So here's a thought...

[pacdude]

Is JEP! Jeopardy? No. It isn't.

And someone who disagrees with you is free to conjure his own list and we can make what we will of it.

I don't disagree; there were enough differences that you can't call JEP! the same, especially when the Kids Week exists.

But IIRC, the Kids Week replaced Jep....and considering that Cory gave up his eligibility at regular Jeopardy for a shot at a sweet boom box 15 years ago, I'd give him credit for the double.

EDIT: I stand corrected. Cory sold his eligibility for a shot at a sweet mountain bike....or a Sony electronics package- take your pick.

Excuse me, it was a Discman or a skateboard. I regret not taking the skateboard, even though that Discman lasted longer than my copy of Classic TV Game Show Themes from GSN. (I also regret not learning betting strategy.) And my eligibility still stands, since Trebek didn't host Jep!. I'm gunning for it when my eligibility comes back.

Not surprisingly, most of the same staffers that work on Jeopardy! worked on Jep! so it felt a lot like The Big Game from start to finish, as a child, even if the threat of packing peanuts falling on my head isn't real on Trebek's version.

[TLEberle]

By comparison, those who gave up their eligibility at regular Wheel for a shot at a Game.com and maybe limo rides to and from school for a week are probably wishing they waited about another four or five years so they could use their one chance for a shot at cash and prizes that weren't as lame.

Maybe they are, maybe they aren't; but they also got to have an experience that most kids (like five-nines most) don't get to have. It's possible that the prizes didn't even enter into it; that it was getting to be on (a version of) their favorite game show that they cared about. And if they wait five years (and they don't know it would be five years, let's put a point on that) maybe they don't get through the qualifying gauntlet. I just don't think the kids who got to be on Wheel 2000 were saying "dang, I thought I'd be snowed with cash-unt-prizes".

Let's imagine that you're selected to be a contestant on $25,000 Pyramid in 1986. (Let's also assume that you try out for both the daytime and syndicated offering simultaneously, but you can't pick your pony.) Who here would say "Y'know, I really had my heart set on the $100,000 version, so I'm going to graciously decline, sweat out the cool-off period and try again. The show will almost certainly not be cancelled when I qualify again."?

Jeopardy has three tournaments where you give up something in order to get on the show (Tournament of Champions eligibility or the chance to play a longer string of games) but they have no trouble finding teenagers, college students and teachers to fill the grid with contestants. Lots of game shows in the 70s had the same deal. Wheel of Fortune had concurrently running editions as well, and they filled the spaces just fine.

[BrandonFG]

By comparison, those who gave up their eligibility at regular Wheel for a shot at a Game.com and maybe limo rides to and from school for a week are probably wishing they waited about another four or five years so they could use their one chance for a shot at cash and prizes that weren't as lame.

I think you're overanalyzing...as usual.

When I was a kid, the chance to go on a game show and win some cool gifts like a Discman or a gaming console* would've been awesome. I wanted to go on Video Power and rack up all the games of the era, and I'm pretty sure most kids would've loved the same opportunity and wouldn't have scoffed or said the prize was "lame".

Furthermore, I'm pretty sure most kids don't have a concept of money the way adults do. Sure, they love having money, but you give one of those kids $50, and they're just as happy as they would be with $50,000. Not having bills or debt kinda alters the perception.

*Just an example, given what 90s kids shows commonly offered

[Dbacksfan12]

By comparison, those who gave up their eligibility at regular Wheel for a shot at a Game.com and maybe limo rides to and from school for a week are probably wishing they waited about another four or five years so they could use their one chance for a shot at cash and prizes that weren't as lame.

I'd say you have the benefit of foresight, but you don't really grasp simple concepts.  Do you remember what it was like to be 12?  I'm sure many kids of that age think they'd be "cool" to show up at school in a limo.  There's a reason that magazine fundraisers offer candy and electronics as incentives; not furniture sets and ceramic dalmatians.

[WarioBarker]

Let's imagine that you're selected to be a contestant on $25,000 Pyramid in 1986. (Let's also assume that you try out for both the daytime and syndicated offering simultaneously, but you can't pick your pony.) Who here would say "Y'know, I really had my heart set on the $100,000 version, so I'm going to graciously decline, sweat out the cool-off period and try again. The show will almost certainly not be cancelled when I qualify again."?

Probably nobody, since minus the Tournaments the two versions were almost completely identical.

Wheel of Fortune had concurrently running editions as well, and they filled the spaces just fine.

Be that as it may, I have to imagine a few potential players between October '87 and June '89 may have been slightly disappoint to find out they'd been selected for the daytime show, aka (according to Pat) "Fake money with which you'd buy cheesy prizes." I'm sure they were still glad to be on Wheel regardless, because it's Wheel.

When I was a kid, the chance to go on a game show and win some cool gifts like a Discman or a gaming console* would've been awesome. I wanted to go on Video Power and rack up all the games of the era, and I'm pretty sure most kids would've loved the same opportunity and wouldn't have scoffed or said the prize was "lame".

...Yeah, you're right. Damn, I forgot what was like to be a kid.

As for Video Power, that bonus round was great, partly because of how much cool stuff was on offer (although watching it online, seeing kids end up with multiple copies of a game felt a bit odd; they probably had something in place in that event, but I don't know) but also because it was hosted by someone who was a better host than the host was.

[TLEberle]

Dan: Smileys are unbecoming, unendearing and don't serve to further whatever point you're trying to make.  I suppose getting our point eventually is an improvement but we sure wish you'd think first before overanalyzing.

[clemon79]

Probably nobody, since minus the Tournaments the two versions were almost completely identical.

Holy missing the point.

[BrentW]

By comparison, those who gave up their eligibility at regular Wheel for a shot at a Game.com and maybe limo rides to and from school for a week are probably wishing they waited about another four or five years so they could use their one chance for a shot at cash and prizes that weren't as lame.

When I was a kid, the chance to go on a game show and win some cool gifts like a Discman or a gaming console* would've been awesome. I wanted to go on Video Power and rack up all the games of the era, and I'm pretty sure most kids would've loved the same opportunity and wouldn't have scoffed or said the prize was "lame".

^^THIS!!!  I would killed to get on Legends of the Hidden Temple, and I can't even remember the craptastic prizes that they gave away.  :-D