The Game Show Thread!

alphanguy74 · August 11, 2011

Yeah.... Safe Crackers of the 70's is what was palying in my mind. I didn't watch TPIR much after 1985 or so. Still tuned in every once in a while. When I was a child, i'd watch the first half, as in our area, Woolery's Wheel Of Fortune was across from it, and I would NOT miss wheel.

Max · August 11, 2011

SFK, it is no surprise that there were reruns with Bob having dark hair after 10/15/87: that's because the 1987-88 season actually began on 9/14/87. What I never knew before now was that Bob would actually do a voiceover before these episodes. Thank you so much for sharing that.

Getting back to TPIR's pricing games, I'll now profile the second game to debut--Bonus Game--which premiered on 9/4/72 as the second pricing game of the day. The rules are straightforward: there are four small prizes (aka "SPs," each of which is usually $5 to $200 in value), each of which corresponds to a "window" on the game board. For each SP, the contestant is shown an incorrect price and is asked if the actual retail price is higher or lower. If the contestant guesses correctly, he she wins that particular SP as well as control of that corresponding window.

Bonus Game is played for a "bonus" prize that is usually less than $10,000 in value. (It is rarely played for a car.) The contestant wins the bonus prize (whose dollar value is announced prior to the start of gameplay) if he controls the window that says "BONUS" at the end of the game. (All of the other windows say the word "NO" at the game's conclusion.) Because the "BONUS" window is pre-determined by the producers (prior to the start of the game), Bonus Game can unfortunately be subject to manipulation: if the producers want a likely win, they will have the bonus window correspond to an easy higher/lower choice; and if they want a likely loss (which is likely if the bonus prize is worth a lot of money), they will have the bonus window correspond to a hard higher/lower choice. (While the contestant wins any SPs priced correctly, Bonus Game is considered to be won only if the bonus prize is won.)

While Bonus Game is still in the active rotation, it is unfortunately rarely played. Bonus Game is one of only two retired games (with Pick-a-Pair being the other) that actually came out of retirement: it was played on 6/13/74 (just four days before the extremely similar Shell Game debuted, which was intended to be Bonus Game's replacement), and wasn't played again until 7/24/75.

While Any Number was the first pricing game to debut, it "feels" like this distinction actually belongs to Bonus Game, since Bonus Game has never undergone a major change to its gameboard. (The only changes that were made were changes in the board's color scheme, and the addition of the title "Bonus Game" to the board in 1974 or 75.)

Here's the very first playing of Bonus Game, from TPIR's first episode: (The gameboard is obviously way too yellow. Also, note that the contestant podium on the turntable was very shortlived.)

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This yellow-dominated board only lasted for a couple of playings. By the early-80's, the color scheme that's still in use today made its debut.

Here's Bonus Game being played for a car:

Bonus Game is tied with the nearly identical Shell Game as my very favorite TPIR pricing game. I just love (1) the fact that it is the most nostalgic of all the games (given that it is the oldest game to still use its original gameboard without any major alterations), (2) the very exciting higher/lower SP pricing portion, and (3) the cool way the board lights up at the end of the game to reveal which window houses the bonus prize.

However, on an objective basis, I can only give Bonus Game a score of 9 out of 10. That because of the game's two major flaws: (1) the fact than it can be manipulated by the producers (as explained above), and (2) it becomes anticlimatic when a contestant wins control of all four windows. It should be noted that Shell Game does not have these flaws since (1) the contestant chooses which shell to "control" after the higher/lower pricing decision is correctly made (the object in that game is to control the shell that has a rubber ball underneath it), and (2) a cash bonus is offered if the contestant can correctly guess which shell has the ball underneath it (in the event all four higher/lower pricing decisions are made correctly).

All My Shadows · August 11, 2011

Any Number is one of my favorite pricing games ever! I had no idea they recolored the board. The new one looks pretty good.

IMO, the easiest "big" pricing game to win is without a doubt Ten Chances. All of the correct prices end in 0, so just keep that in mind, and you ought to win.

OLTL_fan · August 12, 2011

I agree. This game isn't that hard if you know how to play it but unfortunately most people bid stupidly and waste like 6 or 7 chances on the first 2 prizes when you should not need more than 3 or 4.

