Material on new shows that aged badly

[MikeK]

I am not talking about passings, especially those that are unexpected like Flo-Jo on a very early week of Bergeron Squares or Jack Cassidy the weekend before appearing on Stumpers!

Spolier, since this is a new episode, according to my DVR:  I am watching Let's Make a Deal, recorded over the summer.  The initial deal was take the cash equivalent of 23 ounces of silver or the box.  When it was recorded, apparently silver was ~$30/oz., as the trader kept $700.  Silver is now at $107+/oz.

I recall seeing something in the last 3 months on Jeopardy that aged similarly, but I didn't think enough of it to put it in my long-term memory.

Surely there are other events which aged horribly or became factually incorrect in the 1-6 months between recording and airing.

[SamJ93]

Marion Jones, the correct question in Final J! on Ken Jennings' first episode, was noted as the first 5-time female gold medal winner in a single year and was praised by Alex as "still going strong today." Three years later, she was stripped of her medals after admitting to using steroids.

Wheel taped two weeks' worth of shows in New Orleans just days before Hurricane Katrina hit.

[BrandonFG]

When GSN picked up Marshall’s Hollywood Squares in 2002, they aired an episode with Robert Blake. This was around the time he went on trial for his wife’s murder.

Anyway he gives his answer to the contestant, who hesitantly says “I don’t want to…” I got a kick out of the timing of it all.

[Bobby B.]

Harry Eisenberg’s Jeopardy book mentions something like this.  In the first couple seasons of Trebek’s run, they had a clue about a certain newspaper in a major city (maybe St. Louis?) no longer being in publication.  Between taping and airing, the newspaper resumed publication and the show got lots of letters about their info being incorrect.  So they decided to do an apology of sorts in a later episode.  There was a clue about the paper again, this time mentioning that it had resumed publication.  But by the time that episode aired, the paper had gone out of publication again.

[Matt Ottinger]

Even the current-events oriented The Challengers wasn't immune. They had a question about publisher Malcolm Forbes who, in the brief span between tape date and air date, died.  They had a printed explanation/apology on the bottom of the screen as that question played out.

[PYLclark86]

I feel like the most famous example is Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? trying to keep up with all of the geopolitical changes of the early '90s.

[BrandonFG]

Even the current-events oriented The Challengers wasn't immune. They had a question about publisher Malcolm Forbes who, in the brief span between tape date and air date, died.  They had a printed explanation/apology on the bottom of the screen as that question played out.

I remember something similar on J!, where they had a clue about King Hussein who died about a month earlier. They did the same thing with a crawl.

Going back to the Robert Blake example, I forgot to mention he was a Wheel puzzle right after his wife's murder. IIRC, Pat did a pre-recorded disclaimer going into commercial.

[MSTieScott]

With the increased number of trips on offer, it's a safe bet that whenever a significant disaster befalls a tourist destination, there will be episodes of The Price Is Right that will be held back from their intended airdate by half a year or more.

[Bob Zager]

Even the current-events oriented The Challengers wasn't immune. They had a question about publisher Malcolm Forbes who, in the brief span between tape date and air date, died.  They had a printed explanation/apology on the bottom of the screen as that question played out.

I remember something similar on J!, where they had a clue about King Hussein who died about a month earlier. They did the same thing with a crawl.

Going back to the Robert Blake example, I forgot to mention he was a Wheel puzzle right after his wife's murder. IIRC, Pat did a pre-recorded disclaimer going into commercial.

A few other WOF moments I remember were the puzzle "Vanna's Pregnant," she miscarried; and Charlie O'Donnell's sudden passing, but both incidents were edited.  Another episode, however, had a video of Sajak pop--up, explaining the show was taped at an earlier date, involved the puzzle "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien,"

[colonial]

With the increased number of trips on offer, it's a safe bet that whenever a significant disaster befalls a tourist destination, there will be episodes of The Price Is Right that will be held back from their intended airdate by half a year or more.

I swear I recall a first-run TPiR airing before Desert Storm where a contestant won a trip to Kuwait. The show sent out a statement saying the contestant would receive a "replacement trip of equal value."

