Press Your Luck and Challenger Explosion

[GameShowGuru]

I was actually home from school the day the Challenger exploded, and I know for certain that Scrabble was interrupted due to the Challenger explosion because I was watching the show when the news broke.  I also recall seeing the explosion replayed no less than 15 times during the remainder of the day.

[Vahan_Nisanian]

As I'm typing this, I am at my local library.

I looked at the first week of January 1986 for both the Los Angeles Times and New York Times. On January 6, 1986 2 on the Town and Body Language were respectively listed for 11:00 a.m. and 12 Noon. But on the next day, both 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. were respectively listed for Press Your Luck.

So just to clarify, this was what Nicholas meant by "tape delay". That the January 7, 1986 airing of the show in the Los Angeles and New York markets was really the delayed airing of the January 6 episode.

[narzo]

Does anyone know if the Challenger Explosion interfered with Press Your Luck or not? The disaster happened at 11:39 AM EST. By this point, the show was now at three different timeslots, depending on the area: 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM, or 4:00 PM.

I must say, this is possibly the most distasteful question posted here in ages.  The answer should be, "who the hell cares, and why is your life affected one way or the other whether it was or not?"

As someone who is old enough to VIVIDLY remember the tragic events of the day, nothing else mattered.  Seven people died in a horrific event, witnessed live by millions of americans on television.  Was "Press Your Luck" interfered with?  Good lord...

[chris319]

Yeah, why does it matter in 2014? Really?

[Vahan_Nisanian]

I must say, this is possibly the most distasteful question posted here in ages.  The answer should be, "who the hell cares, and why is your life affected one way or the other whether it was or not?"

As someone who is old enough to VIVIDLY remember the tragic events of the day, nothing else mattered.  Seven people died in a horrific event, witnessed live by millions of americans on television.  Was "Press Your Luck" interfered with?  Good lord...

You really think I have no affection for any of the victims of the disaster? You really think I'm glad they're dead?

No! I never said that, I never implied that!

[MikeK]

I must say, this is possibly the most distasteful question posted here in ages.  The answer should be, "who the hell cares, and why is your life affected one way or the other whether it was or not?"

As someone who is old enough to VIVIDLY remember the tragic events of the day, nothing else mattered.  Seven people died in a horrific event, witnessed live by millions of americans on television.  Was "Press Your Luck" interfered with?  Good lord...

You really think I have no affection for any of the victims of the disaster? You really think I'm glad they're dead?

No! I never said that, I never implied that!

What narzo meant was that the country (and the world) didn't care what happened to Press Your Luck that day.  Seven people were tragically killed on live television, likely shown around the world, and you're worried about what happened to a TV show that day.

[TLEberle]

You really think I have no affection for any of the victims of the disaster? You really think I'm glad they're dead?

No! I never said that, I never implied that!

This is a logical fallacy and really inappropriate because you're hiding behind it to avoid dealing with the issue, and this goes to the problem you're having here. I get that you want to be seen as an adult and respected for what you bring to the group but you're going about it all wrong. You cannot ask a question like this and not have your sensibilities questioned. And when we question your sensibilities (because even if you don't think it is the case) this is a very tacky thing to ask ("Did a space shuttle tragedy preempt or bump a game show?") Someone rightly calls you out for it and you fly off the handle. On the off chance that you actually address your awful behavior you hide behind something, such as the excuse that you're only conditioned to behave in the way that people did on the GSN.com boards, or you twist things up in your brain so that you don't actually have to deal with real life, you just get all indignant and defensive instead of just saying "Yeah, that was a bad idea and I apologize."

It is tiring to make our way down this very predictable path and you not taking any accountability for your awful behavior here. If you want to be thought of well you actually have to do the work to build up a reputation. I'd say if you don't, keep doing what you're doing, but I imagine that what you're doing falls afoul of the Eligibility Requirements in some fashion. So it's your call.

[BrandonFG]

I must say, this is possibly the most distasteful question posted here in ages.  The answer should be, "who the hell cares, and why is your life affected one way or the other whether it was or not?"

As someone who is old enough to VIVIDLY remember the tragic events of the day, nothing else mattered.  Seven people died in a horrific event, witnessed live by millions of americans on television.  Was "Press Your Luck" interfered with?  Good lord...

You really think I have no affection for any of the victims of the disaster? You really think I'm glad they're dead?

No! I never said that, I never implied that!

Annnnd....here we go with you being defensive and having a meltdown. You really bring a lot of this on yourself, y'know.

[snowpeck]

I totally realize that the reason this thread was started is the effort to correct the Press Your Luck episode guides that are out there (as it is at least very possible that GSN will get this far this time around). However, surely there was a more tactful way to ask without the question being construed as insensitive.

[Vahan_Nisanian]

I totally realize that the reason this thread was started is the effort to correct the Press Your Luck episode guides that are out there (as it is at least very possible that GSN will get this far this time around). However, surely there was a more tactful way to ask without the question being construed as insensitive.

