didn\'t feel like paying the royalties.
I know the Friday episode of that Christmas week (12/23/88?) used \"Sleigh Ride\"...Jim did a very heartfelt thanks to the viewers that episode, and the cast and crew all appeared on stage.
In response to 1), could they have been donated by Mark DeCarlo, from when he recorded them back in 1985?
Watching several episodes of the NBC Daytime Edition from the 1980\'s, I noticed Sally Julian and Lee Menning were never equipped with a body mic. Which leads me to this question: How are we able to hear their voices, if they don\'t have one equipped? I also noticed the same thing with Vanna White in many Wheel of Fortune episodes.
Boom, perhaps?
Watching several episodes of the NBC Daytime Edition from the 1980\'s, I noticed Sally Julian and Lee Menning were never equipped with a body mic. Which leads me to this question: How are we able to hear their voices, if they don\'t have one equipped? I also noticed the same thing with Vanna White in many Wheel of Fortune episodes.
Dude, just chill out and enjoy the episodes.
Everything doesn\'t need to be analyzed to within an inch of its life.
Watching several episodes of the NBC Daytime Edition from the 1980\'s, I noticed Sally Julian and Lee Menning were never equipped with a body mic. Which leads me to this question: How are we able to hear their voices, if they don\'t have one equipped? I also noticed the same thing with Vanna White in many Wheel of Fortune episodes.Given that I\'m not profoundly deaf I am able to hear myself speak. I\'m guessing that Sally nor Lee were deaf so they could hear their own words.
They probably used a boom mic and mixed in the audio in post
Is anyone else disappointed that none of the episodes aired so far have had a Winner\'s Big Money Game win?
Watching the WBMG for the first time as an adult, I realize that nearly every puzzle is a shot in the dark until the 4th word/5th second. So it\'s a matter of having the hair-trigger and the answer at the ready the moment that fourth word appears, four times in a row, or no cash for you. Rough stuff.
Good heavens, The Winner\'s Big Money Game is weak sauce, damn tough to win (0 for 12 so far), and somewhat derivative from the rest of the show. On the other hand, the speed round might be the most exciting minute in game show history. See today\'s show for proof. I did not see that ending happening.
Sounds like the producers needed a way to still offer the exciting $100,000 in cash and prizes, but needed a way to not give it away so often, considering the Winner\'s Board guaranteed a prize everyday, which I\'m guessing was hell on the prize budget one way or another.
Wasn\'t the Winner\'s Board in response to NBC wanting each of its daytime shows to feature an actual bonus game offering wins, or is that urban legend?
Wasn\'t the Winner\'s Board in response to NBC wanting each of its daytime shows to feature an actual bonus game offering wins, or is that urban legend?
For a long-time, I was under the impression that NBC was trying to conserve their budget, hence why they changed the bonus round so quickly: First with the Winner\'s Board in 1984, then with the WBMG in 1987.
Wasn\'t the Winner\'s Board in response to NBC wanting each of its daytime shows to feature an actual bonus game offering wins, or is that urban legend?That was the word from the late Mitt Dawson.
For a long-time, I was under the impression that NBC was trying to conserve their budget, hence why they changed the bonus round so quickly: First with the Winner\'s Board in 1984, then with the WBMG in 1987.If you were going to conserve your budget would you change your last act to one where your champion could win a guaranteed $3,000; $10,000; or a luxury car everyday? And those prizes weren\'t at risk until two weeks out. There\'s consecutive episodes on Youtube where the winners take home the $10,000 and car.
Well, it was kind of a step back (though not much as the WBMG) with the winner\'s board, where the cash bonus went from a progressive jackpot (started at $50K, increased by $1K each time it was not claimed), to a flat $50K.
In contrast, the Aussie version had shopping for 9 years, from 1980-1989, and then the Winner\'s Board after that, only their version was 12 numbers instead of 20.
If you were going to conserve your budget would you change your last act to one where your champion could win a guaranteed $3,000; $10,000; or a luxury car everyday? And those prizes weren\'t at risk until two weeks out. There\'s consecutive episodes on Youtube where the winners take home the $10,000 and car.
Exciting to watch and fun if you\'re at home and it isn\'t you that has to answer to the accountant? Sure, I guess. If that\'s what they were doing to conserve money it was sure a strange way to do it.
Yes, you could win the car or $10,000 on the Winner\'s Board but in order to win either prize before day 9, you had to match it up with a WIN card. There was only one car and one $10,000 on the Winner\'s Board.
That\'s a very tricky one, especially since Newhart itself was still airing in first-run, and the 70s sitcom had long since ended. I wonder if they simply didn\'t even think of the 70s version. Either way, a bad question for that reason.
If they had reinstated shopping and used the bonus game to build a cash jackpot that could be cashed out on day seven, but the contestant was still choosing to take a prize or risk it for a better prize, that would have been really neat, especially to eight-year-old me. If they have a twelve-day stretch of no joy in the bonus game, I suspect they might have had a line item in the ledger for hookers/blow where \"prize budget\" useta be.
So essentially Temptation?
I wonder how many Temptation Dollars changed hands to secure this gig.
Was I the last person to notice that Patty on True Romance week was back as a champion a few shows later (in GSN time) with her name spelled differently?
Josh
Did she win her semi-final game on the romance salute?
She might have had she not fluffed the speed round.
Jim didn\'t say when she was on the show, but mentioned that a mistake was made during her game that may have been a disadvantage to her and she was brought back.
The PDFs earlier in this thread stated that ep. #066 of Press Your Luck would be skipped over, but they showed it after all.
Maybe snowpeck was right after all, when he said the entire CBS daytime lineup was preempted on 1/2/84.
The PDFs earlier in this thread stated that ep. #066 of Press Your Luck would be skipped over, but they showed it after all.
Maybe snowpeck was right after all, when he said the entire CBS daytime lineup was preempted on 1/2/84.
What do you mean, \"after all\"?? You hardly have any room to criticize ANYONE. A calendar is your friend. Look up January 2, 1984, and it was a MONDAY. When New Year\'s Day falls on a Sunday, the festivities get pushed to a Monday. Daytime shows on CBS were pre-empted for parades and football.
Maybe snowpeck was right after all, when he said the entire CBS daytime lineup was preempted on 1/2/84.
Why wouldn\'t he be?
As far as I know, only $otC and FF aired episodes on 1/2/84.
Maybe snowpeck was right after all, when he said the entire CBS daytime lineup was preempted on 1/2/84.Why wouldn\'t he be?
As far as I know, only $otC and FF aired episodes on 1/2/84.
Upon further review, you would be correct! Looking at TV Listings from that day, \"Facts of Life\" reruns and $otC aired from 10-11, followed by the Parade and then bowl games. ABC\'s daytime lineup appeared to run as normal.
Maybe snowpeck was right after all, when he said the entire CBS daytime lineup was preempted on 1/2/84.Given your sordid history here in just a few years, I find this to be just about the least gracious apology on the Forum, ever.
I used to get a kick out of his anecdotes, as non-sequitur as they seemed...nice little way to ease a tense round. One I remember involved a film critic who\'d just viewed a particularly bad movie. From Jim: \"The critic said, \'For the first time in my life I actually envied my feet...they were asleep.\' \"
What was the MasterCard joke?
The prop department put together a huge MasterCard with an image of Elvis on it. I don\'t remember the joke, but the audience reaction was dead and whoever was running the McKenzie opted to not add anything. Perry (like Johnny or Dave when a joke didn\'t work) opted to come back to the gag a couple of times. Unlike Johnny or Dave, it didn\'t help.
Perry can be very witty (evidence found in my sig). But the MasterCard bit was one of those exceptions.
The video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdDrGSRQQuk[/youtube]
Was it possible for a player to go negative in the front game or was zero the bottom (as was seen this week)?
I\'m surprised they didn\'t keep the rule from the original series (purportedly) that if your score went to zero, you were eliminated from the game... of course, that could make for bad television if they end with only one player left and a lot of time to fill
I\'m surprised they didn\'t keep the rule from the original series (purportedly) that if your score went to zero, you were eliminated from the game...
Rejoice! Rejoice! Ah, I\'d better not spoil it.
