12/16/08 Showcase Reveal

[Wayoshi]

[Todd]

Wayo, I have to agree with one of your anotations there. What's with the crowd's lack of cheering?

[Wayoshi]

Wayo, I have to agree with one of your anotations there. What's with the crowd's lack of cheering?

At first I thought they redid the whole review, explaining why Drew would have been at first overjoyed, then meh - but Terry truly was excited, and Ted mentioned no such thing. Ted, did you spread word that there was a likely EXACTA during stopdown?

[Flerbert419]

So...would this be the first ever perfect daytime showcase bid, then?

Yes.  And Drew just stood there.

[WarioBarker]

Wait, wait, hold on, wait...

Now how could I forget about that? The only difference here is that the contestant who did it on Dennis' show only won his own showcase, because the DSW rule didn't apply on that syndicated version.

First, we don't know whether the rule was added later in the run because some people (stares at Barker and GSN) didn't want to show anything of it. As of the December 2, 1974 tapings the rule was not in effect on the nighttime show, though.

Now...

Has anyone ever bid perfectly on a showcase?

Yes. It's happened two times -- once on a daytime show from the first or second season before the Double Showcase rule was introduced, and again on the November 24, 2008 episode (which was aired out of order on December 16).

Many people who remember seeing the first perfect bid say that the winner’s podium displayed “00000” for his difference.

Okay...so we now know beyond a doubt that it didn't happen on the nighttime show? I bring this up since Cue 16 on J-Shea's site includes comments by Dennis alluding to a "history-making moment" that would only make sense if it were a perfect bid - well, either that or the infamous tie.

Actual retail price is $13,123! Can you believe that one? ... Can you believe-I can't believe it. Now that's the first time THAT'S ever happened, too! Dennis James saying don't miss the show next week...

Now, I don't know how to ask about the above, given that the only email address on the site seems to be for sending anecdotes about CBS Television City, not questions about content or such.

[JohnHolder]

First, we don't know whether the rule was added later in the run because some people (stares at Barker and GSN) didn't want to show anything of it. As of the December 2, 1974 tapings the rule was not in effect on the nighttime show, though.

I can categorically state that there was no Double Showcase rule on the nighttime show, at any time.

John

[WarioBarker]

I can categorically state that there was no Double Showcase rule on the nighttime show, at any time.

Even so (and I do trust what you're saying), I would rather have someone look over each of the 301 episodes and see for certain. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen due to the fur ban (1), GSN not having the rights to air The Price is Right (2), and their refusal to air the 1972-1980 nighttime show when they did (3).

Basically, unless (2) changes so they can reverse (3) and show what doesn't violate (1) until it's banished never to return...we just aren't going to know for absolute certain.
-Daniel


(Kinda like the Tom Kennedy version although that one actually did get reran - but GSN didn't air all 170 shows and thusly we still don't know for certain whether that version had the Double Showcase Rule...or if someone even won with a difference of less than $100.)

[someguy95]

DELETED: Dammit, Steve, you said there was a perfect bid on the nighttime show in the FAQ, up until you edited the paragraph and said that the first one happened in daytime.  Which is it?

[WarioBarker]

Daniel, check the FAQ, please!

Alright, calm down! I checked the FAQ about the nighttime shows and here's what I found -

Did the Double Showcase rule apply to the nighttime James/Barker or Kennedy versions of the show?

As far as is known, no.

Now, "as far as is known" means basically "without certainty, since we haven't seen every single episode to answer the question for absolute certain".

As is well-known, both the 70's and 80's nighttime shows tended to be rushed by the Showcase Round so a full rule explanation was rare. In the case of the former, no episodes were reran. And Bob didn't explain the Double Showcase Rule in every single episode due to time constraints, by the way. Basically, you would need to see everything to know for certain.
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One example is Daytime Season 7 as only one episode from it was reran by GSN (and as far as I know, no others are in the trading circuit) - and most everyone here would agree that Season 7 is the most intriguing season of them all due to the appearances of Finish Line, Shower Game, Telephone Game, the brown-set Penny Ante, and It's Optional.

My second example is Nighttime Season 5 (Dennis' last) - that's intriguing due to him playing five classics throughout the Season - Dice Game, Three Strikes, Danger Price, Cliff Hangers, and Hurdles. And the only episode we have in the circuit from this Season features NONE of them!
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*Hops off of soapbox* Anyway, my point is that we don't know for certain - and we probably will never know for certain.
-Daniel

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(Actually, the whole 1972-80 RUN is intriguing -- the first-ever Double Bullseye, Most Expensive on the Turntable, three-prize Clock Game, Range Game's $200 range, the Showcase tie, Most Expensive using three fur coats, Clock Game's "shadow space", Double Double Prices, "Jenny The Artist" Showcase, and the five famous games that Dennis played in his last year - I mean, what a way to go out!

