Don't know who wrote the copy. In the context of this discussion, I don't care who wrote the copy.
If you don't know, then you can't have an informed discussion on the subject. For the record, the copy is prepared well ahead of time, and the announcer is expected to just read it. (And in the context of this discussion, it makes a
big difference; know your facts before you try to debate them with others.)
But if, as you say, George is improvising the copy, if "a 2-liter bottle of diet cola" is the best he can do, I prefer Rich just reading what was handed to him.
In this example, "a 2-liter bottle of diet cola" would be the hard facts prepared ahead of time and would be the exact phrasing appearing in the copy. My comment was speculative in nature, and when I proposed that George improvises, what I meant was his introductory phrases to the descriptions (things like "I'll bet you'd like to drive around in this NEW CAR" instead of just saying "A NEW CAR!").
What's interesting to me is that on more than one occasion, it's been pointed out that mistakes with the copy can cost CBS a lot of money (I distinctly remember seeing Bob go into detail about that once, when Rod editorialized about a prize; his remark was to the effect that deviating from the copy Rod had been given could get CBS sued, and they'd have to give any contestants involved all the prizes they
could have won). This makes me wonder if maybe what I term George's "improv" at the mic is actually written into the copy.
