FULL RECAP - TPiR 12/15/2009

[Joe_Capitano]

Production #4902K - Taped Aug. 11, 2009   (Airdate delayed from Nov. 10) Drew: stage entrance First Four lineup: mixed Handoff: Amber Models of the Day: Amber Lancaster, Gwendolyn Osborne-Smith and Rachel Reynolds Wearing: Jovani 1   Ted Baker Leather Jacket/Armani Travel Bag (G&R) 2-JONATHAN 1100 3-SARA 825 4-KEVIN 1300 1-LILLIAN *1301 ($2290) Lillian plays BONKERS for two offroad motorcycles (A)($6998)  5 6 7 4  1. H H L H 2. H L L H 3. H H L L 4. L H L H 5. L L H H 6. H L L H LOSS 2   Bull Longhorn 4-Burner BBQ Cart (A) +Jonathan *2400 +Sara 2000 +Kevin 1 IRENE 2200 ($2800) Jonathan plays LINE EM UP for a Ford Escape XLS (Std., 2.5l, AT, Sync, Control, RKS, Prot)(A) 1st Try 2nd Try Prices 2 2 2 Cordless Electric Mower   3 [4] 9   [3] 4 9 [3] 4 9 Lemonade Maker 2 [9] 2 [9] [2] 9 Park & Sun 3-in-1 Game Table 5 [8] 7 [5] 8 7 5 [8] 7 6 6 6 1 RIGHT LOSS 3   (Casio) Digital SLR Camera (from above) TABITHA 1900 875 +Sara 1675 900 +Kevin 1676 1300 Irene 1901 *901 OVERBID ($1200) Irene plays CHECK OUT for a Ligna Bedroom Group and a Laura Asley Sleep Set and an Amazon Kindle (R)($4869) Irene Price Diff Zatarain's Yellow Rice $    .89 $  2.19 –1.30 (Vaseline) Petroleum Jelly (7.5 oz) 1.99 3.29 –1.30 (Teddy Grahams) Graham Snacks (10 oz) 2.15 3.69 –1.54 (Philadelphia) Cream Cheese (8 oz) 2.00 2.29 –  .29 (IBC) Root Beer (6 pk bottles)     4.50     3.99 +  .51 TOTALS: $11.53 $15.45 –3.92 SHOWDOWN #1 Spinoff $ 1,200 Irene 90 stay .90 .45 2,290 Lillian 90 stay .90 .70 Through to Showcase Round 2,800 Jonathan 90 stay .90 .35 4   (Cabela's) Camping Equipment (G) Tabitha 1200 895 +Sara 1201 999 +Kevin 1202 *626 KRISTINA 900 625 OVERBID ($705) STUPID 2nd BID Kevin plays SWITCH? Canopy Lounger (A) $3550 NO $3550 Barcade Tabletop Arcade Game (R) $2995 SWITCH $2995 WIN! 5   Largo Pina Colada Dining Group (A) Tabitha 800 +Sara *801 LOGAN 5100 Kristina 751 ($899) STUPID BID Sara, the last of the "First Four," plays PATHFINDER for a Chevy Cobalt LS (Std., AT, Prot. #I, ALB, Pedals, Prot)(G) Setup 1st Start on $1–––– 4 3 9 2 1 2nd Frwd. to [8] * $18––– 1 6 7 4 8 3rd Frwd. to [6] NO 3 4[1]9 0 (1) Professional Multichopper   25/50   25   50 0 9 8 5 2 (2) (Hamilton Beach) Toaster Oven   43/55   55   43 2 5 6 7 3 (3) Cappuccino Maker   90/120   120   90   LOSS   ($18,594) 6   Water Ventures Yo Bro Paddleboard (R) Tabitha *701 HOLLY 450 Logan 200 Kristina 700 ($1999) STUPID BID Tabitha makes her way up the "Southpaw Steps" to play PICK A NUMBER for a trip to Miami (6n)(G) Setup: $ 7[–]6 1   [2][4][8] Pick: $ 7[4]6 1 Price: $ 7[2]6 1   LOSS SHOWDOWN #2 $ 899 Sara 30 +   5 .35 1,999 Tabitha 90 stay .90 Through to Showcase Round 7,250 Kevin 50 + 55 OV SHOWCASE ROUND Lillian has the honor. SC1-Tabitha Inspire M3 Home Gym/Dumbbell Set (Samsumg) 60" DLP HDTV DVD Home Theater System Personal Trainer (10 sessions)(Charles Frederick representing) Trip to Tahiti (6n)(A) BID $15,000 PRICE 18,257 DIFF –3,257 TOTAL $20,256 SC2-Lillian Ashley Raleigh Creek Living Room Group Opulent Items 42-bottle Wine Station (G) Almost Heaven Silo Sauna (A) Trip to Rome (6n @ Atlante)(R) BID $21,000 PRICE 26,864 DIFF –5,864 Today's Pricing Games: 1 for 6 Total Winnings: $34,695 THIS IS THE ONLY OFFICIAL GOLDEN-ROAD.net SHOW RECAP. REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED WITHOUT AUTHOR PERMISSION.

