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Studio 46 - Non-TPiR Discussion => Out In Left Field => Topic started by: tpir04 on May 25, 2019, 09:00:51 PM
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I'd like to hear some of the intricacies (rules, sets, whatever) of game shows that you had at first and were later disproven, debunked, or otherwise. A few of mine:
-I used to think that the $25,000 Pyramid logo (or whatever version) was part of the pyramid, not superimposed on the screen.
-TPIR drew the names for each taping out of a hat.
-Speaking of tapings, I thought all game shows were live. This dovetails with my misconception that PYL was a first-run show in 2006.
-The "Super Match" board was mechanical. It wasn't until Earl popped out from behind that my thoughts were debunked.
Let's hear yours!
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In my younger years, I was convinced that:
-Mark Goodson was more than just the overall boss of his shows, but that he literally did everything, that he was in the director's chair offstage personally running each show from start to finish mostly by himself (same with the other big producing names for other shows)
-the Dragon in fact lived inside the TTD board, and that in between tapings, Wink would have to risk life and limb feeding him
-chroma key screens were actual physical sets; thus, for example, I believed that once a Scrabble Sprint round commenced, the contestant(s) had a large blue and pink frame with the word bar, clock, and letter generator moved into place around them; same with the Golden Medley clock around the head of the Lange NTT finalists
For Price specifically:
-the Safe Crackers safe was an actual safe, and if they ever misplaced the combination before it was reset for the next playing, they'd be in big trouble, possibly having to resort to a drill or dynamite
-Bob's warning that they couldn't start the Range Finder again for 37 hours after the Stop button was pressed was dead serious, that the board completely shut down and depower at that moment and would need a mechanic to recharge it in order for it to work again
-they were affiliated with some big California bank who gave them the checks for Check Game, and that they would cash the checks there whether they'd been voided or not
-3 Strikes numbers and strikes were gone forever once they were inserted into the slot to put them out of play
-Poker Game's display was manually controlled by a stagehand sitting in a hydraulic chair behind the set that he raised or lowered to each level of the board as needed; he would shove playing cards into slots for the player's hand and the house's hand to generate the numbers, and had a large lever to throw to switch the hand to one side or the other
-Gallery Game's artwork had been contracted out to a professional--in my mind he'd come over from France, since 8 year old me believed that was where all the great painters lived--who was on the payroll for that season, with a deal to sell them once they'd been played
And speaking of the Super Match, anyone know how Earl the slider's doing today by any chance? I have wondered for some time now.
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- I thought that the Press Your Luck Big Board was actually a large TV screen surrounded by 18 smaller, square TV screens, when in actuality, the 18 screens were slide projectors and the large TV screen was just the show’s logo that was superimposed over whenever a contestant was spinning or a certain prize was being surprised. This ended up being mostly true for Whammy! (the center “screen” was just a picture of the Whammy) and entirely true for the 2019 Press Your Luck.
- I also thought the Whammies on Press Your Luck were real and the contestants could interact with them.
- I could’ve sworn that there was a sound effect played for a Lose-A-Turn on Wheel of Fortune similar to the one played for a Bankrupt.
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- I thought that the Press Your Luck Big Board was actually a large TV screen surrounded by 18 smaller, square TV screens, when in actuality, the 18 screens were slide projectors and the large TV screen was just the show’s logo that was superimposed over whenever a contestant was spinning or a certain prize was being surprised. This ended up being mostly true for Whammy! (the center “screen” was just a picture of the Whammy) and entirely true for the 2019 Press Your Luck.
- I also thought the Whammies on Press Your Luck were real and the contestants could interact with them.
- I could’ve sworn that there was a sound effect played for a Lose-A-Turn on Wheel of Fortune similar to the one played for a Bankrupt.
On the first, did Jeopardy's set up have much to do with that, since they used TV screens in the early days of the Trebek era? And on the second.....funny enough in Australia they DID play that sound effect (and a music cue for Bankrupt as a replacement for that effect).
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When I saw PYL for the first time on USA, I thought that Peter came out past the right side of the board when he was brought out, and then made a right turn to his podium. I discovered later that he came from the left, and made a left turn to his podium.
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-chroma key screens were actual physical sets
Same, but more with Clock Game than anything else.
For Price specifically:
-3 Strikes numbers and strikes were gone forever once they were inserted into the slot to put them out of play
I had this as well, but with the cards from Perry Card Sharks. He would put the discards in the slot below the board and I really wanted to know where they went!