I agree with the poster who said Lucky 7 is a hard game. I hate it. My favorite car game is 3 Strikes.

Max · August 13, 2011

All My Shadows, I also like the new Any Number board, because it is so helpful for the contestant to see which digits have yet to be chosen. Additionally, I was way too harsh on my initial assessment of Any Number (I originally gave it a 6.5 out of 10); I'd like to revise that score to an 8 out of 10.

Ten Chances is the easiest car game to win if you know "the last digit ends in zero" trick. Unfortunately, as OLTL_fan stated, a large proportion of contestants are too stupid to realize this, and therefore lose the game. (However, while Ten Chances debuted in 1975, the zero trick did not take effect until the early- or mid-80's.)

And now to the third pricing game to debut: Double Prices. This game premiered on 9/4/72 as the third and final pricing game of TPIR's first episode. (TPIR didn't expand to 60 minutes until 1975. Back when the show lasted only thirty minutes, there were just three pricing games played on each episode. Additionally, since the Big Wheel/Showcase Showdown rounds didn't exist, the two Showcase participants were simply those two contestants who won the highest dollar value in prizes.)

Double Prices is the least time consuming and simplest to understand of all of TPIR's games: two price tags are shown for a prize (that is usually less than $10,000, and is almost never a car), one of which is the correct price and the other of which is an incorrect price. The contestant wins the prize if he identifies the right price.

While Double Prices was the third pricing game to be played, it was also the third-to-last pricing game to be played on Bob's final episode. (However, the game was lost on its first playing, while it was the last pricing game to be won under Barker's tenure.) Double Prices is tied with Plinko as the most frequently played pricing game currently in the rotation (both are almost always played once a week). Furthermore, Double Prices holds the distinction of being the most frequently played game in TPIR history, although Any Number and Most Expensive aren't far behind. (The reason why Plinko has not been played as much as those other games is because Plinko didn't debut until 1983.)

Double Prices has seen a lot of set changes throughout its history. (In fact, the title "Double Prices" didn't appear on any game prop until 1986). These three playings show three different sets:

Here's the very first time Double Prices was played: (Note that there was no dollar bonus given for a perfect bid on the "item up for bids" round.)

Here's a playing from 1983:

Finally, here's a playing (involving a very confused contestant) from one of Bob's final years as host:

On a scale of 0 to 10, I will give Double Prices a 4. Of course, this is being very generous, given that this is perhaps TPIR's most dull and boring game ever. The reason why this game scores as high as it does is because (1) it is a "necessary evil" to compensate for more time-consuming games and (2) it was one of the very first games ever invented. If a game this dull and boring had been invented in the 90's (when there was no reason to invent such a game), it would get a score of 0.

Max · August 15, 2011

The fourth pricing game to debut was Grocery Game, which was first played on 9/5/72 (TPIR's second episode) as the first pricing game of the day. Since 1/26/89, the rules have been as follows: five grocery products (GPs) are shown; the contestant wins a bonus prize (that's usually less than $10,000, and rarely a car; regardless, its price is revealed prior to the start of gameplay) if he buys any combination of GPs (in any quantity) that total between $20.00 and $21.00. Prior to 1/26/89, these rules were the same, except the winning range was $6.75 to $7.00 in total groceries (instead of $20.00 to $21.00).

For the first few times Grocery Game was played, it had some additional quirks that were soon dropped: (1) the contestant won supplies of the GPs used in the game (this marked the only time in TPIR history that GPs were given away as prizes) and (2) the contestant won a $100 bonus if his grocery total was less than $7.00 (even if he lost the game). Here is the very first playing of this game, which shows these rules in effect:

Here's another playing from the 70's or early-80's that features a cash register malfunction (This playing was definately not before 1975, since the words "Grocery Game" were not added to the game prop until then.):

(By the way, Janice Pennington always was at the cash register--unless she missed a particular episode--during her entire time at TPIR.)

Here's the final playing of Grocery Game during Barker's tenure, from 6/15/07: (Bob's first three pricing games were Any Number, Bonus Game, and Double Prices, and his last three pricing games--in this order--were Double Prices, Grocery Game, and Any Number. While it would have been more fitting for Bonus Game to have been the second-to-last pricing game ever played, this wasn't "allowed" since the TPIR staff has a "rule" stating that no more than one game involving small prizes can be played per episode; and Plinko "had" to be played during Bob's last episode. Hence, Grocery Game seemed like the logical replacement for Bonus Game.)

