Tic-Tac Dough: Thoughts on Special Categories

[Vahan_Nisanian]

During the early 1980's, a lot of special red categories were added to the mix. I would like to know what do you guys think about the inclusion of them?

I love them. I think they added a lot of variety to the show, and gave the players many more chances to win. My favorites are Bonus Category, Double or Nothing, and Seesaw.

[TLEberle]

I think there were too many on the board in the last two seasons but it seems they were put there to either allow the O player the chance to either draw level or pass the X player, or to cut down on the number of tie games.

Secret Category was great (and expensive) but as the show carried on they got less and less special because they showed up in every game.

[clemon79]

During the early 1980's, a lot of special red categories were added to the mix. I would like to know what do you guys think about the inclusion of them?

I enjoyed them, because I thought they made the game a little more than mundane tic-tac-toe.

[parliboy]

Sometimes game mechanics can be healthy for the game, but bad for the show.  I think special categories qualifies as such as thing.

Red boxes tended to introduce additional chaos and variance in to the game.  This is probably a good thing, as the format has an enormous champion's advantage built into it.  But given that the show attracted attention for the big winning streaks, too many red boxes reduced the frequency and length of those. That chaos was healthy for the show's budget, of course.  Fewer winning streaks meant fewer cars.

And of course, the most chaotic categories were the ones where the player whose turn it was not to win the box.  The power of that was to allow a player to win three consecutive boxes, which is why noone would take one of those unless they had to.  Very game-breaking.

[TLEberle]

Very game-breaking.

I wouldn't necessarily call them game-breaking. Game changing, certainly.

In the early days the game would go on until somebody missed a question. Champion X would set the pace and all O could do was answer the questions she fielded. As long as she didn't get any wrong she stayed on the hamster wheel hoping that she got a chance to parry and thrust back. Given that the questions weren't all that hard this could be a long wait. The mini-game categories did upset that apple cart but is that so terrible? The original game was very much a mundane affair--at least Joker's Wild had different values and the excitement of the slot machine. I remember watching the two morning airings of Tic Tac Dough on Game Show Network--there was usually an episode from 1980 and one from 1984. The game had changed in the later episode, and I think for the better.

And that says nothing of the fact that some of the mini-games were more compelling than watching softball questions being swatted away like pesky bugs.

[Matt Ottinger]

I personally never liked the red categories precisely because they introduced too much of a element of chance.   I would have wanted no red squares and harder questions.  But that's just me.

[TLEberle]

I think I'd make a fix that pleases Matt: red box no longer denotes a special category or mini-game but instead a more difficult level of question. (I would also increase the difficulty of the regular questions as well, but the red ones would be extra picante.) The red boxes dance from topic to topic with each shuffle. If that should add more money to the pot that would be a question for the producers.

[Matt Ottinger]

I think I'd make a fix that pleases Matt: red box no longer denotes a special category or mini-game but instead a more difficult level of question. (I would also increase the difficulty of the regular questions as well, but the red ones would be extra picante.) The red boxes dance from topic to topic with each shuffle. If that should add more money to the pot that would be a question for the producers.

Sure.  There are many types of "red" categories that I wouldn't have a problem with.  Wasn't there one where your opponent picked the category for you?  No problem with that.  Secret Category too, no biggie.  The more they became their own game, especially when they got you further away from the fundamental basics of each player getting an equal number of similar turns, the less I enjoyed them.

[J.R.]

I always felt the main draw/allure for TTD (at least for the producers) was the drama of multiple ties and long championship streaks. Every question could be The One that ends the run or brings the winner a sizable jackpot.

I think if the questions were read quicker and without long game recaps, they might've achieved it, regardless of the "difficulty".

Didn't the more rapid paced WOF pretty much chase away this and TJW in a matter of months?

[TLEberle]

Wasn't there one where your opponent picked the category for you?

Yup, under the name "Opponent's Choice." I thought that was done even better when it was set as "you can have Guy answer a single question on Arts and Crafts or two on Aquatic Biology." That's as clever as TTD got and really as clever as it needed to be.

There was one in the last year where each question had two parts and whoever answered his part while his opponent got his wrong would win the box. Fine idea but the contest would persist, question after question with each side pitching and fouling off strike three until finally somebody blew it. Tiebreakers are captivating in tennis but it really didn't work here.

To Good Ol J.R.'s point, I think it was the fact that Jeopardy gave you more quiz questions per half hour (and the age/stasis of the B&E shows) that started to chip away.

[PYLdude]

I always felt the main draw/allure for TTD (at least for the producers) was the drama of multiple ties and long championship streaks. Every question could be The One that ends the run or brings the winner a sizable jackpot.

I think if the questions were read quicker and without long game recaps, they might've achieved it, regardless of the "difficulty".

Didn't the more rapid paced WOF pretty much chase away this and TJW in a matter of months?

Three years.

[Don Howard]

Hated 'em.

Didn't the more rapid paced WOF pretty much chase away this and TJW in a matter of months?

It greased the skids for the finish of FF, TJW and TTD. The arrival of J! completed the one-two punch.
The $100,000 Pyramid may have applied the finishing touch for the latter two.