A Game Show Afternoon

[Matt Ottinger]

So the last day for the senior class was yesterday.  Today, they show up for Commencement rehearsals, but are free to go after that.  Instead, my gang of independent study video students (six in all) asked if I would bring in some game shows to watch.  This was pure entertainment, not a history lesson, but naturally I hit them with some old stuff.  The afternoon's entertainment consisted of the following:

• Go, because we use its theme music as our newscast theme (that always freaks them out), and because no matter what new group I show it to, their first reaction is what an interesting game it is.  It also featured a merely middle-aged Betty White.
  
• Winner Take All, to show them something really old, and also because of Bill.
  
• The Price Is Right with Bill, to show them how much the show had changed.
  
• Jeopardy with Art Fleming, for the same reason.
  
• Three On A Match, because I love to show them this relatively complicated show that doesn't stop to explain a lot, just to see how quickly they can pick up on all the little things going on.
  
• Password, to show them that shows weren't always in such a hurry.  It also featured a youngish Betty White.
  

We ran out of time before I could get to a panel show (which would probably have been Bill again, of course).  Along the way, we talked about Don Pardo and the fact that he's still active, the historical reason why "without going over" is part of the Price format, the ridiculousness of the old original ads, and tons more.  And the best part, they were completely fascinated with absolutely everything.  I assumed I'd be showing them a few minutes of something, and then moving on to something else.  Maybe they were just humoring the old man,but they really wanted to watch everything all the way through.  A fun way to share my passion with a new generation, and a great way to spend the afternoon during an absurdly busy time of year.

[Dbacksfan12]

Maybe they were just humoring the old man,but they really wanted to watch everything all the way through.  A fun way to share my passion with a new generation, and a great way to spend the afternoon during an absurdly busy time of year.

Sounds like a fun time.  You should make it a prerequisite for future classes.

[tpirfan28]

This would have been a great way to spend half a day.

• Jeopardy with Art Fleming, [to show them how much the show had changed].
  

Any particular reason why you picked this over early Wheel of Fortune?

[Matt Ottinger]

Any particular reason why you picked this over early Wheel of Fortune?

My fondness for Q&A in general, and Jeopardy in particular, is pretty well established.  I also had a whole "Don Pardo" thing going on.  Also, and this is purely a personal mindset, I look at really-early Wheel the same way I look at really-early Barker Price.  Yeah, OK, it's different, but it's still just the evolution of the same show over the course of decades.  Fleming Jeopardy is different different.  When Art Fleming parts that curtain to reveal the game board starting at $10, the kids are always just stunned.

[BrandonFG]

Sounds awesome, and makes me wish we'd had classes like that in high school. Apparently, my city's cable channel shows B&W shows, one of which was Cullen's TPiR. A friend of mine once noted how different it was and how odd it seemed that they continuously bid on the same item...

With Jeopardy, I'd love to see their reactions to pre-2001 Trebek eps. w/$100 as the minimum dollar value, considering they were prolly about 7 or 8 when they inflated the values...

Did any of your students recognize Don Pardo as the voice of SNL?

[gameshowcrazy]

I have to disagree on WOF vs. Jeopardy as being different.  Yeah, the dollar amounts are a stunner for someone to see today, but the shopping aspect of Wheel doesn't exist anymore.  I haven't been a regular Wheel watcher in years, but when I do get to watch these days, I tend to forget the prizes are even in the studio.

[Matt Ottinger]

Did any of your students recognize Don Pardo as the voice of SNL?

No, unfortunately.  Still, they were suitably impressed when I told them that this announcer from this 1952 game show is the guy who's still working on SNL all these years later.

[clemon79]

I have to disagree on WOF vs. Jeopardy as being different.  Yeah, the dollar amounts are a stunner for someone to see today, but the shopping aspect of Wheel doesn't exist anymore.  I haven't been a regular Wheel watcher in years, but when I do get to watch these days, I tend to forget the prizes are even in the studio.