However, I know Chris Lemon would make great use out of that second instant bargain.
Have a great day.
Rani White was allegedly the only contestant to win all the big prizes during the WBMG era. Does anyone recall when she appeared on the show? Were they among the 6 months of NBC Daytime episodes USA aired?
Rani White was allegedly the only contestant to win all the big prizes during the WBMG era. Does anyone recall when she appeared on the show? Were they among the 6 months of NBC Daytime episodes USA aired?
I can narrow that down some for you. It was either April or May of 1988.
And since they aired the second $50,000 try (I remember watching and Half-Assed Tiller has it on his page) I would say they probably would have. Then again I don\'t know what eps they had the rights to (I seem to remember them going back to the syndie eps once Christmas \'88s eps aired)
That sounds about right. I seem to remember watching the Christmas \'88 episode, and then seeing some eps. from 1986 the following week.
From what I can tell, the \'88 eps. appeared to be from summer-December of that year. I remember seeing Halloween eps. with a VW Cabriolet up for grabs, and another tournament where a guy won a Ford Probe (I don\'t think it was the True Romance week).
Based on my recollections and my years of tape trading and searches, the lone $50,000 WBMG win has yet to air outside of its original airing. I know I have tried to find a collector to give me that episode, but I only mustered up a clip of Rani\'s $10,000 win.
I\'d love for this episode to surface; I seem to recall as a younger kid waking up just before 9 or 10am and seeing the big celebration before they went to commercial.
The Inquisitive One
I\'ve noticed that they skipped some episodes of $ale on GSN recently. One day, they had a returning champ named Carla. The next they had a champ named...I don\'t know it of the top my head, but Nashville\'s own Deacon Claybourne was the new winner by the end of the show. My question is does anybody know the date of Deacon\'s 1st episode?
Not sure, but IMDb says he also appeared on Scrabble in 1990.
I\'ve noticed that they skipped some episodes of $ale on GSN recently. One day, they had a returning champ named Carla. The next they had a champ named...I don\'t know it of the top my head, but Nashville\'s own Deacon Claybourne was the new winner by the end of the show. My question is does anybody know the date of Deacon\'s 1st episode?
I\'m thinking a sole episode was skipped. There was a younger blonde who defeated Carla before the skipped episode(s?). On that show, Instant Cash was $3000 while on the next GSN ep., it was at $5000. Today\'s ep. should be the Thursday ep. from that week. If that\'s the case, the original air date should be in mid-December 1988, possibly the 15th. (I doubt it\'s the 22nd. There have been no mentions of Christmas, no additions of any holiday decorations or props, etc.) My digital guide on U-Verse showed some original air dates, but has reverted to a generic listing with no air date.
ETA: The post wanted the first ep. with Chip Esten. Using my logic above, his first show would have likely aired on 12/13/88.
Has anyone taken a record of WBMG wins to losses thus far?
From my memories watching the reruns and a recent report by Mike Klauss the record is dick-all out of all of \'em.
Using real numbers, thus far on GSN airings, contestants have gone 2 for 19--Carla hit it for $7000 on Monday\'s show (OAD: 12/8/88) and Chip Esten won $5000 on Wednesday\'s ep. (OAD: 12/13/88).
I\'ve noticed that they skipped some episodes of $ale on GSN recently. One day, they had a returning champ named Carla. The next they had a champ named...I don\'t know it of the top my head, but Nashville\'s own Deacon Claybourne was the new winner by the end of the show. My question is does anybody know the date of Deacon\'s 1st episode?I\'m thinking a sole episode was skipped. There was a younger blonde who defeated Carla before the skipped episode(s?). On that show, Instant Cash was $3000 while on the next GSN ep., it was at $5000. Today\'s ep. should be the Thursday ep. from that week. If that\'s the case, the original air date should be in mid-December 1988, possibly the 15th. (I doubt it\'s the 22nd. There have been no mentions of Christmas, no additions of any holiday decorations or props, etc.) My digital guide on U-Verse showed some original air dates, but has reverted to a generic listing with no air date.
ETA: The post wanted the first ep. with Chip Esten. Using my logic above, his first show would have likely aired on 12/13/88.
Your thinking is correct. I\'ve saved the PDFs.
1514: 12/8/88
1515: 12/9/88
1516 (skipped): 12/12/88
1517: 12/13/88
1518: 12/14/88
1519: 12/15/88
1520: 12/16/88
Then we skip to 1531, which aired 1/3/89 (no ep 1/2/89).
Any mention of 1/3/89 being the 6th anniversary?
Any mention of 1/3/89 being the 6th anniversary?
I don\'t remember offhand. I guess we\'ll find out Tuesday.
\"Happy 6th anniversary to us....even though the joy is short-lived!\"
2 for 20 now in the WBMG airings of $otC on GSN. I had forgotten about all the futility in that round. Weak sauce, indeed. And disappointing.
If a champ is on his or her second day on a Monday, the car they went to the trouble of getting for the week doesn\'t have a chance of being won, does it?
Don Morrow: \"One of today\'s Sale of the Century contestants could win....\" No, man, that car\'s going back to the showroom.
Doug, will you send me a link to the PDFs you found? Thank you.
Ryan Rinkerman\'s site indicates that the WBMG debuted on December 28, 1987, along with the new theme mix. Not sure if that\'s correct or not.
Ryan Rinkerman\'s site indicates that the WBMG debuted on December 28, 1987, along with the new theme mix. Not sure if that\'s correct or not.
That sounds right. At the same time, they got rid of the fee plug rattle at the end of the show.
If a champ is on his or her second day on a Monday, the car they went to the trouble of getting for the week doesn\'t have a chance of being won, does it?Don Morrow: \"One of today\'s Sale of the Century contestants could win....\" No, man, that car\'s going back to the showroom.
This. I had the exact same thought last week. At least with the Winner\'s Board, there was always a possibility (as remote as it was) that a champ could win the car on day 1.
Given the relative stinginess of Sale in \'88/\'89, I\'m surprised they didn\'t offer the same mid-level car until it was won.
What I wish they had done at the 7th level of the Winners Big Money Game was this:
If you lose the car, you\'re not kicked off the show. Should you win the next game, you try again for the car in that round and keep trying for the car as long as you continue winning your main games until you win the car. And then, same with the 50 thou. Lose that top level prize and you return to play again...trying once more for the $50K until it\'s won.
Instead, we have NBC and/or Reg Grundy Productions possibly saying, \"Whew! The champ didn\'t win the car and is off the show. That car and the 50 grand are safe. It\'ll be over a week before we have to sweat out someone having another crack at those. Nice work with those six-word puzzles, gang\".
Don Morrow: \"One of today\'s Sale of the Century contestants could win....\" No, man, that car\'s going back to the showroom.
+1. I nearly broke out into laughter.
On-topic: my frustration with this is that the first 5 years they\'ve had many players get the car or the cash within a certain amount of time. Yet, we get to the last year-and-a-quarter, we\'ve had (to my knowledge) four people get to Day 7 or better,(and the frequency of wins with WBMG are abysmal).
/Still a fan of WBMG, just not a fan of the amount of losses.
2 for 20 now in the WBMG airings of $otC on GSN. I had forgotten about all the futility in that round. Weak sauce, indeed. And disappointing.If a champ is on his or her second day on a Monday, the car they went to the trouble of getting for the week doesn\'t have a chance of being won, does it?
Don Morrow: \"One of today\'s Sale of the Century contestants could win....\" No, man, that car\'s going back to the showroom.
Doug, will you send me a link to the PDFs you found? Thank you.
Forget \"nearly.\" I chuckled.
The PDFs are from Casey Abell\'s site (he nukes them as soon as the dates pass). I think it\'s gameshowfollies.blogspot.com.
Are the contestants bumbling on easy puzzles or is the deck stacked against winning the money?
Without spoiling the outcome of today\'s airing, that was definitely one of the more awesome speed rounds.
Are the contestants bumbling on easy puzzles or is the deck stacked against winning the money?
