Many years ago, Marc posted here
this sideview of the Clock Game board showing the mark where a third price holder used to be, evidence of the three-prize format of the game, which we now know was used exclusively on the syndicated version and is said to have involved the contestant bidding on all three prizes.
The information we have per the FAQ is that this began on episode #215N and continued for all of Clock Game's appearances "for the remainder of the run" with the exception of #218N.
I know at one time we had a calendar of tapedates for the daytime and nighttime versions for some part of the '70s, but I don't recall it going as late as to the '80s. In the absence of further information, we say that episode #215N would have taped at some point in 1977. The final playing of Clock Game on the syndicated version was on episode #285N. If nothing else, given that we know the final two episodes of the syndicated version were taped March 12, 1980, it would be safe to say that it taped somewhere around the end of 1979 or early 1980.
One of the things that has seemed to elude every episode that has shown up, daytime or nighttime, from the late 1970s is any sight of the Clock Game board showing the three price holders. I noticed years ago that when the third holder was removed, it was actually the original bottom holder, and the one added for the third price was between the two existing ones.
I decided to take a look around the Internet this afternoon to see if anything has been posted that I missed that shows the three holders, using the information from the nighttime show as a proxy to target the dates where three holders likely should be seen.
Instead, I found something I was not expecting to find.
I have only YouTube posted episodes for reference, but
#2592D (aired December 6, 1977) shows the original configuration with the two holders, but just over a month later, by
#2652D (aired January 17, 1978), the bottom holder is gone and the "middle holder" is the bottom of the two visible on the board.
I presume copies of #2601D and #2613D are available somewhere as the lineups are confirmed for both, and if so, I'd be really curious if anybody who has these could check them for where the holders are located to help narrow down the gap even further.
But something doesn't align here if Clock Game really was played for three prizes exclusively on the syndicated version for nearly three years and contestants bid on all three prizes. The consistency between where two holders are visible on the board shows they were not added and removed as needed but fixed to the board, and one was permanently removed at one point when Clock Game was supposed to be still being played for three prizes according to what we know about the nighttime show.
It doesn't seem practical to me that they would have had only two holders when offering three prizes... unless one of the prizes was just a bonus and wasn't bid upon, though if that was the case (and we've never had anything indicating that it was) why, then, was there ever a change in the placement of the bottom holder, and was there ever a point when three were attached to the board? I would think that we know which playings offered three prizes because the episode records indicate such, but... there's a mystery here. Is there any way to unravel it?
