When did they go from using one piece of music during each showcase to utilizing several different cues in any one given showcase?
I don't know if this was ever answered, but why did they get rid of the head on shot during the putts in Hole in One?
Is there any particular reason why partial wins don't occur in Make Your Move?
Also, if a contestant correctly priced the four-digit prize but not the other two prizes, it would be an awkward win:
"You won the trip to London! But you didn't win the hair dryer or the recliner."
"...So?"
Also, if a contestant correctly priced the four-digit prize but not the other two prizes, it would be an awkward win:
"You won the trip to London! But you didn't win the hair dryer or the recliner."
"...So?"
^ how is that possible? I'd figured that getting two would necessitate the third being right also.
Are we ever going to get a solid reason for why Buy or Sell and Credit Card were retired beyond "we just didn't like them?"
"I found the game not particularly fun...it was long...and the concept of buying or selling a little off (how does one 'sell' a prize if one hasn't bought it...but one doesn't really own it because he's given the option to buy it)"
Anyone know why the models stopped rolling out the Hi-Lo set?
When Drew shuffles around the shells in Shell Game, he says that he doesn't know where the ball is. Wouldn't he be able to kind of get a feel for where the ball is, as it would hit the sides of the shell as it is being shuffled? I feel like that could potentially help with the reveal.
Why does the contestant still get cash if they lose on the first three grocery products ($1/$10/$100) in Grand Game, but nothing if they lose on the fourth grocery product ($1,000)?
Because they have the choice to quit the game at that point. If there's no risk involved, the game becomes less exciting.D'oh, not sure how I forgot about something so obvious when I asked that.
Since we are on the topic of Shell Game, does anyone know why Drew no longer allows the contestants to place the chips themselves? I can't imagine that saved much more time than allowing them to do it...
Why are the prize values in Master Key and Rat Race (as well as the bonus prize in Clock Game) never announced?
I have heard that in this day of the price, even if you are chosen to be a contestant, if you do not act the way MR wants you to act during the show before you called to come on down,, he will have you replaced with someone else. Is that true?
I have heard that in this day of the price, even if you are chosen to be a contestant, if you do not act the way MR wants you to act during the show before you called to come on down,, he will have you replaced with someone else. Is that true?
My sense is that they keep their options open during the show and have the ability to "call an audible" during the show. I wonder if this is more a function of a contestant originally NOT in the top 9, but on the fringe, gaining the attention of the producers as the show progresses.
Something I noticed a few times during stop downs was Stan kept coming out and scanning the audience with a folder in hand . . . . . I assume he was eyeing potential contestants as he shifted through his papers.
Why are the prize values in Master Key and Rat Race (as well as the bonus prize in Clock Game) never announced?
Another question from me that I've wondered the answer to for a while - since TPiR tugboat and train are really just forklifts, do the models need certification to operate it same as people who need it that work with them everyday in their jobs?
The recent thread on the longest turnaround between taping and airing got me thinking of a couple of similar subjects on which I have forgotten the answer: First, the shortest turnaround between taping and airing. That was, what, three days? And it's happened on a few occasions, correct?It was mentioned later in that thread - a military special in Season 39 (#5551K) aired the day after it taped. (it taped 5/2/2011, and aired 5/3/2011)
I'm not sure if we've had any three-day turnarounds, but I have a list of all taping dates going back to Season 41, and I do know that there was a two-day turnaround in Season 43 (#6911K, aired 12/8/2014).
In an interview with Mike Richard on youtube, the interviewer asks him if they have retired any games since he has taken over or recently and he says no. Do you think he forgot about Step Up or do you think Step Up will make a comeback?
Most of us know that he focuses more on the comedy aspect of the show.You really must watch a different show than I do. Other than the April Fool's special episodes, I can't think of anything in recent years that was done specifically for comedy values.
In an interview with Mike Richard on youtube, the interviewer asks him if they have retired any games since he has taken over or recently and he says no.At least Make Your Mark, Clearance Sale, and Step Up all fit this criteria, and I strongly suspect Credit Card does as well. Barker's Bargain Bar and Check Game were essentially retired for years (particularly the former), and 3 Strikes teetered rather close to it given what happened in Season 37.
I will probably get bashed, but with the number of losses in games such as TTM and PTR, I doubt Richards will ever retire them.I assure you that more than a few around here are in full agreement with you, particularly since Pay the Rent was initially never meant to be won.
Most of us know that he focuses more on the comedy aspect of the show.As Casey stated, not quite. He seems more focused on the "BIG PRIZE" mentality (see, again, Pay the Rent).
Why was Give or Keep not put on the turntable?Because the Turntable was used for the pairs of prizes. Granted, I'm not sure why they couldn't have designed Give or Keep as a stage game (in a sense, they tried it that way, if you consider the existence of Finish Line), but there's your reason.
I’m honestly not sure. My guess is sometime in the range of 2003-08.Probably because of how awkward the original 5-digit format for Lucky Seven was, would explain why they stopped using that rule set. Though I'm not sure why it took them six years to devise the current 5-digit format. Thinking about it, and how they usually made the older car games 5-digit-compatible, makes me surprised they didn't use the current rules from the outset.
I think this one’s been asked before but does anyone know why Lucky $even didn’t offer another 5-digit car for about six years after the 1986 specials? I think one was offered on the daytime show, but it went back to the 4-digit format until approx. 1992.
Is the contestant obligated to match another product up with one of the two known prices, or is the contestant allowed to pick two completely different products?I believe they are obligated to match one of the two items they picked on their first turn, and always have been.
Why during the prize descriptions for Take Two and Race Game early on were the prizes described out of linear order? It seemed to go 1-4-2-3 instead of just describing them down the line the way they were introduced as the curtain rose.
This question has probably been asked before, but what will the show do with the production numbers when they go over 9995K? Just change the letter at the end (i.e. 9995D ---> 0001K)?
When did the models stop wearing bikinis?Total guess on my part, but I'd assume somewhere around 1988 or so, probably so as not to draw attention to the fact that Janice couldn't model them anymore after her camera accident.
Total guess on my part, but I'd assume somewhere around 1988 or so, probably so as not to draw attention to the fact that Janice couldn't model them anymore after her camera accident.
When did the models stop wearing bikinis?As a follow-up, when did they start? I don't remember the models wearing them in the early days of TPIR.
Regarding Spelling Bee: has there ever been an instance of a contestant picking both CAR cards in addition to spelling 'CAR'?
Then that makes at least twice it happened, since I seem to recall a male contestant doing the same thing (somewhere around 1994 or 1995). I don't think any video of it is on YouTube, though.
I thought of this the other day... when was the last time that Easy as 1-2-3 was played? I personally haven't seen it in a very long time, but I can't always watch the show every day.January 3, in the fourth slot, per the TPIR pricing games calendar:
Regarding Range Game, has there ever been a time that the ARP was in the top $50 or bottom $50 of the range? Is there anything that prohibits the producers from setting it up that way?According to Scorpz's TPIR stats site, since Season 32, the price closest from the bottom of the scale was $150 from the bottom on September 19, 2011. The price furthest from the bottom of the scale was $498 from the bottom and it happened three times: October 30, 2009, December 2, 2009, and March 4, 2010.
I don't watch the show regularly any more so this may have changed a while back. When did the CBS Pages stop standing at or near contestant's row during taping? Are there any pages in studio at all now?
Magic #: Suppose the contestant is trying to set the magic number at $2200, but the machine is too sensitive and goes from $2197 to $2204, etc. Now I've heard Drew say in the past something like, "That's good enough." If the contestant ultimately sets the number to $2198, when he wanted $2200, and if the ARP of the low prize is $2199, what would happen? Should said contestant be awarded the prize?
I've heard in many recap reports of games that had "forced wins" and "forced losses." What are "forced wins" and "forced losses"?
I've heard in many recap reports of games that had "forced wins" and "forced losses." What are "forced wins" and "forced losses"?
A "forced win" is when a game is intentionally set up in such a way that it would be difficult to lose. Example--a Lucky $even price that's something like $14,545. Seems like lots of players guess 5's, so they'd have plenty of money left to buy the car.
A "forced loss" works the same way, except that the game is intentionally set up in such a way that it would be almost impossible to win. Again using Lucky $even--a price like $19,129 would just be plain mean, but it's hard to argue 1s, 2s, and 9s are common guesses.
Some games are tough to do that with, like Dice Game--you're at the mercy of what the player rolls, and no one can control that except the player. But there are others, like Pathfinder, where you can make the SP portion hard, and make it tougher for the player to earn a second chance if they make a mistake on the main game.
Make sense?
Magic # is a prime example. Being as though most contestants will stop below $2500, it's easy to plan.
Very much so-- by the definition of a forced win that you provided, it would seem like the Vend-O-Price win on the recent Middle School Kids' Week show would be one, because those packs of cheese were so expensive, that it had to be obvious that the producers wanted that kid cave won (I may be incorrect, though).Yes, that particular playing of Vend-O-Price is a very good example of the concept of a forced win.
One thing I'm curious about, simply because of it being noted in the Timeline when it does happen... why is it so rare to see a regular car game, or a small prize game, or a grocery item game, in the fourth slot?