The deck\'s stacked. IIRC you had to get *at least* one of the puzzles on the third word in order to get four in time, and they almost never gave you enough information to be Cedric-sure-sure until the fourth. So you had to guess at least once - and if you guessed wrong you were doubly farked.
So I\'m curious...why did they allow the contestant one wrong answer if they knew there was no coming back?
Would it have been fair to add five seconds to the clock, with the caveat of an incorrect answer ending the game? Would it even be better to stop the game outright on the first wrong answer without adding time?
The Inquisitive One
So I\'m curious...why did they allow the contestant one wrong answer if they knew there was no coming back?
We already know they consciously went to air with something imbalanced. Why do you think anyone here is going to know the answer to this?
Would it have been fair to add five seconds to the clock, with the caveat of an incorrect answer ending the game?
You\'d have a whole lot more winners doing it that way, which is pretty clearly the opposite of what they were going for.
So I\'m curious...why did they allow the contestant one wrong answer if they knew there was no coming back?
We already know they consciously went to air with something imbalanced. Why do you think anyone here is going to know the answer to this?
Would it have been fair to add five seconds to the clock, with the caveat of an incorrect answer ending the game?
You\'d have a whole lot more winners doing it that way, which is pretty clearly the opposite of what they were going for.
That question was a little more of thought than seeking a definitive answer.
I just think this: missing one answer effectively ends the game. Why not just literally end the game outright instead of providing false hope? That was my biggest hangup of the Winner\'s Big Money Game.
The Inquisitive One
I just think this: missing one answer effectively ends the game. Why not just literally end the game outright instead of providing false hope?Because they\'ve budgeted a particular amount of time for the game, and most people having goofed once will get gunshy, use up more time and get close to that amount of time carved out for the bonus game.
I just think this: missing one answer effectively ends the game. Why not just literally end the game outright instead of providing false hope?
Because they\'ve budgeted a particular amount of time for the game, and most people having goofed once will get gunshy, use up more time and get close to that amount of time carved out for the bonus game.
Touche. From a blocking standpoint, that makes perfect sense.
The Inquisitive One
I\'m assuming nobody\'s made the one mistake they were allowed and still *somehow* managed to win anyway, correct?
I\'m assuming nobody\'s made the one mistake they were allowed and still *somehow* managed to win anyway, correct?
Would that apply for a pass as well (at least an early one)?
Recently, I had the 1988 Oscar-winning film Rain Man in mind. A clip from an episode of $ale was used. So I watched the film, and to my surprise, the episode it turned out they used was from another one of Rani White\'s episodes. Her opponents there were Lisa and Richard.
So now that we\'re a month in, I\'m curious as to what numbers $ale is pulling for GSN ratings wise.
Ratings came out for last week, the fourth week it\'s been on the network (courtesy Douglas Pucci), and it had a very good week compared to those previous, with a range of 203,000 - 158,000 viewers, averaging 184,000 viewers in its 9:30AM ET slot.
Week one average: 132,000 viewers
Week two average: 138,000 viewers
Week three average: 129,000 viewers
The new PDFs are out on Casey Abell\'s site (Game Show Follies). The last one says they will be skipping over #1552-#1553 and #1556. They began with #1496, and so far, they have skipped over #1503-#1505, #1516, #1521-#1530, and #1534.
This might seem like a blessing in disguise, though, because it seems like they are gonna show the last three episodes of the final week after all. But of course, anything can change till then.
According to SuperMatch93, the most recent NBC episode USA showed was from Tuesday of the final week. Then they switched over to the Syndicated run, before switching back to the last six months by spring 1994.
I\'m also going by a few mentions online that 1,578 episodes were produced. We\'re starting with #1499... adding 65 to that only gets 1,564.
Doing some adding on Excel, 1578 indeed was the last episode.
We skip two weeks for At Rona\'s and also there was no ep 1/20/89 (Bush I Inaugaration). So the PDFs we\'re up to get through the 2/9/89 episode (1557).
I have a couple of theories to explain as to why those last six months on NBC and the syndicated run were the only episodes USA aired.
My first theory: In 1991, USA began making deals with Reg Grundy Productions, starting with reruns of Scrabble. Reruns were a ratings success, so USA decided to pursue $ale a year later. USA chose to lease for roughly 130 (give or take a bit) from the last six months, and the syndicated run. But ratings were not as successful as Scrabble, and were only on for 2 years, compared to Scrabble which was on for 4 years, giving USA plenty of time to air almost all of that show.
My second theory: Those last six months and the syndicated may not be all that exists, as Mitt Dawson claimed, but rather the only ones Reg Grundy America (now part of Fremantlemedia North America) had the rights to, and all the others from the 1980s NBC run are owned by Fremantlemedia Australia (which Grundy Television is a part of). But then how did GSN get Who Dares Wins a decade ago?
I\'m also going by a few mentions online that 1,578 episodes were produced. We\'re starting with #1499... adding 65 to that only gets 1,564.Doing some adding on Excel, 1578 indeed was the last episode.
We skip two weeks for At Rona\'s and also there was no ep 1/20/89 (Bush I Inaugaration). So the PDFs we\'re up to get through the 2/9/89 episode (1557).
Apologies if it was stated earlier in the thread, but during which two weeks did At Rona\'s air?
March 6-17, 1989.
March 6-17, 1989.
Thanks. I\'m recording the whole 65 episode lease, and I like for my discs to include airdates and whatnot. I can get really geeky about that sort of thing.
The new PDFs are out on Casey Abell\'s site (Game Show Follies). The last one says they will be skipping over #1552-#1553 and #1556. They began with #1496, and so far, they have skipped over #1503-#1505, #1516, #1521-#1530, and #1534.
Was thinking Kerry should\'ve been playing for $9,000 today...guess that explains it. Wonder why they\'re skipping episodes that aren\'t \'holiday themed\'?
Was thinking Kerry should\'ve been playing for $9,000 today...guess that explains it. Wonder why they\'re skipping episodes that aren\'t \'holiday themed\'?What holiday falls on a Friday in early January? Today\'s skipped episode should have been from January 6, 1989.
Was thinking Kerry should\'ve been playing for $9,000 today...guess that explains it. Wonder why they\'re skipping episodes that aren\'t \'holiday themed\'?
What holiday falls on a Friday in early January? Today\'s skipped episode should have been from January 6, 1989.
The only one that comes to mind is Epiphany.
Also, catnap1972 asked why they\'re skipping episodes that aren\'t holiday themed.
Music rights issues?
That\'s what I get for being up since 4:30 AM...The only one that comes to mind is Epiphany.
What holiday falls on a Friday in early January? Today\'s skipped episode should have been from January 6, 1989.Was thinking Kerry should\'ve been playing for $9,000 today...guess that explains it. Wonder why they\'re skipping episodes that aren\'t \'holiday themed\'?
Also, catnap1972 asked why they\'re skipping episodes that aren\'t holiday themed.
What music besides \"Sleigh Ride\" was used for the holiday episodes? \"Sleigh Ride\" was used in the 2nd instant bargain in the show before Xmas week/
Ratings came out for last week, the fourth week it\'s been on the network (courtesy Douglas Pucci), and it had a very good week compared to those previous, with a range of 203,000 - 158,000 viewers, averaging 184,000 viewers in its 9:30AM ET slot.
Week one average: 132,000 viewers
Week two average: 138,000 viewers
Week three average: 129,000 viewers
Was thinking Kerry should\'ve been playing for $9,000 today...guess that explains it. Wonder why they\'re skipping episodes that aren\'t \'holiday themed\'?
What holiday falls on a Friday in early January? Today\'s skipped episode should have been from January 6, 1989.
The only one that comes to mind is Epiphany.
Also, catnap1972 asked why they\'re skipping episodes that aren\'t holiday themed.
That\'s what I get for being up since 4:30 AM...
Music clearance issues, maybe? Both for holiday and non-holiday shows.
Did any conversions have to be performed to get these airable? Maybe the skipped non-holiday shows had some trouble with conversion.
Was thinking Kerry should\'ve been playing for $9,000 today...guess that explains it. Wonder why they\'re skipping episodes that aren\'t \'holiday themed\'?
What holiday falls on a Friday in early January? Today\'s skipped episode should have been from January 6, 1989.
