Simple Questions & Answers Thread

[gamesurf]

Is it real

Don't know, kinda doubt it, but

does the contestant get to take it home, versus giving them a check after the show airs?

no, all cash prizes are paid by check after the show airs. Even the $100 door prize is payable by check.

[MSTieScott]

Along the lines of the question about real dollar bills in Lucky 7, what about the $500 exact bid bonus? Is it real, and does the contestant get to take it home, versus giving them a check after the show airs?

I can't speak to recent years, but during all of the Barker seasons (and all of the Carey seasons when I was there), the perfect bid bonus handed to the contestant on camera was real money. As gamesurf said, though, the actual prize was paid by check -- as soon as the pricing game was over, somebody from the staff would collect the money from the contestant so it could be placed back in the host's pocket to be awarded for any subsequent perfect bids.

(Okay, there have been times when a second perfect bid has happened and Bob was caught cashless because no one remembered to get the money back during the commercial. I'm talking about what would usually happen.)

[SteveGavazzi]

(Okay, there have been times when a second perfect bid has happened and Bob was caught cashless because no one remembered to get the money back during the commercial. I'm talking about what would usually happen.)

Am I imagining things, or did something like this also happen once when there was a perfect bid right before Barker's Marker$?  (Or maybe Shell Game?)

[ooboh]

no, all cash prizes are paid by check after the show airs. Even the $100 door prize is payable by check.

Dang, even the $1-$6 left over from Lucky Seven?

[GasMoney09721007]

Am I imagining things, or did something like this also happen once when there was a perfect bid right before Barker's Marker$?  (Or maybe Shell Game?)

I don't know if it ever actually happened but I do remember reading many many years ago, back when Barker's Markers actually existed, that the show only had one set of $500 so if a perfect bid happened right before Barker's Markers, Bob would have to get the money back off-camera before the game started

[alansh42]

If I got a piggy bank check from Any Number I'd frame it.

Is $1.23 from the piggy the smallest possible on stage win? From the Time Is Money discussion it sounds like it goes down in increments too big for it to stop on $1. (I assume no leading zero.)

[blozier2006]

Is $1.23 from the piggy the smallest possible on stage win? From the Time Is Money discussion it sounds like it goes down in increments too big for it to stop on $1. (I assume no leading zero.)

AFAIK the smallest possible thing for the piggy bank would be $1.02... though I can't prove that's ever actually happened.

[LiteBulb88]

Have they ever stated the first digit of the piggy bank can't be 0? If not, then the smallest amount possible is $0.12. That'd be awfully mean, but not against the rules to my knowledge.

[COINBOYNYC]

Have they ever stated the first digit of the piggy bank can't be 0? If not, then the smallest amount possible is $0.12. That'd be awfully mean, but not against the rules to my knowledge.

Roger was once asked on Facebook if the amount in the piggy bank was ever at minimum ($0.12) or maximum ($9.87).  This was his answer:

"We never had an amount that was less than $1.00...our policy was never to look cheap and any amount low like that would have made us look bad. I do not have the records or the absolute recollection but I am sure we had $9.87 at least once in the piggy bank. Kathy Greco, who used to devise the amounts, usually always kept the amount as high as possible with the numbers she had to work with."

[Renny]

Have they ever stated the first digit of the piggy bank can't be 0? If not, then the smallest amount possible is $0.12. That'd be awfully mean, but not against the rules to my knowledge.

Roger was once asked on Facebook if the amount in the piggy bank was ever at minimum ($0.12) or maximum ($9.87).  This was his answer:

"We never had an amount that was less than $1.00...our policy was never to look cheap and any amount low like that would have made us look bad. I do not have the records or the absolute recollection but I am sure we had $9.87 at least once in the piggy bank. Kathy Greco, who used to devise the amounts, usually always kept the amount as high as possible with the numbers she had to work with."

The smallest amount for the piggy bank I can recall is $1.09, from the very first episode.

[htmlcc92]

Has the production company plug during the credits always been pre-taped? I know (well, I assume since it sounds exactly the same each day) that it’s pre-recorded. I’m imagining they don’t have the announcer show up on the screen during the credits until after the plug happens as an illusion that it’s done live every time.

[MSTieScott]

Has the production company plug during the credits always been pre-taped?

It was done live during the Barker era. I know it was still being done live at the beginning of Drew's run (I specifically remember being disappointed the first time I heard "FremantleMedia" instead of "Mark Goodson" under the audience applause), but I don't know when the switch to prerecording it occurred. My guess is that it came about when the show stopped trying to shoot live to tape. I don't know whether that happened while Rich was still the announcer or whether the announcer auditions may have prompted prerecording the announcement.

[Nick]

Four questions:

First, in the nonsense that happened around the turn of season 36 or 37 when the powers-that-were were very keen to disassociate themselves from the good ol' Price, I seem to recall something about the words "A Mark Goodson Production" being cut off the processing numbers worn by those outside in line.  I want to say there was a story reported here about pages walking the line and literally cutting the words off the bottom of the numbers that were already given out one day during audience processing.  Is this a figment of my imagination, or did that really happen?

Second, I also seem to recall it being said years ago that the CBS affiliate in St. Louis, MO, KMOV, was airing a day behind the rest of the network, something that I recall reading was going on for years until they eventually caught up and starting airing the same day's episode as everyone else.  Does anyone know more about this and how long it lasted, and why this was even a thing?  In the years before Innertube, did we have nobody around here who could have easily helped us out for pre-emptions if they were airing a day behind?

Third, what was the true story behind the shtick of Rod billing himself as "the official ambassador of Chaing Mai"?  His profile on the show's website even stated this.  I find it highly unlikely that some radio announcer moved to TV was carrying out official ambassadorial duties for a single city in a foreign country.  It's the use of the word official that's always struck me strange with this.  Anybody know more?

Fourth, Rod's CBS.com profile also used to say he hosted something called "the live $25,000 Game Show" at the Roy Clark Theater in Branson, MO.  I've never seen any details on what this show was, which I am assuming was along the lines of the various game show stage show adaptations that Fremantle, Bob Eubanks and others have done with more recognition since.  Anybody have any details?

[pannoni1]

It was done live during the Barker era. I know it was still being done live at the beginning of Drew's run (I specifically remember being disappointed the first time I heard "FremantleMedia" instead of "Mark Goodson" under the audience applause), but I don't know when the switch to prerecording it occurred. My guess is that it came about when the show stopped trying to shoot live to tape. I don't know whether that happened while Rich was still the announcer or whether the announcer auditions may have prompted prerecording the announcement.

During Rod's first several months, his sign-off wasn't as drawn out as it was for most of the run ("This is Rod Roddy speaking" instead of "This... is Rodddddd Roddy (pause) speaking". )

Wheel and Jeopardy! were known to be using pre-taped signoffs much earlier, and of course dropped its signoffs altogether, although Jeopardy!'s "Tomorrow on Jeopardy!..." plugs sort of brings back some semblance, even if it doesn't involve Johnny Gilbert himself signing off or mentioning that the show was created by Merv Griffin. Its still remarkable that TPIR is still even doing such a signoff nowadays, being the last remaining game show to do so, when most others dropped theirs 20+ years ago, with the most recent Goodson/Freemantle show to do so being Family Feud in 2002.

[ooboh]

During Rod's first several months, his sign-off wasn't as drawn out as it was for most of the run ("This is Rod Roddy speaking" instead of "This... is Rodddddd Roddy (pause) speaking". )

Considering he drew out his sign-off on Press Your Luck, I'm surprised that he didn't initially carry it over to Price.