Showcase Showdown third-player advancement question

[b_masters8]

Something I'd like to know concerning the situation in the Showcase Showdown when the third spinner automatically advances to the Showcase due to his/her two opponents failing to register a valid (under $1) score: why did Bob Barker (when that was possible) remind the third spinner of that possibility ("If he/she goes over, you're automatically in the Showcase"), while Drew only brings it up if such an occurrence actually happens?

[JT]

Because Bob was a broadcaster who kept the audience up to date on what was going on throughout the show and wanted to build excitement any chance he could. (e.g. we've had 5 winners in a row!, are we heading towards a perfect day? , and, we had a $10,000 winner in the first showcase showdown, let's see if we can do that again!). I think his radio background had a lot to do with this where he needed listeners to visualize what was going on.   Drew did not come up in the business as a broadcaster so he is not skilled at that type of play-by-play and will only point out these interesting situations if it comes to mind spontaneously or after it actually happens!

[b_masters8]

Because Bob was a broadcaster who kept the audience up to date on what was going on throughout the show and wanted to build excitement any chance he could. (e.g. we've had 5 winners in a row!, are we heading towards a perfect day? , and, we had a $10,000 winner in the first showcase showdown, let's see if we can do that again!). I think his radio background had a lot to do with this where he needed listeners to visualize what was going on.   Drew did not come up in the business as a broadcaster so he is not skilled at that type of play-by-play and will only point out these interesting situations if it comes to mind spontaneously or after it actually happens!

That explains the difference very well, and (OT) also might apply to sportscasting-- if you grew up/came up in the business (as Bob Barker did), you're more likely to know how to describe the big moments when they happen, but if you're inexperienced, you might not know the right words (as how I'm understanding this).

[DebonairDylan]

One other thing Bob did that was interesting was when the 3rd spinner spun a number high enough to beat somebody who was in the lead, he would say "You don't want to spin again, do you?", which everybody that I saw declined, Drew doesn't do that. I do wonder though, if there were ever instances (with either Bob or Drew) of a 3rd contestant taking a second spin despite having already taken the lead (not when the first two go over since you're not allowed a second spin in that case since you'd then have the possibility of nobody qualifying for the showcase, and they'd have to do the segment over). I also wonder if it's even a legal option anymore since Drew just says "You're on your way to the showcase with a (insert number).

[gamesurf]

I’m not sure it was ever a legal option, barring evidence of somebody doing so

Bob just liked to ask an obvious question because the contestant hurriedly shaking their head “no” might get a laugh.

[Nick]

I think his radio background had a lot to do with this where he needed listeners to visualize what was going on.

One thing that the old-school game show hosts, and particularly Barker, are not probably remembered for was their tendency to say what could be seen.  It may not seem like much, but it enabled a Price viewer to follow the show without having to actually see a television screen.  Considering that too much television today is programmed to be just background noise, you'd think today's MCs would employ this more.

One other thing Bob did that was interesting was when the 3rd spinner spun a number high enough to beat somebody who was in the lead, he would say "You don't want to spin again, do you?", which everybody that I saw declined, Drew doesn't do that. I do wonder though, if there were ever instances (with either Bob or Drew) of a 3rd contestant taking a second spin despite having already taken the lead (not when the first two go over since you're not allowed a second spin in that case since you'd then have the possibility of nobody qualifying for the showcase, and they'd have to do the segment over). I also wonder if it's even a legal option anymore since Drew just says "You're on your way to the showcase with a (insert number).

Unless the official rules state that a third-spinner contestant who beats the leader in his first spin loses his eligibility for a second spin, then it absolutely would be a legal option; and Drew is in the wrong to not offer it.  I'll bet that such a clause is not in the rules, and as far as I can see, that's exactly why Barker always asked, "You don't want to spin again, do you?": The contestant had to provide consent to staying with his current score because he could always spin again if desired.  It never seemed to me that he was doing this just to get a cheap laugh.

While ordinarily a foolish idea to spin again, consider this hypothetical scenario under the old Million Dollar Spectacular payout system that required scoring a dollar in the bonus spin to win the million: Third-spinner in Showcase Showdown 1 beats contestant standing with thirty cents by spinning thirty-five.  You can advance to the Showcase at that point, but if you're lucky enough to spin sixty-five cents in your second spin, you get the bonus spin for a million dollars, which is a lot more than you'll ever get a crack at in terms of prize in the Showcase.  Your score of thirty-five cents is also one on which spinning again is ordinarily a good idea, as you're more likely than not to not go over a dollar (I'll leave it to somebody more skilled in statistics than I to break down the actual odds of going over or not when spinning again on a particular score).  As long as you don't go over, you'll get to proceed to the Showcase, and you at least exercised a chance to win the million.  Furthermore, if somebody spins a dollar in Showcase Showdown 2, then there will be no post-Showcase spin for a million, so it's not a safe bet you'll get the chance later to go for the million if you're so fortunate as to win the Showcase.  All of a sudden, spinning again may not be such a bad idea.