A playing of Grocery Game ends when one of three things happen: (1) the game is won, (2) all five GPs are used and the contestant still has not amassed a total of $20.00 (although I have personally never seen this happen), or (3) the contestant's grocery total is more than $21.00.

IMO, Grocery Game is one of the very hardest games on TPIR. (This should not be, given the cheapness of the prizes played for in this game. To make the game somewhat easier, the winning range should be changed to $20.00 to $22.00.) One of the worst strategies a contestant can use in this game is to attempt to hit the $20.00 to $21.00 target range with just one GP. (For at least some GPs--on just about every playing--it is impossible to win the game this way.) Perhaps the best way to win Grocery Game is to buy just one or (usually) two of the the most expensive GP; at that point, you shouldn't be that far away from $20.00. Then, find a cheap GP (there's usually a GP worth less than $1.00) and buy the needed quantity to get you in the winning $20.00 to $21.00 range.

I will give Grocery Game a score of 7 out of 10: It scores points for its creativity, cool cash register prop, and being one of the first five games in the rotation. However, it is just too difficult to win considering the cheapness of the prizes this game usually offers.

Max · August 16, 2011

Originally, TPIR had only five pricing games in the rotation. The fifth and final of these games to debut was Bullseye, which premiered on 9/5/72 as the second pricing game of the day. This game was played for a car, and also has the distinction of being the first ever pricing game to be retired. (It was last played on 9/14/72.) To further confuse matters, there is another pricing game called Bullseye (that is still in the rotation) which debuted in 1976; that particular game uses grocery products and is almost never played for a car. (In order to avoid confusion, the two games titled "Bullseye" are differentiated by calling each Bullseye '72/Bullseye I or Bullseye '76/Bullseye II, respectively.)

The rules of Bullseye '72 are very much like those in Clock Game: The contestant had to bid on the price of a car. With each bid, Bob Barker would tell the contestant that the actual retail price of the car was higher or lower (and thus help the contestant narrow in on the price). However, what made Bullseye '72 so difficult was that the contestant only had seven chances in which to bid and give the exact price of the car. (In contrast to Clock Game, there was no time limit.) After the first two playings, a $500 range was given for the potential price of the car (e.g., $2,500 to $3,000); yet the game was still too difficult even with this adjustment. Therefore, Bullseye '72 had to be retired because it was never won during its time in the rotation.

Unfortunately, the only playings of this game that exist on YouTube are the first two playings (when there was no $500 range given for the price of the car). Here they are:

On a scale of 0 to 10, Bullseye '72 scores a 3. The only reasons why it even deserves that high of a score are because (1) it was one of the first five games in the rotation and (2) it introduced the concept of narrowing in on a price that would be the basis of Clock Game (one of TPIR's most beolved games).

Before I conclude, I should say that even though the word "Bullseye" never appeared on the gameboard (which was customary for most games prior to 1974-75), this game's official name was still Bullseye.

DRW50 · September 1, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsYd3zLYFfw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

alphanguy74 · September 5, 2011

WOW, that second clip of Bullseye is STUNNINGLY clear. How wonderful. Maybe that came from the DVD? And how fabulous is that the color of the carpeting up by the bullseye board is the same color of my living room carpet! LOL But DAMN, bullseye was a hard game to win. And on a side note, don't you wish you could buy a Camaro for 3,600$ today? And that was a pricey car. A Camaro today has a price of around 25,000$ doesn't it? SEVEN times what it cost in 1972. But in 72, the minimum wage was 1.75$ and hour... if the minimum wage went up seven times as well, it would be 12.50$. And we wonder by everyone's in debt up to their eyeballs.

Max · September 8, 2011

Alphanguy, thank you so much for your feedback. That is a great observation you made about the clarity of the second Bullseye video; it is a safe assumption that it did come from the DVD set issued in 2007.