The only one that comes to mind is Epiphany.
Also, catnap1972 asked why they\'re skipping episodes that aren\'t holiday themed.
That\'s what I get for being up since 4:30 AM...
Music clearance issues, maybe? Both for holiday and non-holiday shows.Did any conversions have to be performed to get these airable? Maybe the skipped non-holiday shows had some trouble with conversion.
Probably they intentionally skipped the episodes and are saving them to air near the Christmas holidays, like they did with \'Card Sharks\'.
But the press release said \"65 episodes\". I\'m sure if it had said something like \"78 episodes\", we would have gotten the holiday episodes, either during the regular rotation, or during the actual holidays.
In contrast, GSN, which leased for the remaining 1983-early 1984 episodes of Press Your Luck (57), showed the Christmas and New Year\'s episodes.
But the press release said \"65 episodes\". I\'m sure if it had said something like \"78 episodes\", we would have gotten the holiday episodes, either during the regular rotation, or during the actual holidays.
And if my aunt had balls, she would be my uncle.
Without going into specifics, LaRae\'s first day on $ale was a doozy, especially for the outgoing champ.
If you\'re going to spoil you may as well spoil all the way.
Technically, it wouldn\'t be spoiling, since it already aired on GSN yesterday (and originally 24 years ago). Not only did she unseat a 6-day champion going for a shot at the car, she did so by nearly $100. To paraphrase the other challenger: \'I showed up on the wrong day.\' Still, very impressive performance.
Ratings continue to grow for Sale, as the high for its fifth week on GSN saw it score 259,000 viewers Thursday as 9:30AM ET. The low was 143,000 viewers, making for an average across the week of 188,000 viewers
Week one average: 132,000 viewers
Week two average: 138,000 viewers
Week three average: 129,000 viewers
Week four average: 184,000 viewers
I brought two theories a while back as to why from 1992 to 1994, those last six months of daytime episodes, as well as the syndicated edition, were all USA aired:
http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php?showtopic=24586&page=52#entry308818
I brought two theories a while back as to why from 1992 to 1994, those last six months of daytime episodes, as well as the syndicated edition, were all USA aired:
http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php?showtopic=24586&page=52#entry308818
Good thing too, I was out of loo roll at that point.
Which are possible, but not necessarily factual.
Well, I just find it impossible to believe that every daytime episode up until September 1988 no longer exists.
I mean, I used to, but not anymore.
Well, I just find it impossible to believe that every daytime episode up until September 1988 no longer exists.
I mean, I used to, but not anymore.
It\'s the work of a black helicopter censorship conspiracy by the CIA.
Can\'t you just sit back and enjoy $otC instead of picking it apart or worrying about something like the color of ties Jim Perry wears?
Can\'t you just sit back and enjoy $otC instead of picking it apart or worrying about something like the color of ties Jim Perry wears?
I don\'t worry about that. It\'s the alleged way NBC operated that, even today, makes me confused. The rumors that NBC tape erasures were still going strong by the 1980s, when CBS and ABC were long through with such practice.
It\'s the alleged way NBC operated that, even today, makes me confused.
I suspect there\'s a lot more than that.
I don\'t worry about that. It\'s the alleged way NBC operated that, even today, makes me confused. The rumors that NBC tape erasures were still going strong by the 1980s, when CBS and ABC were long through with such practice.
My point still stands. You don\'t need to analyze game shows like you\'re Mel Kiper Jr on the NFL Draft.
My point still stands. You don\'t need to analyze game shows like you\'re Mel Kiper Jr on the NFL Draft.You\'ve made the point repeatedly. Leave it be.
My point still stands. You don\'t need to analyze game shows like you\'re Mel Kiper Jr on the NFL Draft.
You\'ve made the point repeatedly. Leave it be.
If GSL wants to belabor the point of his questionable theory, then Joe has every right to call him on it as often as he wants. Fair play, Travis, fair play.
Can\'t you just sit back and enjoy $otC instead of picking it apart or worrying about something like the color of ties Jim Perry wears?
What if the reason those shows don\'t exist is because Jim\'s tie was so bright it burned the film?
It\'s always exciting to...
See someone go for day 7, despite La Rae missing the last puzzle in WBMG and not cashing in on a $21,000 Camaro. Needless to say, another car goes back to the dealership.
Can\'t you just sit back and enjoy $otC instead of picking it apart or worrying about something like the color of ties Jim Perry wears?
What if the reason those shows don\'t exist is because Jim\'s tie was so bright it burned the film?
The tapes were stored in the same NBC closet as the box of latex balloons! ;-)
Totally not getting old, that balloon joke...
Hush now, or I\'ll slap a cease to exist order on you.
Speaking of cease to exist, it\'s pathetic how GSN and WorldWinner keep acting like they own the show, by claiming copyright copyright infringement on GSN airings of the show. Either that, or it\'s a troll.
Thankfully, I don\'t have sympathy for copyright nazis.
Speaking of cease to exist, it\'s pathetic how GSN and WorldWinner keep acting like they own the show, by claiming copyright copyright infringement on GSN airings of the show. Either that, or it\'s a troll.
Thankfully, I don\'t have sympathy for copyright nazis.
Okay, so I guess federal law doesn\'t gain your sympathy either?
Speaking of cease to exist, it\'s pathetic how GSN and WorldWinner keep acting like they own the show, by claiming copyright copyright infringement on GSN airings of the show. Either that, or it\'s a troll.So you\'re saying that GSN doesn\'t have the right to air Sale of the Century?
copyright nazis.Mind your tongue.
Thankfully, I don\'t have sympathy for copyright nazis.
Or any knowledge whatsoever about broadcast rights, apparently.
Speaking of cease to exist, it\'s pathetic how GSN and WorldWinner keep acting like they own the show, by claiming copyright copyright infringement on GSN airings of the show. Either that, or it\'s a troll.
Thankfully, I don\'t have sympathy for copyright nazis.
Easy, killer.
To go for the $50,000, you have to win the car? The weak sauce associated with the Winner\'s Big Money Game just got weaker.
Even moreso for most of the viewers who had no clue about that rule (which wasn\'t even explained)
The dandy one brought it up earlier in this thread (otherwise I wouldn\'t have remembered the rule).
http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php?showtopic=24586
Granted, we\'re joining in well in midstream (really almost at endstream), but with the rule being in place for a little more than a year it was probably assumed that faithful viewers knew that if you\'re going for the car in the WBMG and don\'t get it, you\'re considered a retired champion right then and there.
Week six: The high for the week was a very nice 255,000 viewers, contrasted with a low of 146,000 viewers. It averages out to be 193,000 viewers for the week, keeping with recent weeks of averaging a little bit better than the week before.
Week one average: 132,000 viewers
Week two average: 138,000 viewers
Week three average: 129,000 viewers
Week four average: 184,000 viewers
Week five average: 188,000 viewers
How does that compare with the average of what useta run in that slot? 200k for 6:30 in the morning is quite a lot.
/well done viewers, you\'ve found something good and stuck with it. Salute.
When watching today\'s episode (5-16-13), I noticed something peculiar (spoiler tags for those who haven\'t seen the episode yet):
Two contestants had answered the third Fame Game wrong, and Jim gave the answer, emphatically saying that that was it for the question...only the third player never got a chance to answer and was somewhat dumbfounded as to why he didn\'t get a chance, especially since he was behind at the time.
Thankfully, that player won the game due to an almost flawless speed round, but I was wondering: was this a mistake, or an editing thing? If it\'s the former, it seems a bit strange for Jim to make such a mistake and to not have the producers alert him to the fact.
Anthony
Had the entire question been asked when the second player buzzed in?
Very error, with years of precedent.
How does that compare with the average of what useta run in that slot? 200k for 6:30 in the morning is quite a lot.
/well done viewers, you\'ve found something good and stuck with it. Salute.
PYL was doing similar numbers when it was on a half hour later. At 9, it averaged about 186K last week, so both shows are holding their own. Glad to see after their less than auspicious starts.
Tyshaun
Wheel had ended the daytime run on NBC June 20, 1989 [citation needed], so the two shows were coexisting at the time.
