Author Topic: Lingo - Week of 5/22-26 (Read 11009 times)

jdhernandez · « **on:** May 23, 2006, 10:36:51 PM »

For those of you looking for some excellent game playing, this week features the top online Lingo players against five of the best teams from season four of Lingo.

Be forewarned.... the words this week are T-O-U-G-H.

J-A-S-O-N

Don Howard · « **Reply #1 on:** May 24, 2006, 11:10:22 AM »

Query! Why are teams stopped at 10 in Bonus Lingo?

clemon79 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 24, 2006, 11:26:15 AM »

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'119353\' date=\'May 24 2006, 08:10 AM\']
Query! Why are teams stopped at 10 in Bonus Lingo?
[/quote]
Are they? If so, it's because it's a moot point from there. Really, it's a moot point at 9...there is no way they can draw 9 balls (given 12 numbers knocked off of the card to start) and not make Lingo.

zachhoran · « **Reply #3 on:** May 24, 2006, 11:28:49 AM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'119355\' date=\'May 24 2006, 11:26 AM\']

Are they stopped at 10 words? If so, it's because it's a moot point from there. Really, it's a moot point at 9...there is no way they can draw 9 balls (given 12 numbers knocked off of the card to start) and not make Lingo.
[/quote]

Monday night's episode had the team getting their 10th word with about 15 seconds left on the clock. The two letters in their next word were revealed, but Chuck stopped them about a second letter.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #4 on:** May 24, 2006, 12:17:57 PM »

I didn't see it, but what did Chuck say? Did he point out that there was no way they could lose at that point? Would it be better if they just gave it to them automatically at a certain point (i.e. "get a Lingo or 10 words right to win $5000"), or would you rather see them always play it out even if it's a forgone conclusion? Or maybe, if they got the 10 words which guarenteed it, have them draw once for the bonus and if they didn't get it, just give them the $5K. Or maybe just make the round shorter, as has been discussed before?

Any opinions?

Steve McClellan · « **Reply #5 on:** May 24, 2006, 12:31:31 PM »

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'May 24 2006, 09:17 AM\']"get a Lingo or 10 words right to win $5000"[/quote]
Personally, I prefer "Get a Lingo on your first pull or 10 words in 2 minutes to win the jackpot." That way, 9 words guarantees $5K, and there's actually a chance to win the jackpot based on being good.

clemon79 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 24, 2006, 12:37:48 PM »

[quote name=\'Steve McClellan\' post=\'119369\' date=\'May 24 2006, 09:31 AM\']
[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'May 24 2006, 09:17 AM\']"get a Lingo or 10 words right to win $5000"[/quote]
Personally, I prefer "Get a Lingo on your first pull or 10 words in 2 minutes to win the jackpot." That way, 9 words guarantees $5K, and there's actually a chance to win the jackpot based on being good.
[/quote]
That's actually a really fine idea. The only concern I have is explaining it to both the players and to a viewer in such a way that doesn't sound confusing or tacked-on. Your wording is fine, but I think it needs to be dumbed down even more to work on television.

Steve McClellan · « **Reply #7 on:** May 24, 2006, 12:44:58 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'May 24 2006, 09:37 AM\']Your wording is fine, but I think it needs to be dumbed down even more to work on television.[/quote]
"You have two minutes to get as many words as you can. Get ten and you'll win our jackpot of $17,000."

...

"Okay, you got six, so you'll have six chances to win the $5,000. You still have a chance at the jackpot, though; get a Lingo on your first pull, and we'll give you that $17,000."

clemon79 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 24, 2006, 12:51:12 PM »

[quote name=\'Steve McClellan\' post=\'119374\' date=\'May 24 2006, 09:44 AM\']
"You have two minutes to get as many words as you can. Get ten and you'll win our jackpot of $17,000."
...
"Okay, you got six, so you'll have six chances to win the $5,000. You still have a chance at the jackpot, though; get a Lingo on your first pull, and we'll give you that $17,000."
[/quote]
I like it, but that "You still have a chance" part is the part I was referring to when I was trying to avoid a "tacked on" feeling. But maybe that's as good as it can get, and it's such a good idea I'd be willing to go to air with it in that form and see if it works.

Here's another potential problem, though: how many teams have actually gotten ten? I'm pretty sure we can count them on a partially-amputated hand. So is it really a good idea to mention the 10-in-2-minutes as a primary goal when it's pretty much established to be damned near impossible to accomplish?

(Furthermore, how are you gonna fill time when someone DOES get the ten? Is Chuck gonna do a little soft-shoe and fill that 90 seconds or so that you're not spending drawing balls?)

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the idea, but I think there would be backlash against making a big deal out of a task that has happened maybe thrice, if that.

