Free Play space vs Free Spin

[Kevin Prather]

Philip Cousin told me not long ago that the producers now tell the players they CANNOT look directly at the wheel before they spin it... in other words, if it's evident that they are looking at the wheel to see how hard they have to spin it to get what they want, the player could be disqualified.

Fine. Look at the wheel after this spin instead of before the next spin. Easy get-around.

[quote name='Modor']Incorrect. I specifically remember Johnny and Randy saying there was a limit of five.[/quote]
Five turkeys, five steaks, five chickens, five leg of lambs...etc.

[clemon79]

Philip Cousin told me not long ago that the producers now tell the players they CANNOT look directly at the wheel before they spin it... in other words, if it's evident that they are looking at the wheel to see how hard they have to spin it to get what they want, the player could be disqualified.

Before or after he showed you an Ebay auction for a pair of slippers?

It's a stupid fix- "Hey! We know our wheel is beatable, so don't look!"- there are better ways to fix a predictable wheel.

Such as? Note that "lubing the shiat out of it so it spins a lot more" isn't a realistic option because it would significantly slow down the tempo of the show, and the response of "so, have them edit them down in post!" adds a bunch of post-production time, which translates to direct expense. (The Aussie Wheel was so lubed. It's really noticeable, and not in a great way.)

So I'm curious to know what your solution is that is better *and* doesn't incur additional expense.

[TLEberle]

Pardon me if I don't take the word of a known sociopath as gospel (make sure you don't look at the thing you're grabbing? What the hell sense does that make?), but I'd like to put this forward before everyone tries to solve a problem that may not exist: how often has "skillful spinning" been an issue? If it was an issue no one would ever land on Bankrupt or Lose-a-Turn, and the minimum spin value would be $500, because you'd be able to dodge anything that you didn't want. The wheel isn't ever going to be completely random because given where the pointer is and who is at bat, there's probably only a 1/4 to 1/3 area of the wheel that can reasonably be reached on the next spin.

[JasonA1]

It's sorta like Supermarket Sweep where you can't just decimate the magazine rack or the meat department.

Incorrect.  I specifically remember Johnny and Randy saying there was a limit of five.

I've never been able to find out why contestants never did this. I know what you mean, Mark, but you also never saw contestants sweep their arm down the entire shelf of cold medicine, for example, which even given only five of each item, would still net some big bucks. I always assumed there was some vague notion they couldn't overrun an area.

-Jason

[clemon79]

I've never been able to find out why contestants never did this.

I am pretty sure (of course, Randy would know for absolute certain) that there was a stiff penalty for a) taking over your allotment of five of a given item and/or b) dropping something on the ground and failing to pick it up and replace it / put it in your cart.

[TLEberle]

I am pretty sure (of course, Randy would know for absolute certain) that there was a stiff penalty for a) taking over your allotment of five of a given item and/or b) dropping something on the ground and failing to pick it up and replace it / put it in your cart.

A team was fined $25.00 per incident, though the fine was only mentioned by David in the cases where a team had gotten so little in the way of groceries that the charges would reduce their final sweep total.

How would you orchestrate that "you can't scorched earth an aisle" rule? "It's been thirty seconds, shoppers! Move on to another area." is kludgey as hell and difficult to enforce.

[WilliamPorygon]

It's sorta like Supermarket Sweep where you can't just decimate the magazine rack

This was one of the things I always wondered about SS.  Magazines are generally expensive for the amount of space and weight they'd take up in the cart, but I don't remember anybody ever going to them except to get the titles David asked for to get the bonus.  Going strictly by the "limit of five" rule, I would've thought you could get pick up five copies of each title and it would be fine, so I presumed there might have been some unmentioned rule specifically limiting magazines more strictly than other items.

[clemon79]

How would you orchestrate that "you can't scorched earth an aisle" rule? "It's been thirty seconds, shoppers! Move on to another area." is kludgey as hell and difficult to enforce.

I fail to understand why it would be a problem. The big-ticket items were placed all around the store for a reason.

Is it also possible that the limit was five of a certain *type* of item? As in, five cold remedies, five cough syrups, five ketchups, etc? I dunno that I would waste my time sticking in the medicine isle if I had to be absolutely certain I didn't just grab five (and ONLY five, and not spilling any) of a type of item I already had, thereby going $125 in the wrong direction.

[TLEberle]

Is it also possible that the limit was five of a certain *type* of item? As in, five cold remedies, five cough syrups, five ketchups, etc? I dunno that I would waste my time sticking in the medicine isle if I had to be absolutely certain I didn't just grab five (and ONLY five, and not spilling any) of a type of item I already had, thereby going $125 in the wrong direction.

That would make sense, because then you're incented to find the most expensive toothpaste or detergent or imported cheese or whatever. The other thing I thought of is that Announcerguy would always say "After (he gets) the limit of five, anything else won't count." You'd only get charged for dropping something or knocking over a cameraman; if you grabbed a sixth K-Y, you wouldn't lose $25, you just wouldn't get credited for that sixth of whatever you got. (My bad for any misdirection on my part there.)

[Kevin Prather]

You'd only get charged for dropping something or knocking over a cameraman

Is it a $25 price tag on a cameraman's head too? Bet they're glad to know they're worth the same as a spilled box of Froot Loops.

[clemon79]

The other thing I thought of is that Announcerguy would always say "After (he gets) the limit of five, anything else won't count."

Now I'd really like Randy to chime in, because whether they said it on the show or not, I'm not sure I buy it. Because then there is ABSOLUTELY incentive to take extra hams or giant cheese wedges or whatever, since denying them to other players (assuming it's something like the cheese or the ham or whatever where you pretty much *need* to get your limit to win the game, and I'm guessing there were only fifteen or so of the really big items, just for space reasons) is just as good as getting them yourself.

[Kevin Prather]

The other thing I thought of is that Announcerguy would always say "After (he gets) the limit of five, anything else won't count."

Now I'd really like Randy to chime in, because whether they said it on the show or not, I'm not sure I buy it. Because then there is ABSOLUTELY incentive to take extra hams or giant cheese wedges or whatever, since denying them to other players (assuming it's something like the cheese or the ham or whatever where you pretty much *need* to get your limit to win the game, and I'm guessing there were only fifteen or so of the really big items, just for space reasons) is just as good as getting them yourself.

I'd like to hear from Randy on this too. For this exact reason, I'd have to think there'd be a penalty for taking too many, even if it's just negative the face value of the item.

[J.R.]

Before or after he showed you an Ebay auction for a pair of slippers?

I lol'd hard.

/Got those too from him