FULL RECAP - TPiR 09/23/2008

[BRB_TheFireball]

Pushy:  For a 5-digit boat?!  Wow, they are definitely not screwing around this week, are they?  It was pretty funny watching Drew fight with the price reveal.  I'm assuming that new magnets were put on in order to prevent premature price reveals.

3X:  Roger Kathy, has this game ever before ended after only 4 draws?  And to think that Drew started off by talking about how tedious and time-consuming this game was...

Checky:  Even for the new range, a $5,500 check was dumb.  I was secretly hoping that the motorcycles would be more than $4,500 just to see how the technical dudes would handle a 5-digit total.

SCSD #1:  *CLANGCLANGCLANG*  Lynette wins with a nickel!

Dice:  Wow, Dice for a Mustang convertible!  The two 6s and the 1 could've caused six different kinds of headaches, but Jill got the Dobstopper Grecostopper!

Grandy:  In the 5-hole!  I thought this was gonna be a forced win today.  Looks like I thought wrong once again.

My showcase bids:
Furniture/trip--$14,707
Truck--$25,807

[wpghi5]

Semi-wipeout in 3 Strikes, $5500 not a wise amount to put on the check, contestant and husband goes against Peanut Gallery in Switch? and succeeds,  to you Peanut Gallery. Close finish in the showcase, and contestant Cynthia among those congratulating Lynette the big winner today. My moments of the day in my view. That's all folks.

[Nick]

I don't think anyone believes that the game was changed because of Drew.

No, but Drew's statement on-air today of the game taking "forever to play" could have gotten Syd thinking.

I think that if they are going to offer nicer, more expensive prizes, the game should be harder to win.

But that's not what's happening.  Inflation was catching up on the game so that a range change was going to become absolutely necessary eventually.

[UpsDriverMan]

good to see the season 37 decorations still up, it goes back to season 35 when they had premiere week.  good to see this year theyre going all out again

nick, what do you think he'll make syd think about?  also, i noticed he called the strikes the "x".  "another x," i think were his exact words.  it's nomenclature but that bugged me

and did anyone else notice the two gray plates next to home base?  i caught it today after drew got his mic just before they cut to drew against the turntable.

[rob79]

I have a feeling comments like Drew made today were what got Syd's mind rolling on the changes to come in 3 Strikes.    Stop whining Drew, that's what makes this game exciting.

Speaking of Strikes that quick loss just sucked everything out of what this episode had going for it.

You know it's a pretty quiet show when Dice Game showing up 4th is the most exciting thing going for it.

[Nick]

nick, what do you think he'll make syd think about?

I think Drew's whining today that 3 Strikes takes "forever" to play got Syd out of reading his newspaper to pay attention and say, "Hm, we should find a way to make that game go faster."

And if a moderator could fix the quote tags on my last post, that'd be great, since I can't edit my post now.

[goldroadfanatic]

I found it interesting that they didn't cover the "extra" turntable pattern with the curtains until later in the show. That was probably the first time since July we saw all the turntable panels, and the producer's box, uncovered.

Drew seemed a bit too peppy at the start of the show, but it was amusing to see him make another funny entrance, in my opinion.

I laughed at how Drew couldn't open the reveal for Pushover, and noted that they changed the reveal's magnets over the summer break.

I would really not be surprised if today's 3 Strikes prompted the staff to institute the changes that we will see later this season, since the contestant lost after only a few draws. Drew was right about 3 Strikes being "the most tedious, numbing game in the world or the most exciting" and noting that the game takes a long time to play (although that was not the case today).

Another note about 3 Strikes later this season, it's bittersweet knowing that the game will no longer be played exclusively for expensive cars after 15 years of doing so but at the same time, the old-school aspect of playing for normal cars returns for the first time since 1993.

I loved hearing Drew's bit about the quill pen being used since 1872 again after the summer.

