Another 'Sale Of the Century' thread

[WarioBarker]

I watched a good portion of the show's run and, while I didn't know very much at the time about the shows that preceded it, I still knew it sucked. (Still have about 10 episodes on tape, though.)

Looking back, what really bothers me about the show is how much whatever remained of Sale/Aussie Temptation was changed -- the Instant Bargains always ended with a five-second "Shop Clock", the Fame Game had its heart torn out, Instant Cash capped at $5,000, and the aforementioned flaws with the shopping endgame. Apparently, the format for the series was the same one they used for the 2006 pilots shot on the Australian set, but the pitchfilm stations got didn't mention anything much beyond "ooh shopping".

The other thing that really bothered me was the fact they used elements of Wipeout, which I'm pretty sure isn't a Fremantle property. I'm also pretty sure Super Knock-Off was there to offset the five-day limit.

There was also no real cash present, aside from the occasional $10,000 in the endgame, and apparently no consolation prizes if you didn't buy anything (including champions) -- just "Lots of love and hugs from me.", which is great but amounts to $0 in the end.

Oh, and the endgame was called "the shopping spree of a lifetime" but didn't let players buy more than one prize. Huh?

Having only seen the two "preview" episodes, it felt like the show was trying to stick as much of $ale of the Century into itself as possible without being $ale of the Century.

It sounds stupid, and it looked stupid.

Look up the Nicole/Katina/Susan episode uploaded by thewhammy83 -- it's a great example of how bad the series was, primarily in terms of contestant intelligence. Instant Cash is particularly headdesk-worthy.

[Vahan_Nisanian]

Other than Mark (famously referred to by Rossi as a "Shopping Ninja"), was there anyone on this show who bought the top prize?

[MikeK]

If I sound ticked about it, it's because they've probably made it highly unlikely that we'll see the format revived again in the US in the next 10-20 years, if ever. And that's a crying shame.

It was almost 19 years between Sale's cancellation in early '89 and Temptation in 2007.  10 years from now would be 16 years since Temptation went adieu.  That sounds like a bit of an improvement to me.

[BrandonFG]

The other thing that really bothered me was the fact they used elements of Wipeout, which I'm pretty sure isn't a Fremantle property.

That's not really that big of a deal...Hollywood Squares more or less ripped off Split Second's end game too.

Other than Mark (famously referred to by Rossi as a "Shopping Ninja"), was there anyone on this show who bought the top prize?

I think there was a guy who bought a Nissan Altima. I remember turning in during the closing, and I could've sworn the guy was sitting in the car.

That was the other thing...the show's budget dwindled significantly over the course of the season. A Jaguar during the premiere week, then a Prius, then an Altima. Looking up a few other episodes, they also offered a camper and Chrysler Sebring convertible. Still a bit of a dropoff.

[TLEberle]

That was the other thing...the show's budget dwindled significantly over the course of the season. A Jaguar during the premiere week, then a Prius, then an Altima. Looking up a few other episodes, they also offered a camper and Chrysler Sebring convertible. Still a bit of a dropoff.

Not even the "worst" of it: once the tippy top prize was a three-week African safari.

Part of the decreased prize money came from the three-day tournaments where the scores rolled over and whoever won on the third day was the only one who got to go shopping; the purchase prices were smaller and so were the prizes.

[Strikerz04]

That was the other thing...the show's budget dwindled significantly over the course of the season. A Jaguar during the premiere week, then a Prius, then an Altima. Looking up a few other episodes, they also offered a camper and Chrysler Sebring convertible. Still a bit of a dropoff.

Not even the "worst" of it: once the tippy top prize was a three-week African safari.

Part of the decreased prize money came from the three-day tournaments where the scores rolled over and whoever won on the third day was the only one who got to go shopping; the purchase prices were smaller and so were the prizes.

At least the tournament offered a "10% discount" in an instant bargain that would be applied to the shopping floor, which was interesting (and I say that loosely). I can recall at least two car winners from that entire series. Might've been a third, or that person fell short on day 5.

The show lacked the intelligence factor and the home-shopping element was unnecessary. Just an omnishambles from the start.

[TLEberle]

I thought the 10% off coupon was a bright spot of cleverness in an otherwise barren operation.

[PYLdude]

That was the other thing...the show's budget dwindled significantly over the course of the season. A Jaguar during the premiere week, then a Prius, then an Altima. Looking up a few other episodes, they also offered a camper and Chrysler Sebring convertible. Still a bit of a dropoff.

Not even the "worst" of it: once the tippy top prize was a three-week African safari.

Part of the decreased prize money came from the three-day tournaments where the scores rolled over and whoever won on the third day was the only one who got to go shopping; the purchase prices were smaller and so were the prizes.

At least the tournament offered a "10% discount" in an instant bargain that would be applied to the shopping floor, which was interesting (and I say that loosely). I can recall at least two car winners from that entire series. Might've been a third, or that person fell short on day 5.

The show lacked the intelligence factor and the home-shopping element was unnecessary. Just an omnishambles from the start.

And as I've told people in the past, all you need to do is make a couple of changes and the show would be so much more bearable.

I didn't have a problem with the Shop Clock- I thought that was a cool addition and "going once, going twice" needed an update. I didn't have an issue with the way the Fame Game was conducted either- I may be in the minority on that, but why not have it be for shopping money instead of the potential for a prize you might not necessarily have use for? Knockout I thought was okay, at least for the endgame because it helped the contestant more than it hindered anything. And even the higher stakes speed round at the end made things a little more interesting. And Rossi really wasn't the worst host...it wasn't the best job ever but he did what he could with what he was given. And I thought that he was better when you could tell he wasn't working on book. I even appreciated bringing back the Instant Cash and the use of the multicolored wallets- even if the stakes probably could've been a little different (the $500 increase is okay, but to start at $500 and to have a $5000 cap wasn't).

Other than that, the rest of the execution was just pisspoor. Overreliance on speed rounds, no sense of direction, home shopping segments, too rushed a pace...

[clemon79]

and "going once, going twice" needed an update.

See, this to me is like saying "Here is your first subject!" needs an update.

[TLEberle]

For me the Fame Game does two things: it breaks up the flow of the game into smaller chunks (without having those chunks be stupid as in Meat-or-Cheese), and it also gives everyone a chance to take something home. Sure, maybe you choose poorly and got a six-foot-tall teddy bear, but that's something. The only way everyone takes something home on Temptation is if the eventual losers lead at the time the Gift Shop opens and then decide to buy. (A year's membership to a handbag swap club? Ooh la la. Original Recipe wasn't the only version to have dumb prizes, so there's that.)

What's sad is I now understand who Temptation's idea viewer would have been. I guess there weren't enough of that person out there.

[PYLdude]

and "going once, going twice" needed an update.

See, this to me is like saying "Here is your first subject!" needs an update.

FTR, I thought the non-inclusion of that phrase was one of the bad things with Donnymid. Take that how you will.