[Cartboy]

Another 1 win/5 loss day - there's been too many of those lately.

Pathfinder:  Horrible loss!
Bonkers:  Evil setup, but at least it was played well.

Not too good today, IMHO.

[Wayoshi]

Well 4902 hid a great gem in the lineup department - I'll take Switch & Pa# with two great car games and Bonkers and Check/Out - but geez, look at this:

-Bonkers: All H...big no.
-Liney: Well I guess this was OK...nothing flagrant, but generally random prices.
-C/O: She blew this by being too cheap, ironically. Big shame.
-Switch: Usual stuff, contestants are figuring it out which is good.
-Pathy: This is the flagrant foul of the day for Greco. The path was all wrong, another fake 0, and three hard SPs. The path should NEVER snake back in like that, especially to a supposed 2nd digit which is actually 4th!!
-Pa#: Can we just make it the first or last digit everytime? Some intuition please. And obviously the middle choice is always wrong now.

Also, randomly high wine carts are unwanted.

[joeyboy]

Again, another good lineup.

Wow, Lillian played Bonkers well. Too bad she got burned by one of Kathy’s many evil setups today.

Wow, Line ‘em Up second for the first time since June 12th, 2001. To be honest, I was half-expecting Ten Chances to show up instead of this.

Kevin’s reaction to winning Switch? was beautiful. That makes for better t.v. when reactions like his are spontaneous.

The personal-trainer looked really out of place attempting to model.

These showcases….

[Grammar-Nazi]

Bonkers was unfair. The price on the car in Line-em-Up was near impossible to get. And the woman playing checkout either hasn't been in a grocery store in 20 years, or she shops somewhere incredibly cheap.

A three-way tie in the first Showcase Showdown was fun to see.

The camping equipment up for bids in the fourth one-bid was identical to a set last week. I'm an avid camper, though, and I really like that tent-cot combo thing. I don't know anyone who camps regularly who packs a portable shower with them, though. That's a waste of space.

Switch was, well, fine.

Pathfinder was monumentally evil. The path was horrible, and the prices of the three small prizes were even worse than the path. That chopper was horribly overpriced (I wouldn't even pay the $25 for it, much less $50) and the price of the toaster oven was bad. And the cappuccino maker was a toss-up price. That was just evil. Even if she had been able to get all three small prizes though, she never would have gotten the price of the car given the evil path it took on the board.

I guess, had she won the trip to Miami, Tabitha could have taken that awful paddle boat with her. $2000 for that paddle boat? It looked like it was made out of plastic and styrofaom. I see why everyone underbid on it.

Neither showcase was anything special. More trips. Less stuff anyone can actually use. Tabitha almost destroyed her opponent's showcase podium when she won, though. You can see just how cheaply that thing is assembled.

[Kev347]

Um, so, Greco, it really isn't necessary to make Pathfinder that hard. It's a hard enough game by itself. If you want to set it up for a loss, make either the SPs hard OR the path hard (preferably the SPs hard....the path should NOT look like it did today!), but not both. Today was beyond impossible. I think any random person in the world would have lost that setup either the way she did, or with that evil car price on that evil path. Just, wow. You have to make games POSSIBLE to win. And this is getting to be a regular occurrence with Pathfinder. Just please stop.

I really really love Check-Out and all, but is it just me or are they really abusing it this year (and cutting back on PAP and Bullseye?) Probably because it's much harder to win, so they don't care as much that it takes a long time. I still could never get tired of it, but even I am beginning to notice how much it's showing up. (VERY strong lineup today, btw, for the 2nd day in a row).

You know, really not a lot to say about today. I will say that this show which was out of order from 6 weeks ago - it was very noticeable how much better Drew's hosting was on this show than ANYTHING we've seen lately. He did a great job today - I hope he gets back to this form soon.

First a $12,000 photo booth yesterday, and now a $9,250 wine station in a showcase today? (from the same website that, oddly enough, provided us with a $325 hockey rink earlier in the season). Just no.

Timings:
Bonkers (4.5) - 2:54
Line 'Em Up (5.5) - 5:01
Check-Out (5.5) - 5:48
Switch? (3.5) - 3:32
Pathfinder (6) - 4:56
Pick A Number (3.5) - 3:02
Total time (28.5): 25:13

[elskunkoman]

Another 1 win/5 loss day - there's been too many of those lately.

Just be glad it wasn't a skunking show that's the positive side.

[ClassicG]

Bonkers was unfair. The price on the car in Line-em-Up was near impossible to get. And the woman playing checkout either hasn't been in a grocery store in 20 years, or she shops somewhere incredibly cheap.

