The Joker's Wild

[wdm1219inpenna]

Did it ever annoy you that they added this into the show?  I know it did me.  I wanted to watch 2 players spin and compete answering questions.  The bonus game was not one where you could really play along, but it was relatively quick.  This audience game seemed interminable to me.  Seems it took up too much time, and it was about as enjoyable to watch as if I were standing on the floor of a casino, behind 3 slot players watching them play.

Why was this feature introduced?  Were they running out of enough regular contestants from the pool?  Was this an effort to save money?  Seems it was more costly to have this game.

[TLEberle]

When in doubt, go with the money.

It was less expensive to play the audience game (for $200 a player at most, and about $2,000 in the bonus) than it was to play whatever more regular content, is my guess.

[JasonA1]

I've seen a mid-run CBS episode where they did an audience game. Jack is positively giddy about its inclusion, playing a clip from the previous day's audience game to show you how much fun it was. Bizarrely, the audience was outfitted in pink Price nametags. My theory has always been it provided more of the contestant "zingers" and moments he liked to produce so much (think Joker Joker Joker). Within the confines of the "regular" game, there wasn't tons of room for wacky personalities. But in this form, you could pull excitable folks up for a few moments, and theoretically get the home audience saying "did you see when..."

-Jason

[clemon79]

Did it ever annoy you that they added this into the show?  I know it did me.

Actually I always thought it was completely awesome. Seriously. Loved it.

[parliboy]

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When in doubt, go with the money.

It was less expensive to play the audience game (for $200 a player at most, and about $2,000 in the bonus) than it was to play whatever more regular content, is my guess.

I don't think we can go with the money here. The prizes were sponsored. The audience game saw more cash at stake per-minute of play than did the regular game.

[aaron sica]

The game itself didn't annoy me, but the music they played for it did..

[narzo]

I've seen a mid-run CBS episode where they did an audience game. Jack is positively giddy about its inclusion, playing a clip from the previous day's audience game to show you how much fun it was. Bizarrely, the audience was outfitted in pink Price nametags. My theory has always been it provided more of the contestant "zingers" and moments he liked to produce so much (think Joker Joker Joker). Within the confines of the "regular" game, there wasn't tons of room for wacky personalities. But in this form, you could pull excitable folks up for a few moments, and theoretically get the home audience saying "did you see when..."

-Jason

I'm glad you mentioned this because I was starting to think I made up that memory.  I recall a large handle, similar to what they champion used in the bonus game, in the audience.  The player spun for 3 jokers and won $100, with the chance to double it with each subsequent spin up to $1600.  No?

 I seem to recall the champion was playing the "new" money amounts/devil bonus game around this time as well.

[Vahan_Nisanian]

Jason, was the mid-run CBS episode among the ones that GSN aired?

[BrandonFG]

The game itself didn't annoy me, but the music they played for it did..

For as many great themes Hal Hidey came up with, the swing music he composed as prize cues sounded really weird on a game show. The music TJW and/or TTD occasionally used during the fee plugs comes to mind.

[mystery7]

I rather liked the Barry & Enright prize music. The swingy tunes were kinda classy. But yeah, the "Face The Devil" cue Aaron referred to, with its Minimoog banjo (or was it a real one?), did feel kinda cornpone.

[GameShowGuru]

The game itself didn't annoy me, but the music they played for it did..

You probably would've hated playing kickball with me as a kid, because whenever I kicked a home run (or better yet, a grand slam), I would sing that tune while I (and others) would run the bases to home plate.  Needless to say, I didn't make a lot of (new) friends, but my ability to win a game made the music more tolerable. ;-)