Is it already that time of year that I have to start reinforcing my roof
again? It's still pretty solid from the jump to Season 37, but maybe I better just be prepared...
And while I'm thinking about it, I don't think the all-caps panic-inducing thread title was really warranted, given the information you went on to provide.
. . . I don't think they'd build George a podium to match the Turntable and then end up tearing it apart and rebuilding it just weeks later. That wouldn't make much sense at all.
Have we already forgotten that this is the
second new podium they've built for him, because the first one they built was so freakin' big they had to remove seats to fit it? They did pull off the new turntable nicely (although I could do without the big honkin' door frame) but I'm not convinced they're totally competent in this area.
Regarding the new screen in the back of the audience... When the announcement was first made that they were going to plop a plasma at the back of the house, I think we expected something
then that took up a great portion of the wall, and what we got most of us considered "dinky", myself included. But over the past couple of years I've gotten used to the size. I still share the same opinion I did then, though; something that takes up a little bit more of that wall would definitely look better, IMO. Maybe it'll be closer to what Brandon Bridges did in his projects, which wouldn't bother me at all...
My prediction for the removal of seats is to accommodate the new screen. They stopped putting in folding chairs so the full width of the screen can be seen and a model can stand there. I'd guess they're gonna expand that platform. Which is stupid, but about all I can come up with to justify 25 fewer people in the studio.
I don't know how a "Wall" is constructed, but I can't imagine it being easy to take down once they strike the set at the end of the day.
I'm no expert, but I'd imagine instead of doing something projection-oriented they could use a bank of HD monitors and connect them seamlessly, without it being highly noticeable that it's not one big screen. I'm curious how our new director (assuming we'll have one) will handle these changes...
As far as this "ginormous" seating change goes, this may already be happening. A friend of mine that went to the show a few weeks ago (and was actually called as a contestant) was in one of the first 10 spots in line and ended up somewhere in the 3rd row. He conjectured it was because of "VIPs", who I know frequently get front seats, but I know there weren't
three rows of them that day.
As far as the "major set changes" go, I can only hope they leave those door frames alone and don't decide to make them all color-changing. It seems like on game shows these days once a show decides to add color-changing parts to their set, they just can't stop themselves. See the Karn run of Family Feud. It started as just the back wall, and by his last season
the whole set was a giant rainbow. They've already done this on Price, too. What started as a single strip around the door frames has already been added to some car backdrops and the entire back wall of the new turntable. And let's not forget Mike Richards' other show has a bazillion colors of light on its door frames, too.