Which pricing games currently use the "foghorn buzzer" (AKA "MRRRRP") under any scenario? I know some of them changed recently with the change in the sound system, with some games using the regular buzzer now using the horn buzzer. Obviously, all the timed games, plus Plinko if $0 is won, but can someone list the rest of the games that use it as of now?
Which active or retired pricing game is the hardest and easiest?
Two travel related questions:
1. Do you really have to travel from LA when you win a trip, or is that just how the value is calculated?
2. If you win "a trip around the world" that has 3 different destinations (like on yesterday's showcase), do you really have to take all those trips at once or could you spread them out?
Which active or retired pricing game is the hardest and easiest?
Easiest would obviously go to Double Prices, as it's a 50-50 shot, and even better if you have a general idea of the prices.
2. I have no inside info on this, but my instinct is that an around the world trip is considered 3 separate trips from LA (or whatever the contestant's home base is.) I don't think you have to take them back to back.
Last time Plinko was completely lost, the regular buzzer was played but it was followed by the losing horns.
1) Any timed game, meaning Bonkers, Switcheroo, Time is Money, Clock Game, and Race Game
2) Card Game (originally, the game used the regular buzzer even if the contestant went over)
3) Check-Out
4) Danger Price originally had the foghorn buzzer, but it switched to the regular buzzer
5) Dice Game
6) Grocery Game
7) 1/2 Off
8) Most Expensive
9) One Away
10) Pocket Change
11) Rat Race (if none of the rats finish Top 3, if I recall correctly)
12) Secret “X” (though there are a few occasions where they play the regular buzzer after the board is flipped)
13) 3 Strikes
1. You can take the trip from anywhere in the US (and possibly the world.) Airfare is calculated out of LA. IIRC from the conversation I overheard in the room where they explain the winnings to each contestant, the contestant who wins the trip doesn't have to worry about whether the price from their home city is more or expensive than the airfare from LA; the show will cover it.
2. I have no inside info on this, but my instinct is that an around the world trip is considered 3 separate trips from LA (or whatever the contestant's home base is.) I don't think you have to take them back to back.
Thanks!
I don't know how fulfillment works these days, but for Around the World showcases, the airfare is always listed in the paperwork as one retail price (using the example given, as Los Angeles to Costa Rica to Iceland to Thailand to Los Angeles). And four airplane trips are going to be less expensive than the six airplane trips that would result if the contestant visited each destination separately.
One of the total Plinko losses (before the sound system was changed) used both the regular and foghorn buzzer at the same time, the former to signify the $0 hit and the latter to signify the game being completely lost.
1) I imagine Hot Seat would use it if the 35 seconds expires as well.
5) Dice Game used to use the regular buzzer
7) As did 1/2 Off (on both wrong SP guesses and empty box reveals)
10) Pocket Change does use the regular buzzer if a $.00 card is revealed unless it's the final card, yes?
11) Rat Race: What about if someone gives a bad guess to the third prize and fails to earn any rats?
I recall these games using the foghorn buzzer in the Barker and early Drew eras. Did those games change to the regular buzzer as Danger Price did?
- Balance Game ('06)
- Barker's Bargain Bar (not sure if the foghorn carried over to Bargain Game)
- Check Game (even if the total was under, not over)
- Gas Money
- More or Less
- Take Two (only if lost on the second pick, first wrong pick uses the regular buzzer)
I know I could just go on YouTube and search for lost playings of these games, but I have sensory issues and certain game show sound effects don't sit well with me. I can handle the regular buzzer just fine, but not the foghorn buzzer, so when I watch, I have to mute during certain games, second spins in the Showcase Showdown (I used to think they also sounded the foghorn if someone lost with a total too low - I didn't realize they didn't sound any buzzer at all until just a few years ago), and the Showcase reveals. So that's why I am asking all this, and I appreciate the answers.
Does Ten Chances use whiteboards, or do they load up each slot with a fresh piece of cardstock or other paper-type material?I'd assume paper of some kind, since I've seen players scribble over what they were writing in order to change their guess (i.e., if they repeat a digit, etc.), rather than erasing it (as you could on a dry-erase board).
1) Once a player nearly ran out of time on Hot Seat and I heard the end of the song. I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t a buzzer at the end of the track.
5) Yup, now they changed it.
7) Yup. I almost think it’s a matter of time until games like Stack the Deck and Cover Up do that too.
10) Yup, Pocket Change uses the regular buzzer uncovering the $0.00 card on Pocket Change, but the foghorn plays regardless of the card revealed if the game is lost
11) I imagine it would be akin to Secret X. I’ve seen playings where Secret X players got both small products wrong, thus not being able to reveal the Secret X and hear the foghorn, and they heared the regular buzzer followed by the losing horns.
1) Balance Game 2006 uses the regular buzzer to the best of my knowledge.
2) I’m fairly certain Bargain Game uses the regular buzzer, although I’ll have to check.
3) Check Game now uses the regular buzzer for both underbids and overbids, but I just wanna make sure.
4) Gas Money uses the regular buzzer.
5) More or Less? uses the regular buzzer, played with the losing horns if the player loses on the first prize.
6) The most recent playing of Take Two had the regular buzzer played both times.
Certain sound effects don’t sit well with me either, and I’m not particularly keen on the foghorn buzzer either.
If the third spinner doesn't get a dollar on their first spin they aren't allowed to spin again.
Along those lines, aren't any DSWs always supposed to be revealed 2nd?
Say that the following happens during the showcase showdown:
-Both Player A and Player B get $1.00, therefore starting a bonus spinoff; Player C loses by normal means
-during the bonus spinoff, Player A spins the wheel, but doesn't get it all the way around
The rule during a typical single person bonus spin is that your spin doesn't count and you're not allowed to spin again. What would this rule mean for Player A in the above scenario? Would they be eliminated altogether, with Player B winning by default (and still getting their bonus spin of course)? Would they get an effective score of 0, and be eliminated if Player B successfully gets the wheel around, and engage in a non-bonus spinoff if Player B also fails to get the wheel around? Or would something else happen?
I've seen this happen before, at least once during the Barker years. It works like this: if in the event of a bonus spinoff, if a contestant doesn't get the wheel all the way around, they have to spin again but it doesn't count for the bonus spin; whatever the wheel stops on is what goes on the scoreboard for the spinoff.Ah, makes sense.
Re: revealing a DSW-caliber bid first, I'd have to think the only way that would happen would be if both contestants were in DSW range.
WSQ
I've seen this happen before, at least once during the Barker years. It works like this: if in the event of a bonus spinoff, if a contestant doesn't get the wheel all the way around, they have to spin again but it doesn't count for the bonus spin; whatever the wheel stops on is what goes on the scoreboard for the spinoff.There was a show in season 31, the November 27 show, where a contestant did not get the wheel all the way around in a bonus spin/spinoff and was disqualified without being able to spin again to have a score for the spinoff. http://tpirstats.com/Season31/November/27.html (http://tpirstats.com/Season31/November/27.html)
Sorry, I'm thinking I'm in CSS :D
There was a show in season 31, the November 27 show, where a contestant did not get the wheel all the way around in a bonus spin/spinoff and was disqualified without being able to spin again to have a score for the spinoff. http://tpirstats.com/Season31/November/27.html (http://tpirstats.com/Season31/November/27.html)
Re: revealing a DSW-caliber bid first, I'd have to think the only way that would happen would be if both contestants were in DSW range.
How is Drew "informed" which showcase price to reveal first? Obviously the producers have him go in the order that will cause the most drama (when possible), but how is he told? He acts like he looks at something on the podiums.
IIRC, Drew goes backstage during that commercial break. I'm sure he is told who to start with there.
And that did once in the 70's with the $30 vs. $29 situation, would that have been the only time? I'm tending to assume so.....but probably wrong lol.
The time I'm thinking of was when the red carpet in front of the wheel was just dots (in other words, a LONG time ago) so it's entirely possible I'm misremembering.There's also been at least once where the person that didn't get the wheel all the way around in a spin-off did get to spin again to have a spin-off score. There was a lot of flack for Bob disqualifying the contestant in the season 31 incident since it went against what had been done prior and was unfair to the contestant.
I could have sworn that the time clock started off fast and slowed down as it got closer to $0, so I found a few videos of recent playings and did a frame-by-frame analysis. Nope. I was dead wrong, the clock runs at the same rate whether it's at $19,500 or $500.
Here's what else I learned:
- The time clock runs exactly 40 seconds each time.
- $1,000, exactly to the dollar, is run off exactly every two seconds.
- Exactly $500 to the second.
- Exactly $250 is run off every half second.
The money clock, however, does not match the 29.97 FPS that NTSC shows are shot and broadcast at. It runs at 16 frames per second. It repeats the same pattern every half second; or, in other words, 8 different numbers are flashed on the money clock every half second, each one $30-32 less than the number that was flashed before.
Put simply: The money clock repeats the same 8-number sequence that knocks off $250 in half a second, 80 times in a playing.
