Moving floor pieces

[dazztardly]

[Conveyor belt I believe on Martindale's. On the original Trebek version, he used a stick.

The conveyor belt was in place on the 78 revival, and Alex controlled it. I believe Ruta/Elaine had the giant croupier deal on the original.

Because of the design, the conveyor on Wink's version would sometimes do an abrupt pull back if the dice ended up on the extreme end of the table, where the higher walls could partially or fully obscure the roll.

-Jason

I remember in the Martindale pilot, the stage that held the dice table/emcee/contestants would move to another position, for the end game.

[dazztardly]

"Play the Percentages" had the giant percent sign that would rise out of the floor, though it only worked a handful of times.

...and ultimately was retired in the end. The pneumatic hardware that raised and lowered the sign caused several issues throughout its use. The score displays were knocked out frequently, from the circuitry getting jolted. The big issue was the speed of the sign raising up. The hardware and the framing that handled those mechanics, were right underneath the center stage. One time during one of the pilot runthroughs, the sign shot up too fast and the stage teeter tottered. Luckily it wasn't strong enough to cause any real damage. Another time during an episode tape day, the sign shot up WAY too fast. According to one Barry & Enright staffer who was on set, everyone literally ran for their lives. Podiums were toppled over, carpet was torn, lights were broken, and production was shut down. Bob Hilton was sent out to entertain the crowd, as damage control went underway. Dan Enright, who already knew the day was over, kept Bob in the dark of this news, just to see how long he could keep people in their seats. Days later...Once the set was repaired to resume production, the raising mechanism for the percentage sign was no longer used.

Rumor has it, the format change from couples to one-on-one was implemented, as a quick turnover to finish the production.

[Fedya]

Because we can!

Any reason that can also be used to explain why a dog licks his balls is not a good reason.

Dogs use their tongues because they don't have opposable thumbs.  ;-)

[TheLastResort]

"Play the Percentages" had the giant percent sign that would rise out of the floor, though it only worked a handful of times.

...and ultimately was retired in the end. The pneumatic hardware that raised and lowered the sign caused several issues throughout its use. The score displays were knocked out frequently, from the circuitry getting jolted. The big issue was the speed of the sign raising up. The hardware and the framing that handled those mechanics, were right underneath the center stage. One time during one of the pilot runthroughs, the sign shot up too fast and the stage teeter tottered. Luckily it wasn't strong enough to cause any real damage. Another time during an episode tape day, the sign shot up WAY too fast. According to one Barry & Enright staffer who was on set, everyone literally ran for their lives. Podiums were toppled over, carpet was torn, lights were broken, and production was shut down. Bob Hilton was sent out to entertain the crowd, as damage control went underway. Dan Enright, who already knew the day was over, kept Bob in the dark of this news, just to see how long he could keep people in their seats. Days later...Once the set was repaired to resume production, the raising mechanism for the percentage sign was no longer used.

Wow, great story!  What was your connection to the show?  I was in high school when the PtP was rerun on USA, and I loved it for all of its cheesiness.  I knew they had issues with the sign operating, but I didn't know it did that kind of damage.  I remember on the premiere episode, it seemed to shoot up pretty fast as they broke for commercial, but on later episodes it seemed to take forever, like they couldn't get the timing right.  I figured that's why they ultimately scrapped it.

Rumor has it, the format change from couples to one-on-one was implemented, as a quick turnover to finish the production.

Can you clarify?  I thought the main game format change was a desperate effort to boost ratings.

[whewfan]

It might've been... considering the numerous changes made throughout the run. The couples format had issues with the jackpot bonus... first they put it in the bonus game, when the percent sign worked. Once it malfunctioned, they moved the jackpot bonus to the main game. A couple won $36k and even Geoff acknowledged in the bonus game that playing the bonus game was anti-climactic. The bonus game itself underwent many changes, one wonders if the viewers might've given up considering the format changed every week.

[Argo]

Whew!: Set pieces pull apart to reveal the Gauntlet of Villains

Pitfall: Main game set opens up to reveal the pitfalls

Split Second: Main game set opens to reveal the cars

Scrabble: The game board moving in at the opening of the show, and also its rotating around for the Sprint

WOF puzzle board after a puzzle was solved. Mind you the board was rarely seen moving on air. if ever except for the pilot and a few reflections seen in the contestant backdrops so it was probably just rolled off manually.

Jeopardy 78 (the flower sprouted when Art walked in, and the walls open to reveal the contestants and answers)

Now You See It: Narz (Letter boards) - Henry (them things that went up and down lol. May have been neat looking but definately unnecessary IMHO).

Password Plus ? (sign and the alphabetics doors)

Also, since TPIR is mentioned that should include Cullen's too

Mark

[golden-road]

Kennedy NTT '78 - '81. Two set pieces separating center stage from the two bands. The rotating cube at center stage, housing the logo, Melody Roulette wheel, and Golden Medley Showdown clock.