And HURDLES. First of all, James got to play the infamously prone-to-malfunction game, so who knows what technical errors happened under his watch? Second, Dennis held a pistol and fired it...who wouldn't want to see that? )

[JohnHolder]

Even so (and I do trust what you're saying), I would rather have someone look over each of the 301 episodes and see for certain.
...
(Kinda like the Tom Kennedy version although that one actually did get reran - but GSN didn't air all 170 shows and thusly we still don't know for certain whether that version had the Double Showcase Rule...or if someone even won with a difference of less than $100.)

Let me put it another way, and this is true of both the James/Barker weekly show and the Kennedy show: Is there any particular reason to believe that there was a DSW rule on either of those versions at some point? While I can't claim to have seen every episode of either, I'm old enough to remember watching both in first run, and I have never seen an episode of either with a DSW rule. I always noticed differences between the daytime and nighttime versions (e.g.: Bob went to commercial break before the Showcase reveal, and Dennis didn't), so it would stick in my mind if that difference ever went away.

The only other piece of data I can add to the mix is that I clearly remember a daytime Showcase contestant who stared blankly at Bob when Bob asked him what happened if he were the winner and less than $100 away from the ARP of his Showcase. Turned out the guy had only ever seen the nighttime show. Bob explained the DSW rule, "but that's not true on the nighttime show." That doesn't mean I can categorically prove that it never existed in nighttime, but it's another thing to consider.

I wonder if this would be a good thing to ask Roger the next time someone's in touch with him.

John

EDIT to add: I don't remember ever seeing a nighttime ep. with a winning contestant less than $100 away.

[WarioBarker]

Is there any particular reason to believe that there was a DSW rule on either of those versions at some point? While I can't claim to have seen every episode of either, I'm old enough to remember watching both in first-run, and I have never seen an episode of either with a DSW rule. I always noticed differences between the daytime and nighttime versions (e.g.: Bob went to commercial break before the Showcase reveal, and Dennis didn't), so it would stick in my mind if that difference ever went away.

Well, the thing is that the nighttime show was somewhat slow to incorporate the daytime show's stuff, partly due to Dennis being...well, SLOW...on learning new rules despite the fact that he and Bob started out at the exact same time and I'm supposing that both got cracks at any new games that were developed.

That said, I can't imagine Dennis standing next to Double Digits, Give Or Keep, or Mystery Price. I'm kinda surprised that Lucky $even was added, but then again it was a pretty popular game during the half-hour era...about as much as Plinko is now.

I clearly remember a daytime Showcase contestant who stared blankly at Bob when Bob asked him what happened if he were the winner and less than $100 away from the ARP of his Showcase. Turned out the guy had only ever seen the nighttime show. Bob explained the DSW rule, "but that's not true on the nighttime show." Doesn't mean I can prove that it never existed in nighttime, but it's another thing to consider.

Hm. Do you know around when this moment happened? If it aired after December 27, 1974 then we've got a case. If before...well, we already know it wasn't in effect as on the 12/25/74 daytime show Dennis states that "you know, DAYTIME Price is Right if you're within $100 of the actual price, you win both." Since that was taped on 12/2/74 we know for certain that the nighttime show didn't have the rule at that point - but no, it doesn't mean that it wasn't added later on.

It always bugged me why TWO bigger-budget versions would never incorporate the biggest and best thing to happen on any day - the Double Showcase Rule.

I don't remember ever seeing a nighttime episode with a winning contestant less than $100 away.

Go to J-Shea, go into the Dennis James episodes section, and click on the last segment of August 1973 (extracts). There you go.
-Daniel

(Oh, and stupid question - John, if you were able to watch the last three years of the 70's nighttime show, do you remember what games were played during Bob's tenure? I have a list of what games were played and introduced during the first five seasons, so any information would be handy. Send me a PM, I suppose, and we'll continue our conversation - personally, I don't think this is the proper venue as we're kinda trailing off here.)

[JohnHolder]

(Oh, and stupid question - John, if you were able to watch the last three years of the 70's nighttime show, do you remember what games were played during Bob's tenure?

I don't remember specifically, but I assume that there was no difference in the game rotations between versions at that point, since it was no longer an issue that the nighttime host wasn't familiar with all the games.

John

EDIT to add: I have no clue when the incident I mentioned above happened. I think it was during the era of the weekly nighttime show, not the Kennedy show, but I could be wrong, and I definitely can't narrow it down beyond that.