Had the entire question been asked when the second player buzzed in?
Yes, Jim even said he was at the end of the question when the third contestant asked why he didn\'t get a chance to guess.
I happened to stumble upon today\'s episode, and I caught it just as Jim said, \"...We look forward to you joining us. Call quick.\" Without chuckle or audience reaction, he went straight back to the game after a quick score recap. (I personally find it noteworthy because this is the first time I\'ve seen this situation, after hearing so much about it here.)
As for the gameplay, has there ever been an instance in which there was a three-way tie going into Instant Ca$h? The first contestant bravely (and very quickly) decided to fall behind by $10 to go for $4,000, which paid off nicely.
The Inquisitive One
New PDFs have been released, and even though they go up to the end of June, they will be showing #1577, second-to-last episode.
Also on the Press Your Luck front, the last new-to-GSN episodle of 1984 airs on June 19, and episodes #110 and #111 air in the next two respective days. The show then goes back to #052. I\'m guessing they picked those two up in order to make up for the two they skipped over.
On the subject of PYL, one of the two they skipped over in this current lease, #066, turned out to be a trashed episode (meaning it was thrown-out during the original run). The episode was supposed to air on 12/21/1983, but for whatever reason, it didn\'t go as well as they hoped it would, so the decision was made to trash it, bring back the same three contestants, and tape a new episode, #067, to replace it. Kinda like the 2nd-taped episode of The New Price is Right with Bob Barker.
Later on, I\'m gonna post a list of all the episodes of PYL prior to 02/21/1984. Ian Wallis has been very appreciative of my efforts.
Did anyone else notice that on the 5/15 episode, the first instant bargain had a less-than-subtle parody of Vanna White (even making the prize backdrop resemble the old WoF turntable)?Okay, you\'ve piqued my interest -- I\'d love to see this, even if it\'s just a picture or two.
Did anyone else notice that on the 5/15 episode, the first instant bargain had a less-than-subtle parody of Vanna White (even making the prize backdrop resemble the old WoF turntable)?
Okay, you\'ve piqued my interest -- I\'d love to see this, even if it\'s just a picture or two.
What episode number/OAD was this?
1543, 1/19/89. The rest you\'re on your own.
On the subject of PYL, one of the two they skipped over in this current lease, #066, turned out to be a trashed episode (meaning it was thrown-out during the original run). The episode was supposed to air on 12/21/1983, but for whatever reason, it didn\'t go as well as they hoped it would, so the decision was made to trash it, bring back the same three contestants, and tape a new episode, #067, to replace it. Kinda like the 2nd-taped episode of The New Price is Right with Bob Barker.
That\'s nothing but speculation. All we know is episode number #066 was not used. We don\'t know the reason why.
So that\'s when the \"Call quick\" aired. I sense a signature change coming.
You were much quicker to the keyboard than I, as I was thinking the exact same thing. :)
The Inquisitive One
Well, after you tipped me off, I checked the DVR. So you get at least partial credit. :)
I\'m glad you DID beat me to it, or I would have biffed it on the quote. :)
I am weirded out by how serious of a tone that sentence came out from Jim (to me, anyway). I would have expected it to be a little lighter and more humorous. I got the opposite vibe.
The Inquisitive One
Had the entire question been asked when the second player buzzed in?Yes, Jim even said he was at the end of the question when the third contestant asked why he didn\'t get a chance to guess.
Not sure why I\'m putting this in spoiler tags...
I was always under the impression that contestants had to wait for Jim to start reading again in the Fame Game before they could ring in after a wrong answer, and since there was nothing left to read, the game ended.
On the subject of PYL, one of the two they skipped over in this current lease, #066, turned out to be a trashed episode (meaning it was thrown-out during the original run). The episode was supposed to air on 12/21/1983, but for whatever reason, it didn\'t go as well as they hoped it would, so the decision was made to trash it, bring back the same three contestants, and tape a new episode, #067, to replace it. Kinda like the 2nd-taped episode of The New Price is Right with Bob Barker.That\'s nothing but speculation. All we know is episode number #066 was not used. We don\'t know the reason why.
Not entirely speculation... this came straight from Rick Stern on a Facebook group about the show. Well, the fact that there was a \"burned episode\" to use his words.
Who is Rick Stern?
He was an associate director on Press Your Luck, as well as on many G-T shows, including Child\'s Play, The Price is Right, and Match Game among others. He was also the announcer on a short-lived ESPN game show by Caruuthers Company called Designated Hitter.
In the Big Bucks documentary in 2003, he was the one who said the look on Michael Larson\'s face was similar to that of his then-15-year-old-son who plays video games.
Ah gotcha...I could see that holding some weight then.
I was always under the impression that contestants had to wait for Jim to start reading again in the Fame Game before they could ring in after a wrong answer, and since there was nothing left to read, the game ended.
That was always my sense--once the Fame Game question was over, if everybody hadn\'t buzzed in, they were SOL.
/Now that we\'re a day removed (and 24 years), I think we can remove the spoiler tags.
New PDFs have been released, and even though they go up to the end of June, they will be showing #1577, second-to-last episode.
I wonder if the single remaining episode will be the 3/24/89 finale, or if that will get picked up in another lease? If ratings are doing decent, hopefully there will be another lease.
It should be. Only 64 episodes will have aired by the end of June (GSN is pre-empting it on Memorial Day). As to whether there\'s another lease, that I can\'t help you with.
New PDFs have been released, and even though they go up to the end of June, they will be showing #1577, second-to-last episode.
I wonder if the single remaining episode will be the 3/24/89 finale, or if that will get picked up in another lease? If ratings are doing decent, hopefully there will be another lease.It should be. Only 64 episodes will have aired by the end of June (GSN is pre-empting it on Memorial Day). As to whether there\'s another lease, that I can\'t help you with.
I don\'t think they will show the finale. To Joe and Mary Six-Pack, when the host of the show says it\'s the last show, they believe him.
I don\'t think they will show the finale. To Joe and Mary Six-Pack, when the host of the show says it\'s the last show, they believe him.
That being said, they have shown finales before and then restarted with episode 1 (or whatever point in their lease).
/Of course, if they show the finale, they\'ll have to cut away 10 minutes before it ends for a meaningless news bulletin.
Confession time:
It was Zach Horan who said Mark DeCarlo donated his episode to GSN. Because according to him, the quality wasn\'t that good.
Confession time:So what? Just because somebody \"donates\" an episode to somebody doesn\'t mean they can air it without consequence.
It was Zach Horan who said Mark DeCarlo donated his episode to GSN. Because according to him, the quality wasn\'t that good.
I confessed, because I got it out of Zach Horan, and I know how you people feel about him.
I confessed, because I got it out of Zach Horan, and I know how you people feel about him.
You\'re \"confessing\" about a five-week-old post that everyone pretty much ignored based on the premise being complete and utter bullshiat in the first place?
Doesn\'t matter if you got it from Zach Horan, Zach Braff, or Zach Levi, it all goes back to \"you talk completely out of your ass, and most folks here recognize you as a joke because of it.\"
[quote name=\\\"Pyrami][quote name=\"gameshowlover87\" post=\"309537\" timestamp=\"1368747858\"]I wonder if the single remaining episode will be the 3/24/89 finale, or if that will get picked up in another lease? If ratings are doing decent, hopefully there will be another lease.[/quote]
New PDFs have been released, and even though they go up to the end of June, they will be showing #1577, second-to-last episode.
These days, I rarely go to that site.
These days, I rarely go to that site.So? Why are you still talking? The Breitbart dig is played out but it serves as a metaphor for your gullibility.
It\'s a fair question, although technically only one spot was being opened, while the other spot was being discontinued (and given back to the local affiliates). We knew the one spot being opened was being replaced by Generations. So the question was what to do with the couple of weeks of At Rona\'s. I\'m guessing (and it\'s only a guess) that since it was known $OTC was biting the dust anyway the decision was made to trot them out there just in case--if ratings picked up, NBC might consider it as a replacement series down the road and if they didn\'t, then you\'ve only lost two weeks. Made more sense than airing the final week of $OTC, then the two weeks of At Rona\'s, then all of a sudden SCRABBLE shows up.