- I could’ve sworn that there was a sound effect played for a Lose-A-Turn on Wheel of Fortune similar to the one played for a Bankrupt.
I thought this (and still do). Was there ever a sound effect for Lose A Turn?
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I used to think that TPIR had a live band that played the cues.
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A live band or better yet, an orchestra playing the cues live? That's one TPiR special I would definitely tune in for.
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I thought this (and still do). Was there ever a sound effect for Lose A Turn?
No. And Bankrupt didn't have one either before 1978.
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I used to think that TPIR had a live band that played the cues.
Trying to play that synthesized MG 7X ticket plug would be a disaster! (I know it's an entirely different show, but still...)
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A live band or better yet, an orchestra playing the cues live? That's one TPiR special I would definitely tune in for.
Didn't they have a band on the show a couple of years back? I can't remember when it was but I definitely remember them taking up space in Door #3 for the whole show.
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Probably a Beatles tribute band called Rain. They were pretty good.
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-TPIR drew the names for each taping out of a hat.
We've had this topic before, but it's always a fun one to revisit.
As far as contestant selection, I never gave any thought to how the first four were selected, but as far as the ones that came after: when they showed a shot of the audience as they went into commercial, I thought the producers, watching the shot, would pick out the one who cheered the best (that is, was the most enthusiastic - but "cheered the best" was how I described it to myself back then), and give that person the call to come on down.
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I always thought the 80s Pyramid board was mechanical instead of stagehands spinning the trilons.
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I was 5 when "The Joker's Wild" debuted on CBS. For years I thought Jack Barry lived there and had a room in the back where he stayed and slept.
For the first few years when "Wheel of Fortune" was on NBC, I thought Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford were husband and wife.
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For the first few years when "Wheel of Fortune" was on NBC, I thought Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford were husband and wife.
That’s what I thought about Pat and Vanna when I first started watching Wheel in the early 90s.
When I was first exposed to straddling shows on GSN, they didn’t seem to make sense because I wasn’t used to games stopping at one point and being picked up when the next show began.
When the Jeopardy! set used to turn blue to red, I thought they taped the two halves of the game on different sound stages.
When I taped my first episodes of Price, I would always fast forward through 3 Strikes because that game was always being lost. I also thought contestants won their cent total on the Showcase Showdown and that the turntable had a “second story” for the Showcase podiums.
I thought the games used on Nick Arcade were real arcade games instead of console ports or simply regular games.
Until I knew of the existence of the kids versions, I thought Double Dare played with the family format through its run.
Until the age of YouTube, I thought if you gave an illegal clue in Pyramid’s Winner’s Circle or Super Password’s bonus round, the contestant won nothing with Donnymid rectifying it by giving you the cash on the board. I also didn’t know the applause was canned on the Clark versions until about a year ago.
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I also didn’t know the applause was canned on the Clark versions until about a year ago.
What makes you think that? There are behind the scenes videos on YouTube of both the NY and LA versions showing that there was a live audience.
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I don't recall if I've ever had any misconceptions about any gameshows when I was young, and I don't think I ever do now. However, I find this discussion to be quite funny,, and very entertaining.
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I have a real, good one.....................I always thought that, on the $25k/100k Pyramid, if the contestants won both winner circles, then they would win $35k ($10k for the first and $25k for the second win). However, I found out that it's $10k for the first winner circle's win & $15k for the second one...............
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The weirdest one I could think of...
On old episodes of Wheel of Fortune (prior to the 97-98) season, when the wheel spun during the end credits and the opening, I (as a kid) actually believed the wheel prop was actually big enough that there would be a person inside the wheel spinning the wheel non-stop during those two sequences, leading me to believe that (if such a guy existed) he retired at the start of the 97-98 season... XD
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I have a real, good one.....................I always thought that, on the $25k/100k Pyramid, if the contestants won both winner circles, then they would win $35k ($10k for the first and $25k for the second win). However, I found out that it's $10k for the first winner circle's win & $15k for the second one...............
You learn something new every day!
The current version has changed this practice but I thought that as well.
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What makes you think that? There are behind the scenes videos on YouTube of both the NY and LA versions showing that there was a live audience.
I left out the Winner’s Circle applause being canned. There was a week on New $25k where the machine broke with no applause on correct guesses.
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I left out the Winner’s Circle applause being canned. There was a week on New $25k where the machine broke with no applause on correct guesses.
A lot of shows have a mix of live and canned applause, though lately on some shows like Wheel, it's obvious that the machine is doing most of the work.