Interestingly, that 8-number sequence doesn't seem to start in the same place or contain the same numbers every playing. For example, in one playing it went [8000; 7969; 7938; 7906....7500; 7469; 7438; 7406...], and in another it went [8008; 7976; 7946; 7914...7508; 7476, 7446, 7414...] The first sequence results in nice, round amounts being winnable like $14,000, $8,500, or $5,250; the second sequence produces numbers like $14,008 and $8,508 and $5,258. Why does it do this? Darned if I know, but I thought it was interesting.
Interestingly, that 8-number sequence doesn't seem to start in the same place or contain the same numbers every playing. For example, in one playing it went [8000; 7969; 7938; 7906....7500; 7469; 7438; 7406...], and in another it went [8008; 7976; 7946; 7914...7508; 7476, 7446, 7414...] The first sequence results in nice, round amounts being winnable like $14,000, $8,500, or $5,250; the second sequence produces numbers like $14,008 and $8,508 and $5,258. Why does it do this? Darned if I know, but I thought it was interesting.
The money clock, however, does not match the 29.97 FPS that NTSC shows are shot and broadcast at. It runs at 16 frames per second. It repeats the same pattern every half second; or, in other words, 8 different numbers are flashed on the money clock every half second, each one $30-32 less than the number that was flashed before.
Before the age of the internet and reruns on GSN, how were winning records and ‘historic moments’ documented? One example I can think of is I’ve heard there was a near full Plinko win sometime in the late 80s/early 90s but I’m not able to find any information other than the fact it happened.
It did happen, November 30, 1990. Contestant won $21,000 out of a then possible $25,000. The FAQ has it listed. Still no video of it though out there. I'd love to see it eventually personally, as I suspect others here might too.
Wouldn't it be better to do a frame-by-frame analysis of an actual TV airing since Price is aired in 60 FPS? CBS.com downscales it to 30, but if you use a good capture device to capture it live on CBS, you should be able to play it back in the better framerate.
$250 in half a second, so $31.25 every 1/16 (0.0625) seconds. Of course, the money clock is only integers, so the clock likely decreases in a cycle of $31-$31-$31-$32.
That is interesting. I wonder whether the computer running the game is tracking button presses down to the millisecond. So while the monitor can only display one dollar amount per frame during the countdown, when the contestant presses the button, the computer determines exactly what the money should be and displays that number. Then, when the countdown is resumed, the display starts subtracting $31/$32 from the most recent stopping point.
Back in the Bob days contestants had to do a little bit of math to figure out how much they want to add to their total.
One thing I'm curious about... I know there's details in the Timeline about things like
* the first non-Golden Road 5-digit car
* when each car game started offering 5-digit cars (and when their final 4-digit cars were)
* when the final 4-digit Showcase was
But I'm surprised there's nothing on when the first 5-digit Showcase was. Do we know when that happened?
No, they didn't.I thought I remembered a clip of someone accidentally bidding more than they meant to, but I'm probably just confusing it with something else. My bad.
The way the ace actually works is you can make the ace any number that will be added to your total. Back in the Bob days contestants had to do a little bit of math to figure out how much they want to add to their total.
No, they didn't.
They didn't/don't? Are you saying that, whatever dollar value of the cards you've already drawn, if you draw the ace you can say "I think the total value of the car is X"?
Or am I missing something here? Because I've always thought it was, if you have, say, $3,200 and you draw the ace, you give Bob/Drew a number, and that number will be added to the $3,200, at which point the gameplay ends and you find out if you won.
The way Drew explains it, aces can be 1) any number which will be added to your current total, or 2) the contestant can name a price and stop the game right there. If you want to make the ace a number, I would assume it to be understood to be any positive, whole number (that is, greater than zero with no decimal point). However if you wish to state a price, I have not found anything that says you cannot state a price lower than your current bid, and if that is not allowed perhaps Drew should say so. (Reason that he doesn't, I think, is that such a rule is unnecessary. When the contestant draws another card, it would imply that they believe their current bid is too low and so nobody ever thinks of going lower.)
Like spmhan alluded to, a contestant could potentially draw 20, 30, or 40+ cards from the deck looking for an ace and then just bid what they wanted to bid in the first place. That’s a waste of everyone’s time.Unrelated, but it made me wonder: what is the most amount of cards a contestant has pulled in a single playing?
What's the record for the most spin-offs in one Showcase Showdown? (Or at the very least, spin-offs that made it to air since at some point I'm sure some had to be cut for time)I don't know if this is the actual record, but 3 is the most I've ever seen, and it's happened at least twice:
When it comes to grocery items, what determines when the show refers to them by their brand name vs. a generic label? For example on Friday’s show a box of Fruit Rollups were called “fruit flavored snack rolls” or a bottle of Asprin might be called “A bottle of pain reliever pills” which a carton of juice might be called “A 12 ounce carton of Minute Maid Pink Lemonade”. Does it just come down to whether or not the brand is a sponsor or not?
Kinda random, but does anyone know if/when they stopped doing the Every Room in the House showcases? I always enjoyed those.
Beanstalker is still being used to this day, but that's the only one I know of.
An updated version of it though. I don't think they've used the original cue as a part of regular rotation since late 2009, maybe 2010, not counting special episodes like decades week, etc.
They’ve also been using remixes of The Big Banana and Cats.
Also are the cues they used for the air hockey table and tool package IUFBs in Friday the 10th’s show from the Barker era?
I feel like Punch a Bunch should also not be included along with Plinko since winning the top prize is entirely luck based.
I also feel like games that contain an out like Pay the Rent or Hot Seat should be counted differently too since we’re only going to count a win as the top prize, but the majority of players are going to cut out early whether they would have won it all or not
| Name | Win Percentage | Total Wins | Total Losses | Total Playings |
| Punch a Bunch | 2.74% | 2 | 71 | 73 |
| Temptation | 2.86% | 1 | 34 | 35 |
| It's In the Bag | 5.80% | 4 | 65 | 69 |
| Time i$ Money | 5.80% | 4 | 65 | 69 |
| Hot Seat | 7.55% | 4 | 49 | 53 |
| Pay the Rent | 7.89% | 3 | 35 | 38 |
| Gas Money | 11.54% | 6 | 46 | 52 |
| Stack the Deck | 14.00% | 7 | 43 | 50 |
| Golden Road | 15.79% | 3 | 16 | 19 |
| 3 Strikes | 15.79% | 3 | 16 | 19 |
| Triple Play | 17.65% | 3 | 14 | 17 |
| More or Less | 18.37% | 9 | 40 | 49 |
| Pathfinder | 19.30% | 11 | 46 | 57 |
| Switcheroo | 20.45% | 9 | 35 | 44 |
| That's Too Much! | 23.62% | 30 | 97 | 127 |
Years ago I read the story of Todd's Dot. As the story goes a contestant named Todd was playing Check Game and like many other contestants was confused on how to play. Supposedly he tried to write on one of the displays and punctured a small hole in it, leaving a tiny mark known as Todd's Dot which remained on the game for many years afterwards. My question is, did this really happen or was it an urban legend? If it is true does anyone know the airdate?I don't know if he actually punctured the display (I haven't watched the episode myself), but Timothy did apparently write on th readout. Airdate was October 6, 1997 (episode #0471K).
I want to say it was still visible on the next playing before they managed to get it cleaned off.
Years ago I read the story of Todd's Dot. As the story goes a contestant named Todd was playing Check Game and like many other contestants was confused on how to play. Supposedly he tried to write on one of the displays and punctured a small hole in it, leaving a tiny mark known as Todd's Dot which remained on the game for many years afterwards. My question is, did this really happen or was it an urban legend? If it is true does anyone know the airdate?
Hopefully these links work...
(https://i.postimg.cc/289xxdY6/240-EE454-E9-CC-419-C-B0-A4-7-D68-B596-CAB0.jpg)
(https://i.postimg.cc/jqZ6s6LX/83-DF6872-15-D6-47-CA-8-F6-B-2-F16317494-C4.jpg)
(https://i.postimg.cc/zDnMpc2f/E0-F663-C5-659-A-4-E08-A9-F5-1779-BA9-EA017.jpg)
I gotta think it’s happened at least once, right?I know for a fact it's happened at least once with Drew.
I know for a fact it's happened at least once with Drew.
How is the so-called "flimsy paper" placed over the holes in Punch a Bunch?
Is there a reason why people here hate the trips so much?
Oh, and you can sell or gift a trip.
Oh, and you can sell or gift a trip.You mean you CAN'T sell or gift a trip, I think.
Is the Bonus Game bonus randomly placed, or could they put it behind a hard product to guess (if in budget mode) or an easy product to guess (if they want a win)?
Non-random. You are correct, they can engineer wins or losses that way.Fascinating! And thank you! What are the places they think you're least likely to punch/pick? The corners? (for future reference, so I can win the $25,000/car) :)
You can also engineer it so it looks like the contestant has a 3/4 shot of winning but it was a heartbreaking loss, or that they beat the odds and won with only one window, but in reality it isn’t so. The producers know beforehand 3 which SPs are totally irrelevant.
For most games, if something “random” is not obviously randomly generated onstage (Plinko chips dropping, 3 Strikes draws, etc), it’s probably not random and placed with a purpose. Placement of Punch a Bunch prize slips, Spelling Bee & Pass the Buck cards, etc. are all intentional.