I don\'t think they will show the finale. To Joe and Mary Six-Pack, when the host of the show says it\'s the last show, they believe him.That being said, they have shown finales before and then restarted with episode 1 (or whatever point in their lease).
/Of course, if they show the finale, they\'ll have to cut away 10 minutes before it ends for a meaningless news bulletin.
Well they\'ll squish the credits so not like we\'ll see the whole ending anyway...
I don\'t think they will show the finale. To Joe and Mary Six-Pack, when the host of the show says it\'s the last show, they believe him.That being said, they have shown finales before and then restarted with episode 1 (or whatever point in their lease).
/Of course, if they show the finale, they\'ll have to cut away 10 minutes before it ends for a meaningless news bulletin.
Well they\'ll squish the credits so not like we\'ll see the whole ending anyway...
Are you in charge of the torches this time, or the pitchforks?
Are you in charge of the torches this time, or the pitchforks?
Neither, but that\'s the still most likely scenario.
GSN and WorldWinner just recently filed a copyright complaint on one of Rani White\'s episodes. TVLubber deleted the video, right after the complaint.
No, the episode was from early 1988.
Either GSN and WorldWinner are serious, or it\'s trolls posing as them.
Either GSN and WorldWinner are serious, or it\'s trolls posing as them.
Speak. Less.
I simply don\'t see how your ass can take being talked out of that much.
How can I speak less when there has been unfair copyright rampant last month, from either companies, or trolls claiming to be them.
How about WWE? It\'s either them, or someone claiming to be WWE acting like they own every commercial ever made. Don\'t you dare make excuses for this kind of behavior.
Then how did GSN get involved with an episode of the show they have yet to air? And it was his first copyright strike for your information.
My guess:
1. Preemptive measure in case they get eps. from other parts of 1988.
2. They know it\'s an episode from 1988, and they know they have episodes from 1988.
My money is on the second option. As random as some of the copyright strikes are (i.e. a 10 minute block of commercials being zapped because one has a copywritten song), copyright is copyright, and this one is pretty valid, regardless of reason.
I was wrong and I apologize for wasting your time.
How can I speak less when there has been unfair copyright rampant last month, from either companies, or trolls claiming to be them.
Don\'t you dare make excuses for this kind of behavior.
Week seven ticked upwards nicely once again: The high for the week was 231,000 viewers, contrasted with a low of 170,000 viewers. It averages out to be 205,000 viewers for the week.
Week one average: 132,000 viewers
Week two average: 138,000 viewers
Week three average: 129,000 viewers
Week four average: 184,000 viewers
Week five average: 188,000 viewers
Week six average: 193,000 viewers
That\'s wild, and from what I understand, that has not always been the trajectory of their classic acquisitions.
That\'s wild, and from what I understand, that has not always been the trajectory of their classic acquisitions.
Quite the inverse, isn\'t it? Usually they start strong and then taper off (or nosedive)?
What I\'m curious about is how well the various game shows did for USA Network back in the days, compared to these numbers.
I was poking through the old boards on gsn.com, and thanks to Tyshaun Miles, I found a sample of GS ratings on USA. This is USA\'s top 5 from the 11/1992 issue of Cableworld Magazine. The last three were game shows:
1. Murder She Wrote 2.7
2. Quantum Leap 2.1
3. $25,000 Pyramid 1.7
4. Scrabble 1.6
5. Press Your Luck 1.5
Sale didn\'t last as long on USA as some of the other shows (about two years), but by Nov. 92, it had only been on for two months. If someone has ratings from mid-to-late-1993 or so, I\'d love to see if the numbers went up then.
IIRC, USA never really advertised Sale that often, whereas I distinctly remember commercials for Pyramid and Scrabble.
/Ahh the days when USA\'s afternoon programming was something other than NCIS or Law and Order reruns
Another thing to consider; how many cable channels could you get in the early nineties? Our boxes either went to 40 or 70. (And thanks for the heads up about those last three titles being game shows; that\'s very helpful.)
I was poking through the old boards on gsn.com, and thanks to Tyshaun Miles, I found a sample of GS ratings on USA. This is USA\'s top 5 from the 11/1992 issue of Cableworld Magazine. The last three were game shows:
1. Murder She Wrote 2.7
2. Quantum Leap 2.1
3. $25,000 Pyramid 1.7
4. Scrabble 1.6
5. Press Your Luck 1.5
And to add to this, IIRC, USA\'s cable universe at the time was around 60 million. So their top 3 games were averaging about a million per show.
Tyshaun
Another thing to consider; how many cable channels could you get in the early nineties? Our boxes either went to 40 or 70.
IIRC, our cable box went up to about 60 or 65...anything above that was premium/Pay-Per-View/skin flicks, and I think it topped out at 99 (non-consecutively). I remember being in 5th grade (1992), and being amazed by the concept of a 500-channel universe. I\'ll gladly take the cable of 20 years ago.
When I was living in San Jose in the early \'90s I was introduced to cable boxes that had internal A-B switches, so while the box itself only went from 2-99, there was 2A-99A and then 2B-99B.
Can\'t remember if it was in Virginia or elsewhere, but I vaguely remember seeing A/B boxes too. Might\'ve been when visiting my grandparents in Dallas.
In the early \'90s, where I lived, our cable box went from 2-40, and then 98 and 99. 98 was HSN and 99 was QVC. I always wondered if those two 98 and 99 channels were commonly used for home shopping in other places....
I posted this some time ago on the old board, but here\'s a picture of Jim from 2009.
http://www.shambhalapottery.blogspot.com/search/label/Jim%20and%20Edwina
(Scroll down to 4th photo)
When I was living in San Jose in the early \'90s I was introduced to cable boxes that had internal A-B switches, so while the box itself only went from 2-99, there was 2A-99A and then 2B-99B.
IIRC, in the early 1990s, the system where I lived supported 60 channels if you had a cable-ready TV, but the boxes only went up to 40 for some reason. 98 and 99 were also \"specialty\" channels; I\'m pretty sure both were used for NBC\'s Summer Olympics Triplecast in 1992. San Francisco, on the other hand, had A/B systems (for those of you who don\'t know what that is: two separate cable lines went into each house, and there was an A/B switch at each TV to choose which one you wanted - yes, this did make VCR programming a pain, as you had to remember to set the box to A or B accordingly, and too bad if you wanted to record two things while you were away, and one was on an A channel while the other was on a B).
My old church built a new school building in 1996, complete with moving the old dial (!) TVs with an A/B switch attached to them. That is the only reason I know that those switches exist.
I tried researching old issues of Broadcasting Magazine to see which stations carried the syndicated edition of this show (which debuted on January 07, 1985). There didn\'t seem to be a lot of information. I did learn two things, though:
1) The series didn\'t seem to get higher than 6.2 in terms of ratings.
2) It was only carried by, like 32 stations. Seemed like Syndie $ale was THAT big of a bomb. Here\'s just some of them:
WLS-TV: Chicago
WXYZ-TV: Detroit
WPXI-TV: Pittsburgh
WTVJ-TV: Miami
KIRO-TV: Seattle
WABC-TV/WOR-TV: New York
WNCT-TV: Greenville
Columbus, OH
Tampa, FL
KXAS-TV: Dallas
If you know any of the others I overlooked, feel free to mention them.
WQTV: Boston (Channel 68), where $ale was a \"summer replacement\" for reruns of Dallas. (Jim Perry even taped a special insert to that effect to welcome Beantown viewers.)
WSYM in Lansing
If syndie Sale was that big of a bomb, then why didn\'t it just come to an end after its initial eight months? I would think getting a year and a half, even in a crowded syndication market, was pretty good for that time.
I haven\'t looked through old microfiche in awhile, but WVEC in Norfolk at least aired the second season in the afternoon. I wanna say 4:00 or 5:00 pm.
Tampa, FL
IIRC, KYW-TV 3(back then an NBC affiliate) in Philadelphia aired $ale at 3:30 PM during the short time that I saw it in 1985 before it got replaced(not sure if it was replaced by Super Password or Scrabble at that time).