In hindsight, I really should have stated that it was for the purposes of correcting past versions of the episode guide for the show. I do not know what would have been a less insensitive way to ask.

But the reason I didn't was because I was afraid I would get blasted by Travis for thinking game show episodes are "Chinpokomon" (he has blasted me for this before twice).

[BrandonFG]

But the reason I didn't was because I was afraid I would get blasted by Travis for thinking game show episodes are "Chinpokomon" (he has blasted me for this before twice).

You know...your obsession with Travis and Chris is not only tiring, but it's creepy. And you wonder why you get blasted so badly. Again, you bring it on yourself, you refuse to take anyone's advice, claim you're turning over a new leaf and go right back to your old ways. I don't even know why some of us bother trying to help you; you don't even want to help yourself.

[MikeK]

In hindsight, I really should have stated that it was for the purposes of correcting past versions of the episode guide for the show. I do not know what would have been a less insensitive way to ask.

Sometimes the best way to ask is to not ask at all.  Nobody ever said an episode guide of a show from 30 years ago had to be perfect, down to having 100% accurate details of every show.

[TLEberle]

I do not know what would have been a less insensitive way to ask.

This is your problem and not ours. If you can't find a way to say something in a tactful fashion then perhaps part of the thought process should be that maybe you shouldn't ask.

But the reason I didn't was because I was afraid I would get blasted by Travis for thinking game show episodes are "Chinpokomon" (he has blasted me for this before twice).

Horsecrap. Note that everyone here was indulging your survey and not a cross word was said to you until you flew off the handle. If I had given you grief about compiling an episode guide then it is on you to report the post as against the eligibility requirements. (The fact that you either fail to get the point of the reference or choose to be obstinate about it is your deal, and I'll note that regarding your guide for Sale of the Century I not only did not "blast" you but gave you some advice to improve it, which you took me up on.) To that point, if you really were afraid that I would "blast" you for posting, wouldn't your total be much lower? Obviously you weren't afraid enough to ask the question because you did.

[parliboy]

Horsecrap. Note that everyone here was indulging your survey and not a cross word was said to you until you flew off the handle.

That's not really a fair statement of the order of events.  This thread was about 15 posts deep until someone took offense.  At which point narzo and one of the EP's of this board threw a strongly-worded counterpoint to this, and that's what set things off to the current round of poopstorm we're in.

Now personally, I care even less than you about a Press Your Luck episode guide.  But things were progressing pretty smoothly until the hornet's nest was kicked.  And this time, Vahan didn't do the kicking.

Yeah, why does it matter in 2014? Really?

Chris, in all fairness, look at the content of the forum.  We spend far, far more time talking about retro content than we do current content.  If the bar you want to apply to what's an appropriate topic if is it's relevant in 2014, it's going to get very sparse in here, very quickly.

To all...

Is Vahan tonedeaf a lot of the time?  Sure.  Is the topic distasteful?  I dunno.  I think it's all relative.  Nobody would have batted an eye if we had talked about whether the Watergate hearings had a particular effect on a particular show.  And it's now generally accepted that Nixon was responsible for extending the Vietnam conflict and causing thousands of American deaths.  That you watched one set of deaths on TV and not another should not drive your outrage about this topic.  After all, that's what landed us in our current protracted land war in Asia, as well.

[TLEberle]

hat's not really a fair statement of the order of events.  This thread was about 15 posts deep until someone took offense.  At which point narzo and one of the EP's of this board threw a strongly-worded counterpoint to this, and that's what set things off to the current round of poopstorm we're in.

You're right, but did Vahan report the post? Probably no. He flew off the handle and here we are. We were well-behaved for three days, which is some kind of record. (I also wonder how many people would have said something earlier but didn't want to be first in the hit parade of piling on, or didn't bother because the message wouldn't get through.)

Now personally, I care even less than you about a Press Your Luck episode guide.  But things were progressing pretty smoothly until the hornet's nest was kicked.  And this time, Vahan didn't do the kicking.

But he still chose to engage in his own way. Since when has "he hit me first" ever worked? Bring it up Behind the Scenes, report the post, maybe even a polite remark about how it was for his pet project instead of roping me into his excuse-making; any of those would have been an improvement.

Is Vahan tonedeaf a lot of the time?  Sure. 

This really cannot be overstated. To me, given the track record of the original poster, it comes off as very tonedeaf and insensitive, and I own my perspective on it, but I'm not the only one here who sees things that way. And every time we say "You could move the needle a bit by doing (whatever)," all we get back is static. How long are we supposed to endure the silliness without saying anything?

Is the topic distasteful?  I dunno.  I think it's all relative.  Nobody would have batted an eye if we had talked about whether the Watergate hearings had a particular effect on a particular show.

Not Watergate specifically, but I know we've had discussions about preemptions to whatever degree. I think this particular area would make for a good discussion among some of our number.

Everyone is entitled to their own paradigm of what is distasteful and what isn't, and to comment and debate about it. They don't have the right to enforce their own position, but it is also up to us to put forth an effort to be considerate to most of the people most of the time.