I recall a playing of Race Game in which a pregnant woman was a contestant. Bob offered to let Janice play in her place but the lady insisted on playing herself, and she did.By sheer coincidence, I watched this very episode yesterday on the YouTube.
Fascinating! And thank you! What are the places they think you're least likely to punch/pick? The corners? (for future reference, so I can win the $25,000/car) :)
By sheer coincidence, I watched this very episode yesterday on the YouTube.
what episode is that?
I don't know if it has ever happened, but I would assume they would just do a coin flip? That is already what they do to determine who spins the wheel first between contestants who have won the same amount.A coin has two sides and there's three people. That doesn't make sense.
A coin has two sides and there's three people. That doesn't make sense.
The answer to how they would break a three-way tie is of course "randomly," although the event is so unlikely, I'm sure the specific randomization method has never been decided upon. If it had happened while I was there, I would have proposed using the 1, 2, and 3 chips from Three Strikes.
I recall Roger in a Q&A he did for the site years ago saying that Pick a Number was played less than other 1-prize games because it took longer to play, and because it was used as a replacement for other games when there was an issue and it couldn't be played.
When in season 6 did the perfect bid bonus debuted?
I apologize if I sound really stupid saying this, but what exactly does FFBC stand for? I know it's used for people who stay in "Contestant's Row" the entire show, but I could never figure out what exactly it stood for.
What's the significance of the "Breakfast Club" part of that?Probably the fact that the show airs in the morning, when most people are having breakfast.
What's the significance of the "Breakfast Club" part of that?
I always thought the "Breakfast Club" is a reference to the 80s movie of the same name about four kids in weekend detention. I assume Capitano was envisioning the remaining contestants from the opening calldown being sent off to serve punishment for bad bidding.
That's an interesting question. The set redo was Syd's idea, not the show's, so I guess the real question is whether they would have kept the anniversary logo, gone back to something like the 25-29 design, or just gone back to the plain doors.
Before Bob/the show began taping 175 episode seasons in his later years, in the era of summer reruns (aka Season 4 onward), what woulda been the longest season they did? And conversely what woulda been the shortest?And to piggyback onto that, when did "175 a year" become the standard?
Before Bob/the show began taping 175 episode seasons in his later years, in the era of summer reruns (aka Season 4 onward), what woulda been the longest season they did? And conversely what woulda been the shortest?
Season 6 had 228 episodes, one fewer than Season 2, the shortest half-hour season.
The first season to end at 175 episodes instead of on some seemingly predetermined Friday was 27; it's also the first year they took weeks off in March and April, which I'm guessing isn't a coincidence. Oddly, neither 28 nor 29 would have that many shows, which is a tale in its own right. As far as I've been able to make out, 28 was cut to 155 shows because Bob's surgery in 1999 caused several weeks of taping to be cancelled (they did, in fact, have four extra weeks of reruns that winter), but then, for reasons I've never really understood, the first two weeks of shows produced as part of Season 29 were redesignated as the last two weeks of 28, bringing the count to 165. That would have also cut 29 down to 165, but one of the episodes had to be scrapped and redone because of a production error that nobody caught, which also came out of 29's episode count even though it was considered part of 28. So Season 28 has 165 shows, and Season 29 has 164.
Also, in regards to shortest seasons pre 175, I was referring to post-rerun era onward
It woulda eventually become 195 as a standard much as it is now, wouldn't it?
when would 190 a year have become the general standard, pre-175?
Never. Before Season 27, they just seemed to do as many shows as possible up to a seemingly random Friday in June. In fact, there are no Barker seasons that have exactly 190 episodes.
I guess it's around the first quarter of 2012, but when did the show changed their trip displays from the various font styles to the current standard trip display like this?
(https://i.postimg.cc/tRdMKSw9/Screenshot-20200630-153614.jpg)
Not to my knowledge. Tpirstats.com (http://tpirstats.com/Other/PGStats3.html#pab) says there were no occurrences of that from S29-47, and I don't recall any in S48. If there was one prior to S29 though, I wouldn't know.
My guess as to why that is, is because Punchy is set up to guarantee one punch, i.e. there's always a gimme SP, one so easy it would be hard not to blow it.
Has there been any known playing of Punch-A-Bunch lost by getting no SP right?
According to Roger's notepads, it's happened exactly once, all the way back in season seven.
When did Pass the Buck switch from Velcro strips to the thin slots we have now?
It was in the fall of Season 37. On one of the first playings that year (I can't remember which, since shows were both airing and taping out of order), one of the numbers got knocked loose by the Race Game Curtain while the game was being revealed, so they redid the board to have them resting on shelves.Did the show stop tape when that happened and reset the board and reshot the reveal or did the playing continue with an amount revealed?
Did the show stop tape when that happened and reset the board and reshot the reveal or did the playing continue with an amount revealed?
In typical Season 37 fashion, it was handled really stupidly. Drew just declared that the contestant already "had" the cash amount that got revealed as though it had been a pick and then proceeded with the game like nothing had happened. She ended up losing it to a Lose Everything.
He also, more unfairly, never gave her the option to take that money before making a second pick and losing it in turn when she did. Declaring they had it/making it an automatic pick isn't bad necessarily, and could see Bob doing the same thing actually in that situation. But what I couldn't ever imagine him doing, is letting the game proceed normally without allowing the contestant the chance to take that money before playing on. That was the worst part of this to me.
They could just play the game normally and let the contestant decide whether to pick the cash amount or not, but that leaves you with the potentially awkward scenario where the contestant decides to take the already revealed “sure thing” on their last pick instead of trying to find the car.
A good host finds a way to make this work.
"Now, we know where the $5,000 is, but the car's still up there, too...and so are $1,000 and another Lose Everything. You can try for the car, or you can take that one you already know is safe."
Looked it up, to make sure.
http://www.golden-road.net/index.php/topic,9160.0.html
They had $3,000 potentially added to their first pick, they got to use all three picks, and they only had to choose from five unrevealed numbers instead of six. That doesn’t punish the contestant in the slightest, it benefits them.
Not sure about the blue and green swap, but as for orange becoming yellow the curtain behind the audience changed from orange to yellow sometime before the change (I forget if it was during season 30 or 31) so they finally changed the podium color to match later on.
Why was the order of the colors in the curtains changed?
What date was the last time where they used the old trip skins? I was watching an episode from May 2009 today and noticed they were gone already.
Oh, good call, the timeline didn't mention that
For reasons that I don't even remember anymore, I've never gotten around to doing timeline updates for most of what happened in Decades Week (or the next three weeks, for that matter). I really should do that -- it was an incredibly fun set of shows.
Here's one I've been wondering lately: When car plugs were truncated around 34 in the time crunch, what was actually included in "standard equipment"?
I read something, and I want verification from those who would know. If there's a tie in the Showcase, does each player win their own showcase, and a tie within $250 gives the both of them everything?
Absolutely, yes.
Absolutely, yes.
What happens if both showcase bids are under $250 and are off by the same amount? They each win both showcases, and is referred to as a "Double Double Showcase Showcase Win Win."
I'll see myself out.
What happens if both showcase bids are under $250 and are off by the same amount? They each win both showcases, and is referred to as a "Double Double Showcase Showcase Win Win."
I'll see myself out.
For most games, if something “random” is not obviously randomly generated onstage (Plinko chips dropping, 3 Strikes draws, etc), it’s probably not random and placed with a purpose. Placement of Punch a Bunch prize slips, Spelling Bee & Pass the Buck cards, etc. are all intentional.
This not a question, but something I wanted to add here for reference looking for it, as I thought it possibly occurred in Season 11 and would come up sooner than later on the 24/7 channel. Using all available YouTube episodes from Season 11 through to the 8/25 episode or the next to last show of the year, and then viewing back the opening to the Season 12 premiere as well the following week, it stands to reason that said premiere was the debut of the higher pitched version of the classic theme that would come to mark the rest of the show's run under Barker's watch. So if anyone was curious about that or wanted to make a note of it in the FAQ for posterity, there you go. :-) I thought maybe it got changed mid-season somewhere and pinpointing the transition woulda been tougher, but..makes more sense it woulda changed right at start of Season 12 instead.
There is no difference to note here. It's the same theme, maybe it was retransferred onto a new tape cartridge. The edit in the theme did change slightly for a few years in the mid-to-late 80s, but that's not enough of a change to note.Speaking of this just got me thinking... I'd heard that supposedly there was a re-record of the main theme (unused on the show) from the 1990s, that was identical to the 1972 original, except for being in stereo (AFAIK all the "classic" music packages were recorded in mono). Is this correct? And if so, is this re-recording anywhere online?
Speaking of this just got me thinking... I'd heard that supposedly there was a re-record of the main theme (unused on the show) from the 1990s, that was identical to the 1972 original, except for being in stereo (AFAIK all the "classic" music packages were recorded in mono). Is this correct? And if so, is this re-recording anywhere online?No. And no.
No. And no.
