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The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: MikeK on May 02, 2022, 06:28:36 AM

Title: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: MikeK on May 02, 2022, 06:28:36 AM
While watching an episode of Starcade on the G4 Pluto TV channel, a game was played where the score accrued by both players had 6 digits, while the display only had 5 digits, causing Geoff Edwards to be slightly confused.

What other shows had situations similar to this?  I remember at least one 5-digit bid on an IUFB in the pre-digital readout days.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: SuperMatch93 on May 02, 2022, 06:49:08 AM
There was at least one 3-day champ on Wheel who won over $100,000, and Pat had to draw a "1" to put in front of her backdrop display since it could only display five digits.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: aaron sica on May 02, 2022, 07:03:29 AM
I remember a "Liar's Club" episode where one of the contestants had a score too big for the display, and a "1" was drawn to put in front as well.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: Bryce L. on May 02, 2022, 07:09:40 AM
Would the Larson episode of PYL count, since they had to drop the dollar sign from Michael's scoreboard?
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: WhammyPower on May 02, 2022, 07:43:13 AM
This happened at least once on Nickelodeon's Family Double Dare, when they (briefly) used the three-digit triangular scoreboards from the original Double Dare, instead of the larger scoreboards from FOX Family Double Dare. I have a copy of an episode where a family won with $1050.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: MSTieScott on May 02, 2022, 01:27:25 PM
A couple more from The Price Is Right: Here (http://youtube.com/watch?v=WuxYPEidzaU&t=118)'s a playing of Check Game where the total was too big for the display. And before the Showcase readouts went to monitors, there were a couple of contestants who exceeded $100,000 in total winnings (most notably during the 35th season premiere (http://youtube.com/watch?v=1RTkYWgz6-s&t=3328)), so the display just kept flashing their difference rather than switch to displaying the total won.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: nowhammies10 on May 02, 2022, 01:42:12 PM
Re: the latter video, it's a moot point now, but I wonder if the possibility existed that both podiums could be set to flash in sync; if so, could they have "overflowed" the leading digit to the runner-up podium?

Using Vicky-Ann's example, again, the two podiums might have read:

[____1][74517]
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: WhammyPower on May 02, 2022, 02:09:08 PM
Re: the latter video, it's a moot point now, but I wonder if the possibility existed that both podiums could be set to flash in sync; if so, could they have "overflowed" the leading digit to the runner-up podium?

Using Vicky-Ann's example, again, the two podiums might have read:

[____1][74517]
That doesn't really work if the big winner was the runner-up going in...
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: KrisW73 on May 02, 2022, 03:04:02 PM
I remember a "Liar's Club" episode where one of the contestants had a score too big for the display, and a "1" was drawn to put in front as well.

Came here to say this!
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: nowhammies10 on May 02, 2022, 03:14:34 PM
Using Vicky-Ann's example, again, the two podiums might have read:

[____1][74517]
That doesn't really work if the big winner was the runner-up going in...

Which she was, but I figure it looks better than the other way around:

[17451][____7]
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: WilliamPorygon on May 02, 2022, 03:43:11 PM
When Stan Newman exceeded $100,000 on The Challengers, at the end of the show and the beginning of the next show where the champion's running total is usually displayed on their scoreboard it was just left blank.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: aaron sica on May 03, 2022, 02:52:56 PM
Watching NYSI this morning - did anyone ever score more than 99? Looks like the readout is only built for two digits.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: JasonA1 on May 03, 2022, 03:15:15 PM
The first game of the finale ended with a 3-digit score.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LqhKQYhD7E

-Jason
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: BillCullen1 on May 03, 2022, 06:24:02 PM
Watching NYSI this morning - did anyone ever score more than 99? Looks like the readout is only built for two digits. 

During the revised format towards the end of the series, you needed 100 points or more to play the solo game.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: PYLdude on May 03, 2022, 06:51:44 PM
When Stan Newman exceeded $100,000 on The Challengers, at the end of the show and the beginning of the next show where the champion's running total is usually displayed on their scoreboard it was just left blank.

I’m pretty sure that’s not true.

I seem to remember the same thing done for Larson being done in this case.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: JasonA1 on May 03, 2022, 07:13:09 PM
When Stan Newman exceeded $100,000 on The Challengers, at the end of the show and the beginning of the next show where the champion's running total is usually displayed on their scoreboard it was just left blank.

I’m pretty sure that’s not true.

I seem to remember the same thing done for Larson being done in this case.