That scenario never happened, and as far as I am aware, nobody has ever has tried to spin again after achieving victory in the Showcase Showdown, but as the option to win the ordinary bonus money appears not to be forfeited after the third spinner takes his first spin if he achieves a winning score, then one does have the option to spin again and should be asked if he wants to spin again or not, even though nearly everybody will always say no and have no reason to say otherwise.

[thatvhstapeguy]

I'll leave it to somebody more skilled in statistics than I to break down the actual odds of going over or not when spinning again on a particular score.

I once did the math. If you spin x cents, you have an x% chance of going over on your next spin. You can even realize this intuitively - e.g. $1 plus anything on the wheel goes over, while only one out of 20 spaces ($1) will send you packing if you start with a nickel.

[tpirfansince1972]

Something I'd like to know concerning the situation in the Showcase Showdown when the third spinner automatically advances to the Showcase due to his/her two opponents failing to register a valid (under $1) score: why did Bob Barker (when that was possible) remind the third spinner of that possibility ("If he/she goes over, you're automatically in the Showcase"), while Drew only brings it up if such an occurrence actually happens?

It may also be the case where Drew and company feel or believe that people who have been watching the show since 1972 (myself included) probably don't need to be told that again.  They perhaps have a presumptive philosophy that the fans already know that if Spinner #1 is out and if Spinner #2 goes over, spinner #3 automatically qualifies.

[Nick]

They perhaps have a presumptive philosophy that the fans already know that if Spinner #1 is out and if Spinner #2 goes over, spinner #3 automatically qualifies.

Never presume there isn't somebody watching for the first time.

[htmlcc92]

One of the things that annoyed me about when Bob hosted is he would sometimes not really explain a game. He’s ask a contestant if they knew how to play it, and if they said yes, he’d let them at it. For me though I was a fairly new viewer and had no idea how all the games were played. I will say I’ve definitely over the years become more familiar with all the games. I appreciate how Drew explains every game when it comes up.

[Nick]

One of the things that annoyed me about when Bob hosted is he would sometimes not really explain a game. He’s ask a contestant if they knew how to play it, and if they said yes, he’d let them at it. For me though I was a fairly new viewer and had no idea how all the games were played.

And Barker would usually explain the rules while the contestant was playing the game, letting the contestant show how much of a "loyal friend and true" he was while not leaving out the process for anybody who didn't know.

I appreciate how Drew explains every game when it comes up.

The perceived need to explain the rules to everything every time is terrible crutch on which the game show hosts of today lean.  A full-blown explanation of the rules is not always needed.  Use that valuable time for contestant interaction (and not in a way that's fake and staged).

A non-Price example, but it works: Only now that time constraints have finally caught up with the current version of Family Feud is there not always an explanation of the rules to Fast Money (and the forced exclamation of "twenty thousand dollars!" by the first player).  For decades, though, there seemed to be the need to always explain the rules in full every episode (and let's not forget all the time with wasted applause and a music sting when returning from the commercial break before we even get to this point).  Oftentimes on Dawson Feud, the beginning to Fast Money was a fade in from black with Dawson saying, "fifteen seconds, please".  Ding, the clock would come up and, boom, Dawson would be into the first question.

I so miss that speed with game shows, and I know what I just described was usually what happened when the game ran long and they needed to hurry along to finish on time, but it was doing things live-to-tape and not relying on post-production editing that made for a better flow to watch as a viewer.  Plus, if things ran long in the main game, it was usually because something genuinely amusing happened.

The same goes for Price.  Barker was a pro at managing the good contestants and bringing the best out of them and taking a little longer where things were making for good television, and then he'd hurry along elsewhere cutting the unnecessary bits to save time.  True, sometimes other good contestants were played short since earlier ones took up too much time, but more often than not, the trade-off got something engaging and entertaining while maintaining the live feel of the show.

[b_masters8]

A non-Price example, but it works: Only now that time constraints have finally caught up with the current version of Family Feud is there not always an explanation of the rules to Fast Money (and the forced exclamation of "twenty thousand dollars!" by the first player).  For decades, though, there seemed to be the need to always explain the rules in full every episode (and let's not forget all the time with wasted applause and a music sting when returning from the commercial break before we even get to this point).  Oftentimes on Dawson Feud, the beginning to Fast Money was a fade in from black with Dawson saying, "fifteen seconds, please".  Ding, the clock would come up and, boom, Dawson would be into the first question.

Also outside of TPIR: on Tic Tac Dough w/Wink Martindale, it seemed that after a while, many of the players knew how to play the game (get three Xs or three Os in a row vertically, horizontally, or diagonally; outside boxes were $200 to the pot, and the center two-parters were worth $300), such that, even at the top of the show, Wink would turn the players' attention to the subjects at hand for the upcoming round, and dispense with the formal rules spiel (especially if a new player had just come in, and all that was left before close of business on the last show was some light banter).

He did, however, IIRC, pretty much every time the bonus game (Beat the Dragon) was played, still maintain the formal spiel (get $1000 or more, or get Tic and Tac, before hitting the Dragon, and getting Tic and Tac got the Dough [was an auto-win], outside of that one brief time in 1983 where one had to hit the grand right on the nose, and an excess meant you had to get Tic and Tac to win).