Illusions you had watching price.

[Superballer]

I'll admit that I thought Safe Crackers was an actual safe, and that they were in trouble if the contestant failed to open it during the game and they forgot the combination afterwards.  Plus, that the disks in 3 Strikes were gone for good when Bob inserted them in the board's slot, that they were either permanently stuck inside or "went down to China," and they had to create all new ones each time they played the game (same with the Superball balls, figuring they were forever stuck inside the board after thrown, and the Bump cars, which I'd thought went through the floor and under the building).  With no visible startup means, I also thought the Range Game rangefinder was voice-activated, that it would rise only if Bob gave the verbal command for it to do so. 

[LarryC]

In Range Game, when Bob would say "Don't press Stop until you want to stop the range finder, because we can't start it again for 24 hours" -- I believed him.

[Teddy]

I used to think that the car was actually driven out on stage in Lucky $even, i.e. the engine was running at the time.

[SilverFirePrime]

I thought Squeeze Play was introduced in the early-mid 90s, not late 70s, and that 'contestants not appearing on stage' was everybody in the audience that day.

[pannoni1]

For me, I always thought that some cartoon monster would appear on the screen whenever someone made a mistake on Pathfinder. I would commonly turn my head when the player was about to step on the number. I must of had a bad dream the night before. This was when I was about 5 until around the time I was about 11.

I also thought the stage was larger than it was. In fact I thought when I was about 5 that it was 3000 miles long (the driving distance to the studio from my house). Then I thought that the check used in Check Game was actually cashable at the bank, given that Bob would say "That's your actual check."

And for Safe Crackers, I thought that was an office/department store that was on the other side of the safe as opposed to just a background.

Something that's probably been said before: The winner of the Showcase Showdown won their winnings in cash if they didn't spin a dollar, even if it was only a nickel.

[Michael]

I also used to think that they were actually riding in an elevator when they'd do the TPiR Department Store showcase.  After all, you'd see the arrow moving and a new prize on the floor when the elevator doors opened.  Someone mentioned thinking the doors were motorized.  I thought that too.  I had no concept that stage hands were back there pulling ropes.  Similarily, on $25,000 Pyramid I thought the trilons were motorized also.

[blozier2006]

Similarily, on $25,000 Pyramid I thought the trilons were motorized also.

Fairly easy to be mistaken there, since on Concentration the trilons WERE motorized.

[silverice878]

When I was little, I used to think Hans was real, and I'd start sobbing everytime he went off the cliff. I also used to think that they never did reruns in the summertime.....

[actual_retail_tice]

As a kid, I imagined the stage was about the size of a mall and that all 50 or so active games at that time were set up somewhere on that stage, each in its own designated area.

I also misunderstood the concept of "going over" in the showcase. I thought if Bob said "You're over" to the losing showcase contestant, it meant that their difference was "over" the winning contestant's difference.

[Josh444]

I always thought that Rod was in a backstage room somewhere when he would do his call down, sort of like the Wizard of Oz, and nobody ever saw him.

[Jordanar18]

One more... I thought Most Expensive was just called 1 2 3. 

[blozier2006]

I always thought that Rod was in a backstage room somewhere when he would do his call down, sort of like the Wizard of Oz, and nobody ever saw him.

Just where was Rod (or Johnny, for that matter) when they were doing announcements?

[SteveGavazzi]

Just where was Rod (or Johnny, for that matter) when they were doing announcements?

Uh, the same place as Rich and George...

[blozier2006]

Uh, the same place as Rich and George...

Derp... I'd never really checked to see where the podium was in relation to the rest of the stage... just checked the "Announcers" section of the Golden Gallery... 

[IncoG5nito]

Whenever Hole in One was played, I used to think that the ball was being putted down a hallway when watching the right side of the split screen.