Steve McClellan · « **Reply #9 on:** May 24, 2006, 01:14:18 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'May 24 2006, 09:51 AM\']Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the idea, but I think there would be backlash against making a big deal out of a task that has happened maybe thrice, if that.[/quote]
Personally, I'd prefer a more fundamental restructuring. One I've thrown around is "Get as many pulls as you can; if you Lingo with at least five to spare, you win our jackpot." Of course, that has its own problem, namely that a team getting five words or fewer doesn't have the chance to win, and I'm pretty sure the producers want to see at least one jackpot pull on each episode.

So actually, I'm more interested in this new idea. What if you don't make a big deal of it? Just have Chuck say on the first episode of the season (perhaps the entire first week), during the rules rundown, that "You have two minutes to get as many words as you can. Now, if you Lingo on your first pull *or* get ten words in your two minutes, you'll win our jackpot, which now stands at $10,000."

Then, don't mention it again. Since Chuck has the tendency to talk during the bonus round, if he sees someone who's getting reasonably close to ten, have him say (quickly!) between words something like "You've got seven. Three more and you win the jackpot right now."

As for filling in time on a ten-word win, I don't see this leaving *that* much more time than someone winning on their first pull. And if a host can't fill two minutes, he shouldn't be hosting.

Then again, I don't even know that the "tacked on" issue is that much of a problem, anyway. I mean, a lot of shows have used the idea. TPIR, with Bullseye ("You didn't hit the bullseye, but if the hidden bullseye is under any of these, you still win") and Hole in One (...or Two), and the Card Sharks car game (when the player got a joker in the money cards, hence having multiple chances), for example. If GSN thinks that "More money!" is the way to make Lingo "even better" (per their promo), I think giving a team another chance to win the jackpot would be something that they'd actually want to brag about.

But then again, what (if anything) do I know?

clemon79 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 24, 2006, 01:27:23 PM »

[quote name=\'Steve McClellan\' post=\'119378\' date=\'May 24 2006, 10:14 AM\']
So actually, I'm more interested in this new idea. What if you don't make a big deal of it? Just have Chuck say on the first episode of the season (perhaps the entire first week), during the rules rundown, that "You have two minutes to get as many words as you can. Now, if you Lingo on your first pull *or* get ten words in your two minutes, you'll win our jackpot, which now stands at $10,000."
[/quote]
Well, you have to say it on every show, or else a new viewer is going to potentially be confused, and you're all about hooking new viewers when you can.

I think the explanation above is an improvement, and would have no problems seeing it implemented.

Quote

As for filling in time on a ten-word win, I don't see this leaving *that* much more time than someone winning on their first pull. And if a host can't fill two minutes, he shouldn't be hosting.

Two minutes is a LOT of time to fill smoothly. Not saying Chuck can't do it, and certainly since we've established it's not going to happen very often at all, it's probably not a big deal. I suppose they could just run a long credit crawl and/or discuss The Essence Of Chuck with the HPOA.

Overall, I think it's a fine idea and give you all props for the suggestion and refinements.

TLEberle · « **Reply #11 on:** May 24, 2006, 10:46:09 PM »

It's certainly a fine idea, and I'm not surprised Steve came up with it; we've spent a good chunk of time trying to figure out ways to improve the bonus game.

What would be wrong with "To win the jackpot, just get 10 words in two minutes"? If you fall short, it's $5,000 for you.

If you get 10 right, you completely deserve the jackpot, if you get one, you shouldn't get a sniff at the money, I don't care if they want everyone to have a shot at the jackpot.

clemon79 · « **Reply #12 on:** May 24, 2006, 10:55:57 PM »

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'119421\' date=\'May 24 2006, 07:46 PM\']
What would be wrong with "To win the jackpot, just get 10 words in two minutes"? If you fall short, it's $5,000 for you.

If you get 10 right, you completely deserve the jackpot, if you get one, you shouldn't get a sniff at the money, I don't care if they want everyone to have a shot at the jackpot.
[/quote]
Well, you don't have to care, but now that they have instigated the Lingo-on-one-pull thing, to take it away would smack of cheap.

And the problem is, again, how many 10-word rounds have there been? Leaving in the one-pull means there is an actual chance that the jackpot might pay out in my lifetime.

TLEberle · « **Reply #13 on:** May 24, 2006, 11:31:26 PM »

I think there have only been three 10-word bonus games so far.

I would much rather pay big money for teams that have shown acumen in the word-guessing portion than those who got lucky and plucked out the one right ball from the bin. If that means the jackpot for 10 words, $10k for a one-ball lingo, and $5,000 for a vanilla Lingo, so be it.

zachhoran · « **Reply #14 on:** May 25, 2006, 07:48:05 AM »

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'119426\' date=\'May 24 2006, 11:31 PM\']
I think there have only been three 10-word bonus games so far.

[/quote]

There have been at least three just this season alone, but there were a few over the previous seasons, too.