The sixth pricing game on TPIR to premier was Clock Game, which debuted on 9/11/72. I'm sure just about all of you are familiar with the rules: A contestant has 30 seconds to bid on two prizes (each one at a time). If the contestant's bid is incorrect, the host tells him "higher" or "lower," meaning that the actual retail price of the prize is higher or lower than the previous bid. The contestant then narrows down on the price of the first prize (using the higher/lower "hints" given by the host) until the correct price is given. If enough time is leftover, the contestant bids on the second prize in the same manner. (Please note that Clock Game is considered to be "won" only if both prizes are won; however, the contestant does win the first prize if/once he gives the correct bid for it, regardless if the second prize is won.)

Assuming that (1) you don't have a case of terrible stage fright and (2) you have seen this game played many times previously, Clock Game is one of the easiest games to win because no luck is involved whatsoever; rather, the methodical narrowing in on a price is guaranteed to produce the correct result if one is focused enough. (As a helpful hint, note also that the first prize offered is always less expensive than the second prize.) However, consider the below playing of Clock Game from 1972, which was only the third time this game was ever played:

The fact that the contestant in the above clip struggled so much is completely understandable because she had probably never before seen how this game was played.

Clock Game has one major flaw: it can be played only with prizes worth no more than $999 each. In the early-80's, four-digit prices were used; unfortunately, this posed a major problem because there just wasn't enough time (in the 30 seconds) for most contestants to make a sufficient number of bids. To correct for this fact, the first digit of the prize was given for free, and the contestant was asked to bid on just the three-digit portion of the prize; yet, this method confused stupid contestants, and was dropped.

To make up for the cheapness of the prizes that could be offered in Clock Game, a $1,000 cash bonus was given to those contestants who won the game beginning in December 1998. Even with this bonus, however, the total amount offered in Clock Game was paltry. Thus, after Drew Carey became host, TPIR again started offering prizes greater than $999. Needless to say, the same problems occurred that originally happened back in the early-80's. Therefore a new solution was found (to keep this beloved game from getting retired): in addition to the $1,000 bonus, contestants who won both prizes would win an additional, third prize (that was not bid upon by the contestant). Below is a recent playing with these new rules in effect:

Clock Game deserves a score of 9 out of 10. It is a legendary game, whose set has never been changed (aside from color changes and the addition of the words "Clock Game" circa 1975). And no doubt, the manual clock adds a lot to this game's charm. (When a digital clock was used instead on the short-lived Doug Davidson syndicated version, Clock Game was so much less enjoyable.) The only reason why Clock Game does not get a perfect 10 is because--as I earlier indicated--it is infeasible to play for four-digit prizes in this game.

Before I conclude, all of you will want to watch the following Clock Game clip from circa 1999. The clip features one of the stupidest contestants in all of game show history. (Although it is possible that this person is just acting stupidly in order to be a wiseguy.) Unfortunately, all that is available on YouTube is the latter half of the playing (with the audio and video out of synch with each other).

alphanguy74 · September 9, 2011

Yes, I agree that the analog clock really makes the clock game. for some reason, producers are so damn eager to update and embrace new technology, that sometimes they kill what makes the game exciting. The primary example being the Donny Osmond version of Pyramid, where the winner circle was about as exciting as a wet noodle, due to the categories being too easy, not having the action of moving trilons, and no ticking of the clock (the BIG one).

alphanguy74 · September 9, 2011

You know what I always found exciting on TPIR? when they would do the trip down Main Street in the showcase. I couldn't find ONE clip of that on youtube, but I always loved how they started out with the stage dark, and then just the chasing lights, and all the doors would open in succession (or simultaneously, I can't remember?)

DRW50 · September 10, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua3u6hjlU6Y

Max · September 10, 2011

Carl, thank you for sharing that Wheel of Fortune promo. In my opinion, the show lost a lot of its charm in 1997, when the manual board (which required Vanna to turn to reveal each letter) was replaced with the computerized one (which essentially made Vanna's job obsolete, since the letter's could light up by themselves).

Alphanguy, the Donny Osmond version of Pyramid was awful for precisely the reasons you stated.

I remember that cool showcase, but also have yet to see it on YouTube.

The seventh pricing game to debut on TPIR--Double Bullseye--was played only a small handful of times: it premiered on 9/19/72 and was last played on 10/10/72. Essentially, this game was a two-player version of Bullseye '72; after the first contestant came on stage, another one-bid round would be held to determine the second contestant to come on stage. Both contestants played for a car, with one of them guaranteed to win. (This is in sharp contrast to Bullseye '72, which was never won.) A $500 range for the price of the car was provided, and then one of the contestants gave a bid. Then, Bob Barker would respond "higher" or "lower" and the other contestant would make his bid accordingly; the contestants would go back and forth like this until the exact price of the car was given.

