June 13, 1978 (FINISH LINE)

[Briguy]

... (the eggcrate erroneously showed $11 for this) ...

I wonder if this was but one of the technical glitches that were common with Finish Line and led to its retirement?

Or if mistakes like this -- here, the addition errors by staff members working the game -- were common with other games during this era and not edited out, but instead Bob making an explanatory comment such as what he did here (i.e., "the display is wrong; it should read (whatever)")?

Another note on the error -- perhaps it wasn't the fault of the person controlling the eggcrate display ... he/she was simply given the wrong price for the chafing dish (i.e., his/her sheet said $11 for the dish rather than the correct $19). Which I'd guess happens sometimes even to the best of us.

Brian

[NickintheATL]

I think it was the prop that was problematic.  It looks to me like the way the numbers increase is directly tied to the conveyor that is moving the finish line or the horse down the track.  I think this is why they couldn't correct the displays either.

I am 100% convinced a situation like this didn't help curry favor the game.  It was only played a few more times after this before it got the heave-ho.

[Brian44]

This episode appears to confirm that in Finish Line, just like Give or Keep, the contestant won the three prizes he/she decided to "keep."

Just checked the other Finish Line playing on YT--Bob did specifically mention that the contestant kept whatever prizes she placed on the horse and that those prizes were all she would win if the horse didn't cross the finish line.

I know Trader Bob worked differently. IIRC, if you won the game, you also won the last SP shown. If you lost, you only won the last SP you traded for.

In 1/2 Off, you win both SPs in each pair if you correctly guess the 1/2 off price--correct?

[MSTieScott]

In 1/2 Off, you win both SPs in each pair if you correctly guess the 1/2 off price--correct?

Correct.

[garffreak]

This is a great upload.  As much fun as it is to see these rare vintage episodes, it makes me wonder just how many other 40-year-old episodes exist in absolute pristine condition waiting to be revealed.  Thank you.

[Nick]

So, I'm curious as to where the copy of this episode originated.  The copies that have got out that former contestants requested from Fremantle generally do not have burnt-in timecodes on them.  There have been an assortment of such copies of episodes on the trading circuit for years, though they've all been half-hour episodes as I recall.

And the part about which I'm really curious is how long these people have been sitting on this copy.  I'm sure it's not as if it had been much of the twenty-plus years the lot of us around were wanting to see a video copy of Finish Line, but still... It makes me wonder what other gems people have that they have no idea would be of such interest to us.

Oh, and Finish Line has such a cool winning flash.

The red number next to "decanter" looked fuzzy to me, but I think it said $30, wanted to see if anyone else could get a clearer look at it.

Looks as if it is $30 to me.