Distinguishing NBC "Sale" episodes from Syndicated episodes...

[Bryce L.]

Recently been watching a lot of Sale of the Century episodes on YouTube, been trying to figure out how to tell between the NBC and Syndicated shows. Here\'s what I\'ve deduced on my own...

 

• If it\'s from 1983 or 1984, it\'s obviously an NBC show


• If it\'s from 1987 or later, it\'s obviously an NBC show


• If there is shopping or the Winner\'s Board, and there\'s a \"USA\" logo bug on-screen, it\'s a syndicated episode


• If it\'s from 1986 and the Instant Cash game is played, it\'s an NBC show (I THINK, not sure if the syndicated run ever used Instant Cash)

Not sure how to tell beyond that, any advice would be appreciated.

[BrandonFG]

From what it appears, yes. Some technical differences...

 

-The syndicated version did its contestant/ticket plug before the closing credits...every NBC episode I\'ve seen did plugs coming back from one of the commercial breaks.

-IIRC, they also used video clips for the contestant prize plugs, instead of closeups of art cards (similar to the $100K Pyramid, as opposed to the daytime version)

-For the \"closing logo\" buffs such as myself, the syndicated version had an on-screen credit that read \"Distributed By Genesis Entertainment\".

[Bryce L.]

Would the contestant/ticket plugs be left intact in the USA airings? Probably not, I would assume.

 

And the \"art cards vs. video clips\", you mean for consolation prize plugs at the end?

 

And I\'ll have to keep my eyes peeled for the Genesis Entertainment credit, thank you.

[BrandonFG]

Would the contestant/ticket plugs be left intact in the USA airings? Probably not, I would assume.

 

And the \"art cards vs. video clips\", you mean for consolation prize plugs at the end?

Yes and yes. USA generally kept contestant/ticket plugs in, and simply added a \"Phone Number Not Active\" disclaimer at the bottom of the screen.

[Bryce L.]

Would the contestant/ticket plugs be left intact in the USA airings? Probably not, I would assume.

 

And the \"art cards vs. video clips\", you mean for consolation prize plugs at the end?

Yes and yes. USA generally kept contestant/ticket plugs in, and simply added a \"Phone Number Not Active\" disclaimer at the bottom of the screen.

Smart idea with the \"Phone Number Not Active\" disclaimer... why GSN couldn\'t be bothered to do that, I don\'t know. Just a minor pet peeve, nothing too big.

[Vahan_Nisanian]

Here\'s another one:

 

The syndicated episodes, as well as post-1984 NBC episodes, featured a rhinestone font for the $100,000 text in the opening, as opposed to the WOF one (not sure of the font), and a smaller font for the instant bargains dollar amounts.

[TLEberle]

I think the \"$100,000\" font you\'re thinking of is Impact. One distinguishing characteristic that Dustin has mentioned is that the network show would have a portion of their questions about current events but that the syndicated episodes would have fairly generic general knowledge questions.

[BrandonFG]

I think the \"$100,000\" font you\'re thinking of is Impact.

They used a couple of fonts for the \"$100,000\" display. Impact was the first or second season for that and early Instant Bargains...IIRC, that font was also used to display how much was being offered on Wheel.

 

They\'re were also a few variations of Helvetica (Black), which seemed to be the standard NBC font. There were the \"rhinestones\" (late-1984 to the end of the run), and before that, a plain solid yellow \"$100,000\" (another NBC game staple in the 80s), then yet another plain yellow one, but with two horizontal lines above and below the dollar figure.

 

/Was never a big fan of Impact

//Looked too.....gaudy

[SRIV94]

It wasn\'t Impact, although I don\'t know what font it was.  The 2 in Impact connects straight diagonally to the bottom, while the 2 in that NBC font curves in its connection to the bottom.

[BrandonFG]

For reference, I looked through a few episodes and was able to find the many different styles. The episodes are from (clockwise from upper left: July 1983, early 1984, December 1984, and 1986. I think the rhinestones were in place by spring of 1985.

 

Whenever they started using the font Doug describes is about the time they started superimposing the briefcase of dollars over the shot of the car. Looked much cooler than the money falling from nowhere.

[DJDustman]

Here are some ways to find the differences of Syndie and Daytime.

 

On the syndicated episodes, take a look at the fame game board (for season II). The numbers 1 - 9 are ugly dark orange on a yellow background. 

 

Instant Cash is a daytime-only thing.

 

One that was mentioned already: USA logo = Syndicated, unless the end game is Winner\'s Big Money Game. 

 

If there is shopping round at the end and Summer Bartholomew is the model: syndicated.

[Bryce L.]

Roughly when did the original tan/beige set with the rainbow buzzers change to the orange set and podiums? And when did they stop using celebrity faces on the Fame Game board?

[TheInquisitiveOne]

^Almost simultaneously in mid-1984. I want to say that the gold set and the numbers-only board was implemented at the same time, if not within weeks of each other (the numbers coming slightly before the golden array).

 

The Inquisitive One

[Bryce L.]

I know David Rogers\' $109,000 win still had the tan set, so the speed round was implemented before the set change.

[TheInquisitiveOne]

Quite a few cash jackpot wins came during the \"Rainbow Buzzers\" era. It can be determined that the Speed Round was the first permanent change before the set changeovers...

 

The Inquisitive One