I'd be willing to bet on William, if only because it's not a proper 6th digit in that spot, so whatever they'd have to do to display a 1 would take some finesse. (The dollar sign is also smaller than the other numbers.) The original Trebek-era displays on Jeopardy! had a 6th digit at the left displaying a 5, with painted lines in between to make it look like a dollar sign. If they ended up doing the same thing on The Challengers, you'd have a strange looking 1 in that spot.

-Jason
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: Bryce L. on May 03, 2022, 07:18:47 PM
The original Trebek-era displays on Jeopardy! had a 6th digit at the left displaying a 5, with painted lines in between to make it look like a dollar sign.

-Jason
So, basically, if someone had pulled a Holzhauer in the pre-LCD-podium years, it would've been a major headache for the scoreboard operator? [AFAIK, totals like his were possible, but extremely unlikely in the pre-doubled era... but still possible]
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: Bob Zager on May 03, 2022, 07:23:59 PM
I just found a video showing my hunch was right, during a playing of "Walk of Fame" on TPIR:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqYNTHkpm-Q
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: PYLdude on May 03, 2022, 07:44:41 PM
When Stan Newman exceeded $100,000 on The Challengers, at the end of the show and the beginning of the next show where the champion's running total is usually displayed on their scoreboard it was just left blank.

I’m pretty sure that’s not true.

I seem to remember the same thing done for Larson being done in this case.

I'd be willing to bet on William, if only because it's not a proper 6th digit in that spot, so whatever they'd have to do to display a 1 would take some finesse. (The dollar sign is also smaller than the other numbers.) The original Trebek-era displays on Jeopardy! had a 6th digit at the left displaying a 5, with painted lines in between to make it look like a dollar sign. If they ended up doing the same thing on The Challengers, you'd have a strange looking 1 in that spot.

-Jason

I seem to remember them doing just that.

I’d need to see the episode(s) in question, or at least the intros. And those don’t seem to be easy to find.

As a matter of fact, much of Stan’s run seems to be unavailable on the Tubes and all I’ve seen is his second win, which has the intro chopped off.

Edit: didn’t someone link to the episode after he hit the Ultimate Challenge awhile back? I’m almost positive someone did but I’ve never been able to find it in searches.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: WilliamPorygon on May 03, 2022, 08:00:26 PM
When Stan Newman exceeded $100,000 on The Challengers, at the end of the show and the beginning of the next show where the champion's running total is usually displayed on their scoreboard it was just left blank.

I’m pretty sure that’s not true.

I seem to remember the same thing done for Larson being done in this case.

I'd be willing to bet on William, if only because it's not a proper 6th digit in that spot, so whatever they'd have to do to display a 1 would take some finesse. (The dollar sign is also smaller than the other numbers.) The original Trebek-era displays on Jeopardy! had a 6th digit at the left displaying a 5, with painted lines in between to make it look like a dollar sign. If they ended up doing the same thing on The Challengers, you'd have a strange looking 1 in that spot.

-Jason

I seem to remember them doing just that.

I’d need to see the episode(s) in question, or at least the intros. And those don’t seem to be easy to find.

As a matter of fact, much of Stan’s run seems to be unavailable on the Tubes and all I’ve seen is his second win, which has the intro chopped off.

Edit: didn’t someone link to the episode after he hit the Ultimate Challenge awhile back? I’m almost positive someone did but I’ve never been able to find it in searches.

I admit I'm going off of memory from seeing the episode posted somewhere online several years ago, and I tried really hard to find the episode to verify before making my post, but I do distinctly remember the scoreboard being blank and Dick making a comment to the effect of how they needed a bigger scoreboard for him.  But I'm willing to accept I might be misremembering so if I am, mea culpa.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: PYLdude on May 03, 2022, 08:03:50 PM
When Stan Newman exceeded $100,000 on The Challengers, at the end of the show and the beginning of the next show where the champion's running total is usually displayed on their scoreboard it was just left blank.

I’m pretty sure that’s not true.

I seem to remember the same thing done for Larson being done in this case.

I'd be willing to bet on William, if only because it's not a proper 6th digit in that spot, so whatever they'd have to do to display a 1 would take some finesse. (The dollar sign is also smaller than the other numbers.) The original Trebek-era displays on Jeopardy! had a 6th digit at the left displaying a 5, with painted lines in between to make it look like a dollar sign. If they ended up doing the same thing on The Challengers, you'd have a strange looking 1 in that spot.

-Jason

I seem to remember them doing just that.

I’d need to see the episode(s) in question, or at least the intros. And those don’t seem to be easy to find.

As a matter of fact, much of Stan’s run seems to be unavailable on the Tubes and all I’ve seen is his second win, which has the intro chopped off.