Trust me when I tell you, Potpourri for $10 on a tiny manual gameboard behind a little curtain is a whole lot more mind-blowing than a minute detail (and to a non-geek, believe me, it's a minute detail) about having to spend your money on prizes rather than getting it in cash while still playing the same Hangman game on a wheel that to the casual viewer hasn't changed in 30 years.

[davidhammett]

It is great to have these opportunities to educate young minds on all that is truly important, isn't it?  (And even greater that they did it of their own volition.)

[tvmitch]

Matt, it's funny that you showed "Go." Back in my senior year of high school, 10-11 years ago, I would bring in a tape or two with me to class towards the end of the year, because we had 80-minute classes, and the teachers seemed to always run out of stuff to do, as they had senioritis as bad as I did by early June.

One of the shows we would watch most often was an episode of "Go," taped during the "dark period," with JoAnne Worley...and I remember my friends and classmates being just as fascinated with the format. When we would watch the show, it was a completely optional thing, and you could do other things if you wanted, but most of the kids watched. It interested one of my teachers enough that we staged a game of it to review history facts, I believe. Very easy to set up a game of "Go" in a classroom with rows of desks...and not that hard to explain the format beforehand.

Another one that pops in my head is Blockbusters; I remember staging a Blockbusters game in one of my classes as well, using quiz bowl buzz-in equipment.

[gameboy2000]

Sounds awesome, and makes me wish we'd had classes like that in high school. Apparently, my city's cable channel shows B&W shows, one of which was Cullen's TPiR. A friend of mine once noted how different it was and how odd it seemed that they continuously bid on the same item...

Funny, I live in the same city and I don't remember that station showing Cullen TPIR. They have shown You Bet Your Life, though.

[mmb5]

Trust me when I tell you, Potpourri for $10 on a tiny manual gameboard behind a little curtain is a whole lot more mind-blowing than a minute detail (and to a non-geek, believe me, it's a minute detail) about having to spend your money on prizes rather than getting it in cash while still playing the same Hangman game on a wheel that to the casual viewer hasn't changed in 30 years.

Or a more subtle difference a J! high school nerd would have picked up on right away -- they didn't have to wait until the end to ring in.  That changes the way the game is played significantly.

[Jeremy Nelson]

I have to disagree on WOF vs. Jeopardy as being different.  Yeah, the dollar amounts are a stunner for someone to see today, but the shopping aspect of Wheel doesn't exist anymore.  I haven't been a regular Wheel watcher in years, but when I do get to watch these days, I tend to forget the prizes are even in the studio.

Trust me when I tell you, Potpourri for $10 on a tiny manual gameboard behind a little curtain is a whole lot more mind-blowing than a minute detail (and to a non-geek, believe me, it's a minute detail) about having to spend your money on prizes rather than getting it in cash while still playing the same Hangman game on a wheel that to the casual viewer hasn't changed in 30 years.

Both had manually operated game boards and a game with lower dollar values. Educate me, because honestly, I'm not seeing how one trumps the other in mind-blowing potential. As a matter of fact, Wheel has the shopping element, so at least there's a once notable element of the show that went to the wayside. Even referencing the significance of vowels today vs back then is a somewhat, although not as important, factoid.

Jeopardy did have a different feel back then, as it really was a laid back "come into our studio living room and play along with us for 30 minutes" kind of show- as much as Alex tries to convey that today, there's only so much you can do when the contestants are playing for high stakes. However, that's not what you're referencing in your argument, so I'm just trying to see where you're coming from here.

[Matt Ottinger]

My fondness for Q&A in general, and Jeopardy in particular, is pretty well established.  I also had a whole "Don Pardo" thing going on.  Also, and this is purely a personal mindset, I look at really-early Wheel the same way I look at really-early Barker Price.

Guys, I though the disclaimer was more than clear.  We could argue for weeks about which one was "more different" but I'd really rather not, OK?

[alfonzos]

...one of which was Cullen's TPiR. A friend of mine once noted how different it was and how odd it seemed that they continuously bid on the same item...

I exposed my sister-in-law to this version. She disapproved saying, "They might as well be playing Jeopardy!"