I don\'t think there was a barter element with syndicated $ale at the beginning so launching the show with few clearances was not a big deal. In today\'s syndicated market every show has to have enough stations to satisfy a national advertiser.
Nope. There wasn\'t. This is what the advertisement for that edition said in the 12/31/84 issue:
THE SOLUTION OF THE CENTURY IS $ALE OF THE CENTURY
A FIRM GO FOR JAN. 7!!
YOUR ANSWER FOR ACCESS TODAY
When syndicated WOF started, not only did they have few clearances, but NYC and LA were not cleared. When the show got big ratings in the markets that did carry it, the big cities got interested. That could not happen in today\'s syndication world. There have to be enough stations on board before launch to have the barter advertisers interested, then the syndicator can declare a definite go.
That\'s why I was surprised when I found out the LA area never carried the syndie $ale. I guess the USA reruns was the only time us LA folks got to see it.
I tried researching old issues of Broadcasting Magazine to see which stations carried the syndicated edition of this show (which debuted on January 07, 1985). There didn\'t seem to be a lot of information. I did learn two things, though:
1) The series didn\'t seem to get higher than 6.2 in terms of ratings.
2) It was only carried by, like 32 stations. Seemed like Syndie $ale was THAT big of a bomb. Here\'s just some of them:
WLS-TV: Chicago
WXYZ-TV: Detroit
WPXI-TV: Pittsburgh
WTVJ-TV: Miami
KIRO-TV: Seattle
WABC-TV/WOR-TV: New York
WNCT-TV: Greenville
Columbus, OH
Tampa, FL
KXAS-TV: Dallas
If you know any of the others I overlooked, feel free to mention them.
WTNH New Haven, CT (started in Fall 1985)
WTEN Albany, NY (season 1 only, in a market which never saw daytime $ale)
I don\'t think there was a barter element with syndicated $ale at the beginning so launching the show with few clearances was not a big deal. In today\'s syndicated market every show has to have enough stations to satisfy a national advertiser.
IIRC this is what derailed the aborted Gordon Elliott version of LMaD back in 1999 given they were unable to find anyone in NYC or LA to clear it. I think this is becoming subverted as you see groups making their own product and not taking them national, see Let\'s Ask Scripps\' 13 Markets America not going national just yet.
Have a music cue question. While watching Friday\'s show (OAD: 1/31/89), the music cue that played underneath the trip to Washington State IB sounded real familiar (almost like it was commercially available as opposed to one the Ellises did specifically for the show). Was that the case?
Random question: Was the audience ever seen on camera in any American $ale episode anyone can recall?
I\'ve wondered that too, but have never seen it. There\'s a big win on Youtube where Jim mentions the audience giving the contestant a standing ovation...was a bit surprised they didn\'t cut to a shot of that.
Week eight slides a bit to an average of 187,000 viewers: The high for the week was 227,000 viewers, contrasted with a low of 148,000 viewers
Week one average: 132,000 viewers
Week two average: 138,000 viewers
Week three average: 129,000 viewers
Week four average: 184,000 viewers
Week five average: 188,000 viewers
Week six average: 193,000 viewers
Week seven average: 205,000 viewers
^^^
I wonder if the drop had anything to do with
Spoiler (I haven\'t found a spoiler tag on the toolbar, so if someone will kindly point out to me how otherwise to hide a spoiler) :
all the one-and-done champs since LaRae Dillman was retired due to losing the car.
(I haven\'t found a spoiler tag on the toolbar, so if someone will kindly point out to me how otherwise to hide a spoiler)
Certainly. The icon third from the left (to the left of the Font drop-down) is for special codes. Spoiler is in there. Highlight what you want to wrap in spoiler tags, click that, select Spoiler. Or before you type it, click the icon, select Spoiler, then type whatever you want wrapped in the spoiler.
See? Easy.
Thanks.
Back on topic, as I only had GSN for about a month (it was another of Dish Network\'s free preview months for the channel), I won\'t be able to see any more Sale episodes for a while. I just hope that the next time Dish previews GSN, they\'ll pick up the \'85 syndie eps (especially since it seems that all Perry Sales on YouTube are being removed; I don\'t have to like it, but it is what it is).
My forehead is getting numb from all of the facepalming.
Completely unnecessary. Maybe if you weren\'t a Richard on every other response to someone, your forehead will be unnumb.
Was it, now.Completely unnecessary.
Were there some posts removed that I don\'t know about, or was the facepalming directed at me? If the latter, I don\'t think I said anything about not believing someone who worked on the show (about what?).
Were there some posts removed that I don\'t know about, or was the facepalming directed at me? If the latter, I don\'t think I said anything about not believing someone who worked on the show (about what?).
Were there some posts removed that I don\'t know about, or was the facepalming directed at me? If the latter, I don\'t think I said anything about not believing someone who worked on the show (about what?).
^ Sent you a PM.
Fair enough; misunderstanding resolved.
Week nine\'s average dipped again, coming in with 161,000 viewers around a high of 172,000 and a low of 149,000. There were only four episodes this week, as Monday featured a Minute to Win It marathon, where the episode occupying Sale\'s timeslot and the half-hour before it registered 155,000 viewers.
Week one average: 132,000 viewers
Week two average: 138,000 viewers
Week three average: 129,000 viewers
Week four average: 184,000 viewers
Week five average: 188,000 viewers
Week six average: 193,000 viewers
Week seven average: 205,000 viewers
Week eight average: 187,000 viewers
Week ten rebounded a bit, averaging 181,000 viewers in a range with a high of 227,000 and a low of 130,000 viewers. Week-to-week breakdown list is in the spoiler box below.
Week one average: 132,000 viewers
Week two average: 138,000 viewers
Week three average: 129,000 viewers
Week four average: 184,000 viewers
Week five average: 188,000 viewers
Week six average: 193,000 viewers
Week seven average: 205,000 viewers
Week eight average: 187,000 viewers
Week nine average: 161,000 viewers
New PDFs have been released, and even though they go up to the end of June, they will be showing #1577, second-to-last episode.
Week eleven, in a somewhat low-scoring GSN week, did not evade the norm as it averaged 155,000 viewers in a range with a high of 181,000 and a low of 120,000 viewers. Week-to-week breakdown list is in the spoiler box below.
Week one average: 132,000 viewers
Week two average: 138,000 viewers
Week three average: 129,000 viewers
Week four average: 184,000 viewers
Week five average: 188,000 viewers
Week six average: 193,000 viewers
Week seven average: 205,000 viewers
Week eight average: 187,000 viewers
Week nine average: 161,000 viewers
Week ten average: 181,000 viewers
Week eleven average: 155,000 viewers
Series average at this point: 168,000 viewers
The idea that 120,000 people are choosing America\'s Biggest Bargain Sake tickles me.
Bargain Sake= nothing to mess with.
Tyshaun
While we\'ve been enjoying the final couple of months of $ale on GSN, watching this early episode on youtube today reminded me how much the show evolved through the years. Only the $25 money card, no speed round, no cash jackpot (although there was the odd suitcase of $5,766 in cash mentioned during the shopping). And Jim seemed to be more eager to negotiate on the instant bargains back then … more likely to slash the price (as low as $3 in this episode). Reminded me of Tony Barber\'s style on the Aussie version.
Almost everything about the American version was just like the Aussie version in the beginning.
One thing I could never figure out was why did our version get rid of the celebrity faces on the Fame Game board after about a year. The Aussie version always kept them.
Almost everything about the American version was just like the Aussie version in the beginning.
One thing I could never figure out was why did our version get rid of the celebrity faces on the Fame Game board after about a year. The Aussie version always kept them.
Because they were pointless.
Almost everything about the American version was just like the Aussie version in the beginning.
One thing I could never figure out was why did our version get rid of the celebrity faces on the Fame Game board after about a year. The Aussie version always kept them.
Because they were pointless.
I definitely agree with that assessment.
One other thing that episode vividly illustrated was how shockingly bad Sally Julian\'s delivery was, even if she did have some rather unexciting instant bargains to present in this episode. Surprised she lasted as long as she did.
Does anyone know if the pitchfilm for 80s Sale still exists? That would be something to see.
