Author Topic: Say When!! - January 2, 1961 (debut episode)  (Read 10267 times)

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Offline Ccook

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Say When!! - January 2, 1961 (debut episode)
« on: August 24, 2018, 08:23:03 AM »
As noted in a prior recap, Say When!! was a variant on The Price Is Right in that it entailed two contestants selecting as many prizes as they could without going over a target value. As this is the very first episode from 1/2/61, the line of play was a bit different than what it later settled into (as detailed in that recap). This will be explained as I go along.

The contestants:
* Mary Guest from Stanford CT. She has four kids and has one on the way.
* Paul Mortensen from Brooklyn N Y. He is a deck hand on a tugboat.

The two contestants play game 1 with a target value of $750.

The prizes showing on the game board are selected by number on a series of cards in holders that host Art James draws. The first four:
1. A hi-fi tape recorder
2. A sewing machine
3. Samsonite 6-piece luggage
4. Table lamps

Mrs. Guest selects the tape recorder. Value: $200.

Mr. Mortensen replaces the tape recorder with card no. 8, which is a portable air purifier. He selects the luggage. Value: $178.

Mrs. Guest replaces the luggage with card. #10, which is a "Blank Check"--Hafnia canned hams. 1 to 100 cans may be selected. She selects 100 hams and says "when." The value of the hams will not be displayed and added to her score until Mr. Mortensen finishes.

Mr. Mortensen replaces the hams with card #2 which is a pine cupboard. He selects the cupboard. Value: $270. Total: $448.

He replaces the cupboard with card #6 which is a Channel Master transistor radio. He selects the radio. Value: $60, bringing him up to $508.

He replaces the radio with #5 which is a "Blank Check"--L'Aimant women's perfume. 1 to 25 bottles may be chosen. He chooses seven bottles of the perfume and says "when."

The 100 canned hams' value is $400, bringing Mrs. Guest's total to $600.

The 7 bottles of perfume's value is $218, bringing Mr. Mortensen's total to $718, winning the game for him. Mrs. Guest departs and will receive a Polaroid camera. Mr. Mortensen sits to the side and will play the winner of game two later.

****************************************************************************************************************
Game two also has a target value of $750. The winner will face Mr. Mortensen in game three. The contestants:

* Ed Hobby from Elizabethtown N J.
* Marion Trick, from Cowdry CO, a town she says has a total population of 25.

The first four prizes:
1. A slide projector
2. Tappan range
3. Clock
4. 45-piece pottery, service for eight.

Mr. Hobby selects the projector. Value: $155.

Mrs. Trick replaces the projector with card #7 which is a "Blank Check"--Ship N' Shore blouses. 1 to 100 blouses may be selected. She chooses 50 blouses. Value: $200.

Mr. Hobby replaces the blouses with card #11 which is a vacuum cleaner. He chooses the clock. Value: $30, bringing him up to $185.

Mrs. Trick replaces the clock with card #10 which is a "Blank Check"--hybrid orchid plants from Hawaii. 1 to 25 plants may be chosen. She takes three plants. Value: $75, bringing her total to $275.

Mr. Hobby replaces the plants with card #8 which is a "Blank Check"--Dad's root beer. 1 to 250 cases may be chosen. He chooses five cases. Value: $15, bringing his total to $200.

Mrs. Trick replaces the root beer with card #12 which is Candelabras. She chooses the range and says "when."

Mr. Hobby replaces the range with card #9 which is a snow remover. He chooses the vacuum cleaner. Value: $60 for a total of $260.

He replaces the vacuum with #6 which is a mattress and box spring. He chooses the snow remover and says "when."

The value of the range is $455, bring Mrs. Trick's total to $730.

The value of the snow remover is $230, making Mr. Hobby's final total to $490, making Mrs. Trick the winner. Mr. Hobby departs with a Polaroid camera.

*******************************************************************************************************************
Game three pits Mr. Mortensen against Mrs. Trick with the target value of $2000. The first four prizes:

1. A Morris 852 sedan automobile
2. RCA TV/Hi-fi
3. Man's 30-jewel watch
4. Refrigerated bar

Mrs. Trick came closest to her game's target value so she chooses first. She takes the car. Value: $1405.

Mr. Mortensen replaces the car with card #10, which is an electric eye camera. He chooses the TV/Hi-fi. Value: $750.

Mrs. Trick replaces the TV/Hi-fi with card #7 which is a fur coat. She takes the bar. Value: $430, bringing her up to $1835.

Mr. Mortensen replaces the bar with #12 which is a piano. He takes the fur coat. Value: $1250, bringing his total to $2000 on the nose. But the game is not over because he did not say "when" after choosing the fur.

Mrs. Trick replaces the fur with card #9 which is a "Blank Check"--Sue Brett dresses. 1 to 50 dresses may be selected. She takes 5 dresses and says "when."

Mr. Mortensen has to replace the dresses so he picks card #5 with is a massage lounge chair. He takes the watch and says "when." It hinges on how Mrs. Trick finishes now. (It's not clear what would have happened if she goes over).

The value of the watch is $85, making Mr. Mortensen's final total $2085.

The value of the dresses is $125, making Mrs. Trick's final total $1960. Mrs. Trick wins the game.

Mr. Mortensen keeps the prizes he won in the first game.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2018, 08:29:44 AM by Ccook »
"No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately."
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Offline GuyWithFace

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Re: Say When!! - January 2, 1961 (debut episode)
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2018, 10:41:26 AM »
This was not the series premiere -- this was a test program recorded on December 20, 1960.

The awkwardness that ensued here when Mr. Mortensen hit $2,000 exactly suggests that they did not anticipate such an event happening.
The above is my opinion and mine alone.

To answer your questions: yes, I am a guy and yes, I have a face. (I also have the occasional spurt of weirdness.)

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Offline Ccook

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Re: Say When!! - January 2, 1961 (debut episode)
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2018, 02:34:24 PM »
Ah. Whoever put the episode up on YouTube was obviously Cowboy Bebop At His Computer (to invoke a trope). I guess when the show did premiere they had their format set as I recapped a later episode awhile back. Thanks for the clarification.
"No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately."
--Michel de Montaigne

Offline GuyWithFace

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Re: Say When!! - January 2, 1961 (debut episode)
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2018, 02:57:44 PM »
Ah. Whoever put the episode up on YouTube was obviously Cowboy Bebop At His Computer (to invoke a trope).
It appears to have been a common mistake, so I would say that the uploader is not at fault here. It does not help that the production slate is absent from the uploaded copy.
The above is my opinion and mine alone.

To answer your questions: yes, I am a guy and yes, I have a face. (I also have the occasional spurt of weirdness.)

Quote from: thepriceis_J
People are tired of the f**kery and drama, but if we'd actually talk to each other sometimes instead of a whole bunch of private conversations with other people, it'd go a long way to perhaps fixing the problems most seem to see in the site.

Offline Ccook

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Re: Say When!! - January 2, 1961 (debut episode)
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2018, 06:16:34 PM »
And (surprise!) another correction: The premiere date for Say When!! was January 3, 1961, not January 2.
"No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately."
--Michel de Montaigne