I didn't see the episode in question, but a NY Daily News columnist criticized, of all things, a random episode of "Headline Chasers" after Wink gently chastized a team for saying "Ricky Nelson," noting that he prefers being called "Rick" and that Nelson would likely "harm" you if you said "Ricky" to his face. The episode apparently aired shortly after Nelson's death in a plane crash. The columnist said the episode should have been pulled.


JD

[brianhenke]

During the first season of Win Ben Stein's Money, Jimmy Kimmel introduced Ben as " Princess Di's new guy." Trouble was, this aired after Princess Diana was killed in Paris.

A puzzle on Wheel.of Fortune in 2006 was "THE CROCODILE HUNTER", which first aired after Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray. Pat (I think) had to.tell the viewers that the episode had been taped before his death.

Brian

[trainman]

Harry Eisenberg’s Jeopardy book mentions something like this.  In the first couple seasons of Trebek’s run, they had a clue about a certain newspaper in a major city (maybe St. Louis?) no longer being in publication.  Between taping and airing, the newspaper resumed publication and the show got lots of letters about their info being incorrect.  So they decided to do an apology of sorts in a later episode.  There was a clue about the paper again, this time mentioning that it had resumed publication.  But by the time that episode aired, the paper had gone out of publication again.

The St. Louis Globe-Democrat filed for bankruptcy in September 1985 and announced it would stop publishing, but apparently managed to hang on until December 1985, when it did stop publishing for about a month, whereupon a new owner took over and resumed publication... until October 29, 1986, when it ceased publication for good.

Thanks to J-Archive, here are the relevant J! clues and dates:

November 21, 1985: What N.Y. World-Telegram & Sun, St. Louis Globe-Democrat & Wash. Star currently have in common (correct response: no longer being published)

December 29, 1986: Though they twice announced they would be folding, the Globe-Democrat is alive & well in this city

September 9, 1987 (in a category called OOPS!): When "Jeopardy!" said this city's "Globe-Democrat" was folding, it thrived; when we said it was okay, it folded

[gamed121683]

When I read this question, the first thing that came to mind was a question about Phil Hartman that was asked on Jeopardy! a few months after he died, but the episode was taped while he was still alive. I had to look it up on J! Archive to see if my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. Sure enough...

July 7, 1998: TV Actors ($300): Now a regular on "NewsRadio", on "Saturday Night Live" he played the Anal-Retentive Chef. When they cut back to the contestants after flashing said clue, there was an on-screen disclaimer that read, "This program was taped on April 13, 1998" (He passed a month later). 

[jjman920]

Paul Walker died on November 30, 2013. The following Monday, December 2nd, Wheel of Fortune featured the puzzle "The Fast & The Furious." If I recall correctly there was a crawl added to the show mentioning when it was originally taped when the puzzle came up during Round 4, but I also remember plenty of clickbait articles and mild complaints on social media at the time.

An episode of Press Your Luck taped in the spring 2023 that featured a submarine tour as one of the prizes aired in early 2024. In the time between, the Titan submersible accident occurred in June of 2023. I believe that prize was won on that episode of Press Your Luck. I wonder if the winning contestant took it.

A funny one from Person, Place or Thing involved the comedic intros for Melissa Peterson given by announcer Jamie Anderson. He introduced her as "because Mayim Bialik only host the celeb version..." Mayim had been let go from Jeopardy about a day or two before that episode aired.

[wdm1219inpenna]

While not a "new show", in May 1974 this episode that I discovered recently of Alex Trebek's first American game show "The Wizard of Odds" had an unusual reference of sorts.  A special guest star appeared, Don DeFore.  He portrayed Mr. Baxter on the 1960s sitcom "Hazel".  An actor who portrayed his son Harold was actor Bobby Buntrock.  Bobby died on April 7th 1974. 

What's strange is this particular episode of "The Wizard of Odds" was taped on May 8th 1974, more than one month after Bobby's untimely death, and Don DeFore spoke about Bobby in the present tense, implying that Bobby was still alive.  I do not know if he was unaware of Bobby's death, or if the show was aware of it but felt it was in poor taste or too shocking to discuss it during a daytime game show in that era.

Here is a link to the entire episode, I believe Dom DeFore's appearance is early on in the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVzcQ63dlkE