Back around the end of Barker's run and season 36 (http://tpirstats.com/Season36/PGStats2.html), the show kept cycling through the same three "then" dates. Then a TPIR employee came in and revamped the system used, creating a wider variety of dates. But it's expected that the dates will still sometimes repeat.
With rare exception (such as the examples mentioned above), the "then" date is simply chosen based on what would work well in that particular playing. The only times I remember a "then" date being chosen for a specific gameplay reason while I was there were when the game was played during Christmas week. Obviously, the "then" date needed to be from December -- it would make for a pretty easy game to determine whether any Christmas-themed groceries were from, say, June.
Would they have had some sort of master list based on what they used at the time to refer from? Or was there another way they'd have gone about it?
From the FAQ - and I'm guessing this is what Scott is talking about as far as revamping the system:
"Many “then” prices these days are taken from old episodes of Price, but until the late '00s, Fingers found most of them by looking through old newspaper ads."
Of the top of my head, for Safe Crackers, there should be a rod that is removed if the contestant enters in the right combination, so if one gets the combination wrong, they have to fight against the rod. And no on Secret X; Bob explains it better when he spells out that a contestant can win three on the top, middle, bottom, or diagonal.
After watching Christine from this past Thursday almost think about what to do with the $10,000 she found on "Punch-a-Bunch", this got me wondering, has anybody ever given up $10,000 in hopes of finding the $25,000 card in the next hole(s)?Well I only remember one instance like that, but it's within the $10K era that happened in 1996 with epic gambler Bryan returning the $5,000 slip, only to discover he'd won the $10,000.
I'M Curious, does anyone know if someone who isn't eligible to be a contestant and doesn't appear on stage still receives consolation prizes?Why would they? If they weren't eligible, they likely wouldn't get called down to Contestant's Row to begin with (and certainly wouldn't now, with the "no audience" setup they've got these days).
Why would they? If they weren't eligible, they likely wouldn't get called down to Contestant's Row to begin with (and certainly wouldn't now, with the "no audience" setup they've got these days).
He's meaning if they made it to CR and were found to be ineligible.
I'M Curious, does anyone know if someone who isn't eligible to be a contestant and doesn't appear on stage still receives consolation prizes?
Why would they? If they weren't eligible, they likely wouldn't get called down to Contestant's Row to begin with (and certainly wouldn't now, with the "no audience" setup they've got these days).
Why would they? If they weren't eligible, they likely wouldn't get called down to Contestant's Row to begin with (and certainly wouldn't now, with the "no audience" setup they've got these days).
Besides "have they been on the show before", I don't think they do some thorough background check on potential contestants before they get called --people do slip through the cracks thinking they're eligible (http://francispage.blogspot.com/2007/10/come-on-down.html).
I've asked pages, OCA personnel, and CBS guest services questions about eligibility in the past. It had been under six months since I had done some work for an employer that would have rendered me ineligible. The response I got was basically "shrug, I guess if you get called on down we'll find out."
No, I'm asking you now because I don't want to be called on down if I'm ineligible. I most certainly don't want to be surprised after the fact!
Here's one I've been wondering since a recent clip I saw. Up until Bob's final couple of seasons, whenever a trip was offered as a One Bid, the price would be revealed with Bob saying, "the actual price..." with retail deliberately omitted. Why was retail specifically excluded here?
I looked through the FAQ, but didn't find anything definitive. I know Janice, Dian, Ray Combs, a local CBS news anchor, and a pro golfer have done the inspiration putt in Hole in One besides Bob. Has any other model or guest done the inspiration putt? I feel like some others have, specifically other models.
Is there a resource where I can find ALL the wheel spin results in one place? I'm trying to find the total number of (extremely unlucky!) people who have gone over by spinning .05 on their first spin and $1.00 on their second.
It'll take quite a bit of time to sift through all of them, but Jay Lewis maintains an extensive archive of episode recaps here. That's a good starting point.
http://tpirepguide.com/
Is there any photo of the Credit Card prop anywhere? I'm pretty sure I've never seen it fully on any playing. Wonder if it inspired the Gas Money graphics.
I thought there was a picture of the Credit Card credit card somewhere online, but darned if I can find it.
I looked through the FAQ, but didn't find anything definitive. I know Janice, Dian, Ray Combs, a local CBS news anchor, and a pro golfer have done the inspiration putt in Hole in One besides Bob. Has any other model or guest done the inspiration putt? I feel like some others have, specifically other models.
I know I've seen an episode where kathleen did the putt. Not sure about holly though. I remember cause I don't think Kathleen was expecting it and it was probably her first time, and she seemed pleased to have that opportunity.Can't recall when, but I think Phil Wayne did the putt at least once.
Wow, this now proves the Dec. '07 expiry.
Did Bob or Drew always know where the two "CAR" cards were on the board in Spelling Bee? But the other placements of letters were random?
I've just read that info on the Wikia some time before.
^ He fell off the mountain too many times and died. :pint: :hammer:
Here is a question that I have. My apologies if this has been asked already.
At a TPIR taping (pre-covid), when the contestant coordinators have chosen their nine contestants for the taping (assuming they don't change their minds at the last minute), is there a specific way as to how they determine the order in which the group of nine will be called (first four called, fifth called, sixth called, etc.)?
- actpir
I believe Roger once said the contestants that were thought to be the most likely to interact well with Bon were placed 5th - this way, Bob could interact with them after their come on down.
Maybe it's just a typo of "Bob"...
What counts as a win for Super Ball? Did they have to win all three prizes or was just the prize for Ball 3 enough to count it as a win, since it was the highest value and sometimes a car?
The show’s official defintion of “winning” is as follows: a car game is won if the car is won; a cash game is won if the big prize announced at the beginning of the game is won (this means that Plinko has never been won); any other game is won if all of the main prizes being played for are won.
However, there are many cases in which you can not win a game but not really lose it, either; for instance, winning $8,000 in It’s in the Bag, winning only one or two prizes in Race Game, or winning the 3-digit prize in Any Number. The show recognizes these as “partial wins;” just as Bob or Drew will not declare a perfect show if there are five wins and $41,000 given away in Plinko, they will not declare them skunked if there are five losses and $100 given away in Plinko. Also, because it seems so goofy to say that Plinko has never been won, a lot of people consider it a “win” if the center slot is hit at least once. For an episode to truly be “winless,” nothing can be won in any of the pricing games beyond small prizes (a la Cliff Hangers or Switcheroo), insignificant amounts of cash in certain games, and the first prize in Ten Chances. The next entry in this section gives a more detailed description of partial wins.
In addition to this, Super Ball!! and Walk of Fame sometimes blurred the above distinctions between types of games; they weren’t car games, but in each game, the final prize was a car sometimes. Under these circumstances, the games’ normal requirements prevailed, meaning that it was possible to win a car in your pricing game and still technically not win the game.
According to the FAQ's General Questions section:
$100 in Plinko isn't seen as an insignificant amount of cash as to the definition of a winless show? I see that as quite interesting. I'd have guessed the line woulda been like $500 or maybe even $1,000, but not $100 since that's besides 0 it's the bare minimum you could win in a playing.
$100 in Plinko isn't seen as an insignificant amount of cash as to the definition of a winless show? I see that as quite interesting. I'd have guessed the line woulda been like $500 or maybe even $1,000, but not $100 since that's besides 0 it's the bare minimum you could win in a playing.
The show’s official defintion of “winning” is as follows: a car game is won if the car is won; a cash game is won if the big prize announced at the beginning of the game is won (this means that Plinko has never been won); any other game is won if all of the main prizes being played for are won.
In a playing of Any Number on Pluto TV today, Bob remarked that the contestant became close to becoming the first contestant to not light up any numbers in the car price before ending the game with the smaller prize or piggy bank. Has this ever happened since then?
^I was going to bring up the most recent Any Number wipeout, 10/15/2012, but Any Number was the car game for a long time, so I'd guess that's factually wrong as well.
Has anyone ever wiped out Punch-a-Bunch? As in, got all four SPs wrong and failed to earn a single punch?Supposedly happened once, back in Season 7 (the same season the game debuted).
When the first four contestants are called down (pre-COVID with an audience present), do they have to stand at the podiums based on the order they were called (first called goes to red, second called blue, third called yellow, fourth called green)?Anywhere they want, so long as it hasn't already been taken by one of the contestants before them.
Or, do they just go to whatever podium they want to when running down to the podiums?
- actpir
Secondary hypothesis: I think they are more or less directed to go to a specific podium, since the majority of the episodes this season have gone red, yellow, blue, green or yellow, red, green, blue, and recently some contestants have gone toward one podium and then jetted to another out of nowhere. However, there are have been a couple of aberrations to suggest that if they don't see where their directed to go to, the show doesn't reshoot and just goes with it.
So, if the first four can go to whatever podium they want to (assuming they are not directed where to go), the first one called could go to the green podium, letting them bid last during the 'one bid'?Could and frequently did (on pre-Covid recaps, look for a note towards the top about "first four order" or something like that).
Is there any Dice Game wipeout with all four guesses in the numbers incorrect? I've never seen any playing since the game's inception, since the odds of failing to guess one right or roll a number exactly right would be very low.