I liked the car cue in that January \'83 episode; wonder why they got rid of that.
I don\'t know about \"still existing\" (meaning in Fremantle\'s hands), but I do know that the pitchfilm circulates among collectors.
And it\'s something I would love to see one day. What drew my interest in it was that it had clips from the Joe Garigola era of the show. The weekly syndie version (1973-1974) to be exact.
Wow, I didn\'t realize any 1969-1974 footage was in collector hands...
Yeah, but I don\'t know if the pitchfilm was made first, or the pilot.
Yes, apparently, there was a pilot with Jack Campion as one of the contestants.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhY-nSwQwd4
Does anyone know if the pitchfilm for 80s Sale still exists? That would be something to see.
I liked the car cue in that January \'83 episode; wonder why they got rid of that.
Week twleve averaged 168,000 viewers in a range with a high of 212,000 and a low of 130,000 viewers. One more full week of ratings plus an extra episode to follow. Week-to-week breakdown list is in the spoiler box below.
Week one average: 132,000 viewers
Week two average: 138,000 viewers
Week three average: 129,000 viewers
Week four average: 184,000 viewers
Week five average: 188,000 viewers
Week six average: 193,000 viewers
Week seven average: 205,000 viewers
Week eight average: 187,000 viewers
Week nine average: 161,000 viewers
Week ten average: 181,000 viewers
Week eleven average: 155,000 viewers
Week twelve average: 168,000 viewers
Series average at this point: 168,000 viewers
Question for the team:
When the lone $50,000 win (by Rani White) went down, did they use the original Car/Lot win from the original music cue package, or did they use that cheesy win cue (heard during the rare natural car win and also used after the car was won during themed weeks)? Or...did they use a completely different cue altogether?
Something that just crosses my mind from time to time. I was curious.
The Inquisitive One
Something interesting in today\'s episode: Jim said it would be Darrell\'s last crack at the WBMG, but he was only playing for the car. Was the $50,000 game discontinued?
I believe that if he wins the car, he would be given the option to risk the car for one more game. If he wins the next game, he would automatically be given the 50K.
Tyshaun
Something interesting in today\'s episode: Jim said it would be Darrell\'s last crack at the WBMG, but he was only playing for the car. Was the $50,000 game discontinued?
I doubt it, because the 50K would\'ve been still up for grabs on the next show...it is the last week, after all.
He still missed it anyway. Bollocks
Do you remember the puzzle that done him in?
Do you remember the puzzle that done him in?
Don\'t remember the exact words in the puzzle, but
It was about Jiminy Cricket. There was one more about the book \"Blind Ambition\", but he had only 2-4 seconds to get it.
I wonder if that part of the show might have been reshot after Darrell lost his final WBMG. It couldn\'t have been for budgetary reasons...right?Something interesting in today\'s episode: Jim said it would be Darrell\'s last crack at the WBMG, but he was only playing for the car. Was the $50,000 game discontinued?
I heard it too, and found it odd that this would be his last crack at the game. The opening spiel still says that there\'s \'$50,000 in cash\' waiting at the end of the continuing journey. Perhaps if he had won the car, the producers may have thrown in something additional? I dunno, its just pure speculation at this point.
Also in the opening sequence this week, if you pause just before the car starts to rotate you\'ll see a person behind the turntable to the left of the car. Not sure who he is, but I laughed when I saw him.
I heard it too, and found it odd that this would be his last crack at the game. The opening spiel still says that there\'s \'$50,000 in cash\' waiting at the end of the continuing journey. Perhaps if he had won the car, the producers may have thrown in something additional? I dunno, its just pure speculation at this point.
Also in the opening sequence this week, if you pause just before the car starts to rotate you\'ll see a person behind the turntable to the left of the car. Not sure who he is, but I laughed when I saw him.
Sale\'s last 6 episodes averaged 165,000 viewers. So, six years from now, when someone debates how well Sale of the Century did on GSN, you can tell them the average for the first cycling of 65 episodes at 9:30 AM ET on GSN was a viewership of 181,000 people. As of Monday, the continuation of the second cycling of these episodes goes a half hour later to 10AM ET.
Also a fun little number - on Independence Day, Sale popped 323,000 viewers. Not too shabby for 9:30 in the morning.
(Just got around to watching the final week)
Looked like that guy had a control box or something...person responsible for working the turntable and (WBMG) podia, perhaps?
(Just got around to watching the final week)
Looked like that guy had a control box or something...person responsible for working the turntable and (WBMG) podia, perhaps?
I thought that as well.
Jim always says that the player in the lead can buy bargain merchandise, was this rule the same in prior versions of the show?
In the original $ale of the Century here in America, as well as over the UK, I believe you had to be the first of the three contestants (or two couples from 1973-1974 here in America) to buzz in as soon as it was revealed in order to purchase it.
I\'d venture we will see a few more shows from this stack. There\'s at least one Christmas show on yt from 1988. Was there a week or two of Christmas shows for Sale?
And New Year\'s, for that matter.
In the original $ale of the Century here in America, as well as over the UK, I believe you had to be the first of the three contestants (or two couples from 1973-1974 here in America) to buzz in as soon as it was revealed in order to purchase it.
Not only that, but in the American version, they would announce the price first, then reveal it from behind a curtain - and if you buzzed in before the reveal, it was called \"No Sale\", and you lost the price of the item without winning it. (I don\'t remember how they determined which of the other two players could then purchase it; in the couples version, Joe just asked the other couple if they wanted to buy it.)
I don\'t remember how they determined which of the other two players could then purchase it; in the couples version, Joe just asked the other couple if they wanted to buy it.
Could it have been the next of the two remaining players to buzz in?
Two questions I have about both 70\'s and 80\'s Syndicated versions:
Was the 1970\'s one ever seen on N.Y. and L.A. stations from September 1973-September 1974?
Which stations carried the 1980\'s one for the entire run from January 7, 1985 to September 1986? I imagine WLS-TV Chicago and WXYZ-TV Detroit were among them, but I\'m not sure about that.
Two questions I have about both 70\'s and 80\'s Syndicated versions:
Was the 1970\'s one ever seen on N.Y. and L.A. stations from September 1973-September 1974?
Which stations carried the 1980\'s one for the entire run from January 7, 1985 to September 1986? I imagine WLS-TV Chicago and WXYZ-TV Detroit were among them, but I\'m not sure about that.
According to my back issues of TV Guide, the 70\'s $ale never aired in NYC or LA. Closest it came to NYC was Hartford/New Haven.
Detroit had it from the beginning, but not the entire run. Grand Rapids had it in prime access to the end. Don\'t know about Chicago.
Question about the 1985-1986 run...
Were the shows all first-run straight through to September 1986? I know some shows that do not get renewed for the fall will air their last first-run show in May or June, then show repeats until September when the station picks up something new for the timeslot. I wasn\'t sure if that was the way the syndicated Sale went out
Two questions I have about both 70\'s and 80\'s Syndicated versions:
Was the 1970\'s one ever seen on N.Y. and L.A. stations from September 1973-September 1974?
Which stations carried the 1980\'s one for the entire run from January 7, 1985 to September 1986? I imagine WLS-TV Chicago and WXYZ-TV Detroit were among them, but I\'m not sure about that.
According to my back issues of TV Guide, the 70\'s $ale never aired in NYC or LA. Closest it came to NYC was Hartford/New Haven.
Detroit had it from the beginning, but not the entire run. Grand Rapids had it in prime access to the end. Don\'t know about Chicago.
Chicago had it in 1985. I\'m not sure if it stuck around WLS for season 2.
I know WVEC in Norfolk aired the second season at 4:00 pm. Not sure about season 1; I\'m pretty sure they had Joker\'s Wild and Tic Tac Dough in that hour in what would\'ve been the first season.
According to my back issues of TV Guide, the 70\'s $ale never aired in NYC or LA. Closest it came to NYC was Hartford/New Haven
Wow - to me that\'s surprising. I can\'t think of too many other syndicated games of the era that didn\'t air in either of the top two markets. I thought NYC had virtually everything.
I am aware that the nighttime Wheel didn\'t start airing there until mid-season, but that was a decade later.
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