Jackpot! Question

[Neumms]

I wouldn't say it was extra hard ... it was more like hopeless

My sentiments, too. The odds were already steep that one would hit the target number, steeper still that the multiplier would be maxed out. If the 50 grand is only in play once every-other year and you still can’t afford it, then don’t offer it. The intro would have still been appealing if Don Pardo had said, say, $30,000.

[Nick]

My sentiments are it's a well-written, wonderfully difficult riddle for the big cash prize, and the riddle writer earned his keep on that one.

If you must make it easier, maybe tag it with something like, "And I like to hang out in parks.  What am I?"  But I think it's an established fact that Jackpot was never aiming to give away its maximum prize and avoids the trap like Millionaire of a fixation on a top prize that's barely achievable (I also think Jackpot does not get enough credit for being such a well-built game show that it didn't need a bonus round).

If the 50 grand is only in play once every-other year and you still can’t afford it, then don’t offer it. The intro would have still been appealing if Don Pardo had said, say, $30,000.

Maybe, but how many times has Millionaire ever actually, well, had the million within winning reach?

[TLEberle]

Nick it is within reach to any contestant who sits down or stands at the Heated Table.

[Clay Zambo]

(I also think Jackpot does not get enough credit for being such a well-built game show that it didn't need a bonus round).

That’s an excellent point. The Nipsey version’s bonus round feels tacked-on and unnecessary.

[davidhammett]

I don't think I've ever seen this addressed here; apologies if I overlooked it...

When the SJ card is found, Geoff immediately reads the SJ riddle for the expert to solve.

How did it work if the Target was matched instead?  Did Geoff immediately read the SJ riddle in lieu of the one in the wallet?  Did the expert have to get the one in the wallet right before going for the SJ?  Inquiring minds want to know (and don't remember since... as is so often the case... we didn't get NBC's "Jackpot!" in Atlanta).  Can anyone accurately recall?

[Neumms]

WWTBAM’s first $1,000,000 question, the one about Jethro Tull, was a bit of a trick, yet that’s what made it possible to recall. John Carpenter’s Laugh-In question actually seemed pretty easy, but then, I knew the answer.

[carlisle96]

I don't think I've ever seen this addressed here; apologies if I overlooked it...

When the SJ card is found, Geoff immediately reads the SJ riddle for the expert to solve.

How did it work if the Target was matched instead?  Did Geoff immediately read the SJ riddle in lieu of the one in the wallet?  Did the expert have to get the one in the wallet right before going for the SJ?  Inquiring minds want to know (and don't remember since... as is so often the case... we didn't get NBC's "Jackpot!" in Atlanta).  Can anyone accurately recall?

I remember both were read on the syndicated version. But I wonder if Geoff had two different riddles in front of him on the NBC version: a hard one for $50,000 and an easier one for smaller amounts. The Carpenter-Shepard $38,000 riddle was a piece of cake compared to the $50,000 see-saw one.

[Adam Nedeff]

I don't think I've ever seen this addressed here; apologies if I overlooked it...

When the SJ card is found, Geoff immediately reads the SJ riddle for the expert to solve.

How did it work if the Target was matched instead?  Did Geoff immediately read the SJ riddle in lieu of the one in the wallet?  Did the expert have to get the one in the wallet right before going for the SJ?  Inquiring minds want to know (and don't remember since... as is so often the case... we didn't get NBC's "Jackpot!" in Atlanta).  Can anyone accurately recall?

To the best of the recollection of Bob Boden, who is sitting across from me...If the target got matched, they didn't bother with that riddle at all and went straight to the Super Jackpot riddle

[jmangin]

To the best of the recollection of Bob Boden, who is sitting across from me...If the target got matched, they didn't bother with that riddle at all and went straight to the Super Jackpot riddle

Tangentially related, was there just a card that said "Super Jackpot" in the wallet when the wildcard came up?