At minimum, it hasn't happened since Season 29, which is when tpirstats started keeping track.
Don't know for sure on the other 24 seasons of Dice Game's existence, but ever since tpirstats started tracking detailed stats, Dice Game has been played 366 times, and only 23 times has somebody rolled no ones/sixes/perfect numbers. So a contestant only gets the opportunity to make four bad decisions about once in every 16 playings.
If we guesstimate Dice Game gets played about 20 times per season, that leaves only about 30 contestants total from seasons 4-28 who had the OPPORTUNITY to get all four wrong. Maybe a few more accounting for its earliest playings where digits 0-9 were on the board.
Maybe one of those 30 was really dumb and got all four digits wrong (including the first digit), but it strikes me as extremely unlikely.
Just watching the tail end of the 3am Pluto airing, and I noticed that both Showcases were over $10,000 in price, which somehow surprised me. I'm not sure how often that's happened in episodes I've seen from this era, but I didn't expect it. When did this first happen on the daytime show? I can't imagine it was that all that long before this period.I'm very interested in keeping track with how prices changed over the course of the show, but I can only guess at the answer to this. There was an episode from early in Season 11 (1982) where both showcases were WELL over $10,000; the low showcase was $13K. By 1982, both showcase being over $10,000 was definitely not the norm, but not all that rare, either. I would guess that it happened for the first time right after prices took a big jump around 1979 or 1980.
Well now I’m a bit curious to know what would happen if I was on the show, because I go by my middle name in everyday life and always have.
Few people know or call me by my first name (even my own mother forgets it for legal purposes sometimes and I have to remind her), so I wouldn’t really want it to be on my name tag.
I've noticed a few times in the Barker episodes on Pluto that when they give away a bar of gold, Johnny's copy will say something like "Retail value determined at the close of business on the day of taping." Unless the show was taped after the close of business, which I don't think it normally was, how did the staff determine the price to announce on air? Did they use the price from the previous day? If so, why not just say that instead?
Assuming "business" means the NYSE, business closed at 4:00 Eastern, which is 1:00 Pacific. I don't think there's anything unusual about that at all.Oh, yeah. I wasn't thinking about that, obviously. Thanks.
In Punch-a-Bunch, is there someone offstage cueing Bob/Drew as to which hole to reveal next, or is it up to them to remember the correct order? I can't recall either one ever revealing the wrong hole, but it seems like it would be difficult to remember with so much else going on...
Many times over the years, Bob and Drew both can be seen asking someone off-camera which hole was next if they did not remember. Sometimes it was presumably a production staff member (*ahem* Scott *cough*), and sometimes it was one of the models.
I even remember a time where Bob and Janice got into a lengthy discussion mid-game about how the Second Chance slips worked in the game. Punch a Bunch is surprisingly complex!Or, at least it WAS complex. The second change slips disappeared from the game more than 10 years ago.
I've noticed a few times in the Barker episodes on Pluto that when they give away a bar of gold, Johnny's copy will say something like "Retail value determined at the close of business on the day of taping." Unless the show was taped after the close of business, which I don't think it normally was, how did the staff determine the price to announce on air? Did they use the price from the previous day? If so, why not just say that instead?
HelloIt's in the rules of the game and there were playings early on where contestants lost a turn after 10 seconds, though it hasn't actually been enforced in many years.
In the game 10 chances. Do the constants really have 10 seconds to write down their choices ? I remember on an few shows Bob will say "Hurry, you have 10 seconds or you will lose your turn"
To kind of expand on this, sometime in the early 1980s, this was changed to the "opening of business of day of taping".
On Friday, every game, including both Grocery Game and Range Game, is played for a car. Range Game in particular is noteworthy, as it offers a $9,600 Cadillac. This is one of only four known episodes on which each game is played for a car, the other three being the ceremonial 5,000th episode in Season 26, the "teen drivers" episode in Season 40, and the "sweet 16" episode in Season 43.
Technically that blurb is now outdated because of all the DCW episodes
Did they cancel taping the day of 9/11 or any days following? There also wouldn't be anything to really tell it was taped just after unless any contestants had the memorial ribbon on or were wearing a shirt with the American flag or had an American flag pin on or something like that.
Did they cancel taping the day of 9/11 or any days following? There also wouldn't be anything to really tell it was taped just after unless any contestants had the memorial ribbon on or were wearing a shirt with the American flag or had an American flag pin on or something like that.
What episode during Season 30 woulda been the first one taped post 9/11?
I don't believe there were any tapings scheduled for that week in the first place -- if I remember correctly, Rod was having cancer-related surgery the day of the attacks.
Are there any videos anywhere of a third spinner spinning again despite being in the lead trying to get the dollar?
No, because if they don't get a dollar on their first spin, the Showcase Showdown ends immediately.I know, but Bob would say if the 3rd spinner took the lead (without the 1st 2 having gone over) "You don't want to spin again, do you?", which nobody (that I saw) ever did, but people on here have said it did and I was wondering if there was a video.
I know, but Bob would say if the 3rd spinner took the lead (without the 1st 2 having gone over) "You don't want to spin again, do you?", which nobody (that I saw) ever did, but people on here have said it did and I was wondering if there was a video.
You're right about that. Although somebody somewhere here did state that somebody did spin again despite being the last spinner having taken the lead to try to get the $1 and went over.
I think that's cliche or whatever. Typically, Dig We Must starts playing a tad bit before Bob would ask. "You don't want to spin again, do you? No, I'm good. Nooooo!" That's pretty much what happens. Plus, outside of a spin-off, it's rare in this instance since the score to beat is usually a moderate to above average score (i.e. 50 cents). No one's spinning again when they've clinched a spot in the showcase.
I know, but Bob would say if the 3rd spinner took the lead (without the 1st 2 having gone over) "You don't want to spin again, do you?", which nobody (that I saw) ever did, but people on here have said it did and I was wondering if there was a video.
As mentioned, it's over when the third spinner gets a leading score. The object of the SCSD is for the participants to get closest to $1.00 without going over. While $11,000 (now $26,000) is nice, it's still a bonus within that segment
Fair point. I misread the question. My bad.You're right on that. Drew doesn't ask because it would be mind-numbingly stupid to do that, but Bob would usually prompt the 3rd contestant to spin again, but nobody that I saw ever did. I do wonder what Drew's reaction would be if somebody made the mind-numbingly stupid decision to spin again despite being the 3rd spinner and having already taken the lead.
Actually, I'm pretty sure this is wrong -- the goal of the Showcase Showdown is certainly to determine who goes to the Showcase, but I don't think there's a rule that says the third contestant can't spin twice if them going over would still result in someone winning.
Fair point. I misread the question. My bad.
I do wonder what Drew's reaction would be if somebody made the mind-numbingly stupid decision to spin again despite being the 3rd spinner and having already taken the lead.
Is the complete Ted Slauson episode available online? Or are we going to have to wait until it airs on Pluto?
Yes, it is on YouTube. Just search "Perfect Bid" and it should come up.
That's the Terry Kneiss episode (2008). I was asking about the one where Ted Slauson was finally called down to Contestants' Row (1992). There were clips of his appearance in the "Perfect Bid" movie but I'd like to see the complete show.
Has a zero ever been part of the fake price on One Away? If so, would the possible choices be “up to a 1” and “down to a 9?”
To that point, has a nine ever been part of the fake price on One Away, which would give choices of “up to a 0” and “down to an 8?”
For the purposes of this game, 0 and 9 are considered to be “one away” from each other. Those two digits are generally not used in the wrong price, but it has happened on occasion.
Was there a rule in Hit Me that a contestant had to pick at least two items?
I ask because in a recent playing on Pluto, the house had 14 and drew a 10 to bust--meaning the contestant could have picked any two items/cards and still won (and didn't keep drawing eventually busting themselves). But would they have been allowed to stop with just one card or even not picked at all?
Was there a rule in Hit Me that a contestant had to pick at least two items?
I ask because in a recent playing on Pluto, the house had 14 and drew a 10 to bust--meaning the contestant could have picked any two items/cards and still won (and didn't keep drawing eventually busting themselves). But would they have been allowed to stop with just one card or even not picked at all?
Has a zero ever been part of the fake price on One Away? If so, would the possible choices be “up to a 1” and “down to a 9?”
I'm sure if Pluto goes far enough, we'll see it happen. But the digits allowing the number line to loop still exist in storage.
Has a zero ever been part of the fake price on One Away? If so, would the possible choices be “up to a 1” and “down to a 9?”
To that point, has a nine ever been part of the fake price on One Away, which would give choices of “up to a 0” and “down to an 8?”
Are the pair of coins (courtesy of https://allaboutpins.com/blog/price-is-right-challenge-coins-welcome-drew-carey-as-a-host) seen at the bottom of this image still the actual Drew Dollars used until today in the Balance Game?
Is there a reason why the Target Price in Grand Game has become a nice number usually ending in “.00” or “.50”? In the Barker Era, the target prices had a good variety to them, but today, it seems like the target price is always something like “5.50” which makes the game slightly less interesting.
They’ve definitely used two digit target prices, but it’s been a few years. There is a separate graphic (https://youtu.be/Ux_7hXsWb_M) with five places when targets $10 and over are used.