For me, it was the gladiator names on American Gladiators were their real name (though the same can be said about stage names in general!). Then, during the final season, we knew that Nitro wasn't his real name, which lead me to believe that they're just pet names.
Another big one was the taping cycle in terms of how far in advance shows were taped. I'd always assume Wheel and Jeopardy! were taped just a day or two prior to airing unlike TPIR since at the beginning of the year (at least until the mid-90s), Wheel/Jeopardy!'s copyright date would always change right after the New Year, while for TPIR, it would be around Valentine's Day or so. But seeing "new" episodes of Nick Arcade from May 1992 that happened to have a 1991 copyright made me think "how could they have really waited so long to finally air these?" Another was that I'd really assume that only one show was taped per day instead of multiple shows, with the illusion of different clothes being the myth provider for myself.
Another obvious one that many of you may have believed is that all the winnings were tax-empt. It wasn't until Millionaire that I understood that taxes were indeed levied on contestant winnings.
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I always assumed 'Price's' big doors were mechanical. I was surprised when I went behind the scenes and saw they're opened just like curtains by a stagehand pulling cables.
I was standing next to veteran stage manager Doug Quick at the time and I guess I had a look of shock on my face because he looked at me and said, "What's the matter?"
I told him I'd always assumed the doors were motorized.
Without missing a beat, he said, "This is CBS. We can't afford motors." We both had a laugh over that.
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Another obvious one that many of you may have believed is that all the winnings were tax-empt. It wasn't until Millionaire that I understood that taxes were indeed levied on contestant winnings.
True enough-- that said, I'd much rather be on a show where the prize was strictly cash, because it's easier to determine how much California (and Washington) will get; it's much harder if you win other prizes!
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Here is mine: David Ruphrect’s version of Supermarket Sweep.
I thought the winning team got to keep the groceries won in the Big Sweep. I was wrong. Almost all the products were indeed real. The meats were props and kudos to the art department: their meats looked real when I watched this show.
On the Lifetime version of the final season of Supermarket Sweep, the teams were only allowed to get two out of the three meats. The PAX version didn’t have that rule.
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Me too! Supermarket Sweep has so many examples.
I used to wonder why people didn't grab products they actually wanted to win instead of going for a bunch of hams and giant cheeses and industry-sided mayonnaise. Nobody's going to use that! (I grew out of that one).
I used to think they were actually called out of the audience a la TPIR, by calling grocery products at random and the people holding them were genuinely surprised to come down. (I also thought the audience was much bigger than it was, it had two mirrors on either side)
I also thought the losing teams kept their winnings. They didn't. They got to keep their sweatshirts. That was it. (It was misdirected well. I didn't find out until years after it was cancelled)
Such a cheap production budget compared to other shows...and yet it was still so enjoyable to watch.
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I also thought the losing teams kept their winnings. They didn't. They got to keep their sweatshirts. That was it. (It was misdirected well. I didn't find out until years after it was cancelled.
Actually they got parting gifts to go with their sweatshirts. Which also brings me to thinking the winners got the sweatshirts too. They actually don’t.
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For me, it was the gladiator names on American Gladiators were their real name (though the same can be said about stage names in general!).
Since you brought up American Gladiators, I always wondered if we were supposed to root for the gladiators or the contenders. (Still do.) What about Iron Chef?
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I have a real, good one.....................I always thought that, on the $25k/100k Pyramid, if the contestants won both winner circles, then they would win $35k ($10k for the first and $25k for the second win). However, I found out that it's $10k for the first winner circle's win & $15k for the second one...............
I never knew that was the case. On the current version, I can tell you without a doubt that if you win both Winner's Circles, you get $50,000 for the first and $100,000 for the second - totaling $150,000.
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This isn't exactly a misconception, but it still merits mentioning: On the 80s PYL, I always wondered why the players looked down and across so often. It wasn't until much later that I realized that there were scoreboards on the rotating island that allowed everyone to see their scores and spins!
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I had always been confused about climbing money ladders.
For example, with Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? I thought if the contestant won the $1 million at the end, that that was $1 million added on to everything until then. Same for smaller amounts, like the $250,000 question would add $250,000 to whatever was won up until then, not replacing what they won until then with $250,000 as is the case.
This isn't helped by the fact that, using the current version as an example, in the Pyramid, a first trip to the winner's circle is for $50,000, then the second is worth an additional $100,000, meaning you can win $150,000 in a night.