Edit: didn’t someone link to the episode after he hit the Ultimate Challenge awhile back? I’m almost positive someone did but I’ve never been able to find it in searches.

I admit I'm going off of memory from seeing the episode posted somewhere online several years ago, and I tried really hard to find the episode to verify before making my post, but I do distinctly remember the scoreboard being blank and Dick making a comment to the effect of how they needed a bigger scoreboard for him.  But I'm willing to accept I might be misremembering so if I am, mea culpa.

And vice versa. 🙂

Like I said, though, it’d be so much better to have visual proof.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: TLEberle on May 03, 2022, 09:09:30 PM
So, basically, if someone had pulled a Holzhauer in the pre-LCD-podium years, it would've been a major headache for the scoreboard operator? [AFAIK, totals like his were possible, but extremely unlikely in the pre-doubled era... but still possible]
The closest anybody came is Jack Lechner who managed to equal (or break--I forget) the one-day record at the time by rolling up $27,500 before Final Jeopardy.

/he wagered $15,000 in Final Jeopardy.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: carlisle96 on May 04, 2022, 02:01:42 PM
This is a bit of a stretch, but on the local Duckpins and Dollars in Baltimore, the jackpot readout only had room for a dollar sign and three digits so the host used to place a plastic dollar sign on the board whenever it exceeded $1000
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: Neumms on May 04, 2022, 03:15:35 PM
On Wink's Tic Tac Dough, the lectern for X had an egg crate readout for the contestant's previous winnings. Either they couldn't replace the dollar sign with a number or didn't want to, because they stopped using it after the first six-figure winners.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: PYLdude on May 04, 2022, 09:40:36 PM
On Wink's Tic Tac Dough, the lectern for X had an egg crate readout for the contestant's previous winnings. Either they couldn't replace the dollar sign with a number or didn't want to, because they stopped using it after the first six-figure winners.

This was just a weird thing. Like, did they not expect there might be a possibility that, with no cap on winnings or matches and a big bonus prize as a caveat for winning five games in a row,  a champion could go on a run that could eclipse $100,000, even if at the pace they went at it they might take a month to do so?
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: clemon79 on May 05, 2022, 12:40:47 PM
This was just a weird thing. Like, did they not expect there might be a possibility that, with no cap on winnings or matches and a big bonus prize as a caveat for winning five games in a row,  a champion could go on a run that could eclipse $100,000, even if at the pace they went at it they might take a month to do so?

"640K ought to be enough for anybody."

                       -- Bill Gates
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: Mike Tennant on May 05, 2022, 01:03:46 PM
On Wink's Tic Tac Dough, the lectern for X had an egg crate readout for the contestant's previous winnings. Either they couldn't replace the dollar sign with a number or didn't want to, because they stopped using it after the first six-figure winners.

This was just a weird thing. Like, did they not expect there might be a possibility that, with no cap on winnings or matches and a big bonus prize as a caveat for winning five games in a row,  a champion could go on a run that could eclipse $100,000, even if at the pace they went at it they might take a month to do so?
My guess is those were created for the CBS run, where there was a 5-digit winnings cap, and never changed for the syndie version.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: Neumms on May 05, 2022, 01:18:24 PM
his was just a weird thing. Like, did they not expect there might be a possibility that, with no cap on winnings or matches and a big bonus prize as a caveat for winning five games in a row,  a champion could go on a run that could eclipse $100,000, even if at the pace they went at it they might take a month to do so?

Right? Especially since they gave the returning champ the tremendous advantage of going first.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: PYLdude on May 06, 2022, 12:29:57 AM
On Wink's Tic Tac Dough, the lectern for X had an egg crate readout for the contestant's previous winnings. Either they couldn't replace the dollar sign with a number or didn't want to, because they stopped using it after the first six-figure winners.

This was just a weird thing. Like, did they not expect there might be a possibility that, with no cap on winnings or matches and a big bonus prize as a caveat for winning five games in a row,  a champion could go on a run that could eclipse $100,000, even if at the pace they went at it they might take a month to do so?
My guess is those were created for the CBS run, where there was a 5-digit winnings cap, and never changed for the syndie version.

I’ll buy that. Because it’s plausible.
Title: Re: Numbers too big for readouts
Post by: TLEberle on May 06, 2022, 12:39:23 AM
I don’t think they were anticipating the monster pots that we saw in the second and third season because the Secret Category was a later addition. Sure, a champion might win ten games by brute force, but not a slugfest where the pot balloons to $26,000.