Major late September schedule changes

[TLEberle]

Except it just reintroduced the original problem, because the mass majority of contestants gravitated (correctly) to Bauman.

Did he have a decent batting average? Because yes, I want a better chance at $10,000 (or maybe more) than to go fishing randomly to maybe win more. And you have a 55% chance of doing better than the minimum of 10x anyway.

I remember seeing but not really internalizing MG-HSH, and the first time I really got what MG was about was in 1990. Seeing the 1973 reruns and watching as the winner picked her champion to guide her to a victory in the Head-to-Head match was odd in the same way as was finding out that in the New York era of Pyramid contestants were off the show if they lost the front game. I liked the wheel because it was a visual thing on a visual medium and that it allowed the champions to win more money, but it never occured to me to like one way more than the other, just that it was different.

/I still think it is bat-guano insane to offer twenty grand for _____ Flakes, anyway.

[aaron sica]

/I still think it is bat-guano insane to offer twenty grand for _____ Flakes, anyway.

For argument's sake (or maybe to drive home your point), my first thought was FROSTED....

[clemon79]

Did he have a decent batting average? Because yes, I want a better chance at $10,000 (or maybe more) than to go fishing randomly to maybe win more. And you have a 55% chance of doing better than the minimum of 10x anyway.

Of course he did, since he was the only one on the panel who was playing the game every single day. (The cards were meaningless and did absolutely nothing to incite a variety of selections; I have exactly as much chance of drawing a spade off of the top of a shuffled deck as I do picking a card out of the middle.) I'd have picked him too. And if I had my druthers I'd have picked Richard Dawson as well.

And both would have been boring choices for the folks at home, because anyone else with an ounce of sense was doing the same thing.

And on a game show, when that is the case, when the correct strategic decision is also the least interesting one from an entertainment standpoint, as a producer, the correct thing to do is change the rules so that the uninteresting decision can't happen anymore. It's similar to why I despise the Prisoner's Dilemma so much as a mechanic.

[cyclone45]

Corn, bran

[WarioBarker]

That's curious because watching the Behind the Blank documentary and particularly one of the interviews; I got the impression that he basically lived to do Match Game, and his burn out happened after 1982, because nothing was the same after that.

Part of that may be because the Squares half of MGHSH didn't really have anything that made the format work. From the episodes I've seen, Gene's his usual self when doing the Match Game parts.

I could be misremembering but it does match up with why he left Break the Bank so early (obviously he wanted to be capering around and goofing off, and BTB didn't really allow that.)

It wasn't so much the format as it was Kline & Friends. They didn't want Gene to goof off and make jokes during what they intended to be a serious and suspenseful show, then blamed him for the poor ratings and kicked him out after 13 weeks.

(Source: Game Show Utopia)

Even after that, Gene wasn't really "burnt out". He just couldn't get much of any work due to age discrimination.

[PYLdude]

But just because the people weren't picking Dawson is not a legitimate reason for thinking the later years of Match Game were better than the earlier ones. Because clearly they weren't. The shows were too rushed, there wasn't as good a job of.paying attention to bookings, they didn't seem to make any concerted effort to find a replacement for Seat 5, and after awhile it just got tedious to watch.

Not to say that they were totally unwatchable, because that wasn't the case, but if I've got a choice between the 79-82 series and the earlier CBS episodes, I'm choosing the latter every time.

[PYLdude]

It wasn't the format that didn't allow Gene to be goofy, it was Kline & Friends. They didn't want Gene to goof off and make jokes during what they intended to be a serious and suspenseful show, then blamed him for the show's poor ratings and kicked him out after 13 weeks.

Then why was there such a madcap endgame for the first fourteen or so weeks? Seems to me that if that's really what they wanted, they should've stuck with the endgame they introduced for Farago.

[clemon79]

But just because the people weren't picking Dawson is not a legitimate reason for thinking the later years of Match Game were better than the earlier ones.

Why not? Who are you to declare what's legitimate and what isn't?

Because clearly they weren't.

Once again, you are confusing "your subjective opinion" and "irrefutable fact."

but if I've got a choice between the 79-82 series and the earlier CBS episodes, I'm choosing the latter every time.

You absolutely have a right to that preference. The difference is that I'm not going to tell you it's wrong.

[PYLdude]

But just because the people weren't picking Dawson is not a legitimate reason for thinking the later years of Match Game were better than the earlier ones.

Why not?

Because it has nothing to do with the quality of the programming, that's why.

[TLEberle]

Because it has nothing to do with the quality of the programming, that's why.

Sure it does; it is boring to watch the same thing instead of different things.

You may not like Vahan's answer. I think it is right from Sillytown myself to say that his choice is based just on the Super Match. But that's his opinion and he does have a right to it, and more importantly (this is the part you seem to have a really hard time accepting) you don't have a right to dismiss someone else's position just because you deem it unworthy: and in this case in the face of quite a bit of evidence on the other side.

[PYLdude]

Because it has nothing to do with the quality of the programming, that's why.

Sure it does; it is boring to watch the same thing instead of different things.

You may not like Vahan's answer. I think it is right from Sillytown myself to say that his choice is based just on the Super Match. But that's his opinion and he does have a right to it, and more importantly (this is the part you seem to have a really hard time accepting) you don't have a right to dismiss someone else's position just because you deem it unworthy: and in this case in the face of quite a bit of evidence on the other side.

I'll remember that the next time you are quick to dismiss somebody's opinion based on your opinion of their worth.

The game's still played the same way, isn't it? The Super Match is still played the same way, isn't it? Every day, the same way? Get more matches than your opponent, fill in blanks, what's different?

[clemon79]

Because it has nothing to do with the quality of the programming, that's why.

If Vahan (and myself, for that matter) enjoyed the show more with the Star Wheel and the randomized Head-To-Head pick, then that absolutely has to do with the quality of the programming. I too found the program to be of higher quality with that addition.

You are entitled to disagree. That is *all* you are entitled to.

[clemon79]

I'll remember that the next time you are quick to dismiss somebody's opinion based on your opinion of their worth.

And now you are conflagrating "dismiss somebody's opinion based on your opinion of their worth" with "giving two shiats what Chris Palmer thinks of any and all opinions I might have."

[PYLdude]

I'll remember that the next time you are quick to dismiss somebody's opinion based on your opinion of their worth.

And now you are conflagrating "dismiss somebody's opinion based on your opinion of their worth" with "giving two shiats what Chris Palmer thinks of any and all opinions I might have."

No, you're misinterpreting what I said as "another atttempt to claim my opinion's being dismissed because I said it". That's not what I said. What I said was that he shouldn't claim the high road in this case because he's been just as dismissive of people's opinions (especially Vahan's) based on merit as anyone else (even I've been guilty of it more times than I can count).

I also am not disagreeing with the addition of the Star Wheel because it added the randomness factor I like. What I AM disagreeing on is Vahan's underlying point that Dawson's departure was better for the show in the long run and I don't see how it did anything to hinder or help the show.

[Vahan_Nisanian]

Now that I think about it, maybe I should have made my point a bit clear. By that I mean saying that the addition of the star wheel was for the best.

That, and Dawson was on the panel during the first few weeks with said wheel.