:roll:
Not sure why the eye roll for a legitimate question, I’ve wondered myself.To be totally honest, it really doesn't matter what the target price is...
I’ve noticed (and this is without any sources, just observing), that when the target price ends in .50, there is almost always (unless it’s a special playing they want won), an item that’s 51 cents less than that. So a $4.99 item for a $5.50 target, for example. Maybe because it may be easier to find items that end in .99, this is why they want x.50 targets?
In the Barker Era, the target prices had a good variety to them, but today, [rounding to the nearest 50 cents] makes the game slightly less interesting.
To that point, does anyone know if a Grand Game target price that was larger than $9.99?Indeed there were, and at least three times it was very very much higher than $9.99 -- the Doug Davidson series, which utilized small prizes rather than grocery products, had target prices which included $60, $120, and $125. In these instances, cents were not included on the target price display nor in the values of the small prizes.
Are the pair of coins (courtesy of https://allaboutpins.com/blog/price-is-right-challenge-coins-welcome-drew-carey-as-a-host) seen at the bottom of this image still the actual Drew Dollars used until today in the Balance Game? If so, I think that it's very cool that they just modified the design of the Barker Dollar to be used for Drew's tenure as host and to somewhat retain continuity regarding the design.(https://i.postimg.cc/kXLCsbLp/hostdollar.png)
Why are “the Big Three” played less today than they’ve ever been played? The show can’t be on “budget mode” for a decade.They've probably fallen into a habit of only scheduling them to come up during a sweeps week/gimmick event. Not sure that's what you'd call a "reason", though.
Half-serious and half-joking question here: has Pathfinder ever been played for a Nissan Pathfinder?
It's easy to forget with the digital displays these days there really is no trouble just squeezing an extra digit onto the readouts. I imagine bidding 6 or 7 digits on a showcase can be done these days with relative ease. Not that I'd recommend doing that.
I know that TPIR has had wheelchair-bound contestants before... my question is, if they were to win their way to the Showcases, how would their presence affect the staging?
Does the platform in front of Door 4 have a name?
The FAQ has it listed as the Plinko Perch
My question is: has any contestant gotten injured DURING a pricing game (such as Time Is Money, Race Game, etc.), and if so, how was it handled on air?
This site's FAQ Timeline has a few incidents mentioned, although technically none during the gameplay portion of a pricing game:
February 16, 1998: "Monday show features Scott, the well-known contestant who injured his knee before a playing of Dice Game; in the wake of his injury, Bob spins the Big Wheel for him."
I don't believe this is correct. Scott injured his knee after playing Dice Game (jumping up and down after he won). Bob did spin the wheel for him and I think he was in a director's chair for the Showcases.
But the biggest flaw for The Price Was Right was that the top winner had a huge advantage, where you'd either bid $1, $1 over the highest opponent, or $1 over the second highest bidder.I’ve seen this mentioned in the FAQ here, but after watching all of those episodes on YouTube, I never saw the contestants line up where the top winner bid / spun last or even first. Every episode I saw, the contestants lined up in the order in which they were called up on-stage.
I’ve seen this mentioned in the FAQ here, but after watching all of those episodes on YouTube, I never saw the contestants line up where the top winner bid / spun last or even first. Every episode I saw, the contestants lined up in the order in which they were called up on-stage.Likewise, this reminds me of something I saw in the FAQ... for the very short-lived 1972 game Double Bullseye, the FAQ says "There doesn’t seem to have been a hard and fast rule regarding which contestant started the bidding in Double Bullseye. It began with the first One-Bid winner on its 2nd, 3rd, and 4th playings and with the second One-Bid winner on its 1st playing."
Had The New Price Is Right (1994) used one-bids where four contestants came on down, would you have supported the Final Jeopardy!-style bidding, where each contestant had ten seconds to bid, with the closest/quickest without going over wins and gets to play a pricing game? In addition, what about a Showcase where all three contestants also write their bids for one Showcase only (no bidding/passing, just the closest without going over wins, and a triple overbid meaning that nobody wins the Showcase)?
I’ve seen this mentioned in the FAQ here, but after watching all of those episodes on YouTube, I never saw the contestants line up where the top winner bid / spun last or even first. Every episode I saw, the contestants lined up in the order in which they were called up on-stage.
But yes, I agree the 3 person TPWR showdown didn’t offer much strategy. Maybe it gave contestant #3 the best opportunity to win a car? Out of all the episodes on YouTube, a car game was never played 3rd, whereas the Showcase most often contained one.
This discussion also begs the question of why they didn't just use the Big Wheel to determine who goes into the Showcase. It's such an iconic part of the show and they did use it for some of the episodes, so why did they feel the need to create a new element to determine who goes into the Showcase? Was it that the powers that be at the daytime show didn't want them to use the wheel, or was it more change just for the sake of change?Knowing Jonathan Goodson, it was purely change for the sake of change (as the whole of TNPIR '94 was, if you think about it).
Was it that the powers that be at the daytime show didn't want them to use the wheel, or was it more change just for the sake of change?
They easily could have delved into Paley Center archives for commercials, followed by researching old newspapers for prices similar to Now... or Then.
Was it that the powers that be at the daytime show didn't want them to use the wheel, or was it more change just for the sake of change?Well, outside of the odd use of it being for Clock Game, the sole purpose of the video wall was to show the TPWR clip. My guess is that the powers that be used this version somewhat as an experiment of what a modern version of Price could look like and what all changes could eventually be incorporated into the daytime show; hence why we saw an episode with a completely different Plinko layout to potentially make it easier to get a full $25,000 win (the triple 0 / double 5000, which lasted 1 episode), elimination of trip skins to just show the trip on the video wall (again, lasting only 1 episode), different prize reveals like in Safe Crackers to eliminate a potential winning edge, eliminating grocery items, etc.
When did TPIR start using the $1000 graphic with the red outline when someone hit a 1.00 during the showcase showdown during the Barker Era?
The star-shaped "money win" graphics were definitely in place by November 30, 1992's episode. It might have been a week earlier, but that's the earliest known instance to my knowledge.One way to close the window in the other direction... do we know the latest episode with whatever graphic package was being used before that? (I think it was plain Helvetica numbers, but don't hold me to that).
The split screen for the contestants (assuming that's what you were asking) was retired by Season 25I think he's referring to the original Breslow-era split screen, which was much narrower (and, indeed, "pennant-shaped") than the later Alter-era one (which filled the entire height of the screen). Again, that switched in the fall of 1986.
Since the rats in Rat Race are selected at random, and we've seen that there's no guarantee that any given rat will finish (or even start), isn't it theoretically possible that all five rats fail to finish the race? If so, does anybody know what would happen in that case?If it were up to me, it would be in terms of distance.
Since the rats in Rat Race are selected at random, and we've seen that there's no guarantee that any given rat will finish (or even start), isn't it theoretically possible that all five rats fail to finish the race? If so, does anybody know what would happen in that case?
I noticed wasn't cliffhangers played much in season's 18 and 19 after looking at the stats. I find that to be odd since Cliffhangers is a popular game next to Plinko.
I would have to think that if something like that happened, they'd just edit it out and redo the race.
Do partial wins avoid 'El Skunko', even if a partial win is the only pricing game 'win' for an episode? (e.g., someone wins cash instead of the car on Let 'Em Roll, someone takes the prizes instead of going for the car on Temptation, contestant wins the medium prize on Any Number, etc.)As far as I'm concerned (and likely in the show's eyes), yes. To whoever's doing the recaps for the Barker Era episodes on the Discord, no.
As far as I'm concerned (and likely in the show's eyes), yes.
^Maybe not nowadays, but in the Barker Era shows, they did keep a running count of shows where all six games were lost, similar to how they kept track of when all six games were won.
Several episodes have Bob note that there were N number of times a perfect show happened or X number of shows everything was lost going into game six to try to make a win more impactful.
Do we know how accurate Bob’s declarations were?Depends on what he was declaring... not sure if I could find it now, but I seem to recall a GSN promo for TPIR that outright called Bob out on a bunkum declaration from him (IIRC it had to do with him claiming that a given episode was the first time he remembered two contestants making the same Showcase bid... with them actually showing a clip from an earlier episode of the same thing happening).
I seem to recall a GSN promo for TPIR that outright called Bob out on a bunkum declaration from him (IIRC it had to do with him claiming that a given episode was the first time he remembered two contestants making the same Showcase bid... with them actually showing a clip from an earlier episode of the same thing happening).This is correct. The clips were from 1982 and 1975 respectively (the recording dates were displayed onscreen), with the latter followed by onscreen text to the effect of "Be careful what you say, Bob... Game Show Network is watching."
I do not know which episode the 1982 clip was from, although I believe the recording date placed it in Season 11.
^Maybe not nowadays, but in the Barker Era shows, they did keep a running count of shows where all six games were lost, similar to how they kept track of when all six games were won.
Should be from 4631D (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n7dwJj2g2Q).This is indeed the 1982 episode seen in the promo.
No disrespect intended to your hard work on the meme above, but I never realized how difficult the TPiR logo font is to read in large chunks of text until now...Probably why they changed the closing credits from the logo font to Handel Gothic before the end of September 1972.
