what game show had the best end game?

[Gromit]

Can't believe no one brought up Diamond Head. Who hasn't dreamed of being surrounded by a torrent of cash, grabbing as much as you can and stuffing it into your pockets?

Ok, a bit tongue in cheek perhaps, it's not the greatest game in the world, but for sheer spectacle, it's hard to beat.

How many other end games have become iconic like this? Just last week, I saw a new commercial based around a couple in a glass booth grabbing something or other.

[Ian Wallis]

I guess Bob Stewart wasn't very strict about not using one's hands at the beginning of the Pyramid run....

The judging seemed to get much harder as time went on, didn't it?

For me, I guess Winner's Circle would be No. 1, but the Gauntlet of Villains is up there too.

[fishbulb]

I was trying to think of a suspenseful, exciting endgame that came before the Winner's Circle, and the closest I can come up with is the Big Deal of the Day.  I'm not sure whether to call that an endgame or part of the main game.  If it's an endgame, then the Showcase on TPIR probably is as well, since the concepts are similar.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'Mr. Armadillo\' post=\'169889\' date=\'Nov 18 2007, 06:22 PM\']I gotta go with Alphabetics for my money.  I'll give an honorable mention to Wheel of Fortune, just because no one else has yet.[/quote]My guess is that no one has said it yet because it's a slapped on extra round, instead of something clever, new or interesting.

I don't get it. The topic said "What was the best...?" but we have people giving "honorable mentions" to end games that just weren't that good.

[CeleTheRef]

By looking at the clips on YouTube, I felt in love with the Winner's Circle.   Good thing Pyramid is conveniently coming here in Italy soon

As a "honorary mention", let me tell about a nice little endgame that were used here in a few different shows, the "Ultimate Yes/No game"

both the winner and the loser of the episode play the game.   The host goes back and forth asking yes/no questions to the contestants, waiting for a response. Most often they are prize trade offers like "Will you trade in $100 of your cash winnings for a brand new car?"  or  "You got a brand new car there. I can excange it for a brand new pair of flip-flops. Will you refuse this trade?", but some questions don't affect gameplay and are played just for fun (like "Tell us, you are being loyal to your wife, aren't ya?"). A flashing light tells the player when it's the right time to shout an answer.

The catch is that the contestants can't hear the questions as they are isolated by host-controlled earphones with some really loud music in there. They work just like the isolation booths on Twenty-One

When this rollercoasters ride of trades ended, the contestants won whatever they ended up with. It wasn't uncommon to see the loser walk away with more stuff than the winner, but the winner still had the chance to come back the next day.

[fishbulb]

[quote name=\'That Don Guy\' post=\'169993\' date=\'Nov 19 2007, 12:58 PM\']

Other choices: the Mystery Tune from $100,000 Name That Tune in its first two seasons.
[/quote]

I'd make the Mystery Tune my runner-up.  Very, very exciting.  They used it on the daytime show as well, for $25,000, I think.
They did a good job of building the suspense in that segment.

The Golden Medley was pretty good, but with the clock stopping all the time, it didn't have the same urgency as the Winner's Circle or Alphabetics.

[Thunder]

[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' post=\'169934\' date=\'Nov 19 2007, 05:12 AM\']
...
Wonderwall(though it's hard to pick up on an answer when it's moving let alone finding all 20 in 3:00)
...
[/quote]

I thought that for the player, the Wonderwall was just 3 giant screens and the answers didn't move.

The answers only moved around for the TV viewer...


Anybody?

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Thunder\' post=\'170045\' date=\'Nov 19 2007, 07:09 PM\']
I thought that for the player, the Wonderwall was just 3 giant screens and the answers didn't move.

The answers only moved around for the TV viewer...
[/quote]
That's exactly the case, yes. Jay commented that it was "horrible to try to watch it," and while I don't agree with him, I can see where he would find the presentation on television to be unwieldy.

As for Karlberg, nobody understands why the hell he says whatever he does, so we just try to ignore it.

[Robert Hutchinson]

[quote name=\'Fedya\' post=\'169980\' date=\'Nov 19 2007, 02:15 PM\']You don't yell clues at the screen during the Winner's Circle?[/quote]
Craig? Not clues, no.

Funny, but I'm almost of the exact opposite opinion to Neumms re: Lightning Round vs. Alphabetics. I think the latter benefits from more structure, more excitement, and a much better name.

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'Fedya\' post=\'169980\' date=\'Nov 19 2007, 02:15 PM\']
Craig Karlberg wrote:

Winner's Circle & the Golden Doors are the ones that are the best in terms of suspense, but to me, I need one with a play-along factor.

You don't yell clues at the screen during the Winner's Circle?
[/quote]
No.  He throws his TV out the window.

[Unrealtor]

Best overall: The Winners Circle.

Best extensions of the game: Scrabble's Bonus Sprint, NYSI's solo round, Alphabetics, Blockbusters' Gold Run

I wouldn't call it "the best," but I'm surprised nobody's nominated the Super Match.

[kenbob_clarker]

[quote name=\'Unrealtor\' post=\'170067\' date=\'Nov 19 2007, 11:46 PM\']
I wouldn't call it "the best," but I'm surprised nobody's nominated the Super Match.
[/quote]
Heh.  Good to know I'm not the only one with a weird opinion here.

[MyronMMeyer]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'169873\' date=\'Nov 18 2007, 06:30 PM\']
Winner's Circle.  Why are we even HAVING this conversation?
[/quote]

We have to have this conversation every couple of months. State Law.

-M
"Here is a list of places Carmen may have travelled."

[Clay Zambo]

[quote name=\'toetyper\' post=\'169957\' date=\'Nov 19 2007, 11:31 AM\']
would you consider millonaire to be one giant end game?
[/quote]
In the Regis era, absolutely.  Indeed, I did.  It took me until several days after my taping to realize it, but I had been playing the Main Game from the moment I picked up the phone to play the Fastest-Finger qualifier.  The whole day in the studio was the end game.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'MyronMMeyer\' post=\'170077\' date=\'Nov 20 2007, 04:13 AM\']
"Here is a list of places Carmen may have travelled."[/quote]
Yes, thank you for reminding me.  One of the things I'll go back and watch over and over is one of the early bonus-round wins on that show, on a map of Africa no less.  One of the very few end games that required both mental AND physical effort to win.

As far as kids games go, I thought the Double Dare end game was quite exciting.  For visual spectacle, the three-minute Temple Run was hard to beat too.