I'm just curious, now that Roger is gone, who is tasked with writing the names on the checks now? I wouldn't be surprised that, after Roger dictated what prizes were offered in the show, that the staff changed Check Game's win range. The motorcycle could have worked with the $5,000-6,000 range. I guess I will have to see how the game plays out as this season goes on when it comes to win rate and contestants playing the game. But as I said before, the win range should have been $7,000-9,000 or something along those lines. Also, with the increased win range, they may want to modify the prop to include a fifth digit in the bottom eggcrate display since today's total was very close to $10,000.

Lynette was fun to watch in the showcase showdown, when she was talking with Drew about Las Vegas and Drew pointing out that she went through to the showcase with only a nickel (by default).

I wonder when was the last time three or four of the same number were rolled in Dice Game? That was an exciting playing, since the third and fifth numbers worried me, and I loved how Jill ran over to the Mustang to celebrate.

I laughed at how Drew was surprised that the hot sauce was only 75¢, heck I was too. I wouldn't be surprised if we see that hot sauce at the start of a playing of Golden Road later this season.

As with other jokes, I enjoyed hearing Drew's recurring one in Switch? again after the summer.  It was also great to see Jennifer win after going against the peanut gallery.

How long have they been using that dice wipe in Dice Game?  It isn't nearly as impressive as the old one.

I think that Dice Game wipe came in on the June 23, 2008, the first time after Bart decided to fade from the car to the table instead using the wipe, just once on June 11.

Again, maybe I'm out of the loop on something, but when was the last time Grand Game was played fifth?

April 15, 2008

Drew needs to cut it with the "model collision" joke in Switch?  It's getting old, and I didn't even think it was funny the first time.

I like these jokes Drew makes for certain games; Bob had his 37 Hours joke for Range Game, so I don't think that should stop Drew from coming up with his own jokes for different games.

[SteveGavazzi]

I thought Drew did a mostly respectable job of hosting today, but he did one thing that really, really irked me -- he insulted 3 Strikes!  Yes, the game can take a long time to play, but it's usually worth it -- it's a good enough game that even its losses are frequently excellent television (seriously -- a heartbreaking loss can make a game's next win that much more special).  I think Roger even went so far once as to call it one of the five best games on the show.  I gotta tell ya, I'm getting worried about it, what with its multiple format changes, its downgrade from the Big 3, and now hearing this from Drew...I sure hope it doesn't end up retired.

I wonder why they felt the need to enlarge some of the dollar signs on Check Game.  They look weird now.

Speaking of Check Game, I really wish Drew would encourage the contestants to finish writing out the check.  The game loses some of its charm when that doesn't happen.

Dice Game was really exciting...honestly, I didn't think Jill had a chance in hell of winning.

The new lines at the end of the showcases are kinda silly...but honestly, they're not any sillier than some of the non-"This showcase can be yours" lines we heard last season.

Another good show today.  I love it when 3 Strikes makes an appearance.  Speaking of which, weren't they now playing 3 Strikes with the first number given for free?  And on top of that, although they supposedly were going to start playing it for regular cars, they played it for a luxury car.  I believe this puts into question the validity of the reports regarding any changes to both 3 Strikes and Make Your Mark.

No, it doesn't.  It was never made totally clear whether the playing with three strike chips was the first or second playing of the season...this just confirms that it was the second, and that the game began offering normal cars on the third.  I assure you that all the reports you've read here about 3 Strikes and Barker's Marker$ are accurate.

Folks, I'm begging you:  Please stop implying that we're lying to you.  We've never done it before, and we certainly aren't going to start now, during the most turbulent period in the show's history.

The initial change to 3 Strikes was reported on August 6th for shows taped the previous weekend, which would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of August 3rd.  Considering that they taped the first batch of shows on July 20th, and that first week's worth of shows is not the premiere week... that leaves an extremely short timeline for them to have played it again.

The shows taped on August 3 (or August 4 -- I can't remember exactly what those tapedates were) would have been Wednesday and Thursday of the third week.  If the Big 3 all show up fairly early on, it's entirely possible that they could start repeating them that quickly.  They've gone four times in the first three weeks before.