Did Kyle Aletter end her relationship with Price on a sour note? I feel as if I read somewhere a long time ago that she was mad she didn't get chosen to be a permanent model and had been always relegated to being a sub only. As much as I liked Gina and Chantel, Kyle would have been a fine choice. She was a great model.Kathleen confirms this as true in her book. Apparently on her final run of shows in 1996, Kyle told the staff "if you're not going to make me permanent now, don't call me again when my current deal runs out." (or something to that effect)
Thank you!! I knew I had read it somewhere; it was indeed Kathleen's book. Which, by the way, is an excellent read if you haven't read it yet.
What's the absolute latest a taping has ever had to have been canceled? Have they ever had to cancel a taping day of?
Were the million-dollar prizes awarded in the 2008 MDSes lump sums or annuities?
Speaking of the Million Dollar Spectacular, 1/2 Off was one of the million-dollar games. If the contestant won the $25,000, he could risk it to guess which of the 15 remaining boxes contained the $1 million check. My question is, why 15 instead of 16? Drew Carey didn’t really give a substantive explanation on the show as to why.
My guess is that the show didn’t have a second physical copy of Box #12 (the box that contained the $25,000), which is why the million-dollar segment involved only 15 boxes.
Speaking of the Million Dollar Spectacular, 1/2 Off was one of the million-dollar games. If the contestant won the $25,000, he could risk it to guess which of the 15 remaining boxes contained the $1 million check. My question is, why 15 instead of 16?
Apologies if this is a dumb question, I've searched the forum and Google and found nothing. Do we have any earthly idea why 5811D never aired? Any prevailing theories?
Are the $1 bills in Lucky Seven real or props?
This might be a weird question, but here goes... on the older Showcase podiums (as in, up until they switched to using computer graphics), how would they insert the descriptive nameplates into the podiums? I've never been able to spot a visible seam or slot where they'd slide the card into, so curious.
because i wanted to see if someone had a perfect show with punch a bunch that they would past 35,000?
Thank you for at least looking. You see it would have been real coll if the impossible happen. $100 perfect bid, 10,900 on punch a bunch, $11,000 on showdown, and then the person has a double show case winner.
What's the smallest non-zero amount someone has won in Time is Money?
When does the last episode of the season air?
Why George "Hi" Mama Mae in every show?
Why George "Hi" Mama Mae in every show?
Because he has no other "good lines"?
Seriously. George was way better on WL as s HOST
Is it real
does the contestant get to take it home, versus giving them a check after the show airs?
Along the lines of the question about real dollar bills in Lucky 7, what about the $500 exact bid bonus? Is it real, and does the contestant get to take it home, versus giving them a check after the show airs?
(Okay, there have been times when a second perfect bid has happened and Bob was caught cashless because no one remembered to get the money back during the commercial. I'm talking about what would usually happen.)
no, all cash prizes are paid by check after the show airs. Even the $100 door prize is payable by check.
Am I imagining things, or did something like this also happen once when there was a perfect bid right before Barker's Marker$? (Or maybe Shell Game?)
Is $1.23 from the piggy the smallest possible on stage win? From the Time Is Money discussion it sounds like it goes down in increments too big for it to stop on $1. (I assume no leading zero.)AFAIK the smallest possible thing for the piggy bank would be $1.02... though I can't prove that's ever actually happened.
Have they ever stated the first digit of the piggy bank can't be 0? If not, then the smallest amount possible is $0.12. That'd be awfully mean, but not against the rules to my knowledge.
Have they ever stated the first digit of the piggy bank can't be 0? If not, then the smallest amount possible is $0.12. That'd be awfully mean, but not against the rules to my knowledge.
Roger was once asked on Facebook if the amount in the piggy bank was ever at minimum ($0.12) or maximum ($9.87). This was his answer:
"We never had an amount that was less than $1.00...our policy was never to look cheap and any amount low like that would have made us look bad. I do not have the records or the absolute recollection but I am sure we had $9.87 at least once in the piggy bank. Kathy Greco, who used to devise the amounts, usually always kept the amount as high as possible with the numbers she had to work with."
Has the production company plug during the credits always been pre-taped?
It was done live during the Barker era. I know it was still being done live at the beginning of Drew's run (I specifically remember being disappointed the first time I heard "FremantleMedia" instead of "Mark Goodson" under the audience applause), but I don't know when the switch to prerecording it occurred. My guess is that it came about when the show stopped trying to shoot live to tape. I don't know whether that happened while Rich was still the announcer or whether the announcer auditions may have prompted prerecording the announcement.
During Rod's first several months, his sign-off wasn't as drawn out as it was for most of the run ("This is Rod Roddy speaking" instead of "This... is Rodddddd Roddy (pause) speaking". )
Season 51 still has two unaired episodes. Is it common for those episodes never to air or will they eventually air?
When was debut the freeze frame moment after the contestant win the Prize Game?
Four questions:I wonder if they were airing it in a time slot before the network feed went out. If they did, they would have to tape it and show it the next day.
Second, I also seem to recall it being said years ago that the CBS affiliate in St. Louis, MO, KMOV, was airing a day behind the rest of the network, something that I recall reading was going on for years until they eventually caught up and starting airing the same day's episode as everyone else. Does anyone know more about this and how long it lasted, and why this was even a thing? In the years before Innertube, did we have nobody around here who could have easily helped us out for pre-emptions if they were airing a day behind?
Here in the mountain time zone we always had weirdness with the network schedules because everything was taped delayed an hour. Live events would mean they didn't get the tape for later, so the later show would be preempted too.
I have no idea how it works now. There may not even be a "feed" for non-live programming. Maybe the affiliates just download TPiR from CBS as a video file.
It debut shortly after 5661D in March-April 1985. I don't recall the exact episode off hand. Seems like master control over in Television City was upgraded around this time with the ability to do digital effects (transitional wipes, the flipping opening titles, and still store freeze frame, etc).
As far as I know, CBS generally sends out one feed for the East Coast (Eastern and Central) and another for the West Coast (Pacific). Mountain stations generally record the East Coast feed and play it back on an hour delay, but if there's a pre-emption during it, the network will send out an extra feed for them.
^
The debut of the "freeze frame" shot commonly used heading into a commercial break was for a playing of On The Nose on April 26, 1985 (5705D). Two other game shows (Wheel of Fortune and $ale of the Century) also introduced some upgraded digital effects in the early months of 1985. Super Password was the first Mark Goodson show to introduce these early digital graphics, most notably on the Passwords themselves, the Super Password round graphics/timer, and the MGP logo.
IIRC, I think those were all but eliminated by the early part of the millennium. They may have been done away with around Season 30; I really only recall those used during decent moments following a playing of PlinkoThe last instance of the freeze frames leading into commercial that I’m aware of was on the season 42 Valentine's Day episode, after Secret "X," as evidenced here (about 3:36):
Is there a person on stage behind the scale who manually runs the Balance Game?
How were the set alterations (i.e. the Turntable and Doors) handled for MDSs? That seems to me like a lot of painting to do and undo. Did they replace the panels?
The 50th anniversary special aired at 9pm
The 50th anniversary special aired at 9pm, otherwise yes I believe all the At Night episodes in season 51 aired at 8.
When do the streaming versions of the show appear online?
I'm not getting good reception on my antenna, so I'm missing over the air broadcasts. Until I fix that, I've been expecting to see streaming versions of the show on Paramount+ and/or CBS.com on the evenings of the days they've aired, but no dice. What's the usual cycle?
Forgive me if I'm forgetting something, but wasn't that in Season 50?My bad, the 50th anniversary special popped in my head as a primetime episode that premiered at a time other than 8, but of course that was 50 not 51.
Thank you! In my archive I wrote 8.PM for 50th Special. I Correct it.So I did help you at least, even if it wasn't actually what you were really asking for!
CBS.com only uploads new episodes. Once they're there, they stay for the rest of the season, but they always get pulled shortly before the next season premiere, and unfortunately, we hit that point with Season 51 a couple of days ago.
Don't worry -- once the new shows start airing, they'll start getting uploaded again around 6:00 P.M. Eastern the day of broadcast.
Apart from the Mighty Sound Effects Lady on One Away, are the sound effects on the show actually controlled by humans, or are they automated (like “programmed” into the games)?
Now that the pricing games are controlled by one computer, when sound effects can be built in, they are. For example, when Double Cross is lost, the computer is programmed to play the buzzer at the same time the board turns red. Or play the bells at the same time the winning animation is activated.
Now that the pricing games are controlled by one computer, when sound effects can be built in, they are. For example, when Double Cross is lost, the computer is programmed to play the buzzer at the same time the board turns red. Or play the bells at the same time the winning animation is activated.
Do you know how the Time Is Money button works now? It appears to be wired and functional in some way. I assume it's initially set up to just buzz, and then when the contestant gets the right arrangement, something is triggered offstage to change its functionality to "win" the next time it's pressed. If so, I've wondered what they would do if a contestant were so fast or slipshod on the placement of the grocery items that the operator did not change the button over before it was pressed.