"Anticlimactic" game show moments...

[BrandonFG]

I think you illustrated where I was going with this. Nowadays, the main game offers so much loot to where you could win an equal or lesser value in the bonus round. And I think that's where my idea of it being anticlimactic comes from. "Oh I've already won $42,000...what's another 40K?*" If she pulls the 25K envelope, it's still a little more on the check, but I'm sure the reaction is a little more muted.

15-20 years ago, $42,000 was a really nice one-day total (main game + bonus). Or the 80s, where some winners didn't even crack five figures in the main game, but would play for a car worth thousands more.

*Not how I'd treat it necessarily, but just an observation

[Mr. Armadillo]

The way the Wheel bonus puzzles have been written the last few years with that one letter that you need to find to have any chance at winning, it's got all of the issues the Card Sharks car game had (an unlikely win which feels like it has very little at stake when the contestant just finished winning as much or more) plus a lack of suspense. As soon as the contestant's letters come up on the board, it's usually pretty obvious whether (s)he wins or loses.

This has been the case for much more of Wheel's run than that.  How often did people solve WALK or WAX without the 'key' letter(s)?

[chrisholland03]

I always felt $ale offering the cash jackpot, then the cash jackpot and prizes was anti-climatic.  The syndicated version corrected this. 

[TLEberle]

I bet the contestants felt differently,= given how many bought the glass case and how few (any?) bought All The Prizes.

[Bryce L.]

I bet the contestants felt differently,= given how many bought the glass case and how few (any?) bought All The Prizes.

Only "All The Prizes" winners from daytime that come to mind are Mort Kamins (who won before the jackpot was introduced) and Barbara Phillips (but didn't she only win the Lot by way of having a major blowout victory on her final day?)

[TLEberle]

I meant on the nighttime version specifically. Barbara got to $120 on account of a $15 money card and her opponents laying down for the last three questions. I suspect she would have taken the money as well if it came to that.

[PYLdude]

I wouldn't call having the cash jackpot as a prize anticlimactic but a flaw in the gameplay structure. My reasoning is that you build up to this big payoff of over $100,000 and then someone leaves with the second to last thing you can buy.

I think the syndie show got it right by making the contestants earn the bonus as opposed to simply purchasing it.

[WhirlieBird74]

I remember watching an episode of Mike O'Malley's 'Get The Picture' on the now-defunct Nickelodeon GAS channel, where, from a season 2 episode, the score was SO lopsided:  960-80.  Time ran out in the second ('Dots') round, and the final puzzle was worth only 75 points.  The final score ended up being 960-155(?).

[TLEberle]

I submit that most of the Nickelodeon game shows were not overly concerned with providing an exciting finish. On Finders Keepers it was possible (though unlikely) that the game would be over at the conclusion of the second hidden picture round.)

[BrandonFG]

I never really looked at the cash jackpot as anti-climactic or even flawed. But then again, if I'm a contestant, I'm prolly bailing with the briefcase of cash too. To me, winning big money (esp. by 1983 standards) still looks good. Might not be as dramatic as winning the lot, but I'd still find it enjoyable.

[PYLdude]

I never really looked at the cash jackpot as anti-climactic or even flawed. But then again, if I'm a contestant, I'm prolly bailing with the briefcase of cash too. To me, winning big money (esp. by 1983 standards) still looks good. Might not be as dramatic as winning the lot, but I'd still find it enjoyable.

I'm not arguing that it wasn't a good prize to get. Because it certainly was nice to be able to take a buttload of cash with you.

Where I stand is that having it as a shopping prize instead of a reward for completing the journey to the highest level took a lot away from the point of being able to potentially buy a six-figure prize haul for less than a thousand bucks.

[Unrealtor]

The way the Wheel bonus puzzles have been written the last few years with that one letter that you need to find to have any chance at winning, it's got all of the issues the Card Sharks car game had (an unlikely win which feels like it has very little at stake when the contestant just finished winning as much or more) plus a lack of suspense. As soon as the contestant's letters come up on the board, it's usually pretty obvious whether (s)he wins or loses.

This has been the case for much more of Wheel's run than that.  How often did people solve WALK or WAX without the 'key' letter(s)?

True that they've always had some seriously hard bonus puzzles from time to time, but it seems like they've upped the lower bound on the difficulty. It's been a long time since I've seen a contestant appear to get a bonus puzzle from RSTLNE alone, and it seems like the phrases that they use are found less frequently in everyday speech than they used to be. I recall seeing a puzzle that was "QUITE A PAIR" a few weeks back, and it's a perfectly valid thing to say, but I don't really think of it as a phrase that stands alone along the lines of something like "SNACK BAR", which was the puzzle on a random Goen episode I clicked on on YouTube a moment ago.

[TLEberle]

One from overseas this week. Radio 4's Brain of Britain has been going for 61 years and the format is as simple as can be. The contestant is asked a question and scores a point for a right answer. Further right answers score more points up to five, and a bonus point is awarded for a perfect run, at which point that turn is over so six points is the maximum score for a round. If at any time a wrong answer is given the other three contestants can light their lamp (and what a glorious effect this is for a radio quiz) and steal the point. The next player in line goes and whoever has the most points at the end of the thirty minutes wins and moves up to the semi-finals or grand championship.

In this week's episode, the second semi-final as the contestants are coming down the home stretch the host reads out the scores: "Some guy, six. Some guy, six. Some guy, six. Eventual winner, twenty."

[clemon79]

"Some guy, six. Some guy, six. Some guy, six. Eventual winner, twenty."

"Kevin Phillips-Bong: naught."

[PYLdude]

One from overseas this week. Radio 4's Brain of Britain has been going for 61 years and the format is as simple as can be. The contestant is asked a question and scores a point for a right answer. Further right answers score more points up to five, and a bonus point is awarded for a perfect run, at which point that turn is over so six points is the maximum score for a round. If at any time a wrong answer is given the other three contestants can light their lamp (and what a glorious effect this is for a radio quiz) and steal the point. The next player in line goes and whoever has the most points at the end of the thirty minutes wins and moves up to the semi-finals or grand championship.

In this week's episode, the second semi-final as the contestants are coming down the home stretch the host reads out the scores: "Some guy, six. Some guy, six. Some guy, six. Eventual winner, twenty."

When does this air and is a stream available? Sounds like an interesting listen.