I think I've asked this question already on an earlier recap, but I'll ask again: which supermarket stores should up and coming contestants shop at so they can win Checkout or Grocery Game?

[leafsfan17]

What is up with these one for sixers lately? This trend must stop soon.

[Joe_Capitano]

NEGATIVE TREND DEPARTMENT: I wondered about this the other day. We've gone 71 shows since the last "5 for 6" show - that was June 17, and 236 since the last perfect show.

...which supermarket stores should up and coming contestants shop at so they can win Checkout or Grocery Game?

Perhaps a good start is the grocery store down the street. Major chains, loyalty cards notwithstanding, are probably best. Convenience stores tend to be more expensive, while good ol' "Wally World" tends to discount everything.

[3StrikesFan]

I really really love Check-Out and all, but is it just me or are they really abusing it this year (and cutting back on PAP and Bullseye?)

Not to mention Hi-Lo. Roger used to schedule Pick A Pair a lot, or so it seemed. Probably because its a quick GP game, and it was relatively easy to win.

[whinbaby]

The 7,149th set of Pricing Games (37th for Season 38)

Showcase #1
Inspire M3 Home Gym - $3,495
60" DLP TV - $1,598
Bose DVD Home Theater - $2,999
Personal Trainer - $1,000
Trip to Tahiti - $9,165

Showcase #2
Living Room Furniture - $2,999
42-bottle Wine Station - $9,250
Sauna - $5,245
Trip to Rome - $9,370

Your Modeling Scorecard for November 10, 2009
Daily Records
$138,342/2004, $8,300/2003

Rachel Reynolds
Total:  10/$22,302 (3/$7,293, 7/$15,009)
Cars:  0/$0 (0/$0, 0/$0)
Trips:  1/$9,370 (0/$0, 1/$9,370)

Amber Lancaster
Total:  11/$61,035 (8/$25,506, 3/$35,529)
Cars:  1/$23,286 (0/$0, 1/$23,286)
Trips:  1/$9,165 (1/$9,165, 0/$0)

Gwennie Osborne
Total:  7/$41,457 (2/$3,004, 5/$38,453)
Cars:  1/$18,594 (0/$0, 1/$18,594)
Trips:  1/$7,261 (0/$0, 1/$7,261)

And for the season
Rachel Reynolds (53 shows)
Total:  506*/$2,563,271 (296/$1,065,149, 210/$1,498,122)
Cars:  47/$1,114,022 (18/$388,104, 29/$725,918)
Trips:  49/$378,115 (22/$153,030, 27/$225,085)

*Combined with the 5,499 from previous seasons, this puts her over the 6,000 prize mark!

Amber Lancaster (32 shows)
Total:  267/$1,609,306 (176/$683,465, 91/$925,841)
Cars:  26/$611,657 (7/$157,886, 19/$453,771)
Trips:  36/$324,085 (21/$172,382, 15/$151,703)

Gwennie Osborne (24 shows)
Total:  200/$1,183,888 (115/$506,732, 85/$677,156)
Cars:  22/$478,560 (7/$159,651, 15/$318,909)
Trips:  27/$228,316 (14/$148,453, 13/$79,863)

[TPIRSteven]

Well, despite some thoroughly evil setups, I actually had three of the games won today.

Today we had one of the better Bonkers playings of the season, but the evil HHHH setup made this tough.  Of course, I pretty much knew it would be $X,998 for the two bikes, so I had this one in the bag.

Line 'Em Up was tough.  The 3rd and fourth numbers were pretty much random guesses.  I probably would have lost this.

I would have also lost Check-Out by about 50 cents or so.

I kind of blew it with Switch? today.  Thank goodness Kevin won it and saved us from a skunking!

Surprisingly, I would have had Pathy won, because I pretty much called $18,594 right at the start.  So I wouldn't have even had to touch the ridiculously evil SP's.

PAN was a toss-up, but I figured it wasn't 4 because that looked too obvious.  I correctly guessed 2 from the other choices.

Anyway, we need to get some bigger wins for the second half of the week.  Today's winnings total was absolutely pitiful.

[SteveGavazzi]

There were some awful games setups today...HHHH is absolutely mean in Bonkers, as is having five of the SP choices in Pathfinder, including all of the fakes, end in 5 or 0.

...and God, I see she didn't make Pathfinder's path end on the edge of the board, either.  That's just incompetent.

I do have to gave Adam credit for the lineup, though.  Bonkers first...Line em Up in the first half...Pathfinder in the second half...it wasn't bad at all.

Check-Out was played pretty badly -- Irene was way under on almost everything.

The showcases weren't too bad for once.

[ElectricPeterTork]

I usually don't agree with everyone seeing evil game set-ups everywhere, but this time around... Bonkers was evil.

I mean, all high? No one is ever going to figure that one out.

The other thing that confused me today was 1,999 for that chunk of plastic in the final one bid. That thing that looked like something a 12 year old put together in the backyard from scraps was two grand?