[irwinsjournal.com]

I suppose that Numberwang doesn't count, but the first thing I thought of when I saw the topic title was, "Let's rotate the board!"

And I have you guys to blame for that... I'd never heard of Numberwang before I started reading this board.

[SuperMatch93]

Didn't $oTC's Winner's Big Money Game also have two sorta circular stands come from opposite sides of the stage to the center at the beginning of the round, as well?

Not to mention the rotating car platform (that Wheel also has) and the Instant Bargain/Fame Game turntable.

[thewhammy_2000]

Does this count (if not mentioned yet):

On Play the Percentages, the endgame screen moves behind the podium.

On the High Rollers Pilot (which I saw in full last weekend), the table rotated towards the Big Numbers, I thought it would be good idea and wondered why it didn't catch into the series, until I saw how the camera shot the rolls.

On Hoosier Millionaire, there were two turntables in the endgame in the mid-1990s--one that had the host and contestant, and one that had the game board. It was similar to how the podiums rotated on Stumpers!

What about the Face-Off game in Nick Arcade?

Or the big doors of Fun House, College Mad House, Whew! and 85-86 Break the Bank?

Or the podii from the Winner's Big Money game on $ale of the Century?

Don't Forget Your Toothbrush had turntable (I actually remembered that from the UK version; I'm not sure about the US version)

Or I'm Telling!, in which the whole game was played on a turntable?

Or Child's Play, where it's one side flower and the other side the Triple Play/Turnabout board?

Or We've Got Your Number, where basically the whole set (not the podiums) turns into a game room with chandeliers and dice table?

Or Think Twice, where the round of Imagination opens up?

Or You Don't Know Jack, where Troy is on a moving floor as he cheats, I mean greets the contesti?

Or Catch Phrase, where the two monitors, podii, etc rotate?

Or Camouflage, where the set splits up to reveal the car?

Or the early episodes/pilots of 3's a Crowd where the seats combine at the intro?

Or the keyboard and isolation booth of The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime?

Or the boards of Trivia Trap?

Or the isolation booths of Win Ben Stein's Money?

Or the stands and podiums of Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak (and pilots)?

Or the contestants' podium on Whammy!?

Or that ugly Dragon for the Dragon Finder game on Tic Tac Dough?

Or the Chain Reaction board from the pilot?

Or the contesti podium and Gold Run handle from Rafferty's Blockbusters?

Or the poduims and category board from The Hollywood Game?

Maybe I said too much and some may be invalid, but one thing I like about a game show is how something moves/rotates without visible force.

[Jumpondees]

I suppose that Numberwang doesn't count, but the first thing I thought of when I saw the topic title was, "Let's rotate the board!"

And I have you guys to blame for that... I'd never heard of Numberwang before I started reading this board.

For a brief moment, I had thought the same thing, but decided to leave that one alone.  :-)

[HYHYBT]

Once the set was repaired to resume production, the raising mechanism for the percentage sign was no longer used.

Rumor has it, the format change from couples to one-on-one was implemented, as a quick turnover to finish the production.

That doesn't make much sense: they'd stopped using the sign for anything but decoration well before dropping the couples, and continued raising it for a while after going to individual contestants.

WOF puzzle board after a puzzle was solved. Mind you the board was rarely seen moving on air. if ever except for the pilot and a few reflections seen in the contestant backdrops so it was probably just rolled off manually.

There was at least one time: an end-of-show Pat and Vanna moment demonstrating how the puzzle board worked. Rotating one space around all the way from letter to green to blank to letter again, switching out that letter for another.... and then Pat said something like "and it moves, too" and pretended to start the thing like a car, then it slid away.

[clemon79]

if ever except for the pilot and a few reflections seen in the contestant backdrops so it was probably just rolled off manually.

Actually there was a time when it wasn't uncommon for the board to roll out after a bonus round win where the prize was something too big to fit on the main part of the stage, like a boat. You'd see Vanna walking off of it as it moved and everything.

[dazztardly]

they'd stopped using the sign for anything but decoration well before dropping the couples, and continued raising it for a while after going to individual contestants.

I'm just going off the stories told to me from talking with a Barry & Enright staffer. If it was used over the one-on-one format, then that's when it broke.

[BrandonFG]

if ever except for the pilot and a few reflections seen in the contestant backdrops so it was probably just rolled off manually.

Actually there was a time when it wasn't uncommon for the board to roll out after a bonus round win where the prize was something too big to fit on the main part of the stage, like a boat. You'd see Vanna walking off of it as it moved and everything.

I couldn't find it, but there is/was a Youtube clip from the mid-80s, where IIRC someone won an RV, and the board indeed rolled offstage. I remember being somewhat wowed by it all...