Narz Concentration

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'CBSJokersWildFan\' date=\'Dec 6 2003, 06:57 AM\'] On the Narz Concentration, did the players play two-out-of-three matches? [/quote]
Nope, Narz's format was two maingames with a Double Play bonus after each maingame. As reported earlier, If they had extra time, they played that "foreign money converted to US dollars" maingame until time ran out. Narz's version had no straddling like the original, and no returning champs like the original or the Trebek version had. Trebek's version had a two-out-of-three(non-straddled) format from Summer 1998-Summer 1990. If the match was tied 1-1, they played a jump-in rebus where the squares were revealed one at a time from 1-25 in order. The player who solved the rebus won the match and played the bonus game(only one bonus played per day in that format). I think some of the 60s tournaments of champions had a two-out-of-three or three-out-of-five format for the semi-finals or finals, at least one of the tourney shows on the trading circuit did(the championship-winning rebus was solved just as time ran out on the episode, so they didn't do the pomp and circumstance until the following episode)

[HYHYBT]

Stupid point, I know, but wasn't it generally 200 California lottery tickets instead of 1000?

[JasonA1]

Stupid point, I know, but wasn't it generally 200 California lottery tickets instead of 1000?

Mr. Raygor mentioned this already, but I'll follow up by saying a lot of us are going from the more commonly traded 1000th eppy, in which that prize was offered.

-Jason

[Steve McClellan]

[quote name=\'HYHYBT\' date=\'Dec 6 2003, 10:05 PM\']Stupid point, I know, but wasn't it generally 200 California lottery tickets instead of 1000?[/quote]
That was mentioned earlier. In that case, a (presumably) $200 prize would be expected to win you $104, or about $22 after taxes. If you make over $30K a year, you might even be better off declining the prize.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'gameshowsteve\' date=\'Dec 7 2003, 01:25 AM\'] [quote name=\'HYHYBT\' date=\'Dec 6 2003, 10:05 PM\']Stupid point, I know, but wasn't it generally 200 California lottery tickets instead of 1000?[/quote]
That was mentioned earlier. In that case, a (presumably) $200 prize would be expected to win you $104, or about $22 after taxes. If you make over $30K a year, you might even be better off declining the prize. [/quote]
 If the lottery tickets were the only thing you won, or your total winnings were less than $600, then you wouldn't be paying taxes. Only when a player wins $600 or more are their winnings taxed IIRC. Two notable exceptions are the trips to NYC to be on Millionaire that were won by the early contestants(about a year into the run, those prizes became taxable), and the Tax Free week of shows the ABC WWTBAM had, where H&R Block gave the players money to cover the taxes.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'HYHYBT\' date=\'Dec 7 2003, 01:05 AM\'] Stupid point, I know, but wasn't it generally 200 California lottery tickets instead of 1000? [/quote]
 OUtside of the aforementioned 1000th episode, 200 was usually the number of tickets won. Wink's High Rollers early in its run had a one-time special game called the "Millionaire Game", where a roll of the dice could earn up to 1500(I believe) California Lottery Tickets. Nobody managed to win the right to play that game, so I don't know how it would have been played(I assume each number from 1-6 was worth a different amount of lottery tickets)

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'That Don Guy\' date=\'Dec 5 2003, 10:21 PM\'] [quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Dec 5 2003, 03:10 PM\'] It isn't, tho. a California Lottery scratchoff ticket is worth precisely $0 if it's not a winner. I don't remember what the payout scale for prizes on the scratchoff game was, but I think it was something like 30 cents on the dollar. So, if I'm right about that, you're looking at a prize worth roughly $300.

The question _I_ have is, is it taxable, and if so, for how much? [/quote]
I'm pretty sure 50% of the money in the California Lottery "scratch-off" games goes back to the players (1/3 to the schools (to make up for the money the legislature moves from the education budget to the general fund under the impression that the lottery will make up the difference), and 1/6 for other costs), at least back then.
Besides, an unscratched California Lottery ticket had a retail value of $1, so I would guess that's what the IRS would use when determining your income.  (And yes, if you won anything, that was counted on top of the $1 per ticket, although California Lottery winnings are not taxable against California state income tax, only Federal.)

More differences between the Narz and the original: if you matched two Wild Cards, you won a car rather than $500 (and you kept the car whether or not you won the game; also, the car could not be lost in a Take or Forfeit), and the original had no end game.

-- Don [/quote]
 Here is some more information on the California Lottery funds distribution:
http://www.calottery.com/heroesineducation/faq.asp

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Dec 5 2003, 11:39 PM\']One day I was going through a talk show guest magazine at the radio station I was working at and found a big ad that read, "Have the creator of tv's Concentration on your show to talk about UFOs and other phenomena." Buddy Piper supposedly left show biz a few years after developing Face The Music to devote himself to studying things like UFOs, crop circles, and angels. Guess he's on the lecture circuit, among other things. I checked a couple of websites to see if he's still around. Wonder if he got residuals during the G-T run? Or Bob Noah? Or did NBC get everything?[/quote]
If he got residuals, it was not until the later years of the network run, when they started running the "Based on an idea by Buddy Piper" credit (no doubt after much threatened litigation).  That credit has appeared on the two successive versions since then, but not on any of the home games and slot machines, while Steve Ryan has received credits in recent years for rebus construction, proving that Ryan has a better attorney or agent than Piper.

[Jay Temple]

[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Dec 5 2003, 10:39 PM\'] Yeah, add me to the list of fans who think Concentration is one of the all-time greatest tv games...though I liked the older more than the later. [/quote]
 I have only the faintest recollection of seeing the older versions, but it seems to me that Concentration is possibly the best example of a game that works well straddling and with no end game.  You solve the puzzle, you win your prizes and you face the next contestant.

[Bob Zager]

[quote name=\'JasonA1\' date=\'Dec 5 2003, 06:28 AM\'] * The first game is the "three call game" where three numbers are called instead of two. Along with the regular Wild Cards and "Take 1 Gift," there was something called "Free Look." Two such spaces were on the board, and were immediately turned to the rebus when picked.

 [/quote]
 I've seen only one episode featuring this concept, and what I hadn't seen is what would happen if the first two numbers called did not match, and the third number called was a "Wild Card."  Whenever that happened, did the contestant have to choose one of the two prizes revealed, or was he/she credited with BOTH prizes, and then three pieces of the puzzle revealed?