Below is the only playing of Double Bullseye that I can find on YouTube:

It is interesting to note that (in the above playing) it only took five bids (among the two contestants) to zero in on the price of the car; on the other hand, nobody was able to win Bullseye '72, which gave a contestant up to seven different bids.

I would also like to note that the name "Double Bullseye" never appeared on this game's set; this information was ascertained from golden-road.net, who in turn got most of their info from long-time TPIR producer Roger Dobkowitz (who was on the staff from 1972-2008). (It should be stated that nearly all of the info I have provided--such as dates these pricing games debuted--was taken from golden-road.net, who got most of their information from Dobkowitz.) In fact, prior to Dobkowitz confirming the debut date of Double Bullseye, it was commonly believed that this game premiered before Clock Game, since going from Bullseye '72 to Double Bullseye to Clock Game seems like the more natural evolution (of the gaming concept whereby one zeros in on the price of a prize).

On a scale of 0 to 10, I can only rate Double Bullseye a 2.5, because it just doesn't "fit" in with the other pricing games (hence the reason for its retirement). (And the additional one-bid round that is required to determine the second contestant who comes on stage would be totally infeasible today given that more and more time needs to be devoted to commercials.) Double Bullseye is noteworthy, however, for being one of only two pricing games that involved two players. (The other was The Phone Game, which differed from Double Bullseye in two ways: First, in The Phone Home Game, the second contestant was playing in cooperation--rather than in competition--with the first contestant. Second, the additional contestant did not appear on stage, but actually phoned-in long distance.)

Max · September 13, 2011

The eighth pricing game to debut on TPIR was Five Price Tags, which was first played on 9/26/72. (Truth be told, I was surprised to learn that this game premiered so early in TPIR's run.) The name of the game stems from the fact that the contestant is playing for a car, and is shown five different price tags (one of which is the correct price).

Five Price Tags is actually played in two different parts. First, the contestant is shown four different small prizes (SPs); for each SP, a price is displayed and the contestant is asked if the price shown is true or false. If a contestant chooses correctly, he wins that corresponding SP, as well as a choice of one of the five price tags. (Personally, I consider the true/false pricing portion to be more difficult than the higher/lower choice one has to make in Bonus Game. A helpful hint is that "true" seems to be correct the majority of the time, so when it doubt, choose that option.)

The second portion of Five Price Tags involves the contestant selecting the price of the car that he believes to be correct. As indicated earlier, the number of selections a contestant has is equal to the number of SPs priced correctly (and a maximum of four selections can be earned). If the contestant selects the right price, he wins the car (and the game); otherwise, he loses.

The only set changes that Five Price Tags experienced happened in 1981 or 82: the colors of the podiums holding each SP and the five price tags were changed from orange/brown to white/blue; also, the correct car pricetag now had the word "WIN!" displayed behind it after being chosen (whereas previously the price itself was just hidden behind it). What remained unchanged during this early-80's alteration were the large blue podiums (located behind the car) that light up when a contestant makes a correct SP guess, as well as the fact that any incorrect pricetags still had the word "NO" behind it.

It is interesting to note that Five Price Tags has never had its name title displayed on any of its props. Furthermore, during the game's early years, the staff sometimes called this game "True or False" (as Bob did in a playing that you will see below).

Here's a playing from 1975, showcasing the first Five Price Tags set:

And here's a playing from TPIR's 5,000th episode in 1998 that showcases the second set: (Note that this clip unfortunately also contains a showcase showdown. FYI, in--I believe--2008, the amount received during a bonus spin was increased: previously, one received an additional $5,000 for a green section and an additional $10,000 for getting $1.00 in a bonus spin; these amounts were subsequently raised to an additional $10,000 for a green section and an additional $25,000 for landing on the $1.00 space.)

Because Five Price Tags has a solid gaming concept that stands the test of time (and has no apparent flaws), it deserves a perfect score of 10 out of 10. Only a relative minority of TPIR's pricing games will be given this rating.

The Game Show Thread!

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