I don't like the new Check Game rules.  Makes the game needlessly much more difficult.  Anywhere from about $1500 to $5500 seemed decently reasonable to write the check for, which is a ridiculously large range of "seemingly OK" prices.

Note also that the motorcycles were probably scheduled with Roger's $8,000-$10,000 range in mind, not the $7,000-$8,000 range that ended up being used.

Wait, wait, Roger?

I know he made the lineup, but I wasn't aware that he was still picking the prizes and making the fakes at this point.

Pretty much everything for the first two or three weeks of shows (five of which, keep in mind, we won't be seeing until later on in the season) was already planned out by Roger before he was fired.

How long have they been using that dice wipe in Dice Game?  It isn't nearly as impressive as the old one.

Dice Game was mini-retired for about two months last spring while the budget was spiraling out of control...I'm pretty sure that wipe was introduced when or just after it came back.

I don't think anyone believes that [3 Strikes] was changed because of Drew.

I don't know whether it was or not...but there's certainly no reason he couldn't have influenced it.

I think that if they are going to offer nicer, more expensive prizes, the [Check Game] should be harder to win.

They can only play it for things about $2,000 more valuable than they could before.  It's not that much of an increase.

and did anyone else notice the two gray plates next to home base?  i caught it today after drew got his mic just before they cut to drew against the turntable.

I believe those are the new lineup board.

[MrDeePay]

Awsome, the board's working for me again.

Anyway, all I have to say about 3 Strikes today (watching it on stream) is damn.  That was just merciless.

[Todd]

I have to say, I absolutely loved what Drew did before SCSD 1. He talked with the contestants, told everyone some stuff about them, and it was just really cool. I'm guessing with that quick 3 Strikes loss some time needed to be ate up.

[ClockGameJohn]

I believe today's 3 Strikes playing should be proof of why the decision was made during the Bob and Roger era as to what rules to use.  There is no need to reinvent the wheel, here.  (We did that too, literally.)

From what I understand, sadly, 3 Strikes may never recover from this tinkering.

I'm quite sure that the Check Game prize was replaced after Roger left and the decision was made to change the range to the more difficult $7,000-$8,000 range.  While Roger was contemplating a different range, I don't believe there were any concrete plans to implement it for this first playing.  Again, today's Check Game playing should be proof of why formats are the way they are, and thoughtless changes will prove disadvantageous to the contestant.

I laughed at how Drew couldn't open the reveal for Pushover, and noted that they changed the reveal's magnets over the summer break.

Last I checked, Pushover utilized velcro.

[SteveGavazzi]

From what I understand, sadly, 3 Strikes may never recover from this tinkering.

I really don't like the sound of that.  That'd be a horrible, horrible blow to the show if it ends up playing out that way.

[PriceForever]

I don't think that Drew or Syd had any idea that because Three Strikes took so long and was difficult to win that that was the reason Bob and Roger put in expensive glamorous cars.  It made the time is took to play the game worthwhile.  And a bigger car is worth the difficulty.  The whole package made Three Strikes one of the most exciting games on the show and one that I always was excited to see play.  Now it is probably gone forever... 

One can thank Drew (or Syd) (or the new producer) for destroying this classic game.  (Drew has got to stop whining!)

[Todd]

One can thank Drew (or Syd) (or the new producer) for destroying this classic game.  (Drew has got to stop whining!)

I highly doubt you can thank Drew. And honestly, he was just voicing his opinion, he's allowed to have one, you know.

[SteveGavazzi]

I highly doubt you can thank Drew.

I'm not sure what leads you to that conclusion...the scenario described farther up the thread in which his complaining caused the game to be redesigned into the ground seems perfectly plausible to me.

I highly doubt you can thank Drew. And honestly, he was just voicing his opinion, he's allowed to have one, you know.

He's the host.  He is not supposed to be insulting his own show on the air.